LAND and sea searches for a 78-year-old fisherman who went missing off rocks at Blairgowrie ocean beach, Sunday 29 October, were being scaled down late last week. Police and emergency service crews appear to hold little hope for Wantirna man Yik Sua Hong who was last seen fishing off rocks at one of his regular fishing spots at noon. A surfer told police deteriorating weather conditions were generating huge seas when he saw the man stand on the rocks. He was possibly swept into the sea. Extensive searches by the Air Wing and Parks Victoria earlier in the week proved…
Author: MP News Group
ROSEBUD Secondary College students Campbell Robbins and Bailey Corbett are among 20 state secondary school students sharing in $100,000 in Marrung Education Scholarship Awards. Campbell, who is hoping to become a park ranger and Bailey a fashion designer, received two-year scholarships valued at $5000. The grants are going to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander government school students to “help them thrive in the final years of their secondary education”. More than 160 students have shared in over $820,000 in scholarships since 2009. Students recognised have demonstrated potential in their chosen careers, strong academic results and involvement in their Aboriginal community.…
A celebration of all things Cars, Music and Fashion! WITH Rosebud’s long history as a great place to enjoy summer beach holidays, what better place to revive the fun filled 50’s & 60’s lifestyle? This rock and roll festival, called Foreshore RockFest, will run over three days, 17th – 19th November, and will involve seventeen different events involving music, dance, movies, car and vintage shopping all based in Rosebud and Dromana Drive In. Fun starts on Friday evening with Rock’n’Bowls, at Rosebud Bowls Club,a car cruise along the back beaches of the Peninsula plus a dance at Rosebud Primary School…
TWO men were arrested after allegedly attempting a ram raid on a Dromana service station early Friday morning. Somerville Highway Patrol police spotted the pair after they allegedly reversed their Ford sedan through the doors of the Pt Nepean Road servo about 1am. A 24-year-old and a 20-year-old, both of Seaford, were arrested inside the 7-Eleven store. An attendant was not injured. The men were charged with armed robbery. They faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court Friday morning and were remanded to reappear at the same court at a later date. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 7 November 2017
SOUTHERN Peninsula Food for All is seeking public help in reaching its $55,000 target. So far raised the group has raised $3850 but they have news of some big donations in the offing. Last year they provided 522 Christmas hampers and gave toys to 572 children. Hampers and toys will be distributed again this year to those in need. Collection bins for non-perishable goods are at Woolworths Rosebud, Rosebud West and Rye, Coles Rosebud and McCrae, and Ritchies Dromana. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductable. They can be sent to Food for All, PO Box 440, Rosebud…
PENINSULA Health has got a tick of approval for its role in improving health outcomes for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. The healthcare provider — manager of Frankston Hospital, Rosebud Hospital, The Mornington Centre and Golf Links Road Rehabilitation Centre — won the ‘Supporting LGBTI health’ category at the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards. “Being the first full public health service in Australia to achieve the Rainbow Tick is a significant achievement,” Peninsula Health acting CEO David Anderson said. “I thank all our staff who put so much effort into this project which will dramatically improve the…
MOONLIT Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park has won the Premier’s Sustainability Award for Environmental Protection 2017 for its orange-bellied parrot Breeding for Recovery program. Park director and founder Michael Johnson said he was “thrilled and honoured to win”. He said the sanctuary, in Tyabb-Tooradin Rd, Pearcedale, would continue to breed the parrots “until there is a viable wild population again saved from extinction”. “We have committed to run our program for at least the next 10 years,” he said. The first release of three birds from Moonlit Sanctuary and five from Zoos Victoria was held on Tuesday 24 October and two…
THREE youth forums to be held over the next six months will ask peninsula young people what they think needs to be done to combat issues such as anxiety, depression, bullying, suicide, family violence and body image. The aim is to give young people a say in creating the solutions many think are desperately needed. The forums are being held by not-for-profit group Youth Out Loud, which has been running resilience and leadership programs in schools in Australia, South East Asia and Africa for 25 years. Youth Out Loud founder Steve Brunskill says the best chance of success is to…
ALTHOUGH seriously injured, with abdominal and back injuries and being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital last week, a Crib Point woman was still able to respond to her critics on social media. Rhiiannon Hewitt, 21, was considered lucky to be alive after being ejected from her car when it struck a Stony Point Rd power pole at about 60kph – snapping it into pieces – 9am, Tuesday 24 October. Her Holden Commodore, which rolled in the collision, looked to be a write off. Countering criticism she should have been wearing a seatbelt, Ms Hewitt replied: “It was a mistake not…
Compiled by Brodie Cowburn “PLEASE keep on sending us all the cigarettes you can”, was the message received the other day from a commanding officer at the front by the Over-Seas Club Southern Club Tobacco Fund. “I write this on behalf of all the men under my command,” he continued, “and I can safely say that every other would write you the same thing, in the meantime, please accept my sincere thanks for the case of Australian made cigarettes. They are a boon and a blessing.” *** IT has been officially reported through the Red Cross Bureau that Pte Arnold…
