Month: April 2015

METRO Trains has denied the troubled Stony Point rail line will be shut down permanently and may bring back diesel trains until a boom gates problem is fixed. Passenger train services have been suspended on the Stony Point line since 30 March after boom gates failed to close when trains approached level crossings on two occasions last month (‘Rail line shut down’, The News 7/4/15). Buses have replaced trains to transport passengers to stations between Stony Point and Frankston while Metro works on an “engineering solution”. Axle counters are being installed along the rail line to ensure boom gates are…

Frankston Crime Investigation Unit detectives are investigating after a large amount of cigarettes were stolen from a Karingal tobacco store on Anzac Day. Four men have forced open a roller door to a store at the Ashleigh Avenue Shopping Centre using a jemmy bar about 3.05am. They obviously hadn’t done their research, as they soon realised they had broken into the wrong store and left without taking anything. The bumbling thieves had better luck on their second attempt and forced entry to the roller door of the tobacco store and left with a doona cover filled with a large number…

A man has been charged with an assortment of offences following the execution of a search warrant in Carrum Downs yesterday morning. More than 300 grams of methamphetamine, a conducted energy device, more than $15,000 in cash and small amounts of other drugs suspected to be cocaine, heroin and cannabis were allegedly found at the Hillview Drive house. A brand new Holden SSV utility was also seized as part of the operation and it will be alleged to have been obtained by proceeds of crime. Yesterday evening, 25-year-old Domenic Quadara was charged with trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, traffick…

Carrum Downs uniform members will be forced to make room in the property office after executing a search warrant in Carrum Downs late this morning. More than 300 grams of methamphetamine, a conducted energy device, more than $15,000 and small amounts of other drugs suspected to be cocaine, heroin and cannabis were allegedly found at the Hillview Drive house. A brand new Holden SSV utility was also seized as part of the operation and it will be alleged to have been obtained by proceeds of crime. A 24-year-old Carrum Downs man was arrested at the address and he is currently…

HASTINGS Football Club recently established their Hall of Fame with the induction of ten men who have been star players and administrators over the past 100 years. Some of these inductees have passed on, and their awards were received on their behalf by family members. Richard Francis was one such recipient who stood out from the rest because he accepted TWO awards – one for his father and one for his grandfather. Richard was a Hastings team-mate of mine in the 60’s and, although I knew his father from those days, it was his grandfather, Bert Francis, who held the…

HASTINGS FNC by Phil Stone, club president SENIORS REPORT IT was a good weekend for the Hastings Football/Netball club. We showed each other a new side of ourselves that we haven’t seen, and that is grit and determination. It was a cold windy day and for the most part dry but rain at times. I feel that we played good football at times but we were a little too unaccountable for our men too and the Bombers made the most of this. We had our chances and were the best side on the day for sure but not converting really…

A search is underway for a 48-year-old Frankston North woman who has been missing for two weeks. Karen Rae has not been seen since leaving her home address in Adib Court on Wednesday 15 April about 7pm. Investigators have been told that Karen left home in the company of a man named Tony Smith. Police believe the pair drove away from Karen’s home in a black Commodore station wagon. Karen has not made contact with any of her friends or family since that time. Investigators have released an image of Karen in the hope that someone may have information on…

MR and Mrs Trenchard have decided to continue their residence in Frankston for the winter months. *** MESSRS Alex Scott and Co will hold their usual monthly sale at Tanti, on Monday next, when a good yarding of cattle and sheep is advertised. *** MESSRS Brody and Mason’s bi-weekly produce market at Frankston, will be held on Wednesday afternoon next. *** DURING last week Mr W. West, storekeeper, Violet Town, and Mr D. Crothers, contractor, of Rushworth, visited Frankston, and each bought a building allotment in Petrie St Frankston. *** A POST office pillar box has been erected at the…

In just four weeks’ time Mornington will come alive with the sights and sounds of the Queen’s Birthday Weekend Mornington Winter Jazz Festival from 5th – 8th June. Now in its third year the festival has grown to include even more live performances with free and low cost activities the whole family can enjoy. This year’s dynamic jazz program offers a wide range of jazz performances with styles and sounds to suit everyone. Kicking off the festival on Friday 5th June is a new addition to the program, a dinner performance by Latin Jazz Ensemble Clave Mania at Biscottini Mornington.…

A seven-year-old Girl Guide has been reunited with a family brooch after losing it at the Mornington Anzac ceremony. The 65-year-old brooch holds great sentimental value as it belonged to her great grandmother who passed away very recently. She had worn it as a sign of respect for the day. After it was discovered to have fallen off, a frantic search failed to locate the brooch. On Sunday, Mornington Tadpole Unit Guide Leader, Michelle Dawson, turned to the media for help. After posting it up on Mornington Peninsula News Group’s Facebook page last night, the post reached over 25,000 people. Ms…

