Latest
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Gisborne gas leak
A gas main ruptured during excavation works in Gisborne yesterday morning shut the area down for four hours. Brantome street was closed off between Hamilton and Fisher streets while Riddells Creek and Gisborne fire brigades worked to make the area safe. Residents and shop owners in the direct path of the vapour cloud were briefed…
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Quad Fit making good times roll
For some exercising conjures images of pain and puffing. Then there’s others, like Castlemaine’s Jo Christy for whom keeping fit is so much fun she doesn’t want to stop. About five years ago Jo started Castlemaine Quad Fit, a fun aerobic workout done to music – with a twist. It’s all done on wheels –…
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Young achievers celebrated
Victorian Youth Week and the school holidays kicked off in style on Friday with a Youth Festival in Castlemaine’s Victory Park celebrating the achievements of young people in our community. The Mount Alexander Shire Youth Festival saw community members enjoy a range of fun activities including tie-dying, a Young Makers Market, live entertainment from young…
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Doctor in the house
Overweight high school drop-outs from low socio-economic backgrounds don’t get to be doctors – especially if they are single mothers. At least that’s what Carolyn Siddell believed. Now a GP registrar at Campaspe Family Practice in Kyneton, Carolyn has discredited that voice of negativity but getting to where she is today was no easy ride.…
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Car park confusion
The installation of new one-way traffic signage and line marking arrows in the Woolworths car park in Kyneton caused considerable confusion for shoppers taken by surprise last week. Sections of the car park are owned separately by Woolworths and Macedon Ranges Shire Council and the safety improvement works were undertaken by council in response to…
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Sunny for senate
A Kyneton local with an innovative plan to address immigration and regional growth in Victoria has announced he will be standing as an independent candidate for the Federal Senate in the upcoming elections. Sunny Chandra believes his policy of redirecting international students to regional areas is economically sound and of no cost to the taxpayer.…
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La Mama debut for Taradale
Taradale slapped on some sunscreen, cracked open an esky and eased back into a deckchair as Melbourne’s famed La Mama Theatre transported the town to the beach over the weekend. The much-loved Melbourne live performance institution staged Ladies of the Bay at Taradale’s Ash Tree Studio as part of Castlemaine Fringe Festival. The show had…
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House thrown a lifeline
Macedon locals are overjoyed with the shire council’s decision to scrap the intended sale of 47 Victoria Street. The much-loved house was the former maternal and child health centre, survived Ash Wednesday and has now been thrown another lifeline as dedicated locals move to make it a community hub. Council officers recommended the sale of…
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Hitting the open road
All of us have owned a ‘shitbox’ at one stage of our lives and have probably been grateful if it simply got us from A to B. There is a brave band of adventurers, however, who like to push the limits of their ‘shitboxes’ in the bi-annual Shitbox Rally across the wide open expanses of…
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Old hospital plans abandoned
Plans to develop the Old Kyneton Hospital site into residential housing have been abandoned, with the site now up for sale by expressions of interest. The heritage-protected property at 67 Simpson Street is for sale with Buxton Ballarat. “Real estate opportunities do not present to the market that often for a landmark property such as…
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USA coming up roses
We’re all familiar with the slow-food movement. Well, sustainability, provenance, ethics and the war on waste apply to the cut-flower industry too; just ask husband and wife team Danielle White and Ashley Wren of Crofters Fold Estate; a bee-friendly, artisanal flower farm located in the Macedon Ranges. The couple, whose shared love of gardening and…
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Encouraging a love of reading
A new community project will see books available across the Mount Alexander Shire for children to read. The Book Boxes project has been developed by Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program graduate Carli Springate. The idea is that the book boxes will be hosted at various locations in the shire and children can read, swap, donate…