Featured
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Hub on the market
The long-time owners of ‘The Hub’ Castlemaine, Neil and Heather Barrett, have made the difficult decision to put the 120-year-old property on the market. The Castlemaine couple said they were both ‘above’ retirement age and had decided the time had come to sell the Barker Street property to focus on their major project, The Paddock…
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MAGPIE online auction launches
The team from MAGPIE has just launched an online auction as a fundraiser to support the continuing shoot for MAGPIE, a feature film to be shot at Railway Farm, Trentham. Billed as Wuthering Heights meets The Ring, MAGPIE is a supernatural/thriller romance following the story of a man mourning the death of his wife, who…
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Romsey’s hard fight to glory
Bill WestIn one of the best Gisborne District Cricket Association grand finals for many years, Romsey fought tooth and nail to overcome Sunbury United in a tense and absorbing McIntyre Cup grand final spread over Saturday and Sunday. Celebrations in Romsey are likely to be extended, with the club capturing its first McIntyre Cup/A-grade flag…
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Bendigo to host opera festival
From March 24 to April 30, Bendigo will play host to another destination art event for Australia. Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle Cultural Festival is a truly rare opera occasion, drawing opera lovers from around the world to the regional Victorian city. The not-for-profit arts organisation’s $5M festival will employ over 250 Australian singers, musicians, creatives…
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Teenage stars are state reps
Bill West This week, Basketball Victoria selected four young stars from the Macedon Ranges in the 10-member Country Victoria Under 16s men’s team. This team will compete at the National Championships in Perth in July. In any sport, it would be regarded as amazing to have four representatives in any state team from such a…
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Tackling food insecurity locally
Community members facing hardship will have improved access to pantry staples and frozen meals, thanks to a new Food Bank in the undercroft of the Woodend Neighbourhood House. The new location will help Woodend Neighbourhood House better respond to the increasing demand for food relief. Melissa Baker is the manager of the Woodend Neighbourhood House…
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Make some noise with DEAD!
Lisa DennisLocal band/art project DEAD will be running a free all-ages ‘Noise Workshop’ in Mechanics Lane Castlemaine on Wednesday March 29. Band members Jem and Jace will back this up with a second all-ages show at ONI Streetwear in Forest Street, Castlemaine, on Friday April 7. It has been a whirlwind six months for the…
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Gisborne plan ‘just not on’
An amended development plan for Gisborne’s Ross Watt Road has failed to gain the support of Macedon Ranges Shire Council. Decision on the hotly contested large-scale development will fall to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal later this month. Speaking to the council’s position last week, Cr Anne Moore said the plan as presented was…
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Irrigation pipeline completed
Angela CrawfordWork on an irrigation pipeline designed to divert treated wastewater from the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant to irrigators is now complete. Known as the Kyneton Recycled Water Irrigation project, the 14-kilometre pipeline network will pump up to 300 megalitres of recycled water to farmland to reduce the risk of the plant discharging excess wastewater…
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Building a sisterhood
Paediatric intensive care nurse Grace Larson is breaking down barriers of distance and affordability for rural families seeking infant and child first aid training. Through The Sisterhood Project she aims to provide free essential paediatric first aid training for vulnerable groups, in an aim to curb child mortality rates in rural Australia. Her work so…
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Grassfires pose threat
Jade Jungwirth A large grassfire at Cairn Curran Reservoir near Baringhup on Saturday required the response of 12 tankers, one big fill, a number of smaller vehicles and air support from Firebird 3. CFA crews from Maldon, Walmer, Newstead, Baringhup and Carisbrook CFA battled the blaze in difficult terrain that included rabbit burrows, bull rushes…
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The true cost of the housing crisis
Jade Jungwirth“I can’t save money. I’m trapped paying way too much for rent and paying for rooms I don’t even need and I have no autonomy or agency over my own life. There’s no reason it should be this way. We’ve allowed economics to trump reality and people’s existence,” Steven said. The Express recently interviewed…