The fiercest line up of Aussie rockers will be heading to the peninsula to play the best of AC/DC! Whole Lotta Rosie is going to electrify crowds as they tear up the stage belting out the classic AC/DC hits that spans an almost 45 year career for the iconic Australian rockers. The line-up for Whole Lotta Rosie features musicians from Australia’s most iconic rock bands The Screaming Jets and The Angels including Paul Woseen (The Screaming Jets), James Morley (The Angels), Dave Stevens (Son of Bon Scott), Gregg Aldridge, Kevin Hunt and Rohan Moran (formerly of Back in Black) and…
COMEDIAN Austen Tayshus will perform live at the Rye Hotel as part of his 30th anniversary National Australiana tour, Friday 10 November. The gravelly voiced showman has performed more than 10,000 shows since the release of his 1983 comedy single Australiana written by Billy Birmingham. The iconic release draws its humour from puns using the names of places and animals, such as “… my mate Boomer rang”; “… do you wanna game of Euchre, Lyptus?” and “… how much can a koala bear?” He has also produced films, documentaries and records, mostly dealing with social issues, and performed on TV’s Live and Kicking. In 2012,…
SIX rewards of $1 million will be paid for information leading to convictions in the murders of six women whose bodies were found in Frankston and Tynong North in 1980-81. The rewards are part of Operation Lyndhurst and are the largest ever offered in Victoria. They relate to the disappearance and murder of six women – two from Frankston and four from other suburbs – between May 1980 and October 1981. On 30 May 1980, Allison Rooke, 59, was seen leaving her home in Hannah St, Frankston North, 11am, intending to catch a bus to the shops. Her body was…
A GIANT Australian lily flower in the palm garden at Beleura has been monitored over the past month by aficionados. The gardens surrounding the elegant mansion, built in 1863 with interesting antiques and structural features, are open for tours and events. Like an alien Triffid, the Doryanthus palmeri is related to the better-known Gymea Lily (Doryanthus excelsa), whose torch-like, red flower heads dominate many of Melbourne’s roundabouts. Head gardener Richard Smith said the single flower head “just kept expanding” in size so that, now, several kilos of orange-red flowers are close to drooping on the ground under their own weight.…
PENINSULA Chamber Musicians will perform their final two concerts for the year at Rosebud and Mornington next month. The first is 2pm Saturday 11 November at All Saints Anglican Church, Rosebud, and the second at their regular venue 2pm Sunday 12 November at Mornington Community Theatre. The subject pieces are Britten’s Simple Symphony, Bernstein’s Waltz from Divertimento for Orchestra, Bartok’s Romanian Dances and Mendelsohn’s Italian Symphony. PCM performs under musical director Andrew Hall (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) and president Anthony Pope (Orchestra Victoria). Formed in 2013, they provide an opportunity for classical musicians to play in a high-quality chamber orchestra, as…
Police are currently searching for a fisherman who failed to return home after a trip to Blairgowrie yesterday. Investigators have been told the 78-year-old from Wantirna left to go fishing off rocks at the Blairgowrie back beach about 9am. When he did not return home last night family members raised the alarm and police searched the area around 10pm last night. The man’s car has been found in a car park on Number Sixteen Access Road but the man is yet to be located. The search will continue at first light with assistance from other specialist police and the SES.…
TWO men who smashed their way into a Rosebud jewellery store early Monday morning got away with dress rings and less expensive jewellery items from racks and display cases, police said. Detective Sergeant Jason Hocking, of Mornington Peninsula CIU, said the men used an angle grinder to cut through two padlocks on a metal grill then smashed through double doors to Paul’s Fine Jewellery, Point Nepean Rd, 3.15am, Monday 23 October. Once inside they smashed two cabinets and grabbed trays of rings and bracelets of an unknown value before driving away west in a late model black hatch. Substantial damage…
A BITTERN cattery has won a Mornington Peninsula Heritage Award. Windrest Cattery, in Myers Rd, won the Creative Reuse of a Heritage Place award for turning its 1920s dairy building into a cattery. The judges’ citation said the work “retained the original fabric of the building and converted the original layout into individual cattery suites and office space”. Owners Dennice and Robert Breeschoten completed the renovation and opened their cattery in April after owning the building for 25 years. “It had been used for storage,” Mr Breeschoten said. “Then we realised the potential of this lovely building, which now houses…
A WALK by 18 women from Safety Beach Yacht Club to the Sorrento Hotel on Sunday 29 October will raise funds for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF). And they will stand out, too, as all the women will be wearing red Wonder Women t-shirts helping create a “sea of red” on the foreshore near the sailing club at 8.30am. Organiser Helen Powell said she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer four years ago and has been “living with the disease ever since”. “Throughout this time I have worked and continued to raise a family through treatment,” she said. “I have…
A SILAGE wrap recycling program being trialled on the Mornington Peninsula aims to reduce the number of used silage bags going to landfill. Farmers are being encouraged by Mornington Peninsula Shire, the Victorian Farmers Federation and Solo Resource Recovery to bring used silage wrap to the Mornington Resource Recovery Centre where it can be exchanged for a full bag of wrap for free. Farmers use the bags because hay wrapped in airtight layers of plastic retains feed value than unwrapped hay. VFF branch vice-president Geoff Coghill approached the shire seeking a better recycling scheme. He met with waste services operations…
