Featured
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Art museum launches appeal
Castlemaine Art Museum is forging ahead with plans for the future thanks to continued positive fundraising momentum. CAM director Naomi Cass said that thanks to a major donation of $50,000, they had been able to launch an End Of Financial Year appeal to help raise funds to continue delivering artistic programs. “As a not-for-profit organisation,…
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Auctioneer’s milestone
Woodend veteran real estate agent John Keating last week marked his 50-year anniversary as an auctioneer with the sale of an 89-hectare farm at Romsey for $2.85M. John’s first auction on June 15, 1973 was for the sale of a 34-hectare farm in the Kerrie Valley. The auction was conducted in the Kerrie Hall and…
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Help the Silver Tops sparkle
Castlemaine’s renowned seniors dance troupe, the Silver Top Dancers, is seeking community support to purchase a set of spangly new uniforms. The popular local group harbours dreams of auditioning for Australia’s Got Talent and has launched a GoFundMe campaign in a bid to raise $3000 to purchase the new outfits, which aim to bring a…
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‘To get rich, you’ve gotta get dirty’
A new rapid-fire eight-part comedy series filmed at Porcupine Village in Maldon will premiere on ABC TV and ABC iView next month. Gold Diggers features a hilarious Australian cast and a long line of local extras so local viewers may spot some familiar faces on screen. Set in the 1850s, Gold Diggers follows sisters Gert…
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Songs of people and place
Valley Road winds through rolling basalt hills from Glenhope towards Chewton, connecting two friends, Rebecca Jane Howell and Marty Mckenna, who have been singing together for more than a decade. They weave their experiences into songs of people and place (usually sitting around Marty’s farmhouse kitchen table), bringing an Australian perspective to their diverse folk…
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Housing crisis deepens
We all ask ourselves what’s going on when we see tarps erected in public places, or people sleeping in their cars. Those who work daily with people experiencing housing stress and homelessness understand that open or rough sleeping in Mount Alexander Shire is the visible tip of the iceberg of the current systemic housing crisis.…
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Exhibition claims national honour
The good news continues for the newly installed Boorp Boorp Boondyil exhibition at the historic Castlemaine Market Building, with the announcement that exhibition celebrating local Indigenous culture has won a national award. Boorp Boorp Boondyil, which means ‘passing knowledge on to our children’, was selected as the winner in the Indigenous Recognition category of the…
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Help preserve history
Kyneton High School has launched a Major Gift Donor program, aimed at restoring and preserving the rich heritage of its historic school hall. The school is inviting donations from local individuals and organisations to contribute towards the restoration project, to ensure a continued legacy for generations of students to come. Constructed almost a century ago…
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Restaurant owner suffers burns
A Gisborne restaurant owner suffered burns to his face and hands after a fire broke out at the Hong Kong Tasty Kitchen last Friday. It is believed the man was cooking on a stove top just before midday when flames reached up into the exhaust system and extended to the roof space. CFA brigades arrived…
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Star Wars battle still on
Approved plans for a home designed to replicate a Star Wars light cruiser have upset neighbouring landowners. Macedon Ranges Shire Council issued a planning permit for the house at 131 Pipers Creek Road, Kyneton, which proposes a spaceship build on a lunar landscape. The house has not yet been built and the property has since…
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Cross plan splits views
Plans to remove native vegetation to restore historic views to Melbourne from the Mount Macedon Memorial Cross have prompted passionate debate. The cross is considered the second most significant war memorial in Victoria but decades of growth have altered its original view lines. Parks Victoria’s viewscape project seeks to clear 0.79 hectares of native vegetation…
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The power of the personal
An audience of about 150 listened transfixed as speakers from Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Burundi told stories of their quest for freedom at the Kyneton Town Hall on Sunday. Hosted by Macedon Ranges Rural Australians for Refugees, with the support of Macedon Ranges Shire Council and the sponsorship of Bendigo Bank Gisborne, the event…