Day: March 4, 2019

PENINSULA CRIB Point have fallen just short of Moorooduc in day two of a hotly contested clash at Crib Point Rec Reserve on Saturday. Chasing 185 for the win, Moorooduc got off on the wrong foot and lost a series of early wickets. The bowling efforts of Moorooduc’s Reece Cordeux helped his side greatly, as posted figures of 4/39. Crib Point ended up all out for 168, just 18 runs short of a win. At Ditterich Reserve, Main Ridge got the better of Pines in another tight affair. Batting first Pines scored quickly but lost wickets quickly as well. They…

SOCCER SKYE United’s FFA Cup journey took a dramatic twist on Saturday when it came from two goals down to beat Monbulk Rangers 4-3 at Centenary Park. Monbulk had beaten Skye in the promotion race from State 3 last season and came into the clash as a firm favourite. But things didn’t go Monbulk’s way when injury forced Declan McAleese to be replaced by Cameron Poynter after just 14 minutes. Four minutes later Daniel Walsh’s lethargy in pushing up from defence allowed Poynter to beat the offside trap and hammer the ball past Skye keeper Jonathan Crook for the opener.…

SOUTHERN Peninsula Sharks players Jaz Shelley and Olivia Pollerd will join the under-19s Australian squad in preparation for the under-19s World Championships in Bangkok in July. The two Sharks’ players were selected to be apart of the World Championship team camp two weeks ago. The girls will join some of Australia’s best junior basketball talent for a weekend long camp in May. Southern Peninsula Sharks basketball operations manager Lucas Allen said they were both incredibly excited to join the squad. “For Jaz, she’s been to two World Championships already including the under-19s as a double bottom age. She’s been to…

ANTHONY Freedman’s stable stars Santa Ana Lane and Shoals stepped out in a handy jumpout at Balnarring on Wednesday 27 February. The talented pair, who have recorded seven Group 1 victories and just shy of $6 million between them, finished first and second in the second heat of the morning and look right on track for their return to the races. Santa Ana Lane was allowed to find his feet at the back of the small field before working home powerfully to finish two lengths off his stablemate Shoals, who led from start to finish, in the 1000-metre gallop. Pinecliff-based…

FOR many visitors to Mornington and for many of its residents, Alexandra Park is the place at the top of Main Street to play footy, cricket and netball. Most people drive past Alexandra Park on the way to sampling the delights of “the street”, or to drop off the kids for their weekend sport. Few, if any, give a second thought about the history that permeates every sod, every blade of grass, every brick and every plank that make up the community space. For those lucky enough to remember before World War I, Alexandra Park would mean more than bristling…

‘IN the valley’ is an exhibition that highlights the beauty and fragility of our natural environment. Observing and documenting the changing landscape of significant areas of the Mornington Peninsula, artists Rosie Weiss, Jean Langley, Merryn Lloyd, Christine Lloyd, Michael Favaloro and Siri Hayes reveal their personal connections to the landscape and the strong links to place that exists across generations. The ‘In the valley’ exhibition coincides with the Mornington Peninsula Shire moving towards zero net carbon emissions across all its operations by 2021 and supporting long-term climate change resilience across the community. The exhibition is presented as part of ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE…

ERIC Clapton’s career has spanned over 6 decades. Lauded as being the greatest guitarist of all time, his roots are firmly & obviously embedded in the blues tradition of which he remains both a student & visionary. In his unforgettable ‘Unplugged’ Concert, Clapton paid homage & respect to his roots & those fellow legends that influenced his playing so significantly. The music was minimalist, alternating between his reworked pop songs such as Layla, the traditional blues of Robert Johnson & Bo Diddley, and new songs , including Tears in Heaven, that were an outpouring & expression of a very difficult…

FROM Daddy Cool to Mondo Rock and as a solo artist with no less than 26 ARIA Top 40 hits to his credit as a singer, songwriter and producer, Ross Wilson is one of Australia’s most awarded, respected and well-known artists! From the legendary band Daddy Cool whose number one anthem Eagle Rock smashed all previous sales records in Australia, to the 1977 formation of Mondo Rock, delivering 80’s hits ‘Cool World’, ‘State of The Heart’, ‘Chemistry’, ‘No Time’, and ‘Come Said The Boy’ and into the 21st century as a solo performer, Wilson has never been out of the…

