A DROMANA man has been charged with 11 offences, including burglary and theft, after allegedly stealing nine cars at Doncaster, Thursday 24 October. Manningham detectives arrested the man at Rhode Island, Patterson Lakes, Thursday 31 October. They allegedly recovered four of the stolen Subarus but five vehicles are still missing. The 41-year-old appeared at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court, Friday 1 November, and was further remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in January. Meanwhile, a 43-year-old Dandenong man has been charged with theft and bailed to appear at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 11 December after being found in one of the…
Author: MP News Group
A SOMERS Primary School student has been a busy bee gathering more than 100 signatures on his petition to save the bees. Rupert, 6, made a formal presentation at Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s Tuesday 8 October meeting pleading for the council to guard against the poisoning of local bees. He was backed up by 120 signatures from peninsula school children and residents confirming they support his stand. Concerns about the safety of bees have been raised over fears Department of Health officers will begin widespread “fogging” of the peninsula’s bushland areas in the fight against the Buruli virus. It is…
RYE Primary School’s production of Be the Change was reportedly a huge success for all involved. Inspired by a quote from Ghandi: ‘Be the Change you want to see in the world’, the play evolved from a range of ideas contributed by students, parents and teachers. The bi-annual event featured students from Prep-Grade 6 who showcased their talents in the visual and performing arts. It featured lead actors, Drumbeat students, senior and 3/4 choirs, a rockin’ school band and dancers. Every year level had its own scene and theme to portray. The play centred around five kids who climb a…
A MULTICULTURAL event at the Rosebud Shire offices, Wednesday 30 October, celebrated the successes of Mornington Peninsula Shire’s migrant population. About 50 guests and family members, from 13 countries, acknowledged and highlighted the contribution migrants have made to the social, cultural and economic development of the peninsula. The mayor Cr David Gill said immigrants had expanded our culture and introduced new ideas and traditions into their adopted country. “The resourcefulness, hard work and determination of people who came from so many other countries helped make the Mornington Peninsula an exceptional place to live,” he said. “We are a more connected…
RED Hill Fire Brigade was a big winner at the Bendigo Bank’s grants and sponsorship evening, Tuesday 29 October. It received the largest donation: $25,000, which will allow it to provide room for a new type of tanker. On the night about 60 community groups received more than $250,000 between them from the Rye, Rosebud and Dromana Community bank branches. This second of the twice yearly grants and sponsorship evenings follows the first in May when $227,000 was shared among 50 groups. Grants and sponsorships were delivered to a diverse range of community groups, including sports, arts, environment and health…
MORNINGTON Cricket Club players are thrilled with their new nets and multi-use facility at Alexandra Park. This comes after the club was awarded $193,825 in the state government’s Pick My Project grants. It became one of 237 projects from across the state to share in more than $30 million. “Having started the whole process over 12 months ago, and with building starting back in July, we are now fortunate to have a new cricket net/multi use facility for the whole community to enjoy,” Mornington Cricket Club president Lee “Alfie”Garnet said. The club welcomes all players and members of the public…
YMCA Camp Buxton: Cyril Young Memorial Chapel Association Annual General Meeting – Shoreham Hall, 2.00pm, Saturday November 16. The Cyril Young Memorial Chapel is the open-air chapel located at the site of the former YMCA Camp Buxton in Buxton Woodland Reserve, Shoreham. Historically, for many city boys attending the camp, the camp service at the chapel was their first experience of the sacredness of the natural environment, the chapel being set in a grove of swamp gums adjacent a wetland alive with fauna, mammals, birds and insect life. Archival records from the late 1940s demonstrate how the YMCA’s Shoreham Camp…
CHILDREN on the Mornington Peninsula are invited to help find our missing frogs during FrogID Week, 8-17 November. The citizen-science project being run by the Australian Museum aims to collect audio of frog calls to monitor their populations and help save threatened frog species. So far, FrogID has identified more than 116,000 frog calls and identified 187 of the known 240 Australian frog species. Last year, more than nearly 7000 frogs from 95 species were recorded. The second annual FrogID Week aims to build on the critical data gathered from last year and find frog species missing from the museum’s…
MARK your diaries and make space on Sunday 8 December for a special new event coming to Mandalaye Park on French Island. Picnic in the Park promises to be a magnificent day of food, wine, gardens and music, so prepare your picnic blanket for an afternoon of alfresco dining in the grounds of this beautiful country property. The picnic will be set in and around Mandalaye Park Homestead & Gardens from 10am – 4.30pm. Western Port Ferries will be transporting guests to and from Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula and Cowes, Phillip Island to experience a taste of life…
A DIGNITY Vending Machine at Hastings Community Hub will offer “dignity” to women in need. The machines, known as Pinkboxes, dispense period packs allowing girls and women access to free sanitary products to manage their period. Organiser Share the Dignity formed a partnership in March with Woolworths to help women who experience what’s described a “period poverty” each month – meaning they are unable to afford necessary sanitary products. Since then, Woolworths has donated five cents from every pack sold, including pads, tampons, liners or period briefs, across its stores nationally. Funds donated will buy 30 new Pinkbox Dignity Vending…