STREET art event Voices To Be Heard will be held at the Rye fairground between Christmas and the new year to focus community attention on youth suicide. The event will be held at the Wittingslow Carnival by the Sorrento Activity Centre and Studio Sorrento in conjunction with Rosebud Secondary College. Money raised will go towards the college’s Youth Wellness Pavilion. Organiser Pat Watt said she hoped a diverse group of young artists would create street art which will be hung and at times worked upon on the fencing around the fairground by young artists. They will have been provided with…
TOORAK College, Mt Eliza, will next year begin building a new science and technology centre where its students can learn the skills needed for Australia’s fastest growing industries. Over the next decade the school believes 75 per cent of jobs will require skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), despite enrolment in these subjects declining across Australia. “Currently, females are significantly underrepresented in STEM careers and make up only 16 per cent of STEM qualified professionals,” Toorak College Principal Kristy Kendall says. “Only one in four IT graduates and fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates are women.” Ms…
COMPUTER users are being advised to watch out for scammers who call to say that “some issues with your computer” mean they must have access. Computer repairer pcplanIT, of Diane St, Mornington, warns that the caller usually claims to be from Telstra but might also say the Australian Taxation Office, or a big company. “We have already had four computers in for servicing after a phone scammer gained access,” the company’s Richard Okill said. “The best solution in these cases is for a full back-up and reinstallation of Windows to make sure there are no traces of any keylogging software.”…
THE best 30-40 Flying 15 class yachts in Australia will contest a major sailing event at Mornington Yacht Club in the new year. Flying 15s are a 6.096 metre (20 feet long with 15 feet waterline length) performance yacht with a two-person crew. They have remained a popular racing class yacht all over the world for years. Planning for the 1-4 January regatta began 12 months ago with a practice race on 31 December and the presentation dinner on 4 January. Entries close in five weeks with interest already from several Western Australian competitors. “This is a major summer event…
AUTHOR Fran Henke realised the need for a book outlining the latest expert advice for polio survivors after attending a conference in Sydney last year. “Experts from around the world were speaking on the main areas of concern for us and I wanted to get that new information to the often isolated people who need it most,” Mrs Henke said. “The exchange of ideas on management for polio survivors in the second round of the fight with the polio virus has proved vital in the absence of wide understanding of post-polio syndrome in the medical profession.” Mrs Henke, of Hastings,…
AN application for a planning permit to rebuild the fire-ravaged Somerville Recreation and Community Centre is being advertised in the lead up to works starting next year. The Mornington Peninsula Shire planning application is for a four-court indoor multi-sport facility to replace the two-court building destroyed by fire in May last year. The rebuild will include refurbishing the damaged community area, amenities for players and officials and better public areas in the recreation centre. The shire in August committed up to $3 million next year for the rebuild – subject to it receiving a $1.5 million grant from Sport and…
AN outdoor seat with plaque dedicated to the memory of Joan Backhouse was stolen from lawns outside St Mark’s Church, Balnarring, overnight Wednesday 4 October. The jarrah three-seater, with the plaque mounted in middle, had been bolted onto concrete between the vicarage and the church on the Stumpy Gully Rd side of the property. Senior Constable Travis O’Donnell, of Hastings police, said the seat was valued at about $1200 but had a greater sentimental value. First published in the Western Port News – 17 October 2017
CUTTING power costs and cleaning up the marine environment are on the agenda of the Mornington Peninsula branch of the Australian Greens. “So many residents on the peninsula are struggling to make ends meet with increased power prices,” co-convenor of the peninsula branch Paul Saunders said after a public meeting at Dromana Community Hall on Saturday (7 October). “It was refreshing to hear [MP for Melbourne] Adam [Bandt] speak about the future vision of the Greens to solve this crisis through decreasing costs by using an effective mix of renewables and storage.” About 60 people were at the meeting to…
CANADIAN Bay Calisthenics College Masters has won the Victorian state championships in Division 1 – the highest division. The team members – all aged over 26 – won four items and placed second in the other two. The 16 women aged 28-41 are coached by Sarah Fortnam, a teacher at John Paul College, who also performs with them on stage. Most competed for Canadian Bay in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. “It’s just like the Blues Brothers getting the band back together,” member Elspeth Dove said. “We now all have careers and most are mothers, but once a week we…
THE power needs of some local businesses are becoming cheaper and greener – thanks to a partnership with Mornington Peninsula Shire. Boneo Maze is one of five businesses to sign an environmental upgrade agreement (EUA) to install solar panels. Others on board are the Rye Hotel, One four Nelson, Hussey’s and Co and Paringa Estate Winery. The installation of a 14 kilowatt system at the maze takes the total solar power installed through EUAs on the peninsula to 230kW. Maze owner Michael Wittingslow said the EUA was an opportunity to further the environmental sustainability of his business. “EUAs presented a…