LAST week Mr R. W. B. McKenzie of Melbourne Road had the pleasure of welcoming home his soldier son, Lieutenant McKenzie, who as a member of the Flying Corps saw service in Egypy, Gallipoli and France. *** MR A. K. T. Sambell, C.E., having secured an extended lease of “Balnawartha,’ in Frankston, intends establishing his home here at an early date. *** AN old identity passed away on Sunday in the person of Mrs Henderson, of Cranbourne Road, Frankston. The funeral took place on Monday. *** THEIR many friends were pleased to welcome Privates Bob. Dean and Roger Burton who…

TROY Thornton, the former officer-in-charge at Mornington Fire Station who chose to end his life in a Swiss euthanasia clinic last week, left behind a loving family, many friends and a message to legislators. Mr Thornton, 54, who suffered from multiple system atrophy, said in an interview with website Starts at 60: “The Victorian euthanasia legislation needs to be modified to enable people like me with a chronic degenerative disease to have access to the law, not only those defined as ‘terminal’. “As a first-responder I have seen too many traumatic suicides and suicide attempts. An assisted suicide in Australia…

RESIDENTS in the Dalsten Grove area of Mt Eliza are concerned about the safety of mainly elderly pedestrians near Canadian Bay Road as they approach the shopping precinct. They are “desperate for council traffic management action” on the roads which they say are lined with cars of shop staff who “park on both sides of the road all day plus other vehicles entering and exiting Dalsten Grove”. Complaints from residents in Dalsten Grove, Woodland Close and Mews and Clarkestown Avenue, led to the deputy mayor Cr Rosie Clark and Cr Bev Colomb to hold a public meeting also attended by…

PROTESTERS against the Kaufland “mega store” being built on the Bata Shoes site in Nepean Highway, Mornington are taking to the streets, with John and Lorraine Smythe spelling out their opposition in signs near Oakbank Road last week. “We are organising local residents, traders and other interested parties to join our campaign,” their neighbour and fellow Oakbank Road resident Janet Street said. “We hold an information table on Wednesdays at the Main Street market and will be organising large crowds to be outside each hearing day in Mornington to protest against Kaufland. “The proposal includes a 430 vehicle car park…

Murray Mandel has taken his talents to the road in a bid to raise money for Lifeline. The 65-year-old classical guitarist is two years into a three-year journey on behalf of the national 24-hour crisis support phone service. Lifeline volunteers provide suicide prevention services, mental health support and emotional assistance, either by phone, face-to-face and online. Mendel, pictured, who lives in Sydney, began his travelling troubadour lifestyle from Canberra in March 2016 with hopes of being back there by 9 March 2020. He has a 75-song repertoire of classical pieces, some of which he’ll be playing at Bentons Square shopping…

IT’S getting hot and crowded on the stairs at Birdrock Beach, Mt Martha. While some visitors are happy to enjoy the scenery and tranquillity, others seem more concerned about beating their personal best times as they rush up and down. Regular stair walker Rob Dawson, of Mt Martha, says barbs are often exchanged between the groups and admits his occasional comments have drawn return fire. To lighten the mood, Mr Dawson has penned light-hearted poems which he thinks encapsulate the method – and the madness – of the bustling scene. He places them along the fence near the stairs along…

AN animal welfare body offering subsidised cat desexing on the Mornington Peninsula has been kept busy. The Humane Society for Animal Welfare launched the pilot project Thursday 20 February as a “trial to be evaluated past the initial response”. Save Mornington Pound Animals organiser Rosy Fischer, who is assisting the group, said 70 vouchers were requested by residents in the first week. The service will target cats in the Rosebud and Hastings areas, which Ms Fischer says are “the worst areas for all pets with most of the impounded pets coming from these areas”. Ms Fischer…

Mornington Peninsula Shire is lining up to congratulate a Dromana supermarket for winning several in-house industry awards. Ritchies Supa IGA Dromana was last month named IGA International Retailer of the Year. The award was presented to CEO Fred Harrison and Jarrod Swaine at the international IGA conference in San Diego, US. Not to be outdone by the hype, shire councillors are arranging some publicity around the store’s awards. In a flurry of emails between councillors, the mayor Cr David Gill said he supported “the idea of official shire recognition for IGA”. “Great news indeed for Ritchies Supa IGA Dromana to…