DROMANA resident and shire councillor Graham Pittock is off to Ireland in June, at the invitation of the matriarch of the 21st generation of FitzGeralds to occupy the land on which Dromana House stands. Cr Pittock and his wife Prue will, with the FitzGerald descendants, celebrate 800 years of continuous occupancy of the land on which the splendid new house stands, high above the River Blackwater near Lismore in County Waterford, southeast Ireland. The invitation reads: “Your township is named after our demesne and this unique link in history creates an important link, for you and for us.” It came…

MT ELIZA has started the 2015 Peninsula League season in blistering fashion after knocking over Mornington on ANZAC Day. The Redlegs have now beaten the two 2014 grand finalists in Frankston YCW and Mornington in their first three games, as well as Bonbeach, who played in the Preliminary Final last season. In a tight and scrappy affair, the Redlegs simply used the football a lot more effectively when they went forward, giving them a 9.6 (60) to 6.9 (45) victory. Despite losing the clearances and having less inside 50 entries, the Redlegs were much more efficient when they got into…

PEARCEDALE caused one of the boilovers of the season on Anzac Day when they thrashed Somerville in Nepean League. The Panthers led from the start to the end and totally dominated a lacklustre opposition, winning 15.8 (98) to 9.15 (69). Pearcedale fielded its strongest side of the season and probably the strongest side it can field for the year. The likes of Troy Jacobson was back from Frankston Dolphins, Basil Sibasado was cleared for one game from the Kimberley’s and Mornington recruit Kallum Searle made his debut for the Panthers. As it turned out, Jacobson finished the afternoon with three…

MT MARTHA surfer Arturo Tallarida rode his way to third place in quality surf for the first round of the state longboard titles at Point Impossible, near Torquay. The 2-3 foot reef break suited Tallarida, who was one of the few east coast surfers to make any sort of mark in the round which was dominated by west coast surfers. Tallarida came third in the open men’s and open logger sections. Other Mornington Peninsula surfers to secure a foothold in the round were Craig Burton, St Andrews Beach, Tomaso Bellasai, Mornington, and Benjamin Pitts, Mt Martha, who came second, third…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s contentious Municipal Charge, now $180 per domestic rate notice, is to be reviewed, shire CEO Carl Cowie told the 13 April council meeting. Responding to a question from Joe Lenzo of Safety Beach, Mr Cowie said the review could result in a change to the flat-rate charge starting in the 2016-17 financial year budget. Mr Lenzo had asked if the shire would “consider discontinuing this regressive and unfair tax”, collecting it instead by increasing the rate in the dollar. He had provided figures showing its disproportionate effect on the less well off. The highest dwelling rate, excluding…

TRADERS in Rye are being encouraged by two shire councillors to install their own CCTV cameras after years of delay and unfulfilled promises by state governments and the shire. Nepean Ward councillors Tim Rodgers and Hugh Fraser say they are “working closely with the newly formed Rye Beach Business Association, Leading Senior Constable Julie Simpson of Rosebud police, Rob Miller of [Sorrento-based CCTV supplier] Telsec and council officers to promote a safe Rye”. Cr Rodgers said many Sorrento traders had installed CCTV, which had made the town’s main street safer, and “we hope Rye traders will follow suit as cameras…

THEY’VE chopped down the trees of my childhood in Mornington. Fifty old pine trees were removed from CB Wilson Reserve near the Fishies Beach end of Wilsons Rd a couple of weeks ago. They had to go – they were old and potentially dangerous, although it’s odd the shire council declared them a danger more than four years ago. I used to live in Marine Ave with mum and dad in an old house on more than an acre, and our back fence was close to the park. It was a tumbledown fence covered in tea-tree and shiny leaf with…

IT may have started as a pure flight of fancy, and has developed into one of the most successful marketing and branding exercises the world has known, but there seems no end to epic that is Star Wars. The movies have been shown (repeatedly), merchandise made, costumes worn, snatches of dialogue endlessly swapped and still the lure of time and travel seems infinite. Like space, the story of the Star Wars phenomena seems to have no outer limits. Next week’s May the Fourth Be With You Day is being as eagerly anticipated around the globe as the staged releases of…

AN expanded Bentons Square Kindergarten was officially opened last Wednesday by the state government’s Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos as Labor and Liberal politicians put aside their differences to celebrate the building of the $1 million centre. The preschool’s second “licensed kindergarten room” provides space for 33 children and was built with $600,000 from the former state government and $400,000 from Mornington Peninsula Shire with, according to the shire, “support from Community Kinders Plus and Bentons Square Community Centre”. (Community Kinders Plus manages 18 preschools for the shire and Frankston Council.) The kinder is next to the community…

THOUSANDS of people commemorated Anzac Day, attending dawn services and marches across the Mornington Peninsula. The threat of rain did not appear to impact on the numbers gathering to mark the centenary of the ill-fated landings of Australian and New Zealand troops on the beaches at Gallipoli, in Turkey. In direct contrast to the suffering of the troops, Saturday’s crowds parked their cars and walked to the various ceremonies free of any impending danger. Children proudly wore the medals of relatives as they approached memorials, letting everybody know the soldiers’ deeds would not be forgotten. Ironically, while the various speakers…