WESTERN Port Secondary College won a prestigious award at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards at the Plaza Ballroom, Friday 25 October. It comes after the school’s leadership team implemented ambitious education improvements over the past few years driven by a vision of delivering learning growth for every student. Principal Chris Quinn said the college had embarked on a targeted program of whole-school professional learning, beginning with the development of an instructional framework grounded in the Department’s Pedagogical Model. The performance and development process was also revised, with teachers working collaboratively to collect and analyse a variety of student learning data…
KINGS Creek Hotel Hastings is fighting back against graffiti vandals by offering a $1000 cash reward to find the perpetrators. The hotel’s marketing manager Jet Nye said: “We have recently had a massive surge in graffiti here and are reaching out to the Hastings community to help us identify the vandal who has tagged our property.” Mr Nye said seven or eight graffiti incidents had been carried out possibly by more than one vandal. CCTV had failed to establish their identities. “We are waiting on the police now to identify whether a tip off for the culprit is accurate,” he…
SATURDAY is Family Day where there’s something on offer for everyone, young and old at the Rosebud Foreshore Rockfest. Cars, bands, shows, competitions, food trucks, stalls and more is on offer throughout the day and night at the festival, held from 14-17 November. Thousands of visitors are expected to join in the great variety of events and activities, all thoughtfully created to appeal to all visitors, car enthusiasts and Rock ‘n Rollers alike. From 9.30am to 3pm Rosebud’s main strip rocks on with free Main Street family entertainment including internationally acclaimed Elvis Tribute Performer Mike Cole who will be All…
AN essay by Hastings author and polio survivor Fran Henke will be included in a new anthology Growing up Disabled in Australia. Due to be published in June next year by Black Inc, this will be the fifth title in the Growing Up series. “We are still struggling to have polio and its late effects recognised by health professionals, even family members”, Henke said. The acceptance of her essay was timely as October has been declared World Polio Month with Victorian survivors gathering at Warrnambool last week to celebrate Polio Day. The day is traditionally held near the birthdate of…
THE Legislative Assembly’s Environment and Planning Committee will meet at Mornington this week to look into community initiatives to tackle climate change. The public hearing at the Council Chambers, 2 Queen Street, 12.30-3.30pm, Thursday 7 November, is one of a series being held in regional Victoria during November. The committee will hear from the Port Phillip Eco Centre, Bayside Climate Action Group, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and South East Councils Climate Change Alliance. “We’re interested in finding out what’s happening at the local level to tackle climate change and what the Victorian Government can do to support communities take action,”…
RED Hill resident Paul Whitaker remembers as a small boy being taken to the original Rosebud cinema – the first cinema on the Mornington Peninsula. It had been acquired by his father Frank in 1928 with the proceeds of the first screening being donated to the widows of local fishermen who died in a storm at that time. The Broadway Theatre was an enthralling place for an imaginative youngster, steeped in the glamour of the Hollywood film industry, with colourful posters outside advertising that night’s screenings. Mr Whitaker was speaking in the lead-up to the auction of the old Broadway…
WHEN’S a dog not just a dog? When it’s a story dog helping children learn to read, of course. Story Dogs is a nationwide charity in which volunteers take their dogs into schools to listen to children read and help improve their literacy. Victorian sponsorship development officer Kim Croft said when children read to a dog the outcomes are amazing. “When they are in a non-judgmental setting, the children’s focus improves, their literacy skills increase and their confidence soars,” she said. “The accepting, loving nature of dogs gives this program its magic and helps children relax, open up, try harder…
THE Peninsula Studio Trail Exhibition attracted a good crowd of art lovers to Southern Buoy Studios last month. Organiser John Trebilco said: “The sales were good, with many small-to-medium-sized works sold, so we were pretty happy. “We now have the Open Studio Weekends coming up on 16-17 and 23-24 November when the 20 artists in the group will have their personal studios and display areas open to the public. Peninsula Studio Trail has been running this annual event for 11 years. Members of the public are invited to visit the various studios over the two weekends to speak to the…
POLICE are investigating the burning down of a second beach box at Rosebud, 2.30pm, Wednesday 30 October. The cause of the blaze is not known. CFA crews donned hazmat gear when it was discovered the corrugated iron box was lined with weatherboard and asbestos sheeting. “This was an extra danger,” Rosebud CFA duty officer Greg Chapman said. “Our people had to wear breathing apparatus and be totally washed down afterwards with their clothing bagged, tested and scrubbed to ensure no asbestos fibres remained.” The beach box contained a destroyed couch-bed, table, games and other items. The blaze took the fire…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s older community has no plans of slowing down as shown at the annual Delys Sargeant Age-Friendly Awards. The awards held on Tuesday 22 October recognise individuals, clubs, services or businesses that contribute to building stronger communities for older people. The peninsula has the second highest older population in Victoria with more than 30 per cent of residents aged over 60 – compared to the metropolitan average of 17 per cent. The shire was one of the first councils in Victoria to develop a strategy to promote positive ageing and aims to continue leading the way by recognising…
