News
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Support networks vital
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals suicide rates are at a 10-year high. The Causes of Death Australia 2017 report, released last week, indicates the national suicide rate increased 9.1 per cent over 12 months, with 3128 taking their lives in 2017 compared to 2866 in 2016. beyondblue clinical advisor Dr Stephen…
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Balloons no party for wildlife
Balloons may be an international symbol for celebration but that is the last thing on the minds of livestock owners when the litter lands in grazing paddocks. Drummond North’s Nina Dougall is calling for more responsible use after having to wrestle to save cattle that chewed up balloon litter. She said she knew of others…
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Fuel prices skyrocket
Victorians have been hit by the biggest surge in fuel prices in more than a decade. RACV motoring experts explain why this has happened and offer some fuel-saving tips. Leanne Tolra Fuel prices in Melbourne last week hit 167.9 cents a litre and averaged a four-year high, just as the school holidays began. RACV vehicle…
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Do the time warp
When Castlemaine’s Leslie Thornton was a schoolboy he lived next door to the school – but was always late. In class the young Leslie would stare longingly at the schoolroom clock and today reports that he could often observe the second hand slowing down – or even stopping completely. Now the acclaimed contemporary artist gets…
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Platypus plans
What uses electroreception to find its prey, is venomous, and is a semi aquatic mammal that lays eggs? One of Australia’s iconic species, the platypus. The word ‘platypus’ comes from the Greek for ‘flat-footed’ as they walk on their knuckles when travelling on land to protect their webbed feet. If you’d like to learn more…
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Childcare centre rejected
A lack of suitable sites for new services in Romsey has hindered plans for a desired childcare centre. The Reynolds Grove proposal was to service families in the growing town with capacity 100 children and 18 staff but was rejected at Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s meeting last week based on location and traffic concerns. The…
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New kid on the kerbside
Recycling education will be a significant feature as Veolia Environmental begins its new contract providing kerbside recycling and waste collection services in Mount Alexander Shire. Executives with the multinational waste services provider made themselves known in person at last Thursday’s public event hosted by the council in Castlemaine to mark the beginning of the new…
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Protection promise that rocks
A re-elected Labor state government plans to purchase Hanging Rock’s East Paddock. Long championed by the community, the move is expected to give greater protection to the precinct, and its views, which was threatened by a development proposal five years ago. Planning Minister Richard Wynne last week pledged $3 million to purchase the land and…
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Warm welcome for UK import
Woodend Cricket Club’s first-ever international player received a very enthusiastic welcome within a few hours of arriving from England last Wednesday. Monte McCague, from Leeds & Broomfield CC, is the son of former English fast bowler Martin McCague who played three Tests against Australia in the 1990s. The strongly built 20-year-old describes himself as “a…
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Skills for life
Kyneton Community and Learning Centre in conjunction with the Social Foundry and This Farm Needs A Farmer are rolling out a third round of their very successful ‘Skills for Life’ program. They are now adding an agriculture stream to the program, as well as offering more places in the sought-after hospitality course. It will launch…
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New management for Newstead pool
Bendigo Regional Young Men’s Christian Association Youth Services will manage Newstead Swimming Pool for the next three years following a council decision last week. But the Newstead committee that has managed the local pool since 1964 will still have some input into the pool’s operations in a move aimed at ensuring the community retains its…
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Hunt on for land
Romsey Men’s Shed needs a permanent home and has identified a preferred site at Romsey Park. The organisation became incorporated in June and the new executive’s primary goal is now to secure a site for construction of a building to house the group’s activities. Secretary Patrick Holt said the group had considered several sites and…