News
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The simple joy of walking
Marita Brown is one of the original Lancefield ‘Movers and Shakers’. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 18 years ago but it hasn’t stopped her from forming a local walking group, and now signing on for Parkinson’s Victoria’s A Walk in the Park for the eighth time. The Melbourne walk raises funds to improve the…
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Stepping up enforcement
Drivers are still flouting the law when it comes to passing emergency vehicles with flashing lights and local police are stepping up enforcement. A law passed on July 1 last year means drivers must to slow to 40km/h when passing an emergency vehicle with flashing lights to improve safety. Highway Patrol’s Sergeant Geoff Annand said…
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Chicken art hatches enterprise
There’s something about chicken art. People seem to go just a bit clucking mad about it. “It’s just egg-cellent really,” said artist Linda Newton, almost deadpan, as she showed the Express around some of the inclusions in Manu Feto Chicken Art Show that opened at Castlemaine’s Drying Shed Art Space on the weekend. Linda is…
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Parma charmer
When Castlemaine youngsters Kate Hemphill and Ainsley Nash heard about the impacts of the drought in NSW they decided they’d do something to help. The two junior students at Castlemaine Primary School went direct to their principal Peter McConnell with a letter they’d penned outlining their proposal to help the drought-ravaged farmers. “We wrote a…
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Pick up a Perry’s pupcake
The team at Perry’s Stockfeed and Saddlery in Kyneton are unsurprising all avid animal lovers. That’s why it’s no surprise they are excited to be taking part in the RSPCA’s Cupcake Day. The day is a fundraiser to help the RSPCA end animal cruelty in the sweetest way possible. Perry’s team and their supporters are…
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Pigs do fly!
A well-known stallholder at Macedon Ranges Farmers Markets, including Woodend and Lancefield, has taken out one of the Australian food industry’s most prestigious awards – a gold medal in the From the Paddock category of the delicious. Produce Awards. McIvor Farm Foods’ Belinda and Jason Hagan are based at Tooborac and specialise in a pasture-raised,…
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Goats have the goods
Holy Goat Cheese in Sutton Grange is living proof that small farms can be successful farms. The organic farm has taken out the Producer of the Year title in the 2018 delicious. Produce Awards and earned a gold trophy for its Cheese Nectar, as judged by a national judging panel. Owners Carla Meurs and Ann-Marie…
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Ranges win in wine show
Macedon Ranges wineries are toasting to success at Heathcote Wine Show. Hanging Rock Winery, Coliban Valley Wines and Mount Towrong Vineyard all received gold and one has come close to the coveted Heathcote Grand Terrior Trophy. Hanging Rock Winery is the only local producer to have been a finalist for the highly prized award every…
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Fight to keep farm
Ongoing hardship could spell the end of 12 years supplying top notch organic produce for Angelica Organic Farm. Glenlyon farmers Tim and Deri-Anne Wyatt said the past 18 months or so had hit them with setback after setback and the prospect of recovery looked grim without outside support. “We’ve lost crops valued in the tens…
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Finishing the homeless problem
With one Castlemaine agency advocating tiny houses as a means to help solve homelessness, local government leaders on Friday lunched with an international social housing expert to hear about how Finland has all but eradicated rough sleeping. Finnish-based Juhah Kaakinen is chief executive of the Y-Foundation, which provides 16,300 permanent low-cost flats to homeless people…
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Parma night for the farmers’ fight
Local pubs, clubs and restaurants are serving up parmas with added incentive. They have backed the widespread ‘Parma for a Farmer’ campaign that sees participating venues donate $1 towards drought recovery in NSW for every parma sold during the month of August. Kyneton RSL general manager Rebecca Hemphill said people in Kyneton had thrown their…
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Close calls on the Calder
Truck drivers, tow-truck drivers and auto electricians are calling for measures to keep them safe when they are pulled over on the side of the freeway attending to breakdowns. Kyneton auto electrician Jim Matheson and towies Doug Holden and Daniel Vereker have all found themselves perilously close to fast-moving traffic in the limited shoulder space…