MORNINGTON Peninsula police and the water police are stepping up their campaign to make our bays safer and reduce the number of marine safety incidents this summer. Acting Sergeant Steve Drew, of Rosebud police, said: “Local police attended an increased number of drownings or near drownings last summer with many involving visitors to the area who didn’t appear to have a full understanding or appreciation of how treacherous the water can be on our local back-beaches. “This is particularly so on days with off-shore northerly winds and two-plus-metre swells, when the ocean looks completely flat between sets of waves. “Even…
SORRENTO Primary School was in damage control last week after the second incident involving offensive student behaviour. Angry parents contacted The News to say a grade three student had taken what they described as a BB gun to the school, threatened other students before allegedly pointing it at the head of a prep girl, and allegedly shooting another boy in the foot when he tried to take the gun away. The pellet did no damage and the boy was unharmed. This incident follows weekend mayhem when children from the school were accused of jumping the fence of the Sorrento Early…
RED Hill Op Shop has become a drop off and collection point for new and slightly used bras. Red Hill resident and op shop volunteer Marianne Findlay said: “We now collect bras for Uplift, an Australian-based organisation, which sorts and sends bras to women in need. “As this is in keeping with our philosophy of recycling used and unwanted goods so that landfill may be reduced, and helping our fellow beings, we support this project wholeheartedly.” For many women in poorer parts of the world, bras are unaffordable, but necessary, in providing the benefits of health, dignity and protection. Bras…
Police are appealing for witnesses to a car crash in Frankston South last night. Police received reports two cars were travelling north along-side each other prior to one of the cars crashing into a tree on Frankston-Flinders Road about 7.45pm. The sole occupant of a black Honda was entrapped in the car and had to be extracted by emergency services before being taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver, a 20-year-old Frankston South man, is yet to be spoken to by police. The sole occupant of the second car, a black Subaru Forrester, was interviewed by police at…
VANDALS who jumped the high fence at Sorrento Early Learning Centre’s playground last week broke into the storage shed and “generally got into mischief”, Sorrento Community Centre manager Heather Barton said. “They were throwing stuff around, removing the bikes and riding them around the car park – where they were in danger of being hit by cars, I’m told – destroying stuff and using seats as Frisbees.” Ms Barton said she saw a picture of one of the youths skylarking on the centre’s new shade sails which had only recently been installed following “lots of fundraising”. “That’s a very dangerous…
PROCEEDS from the sale of the Hastings Police Senior Citizens Register 20th anniversary calendar are going to a good cause. Money raised will assist in the fight against post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among police officers. Register coordinator Denise Palmer said clients of the register had already bought 400 of the 1000 calendars for 2020 printed with the remaining 600 expected to sell quickly. “We thought we were ambitious in aiming for fundraising of $10,000 but we are on target and will achieve it with the sale of the last 600 calendars,” she said. The calendars are available at Hastings police…
PROOF of the success of Hands-on-Learning as a worthwhile career path for youngsters came with the launching of a students’ pizza oven at Western Port Secondary College last week. Former Frankston High School H-o-L student Liam Sweeney, now the purchasing manager at high-end peninsula hotel Jackalope, worked with the Western Port H-o-L students at the launch of their pizza oven to feed a large group of staff, students, parents and community and local business people, Friday 25 October. Liam, who has worked on several projects with the students, arrived with Jackalope head chef Andy Bryant, carrying all the food, including…
A MORNING tea to honour Mornington Peninsula Shire’s previous Australia Day Awards Citizens of the Year was held at the Rosebud offices on Friday 25 October. The mayor Cr David Gill hosted the event to “recognise and celebrate the recipients’ significant contributions to the enrichment, improvement and advancement of the Mornington Peninsula community”. Special guest was the shire’s Citizen of the Year Josie Jones, who was last week awarded the 2020 Victoria Local Hero award at a ceremony at Government House. She was among about 20 previous winners representing all award categories at the event. A staunch environmental and litter…
SOMERVILLE Highway Patrol intercepted a 38-year-old Rye man driving without headlights or taillights along Frankston-Dandenong Road, Seaford, 2am, Saturday 19 October. The man was driving the same blue Commodore sedan issued with a defect notice in August still with the same wiring extending from the battery up through the bonnet and in through the window to provide a charging port for his phone. The man returned a positive drug test and his car was found to have suspended registration due to his not complying with the previous defect notice. He allegedly told police he was driving to Seymour to drop…
A MAN who answered an advertisement to buy a mobile phone from a Facebook Marketplace page snatched it from the seller, ran to a waiting car and drove off, Sunday 22 September. Rosebud police are looking for the man, pictured, who took the new Apple iPhone 11 valued at $1720 which was still in its box, and drove off in a white Toyota Camry. The victim could not make out the registration number. The man is described a Caucasian, dark hair, dark eyes, and wearing a distinctive top. Anyone with information is asked to call Senior Constable Leanne Marshall at…