THE discovery of a metre-long tiger snake behind a Dromana fish-and-chip shop was an unwelcome surprise for proprietor June Wu, Wednesday 27 February. “A delivery guy came in and said: ‘Do you realise you have a snake out the back,’” she said. “It was in the gas meter. I went out and it was the first time I’ve ever seen a snake outside of the zoo.” Ms Wu, the proprietor for 10 years, said she called snake catcher Barry Goldsmith who was able to quickly bag the reptile for release “within five kilometres”. Mr Goldsmith said the snake was the…

Fire-fighting appliances, as well as three Elvis air cranes and two helicopters, tackled a fast-moving bushfire at Shoreham, Thursday 28 February. An emergency warning was issued for people living south-east of the blaze about 1.45pm, however this was downgraded to a watch-and-act about 4pm. A CFA spokesperson described the fire in a plantation off Punty Lane, between Shoreham and Mornington-Flinders roads, as a “dynamic scene” confronting firefighters on the ground and the helicopters operating out of Tyabb Airport. She said the fire was threatening homes on Tucks Road and moving south fanned by fresh northerly winds towards Western Port and…

SOMERVILLE Highway Patrol nabbed 239 motorists speeding during Operation Hisser, which ran from December to mid-February. It targeted speeding on high risk or high speed rural roads on the Mornington Peninsula. Of those pulled over 41 were prosecuted for low level speeding (less than 10kph over the limit) and 11 were detected at loss-of-licence speeds. Acting Senior Sergeant Dave Collins said that while the number of detections was high, the “majority of motorists were travelling within the speed limit, which contributed to lower trauma on our roads, with only one serious-injury collision on the targeted roads in the operation”. He…

SOMERVILLE Highway Patrol officers are appealing for witnesses after two incidents – one fatal – in Somerville and surrounding suburbs last week. In the first incident a motorcyclist in his 50s died when he collided with a utility in Somerville, 4.30pm, Monday 25 February. Police said the white Holden ute was being driven erratically, first in Bungower Road about 4pm, and then travelling north on Tyabb-Tooradin Road, when it collided with the southbound motorbike at 4.25pm. A black Holden Commodore then crashed into the utility. The driver of the utility and the female passenger in the Commodore were taken to hospital…

MORNINGTON Peninsula residents are being asked to help the police disrupt the manufacture and supply of drugs in the community by reporting anything they know about offenders. The nation-wide Dob in a Dealer campaign paid for by the federal government aims to stop the supply of drugs, such as methylamphetamine (ice), cocaine, MDMA, heroin and cannabis. It also gives residents an opportunity to support their friends, families and colleagues by voicing their suspicions about who is dealing in drugs in their area. Crime Stoppers Victoria’s Cassandra Joyce said public support played a crucial role in police intervention against criminals and…

The battle for the seat of Flinders in the May federal election became a three-cornered contest on Friday with Labor announcing Josh Sinclair as its candidate. Mr Sinclair was campaign manager for Chris Brayne, who won the seat of Nepean in last year’s (24 November) state election. He was later appointed as Mr Brayne’s office manager. Mr Sinclair’s official endorsement by Labor follows reports last month that Tracee Hutchison would be the party’s candidate. However, Ms Hutchison, a broadcaster and journalist, later said she would not be a candidate despite giving it serious consideration and being “flooded” with support and…

The CSIRO is leading studies into the likely effects of climate change along the Port Phillip coastline. “This project is an important piece of the puzzle in understanding what climate change means for Victoria’s natural and built environments,” Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) project manager, Dr Tamara van Polanen Petel said. The department is one. The project – which involves government departments and bayside municipalities – will assess the extent of three key coastal hazards: inundation, coastal erosion, and groundwater change – under several climate change scenarios. “We know that climate change is happening, and we know…

ADAM Mill has a trademark beard. He’s known in the Rosebud area as a swimming instructor and, more recently, as a leader with Rosebud Sea Scouts. However, he’s now decided to sacrifice his distinctive facial hair to raise money for leukemia research. Mr Mill says the tragic consequences of the disease were brought home to him 18 months ago when a friend of his wife’s died “leaving a widow and five amazing children”. Sea scout Rachael Wood and cub Blake Kelso have also raised their hands to lose their hair to help the leukemia foundation. Rachael’s hair will be made…