FIVE men have been charged with various drug offences after three different cars were pulled over by police in the same Rosebud street in one week. Two of the drug busts involved ice and one cannabis growing in a pot on a car’s back seat. In one case an alleged 23-year-old drug dealer was arrested and charged and held in custody. Two days later a second man, 46, was arrested and charged with similar offences but bailed to appear in September. In the first incident on Sunday 5 April police from Rosebud spotted a potted cannabis plant on the back…

THE final winding up of the financial affairs of the organisation behind the Shiva School of Meditation and Yoga, Mt Eliza, could depend on “litigation flowing” from allegations against its former spiritual leader, Russell Kruckman, also known as Swami Shankarananda and Swamiji. Paul Burness and Con Kokkinos of Worrells Solvency & Forensic Accountants were last week appointed voluntary liquidators of the troubled Shiva Yoga Inc. Mr Burness on Saturday said the timing of the winding up of the organisation would be determined by the “litigation flowing” and contingent liabilities. Once finalised, the liquidation will see the end of an organisation…

Police were at the scene of a car crash in Mornington that has claimed the life of a woman this morning. It’s believed a vehicle was travelling south along the Moorooduc Highway when the driver lost control on a bend and crashed into a tree in the centre medium strip about 11.30am. The male driver was taken to The Alfred by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries. A female passenger, aged in her 80s, died at the scene and is yet to be formally identified. A male passenger, aged in his 90s, was airlifted to The Alfred with critical injuries. Anyone with information is…

REVISED Arthurs Seat Skylift gondola plans received a reluctant green light from shire councillors last Wednesday night, but with some suggested changes – a new colour for the gondolas and reservations about the location of heritage objects, which Skylift initially proposed to house inside the summit station. The matters may be negotiated with the applicant. Other changes Skylift wants appear likely to reduce costs. They included removing a toilet block from the bottom station – and thus off the Skylift budget – on to public land and deletion of several original design features. After the meeting, several members of the…

THE scenic possibilities are endless and the choice of “natural landscape” entirely up to the photographer for a competition being run to show the best views of Mt Martha. Creators of the 13 top shots chosen for a 2016 calendar being planned by Mt Martha Community Bank will all receive a monetary prize (conveniently paid into a Bendigo Bank deposit account) ranging from $200 for the overall winner, $100 for the best junior entry and $50 for the remaining 11. Photographers must focus their lenses on the area bounded by the coast from Martha Cove to Bentons Rd and across…

The Anzac ceremony at Mornington Memorial Park was a big event for a seven-year-old Girl Guide. Not only did she lay a wreath, but she was wearing a family brooch with great sentimental value. After the wreath laying, and moving among the crowd, the brooch that was pinned to her sash came loose and fell onto the ground. A frantic search was made to find the brooch, but to no avail. Now the Mornington Tadpole Unit Guide Leader, Michelle Dawson, is asking for anyone at the service to recall if they may have seen the brooch, or possibly picked it…

A man has died after being hit by a car in Dromana last night. Police have been told the man stepped onto the outside north bound lane of the Peninsula Freeway just before 8.50pm. He was struck by a Toyota Corolla, before being struck by at least one other vehicle. The man died at the scene. A 41-year-old Mornington woman is currently assisting police with their enquiries. Anyone with any information about the collision is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at crimestoppersvic.com.au

LONG before the extensive and frightening casualty lists monopolized the Melbourne papers in the years 1914 – 1918, there were occasional casualties which occurred in a training context. The town of Hastings was saddened by two of these. Both occurred long before the Gallipoli landings and both were the consequences of the perceived threat of invasion of the Mornington Peninsula. The Hastings Battery The threat of invasion by the Russians and/or French, whether real or imaginary, sparked a flurry of activity in various parts of the Peninsula in the 1880’s. Tensions rose when a Russian trawler paid a visit to…

LATE in 2014 Keith Stevens, DFM, a long-time resident of the Village Glen at Rosebud, was informed that the President of the Republic of France had awarded him the highest level of chevalier (or knight) of the French Legion of Honour. The award is recognition for “..risking your life for the liberation of our country 70 years ago.” This latest honour adds to those previously received: the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), which was presented by the King at Buckingham Palace, and some 20 others from UK, French, Polish, and Australian governments. Created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Keith’s Legion of…

MONTAGUE Romeo was born in Hastings to Charles and Katherine (nee Howard) Romeo in 1894. He first enlisted in Hastings on 11th September, 1914 but was discharged on 5th October, 1914 as being “unlikely to become an efficient soldier.” No reason was given in the official records for this assessment although his medical inspection noted “lower teeth deficient.” Moreover his height was only 5 feet 2 ¾ inches and in 1914 the army was seeking men of a minimum of 5 feet 8 inches. After several more unsuccessful attempts to enlist, Montague Romeo was finally accepted on 28th September, 1916.…