Monday 24 August 2009

Two men charged over Burswood star picket attack

as posted here

POLICE have charged two youths over a star picket attack on a 39-year-old man at a Gull Service Station on Great Eastern Hwy in Burswood early this morning.
The man was hit in the face with the metal picket and knocked unconscious after parking at the service station at about 1.10am.

It is alleged the pair, aged 20 and 16, took the man's car keys and drove off in his Hyundai Tiburon, which was later found abandoned in Gosnells.

Officers from the police major incident group arrested the youths a short time later.

They have both been charged with armed robbery and will appear in court today.

The injured man received serious facial fractures.


as posted here

Thursday 20 August 2009

postie down in Thornlie

as posted here

Hi Guys,

I just saw a postie down on the cnr of yale and spencer in thornlie.
ambulance and cops are there.

posties lying on the rd, doesnt look to good.
bags of mail on the road, and a banged up postie bike aswell.

I know theres a few posties on here, perhaps we can hear about what happened.
Hope the guy heals fast.

Matt

...


Ok I just rang my boss, I know her.
From what I can gather, A car ran a red light and hit her, she went up across the windscreen.
She has a broken leg and taken to RPH

Teedow


as posted here

Share in the beauty


as posted here

BARRY McNamara and Craig Kirkcaldy will answer the question “how green does your garden grow?” with the open garden at their Gosnells property this weekend.

Camellia Glades at 89 Corfield Street will be open to the public on August 22 and 23 from 10am to 4.30pm as part of Australia’s Open Garden Scheme.

The property boasts one of WA’s finest camellia collections, including rare and special species such as sasanquas, japonicas and reticulates.

Complementing them are roses, bulbs, citrus trees and wisteria.

WA Camellia Society President Jean Evans talks at 11am and 2pm each day and there are also grafting demonstrations on growing and propagating the plant.

Parking is opposite the property at the corner of King and Corfield streets. Entry is $6 per adult and under 18s free. Money raised goes to charities and community garden projects.


as posted here

Turned the corner

as posted here

TEACHERS and educationalists from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia visited Yule Brook College in Maddington last week to see first-hand the success the school has had as part of the Big Picture program.

The Year 8 to 10 school has undergone a teaching revolution since it was categorised as “hard to staff” when it was founded in 2000.

Deputy principal Eric Radice said numerous strategies were employed to develop a nurturing and caring learning environment.

“Yet high absenteeism and poor behaviour continued to plague the school,” he said.

In 2006 there were almost 300 student suspensions.

But in 2007 attendance was nudging 83 per cent and there were fewer than 50 suspensions. “The figures were so astonishing, it was assumed Yule Brook’s data system had malfunctioned, but they had not,” he said.

It was also the year that the school became inspired by the Big Picture education program that originated in Rhode Island, USA.

“Jaws dropped further last year when the school’s National Assessment Program literacy and numeracy scores reached benchmark or better.”

Two years on, the school is a hotbed of creativity and industry.

Plans to extend studies to Year 12 are well under way and the focus is firmly on higher education and careers.

“We now have students who never used ‘uni’ in a sentence, checking out entrance requirements for tertiary courses,” Mr Radice said.

“We are beginning to see a change of culture, not just among students and staff, but in the whole community.”

He said parental involvement had increased dramatically and the school’s internship program had proved enormously successful


as posted here

Change voted in

as posted here

THE first-past-the-post voting system will be used at council elections on October 17 after legislation was passed by the State Government last week.

Local Government Minister John Castrilli said the system would replace the previous preferential voting system and would make the electoral process easier to understand.

Mr Castrilli said it would also protect councils from the influence of main political parties and the rise of political factions within councils.

“First-past-the-post voting not only removes the potential for political or other tickets to be run, but the system will also mean results known in a very timely manner.”

The City of Gosnells applauded the move, Mayor Olwen Searle saying it believed first past the post was simpler and cheaper to administer than proportional preferential voting in use for the last council election.

“We are glad to see the State Government has reinstated a simple, cost-effective voting system,” she said.

“The City is committed to local democracy and public participation. First past the post is the easiest way for people to cast their votes. It also saves ratepayers’ money.”

The City is running a publicity campaign to help lift voting numbers at the election. Unlike State and Federal polls, voting is not compulsory.

Mayor Searle urged people to make sure they had their say at election time. “The decisions made by councillors affect every-day life in your own city – make sure you have a say in who is chosen for this vital role.”

Information on why voting is important and how easy it is, especially by post, is available from the City.

Gosnells has 12 councillors, each of whom serves a four-year term. The terms are staggered so half the council is elected at a time, resulting in elections every two years.

The council voted to recommend the end of the ward system, which means people will vote for candidates across the City, not in smaller areas.


as posted here

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Police raid alleged Kenwick drug lab (The West Australian)

Police raid alleged Kenwick drug lab (The West Australian): "Police have arrested a Kenwick man for allegedly operating a clandestine drug lab in Perth's southern suburbs."

Yet another Email the to the Member re: Toilets

School Toilets? Third World Standard!

Having received the letter from the sitting member, I must say that I am not assured that he has grasped the importance of this issue (lack of soap and adequate drying facilities in school toilets), I realise that as a sitting member he does have contact with schools, I guess that he may of asked various Principals if their toilets adequately cater for the students needs in this area, but I assure him that they do not, if he was to inspect them himself (without warning) he will be appalled by the lack of soap and facilities provided to the children. Thornlie Primary School is currently trying to sell some hand dryers that were purchased several years ago but were never installed, the parents at that school saw the need and stepped up and purchased this equipment, but of course the dryers could not be installed due to a poor power supply (even though they spent 50K on optical fibre for their Intranet), my eleven year old that attends this primary school will not use these toilets, my older daughter who attends Thornlie High School assures me that there is never any soap (prob rarely) and that she has to hunt for toilet paper. Both of my daughters attending school at the moment tell me that their teachers are constantly telling them to wash their hands regularly, but I must ask how can they whilst at school (the usual standard reply is "they should bring their own"). If you were to ask the principal or staff they will prob reply that of course there is soap, and they will handball the problem to the cleaners, and if you question the cleaners they will tell you that they do supply some, but that the kids waste it, I know that there is no specific budget to cater for this expense (time spent on P&C and School Council) so I must ask you "are schools provided with a specific budget item that caters for these supplies and if so why is it not used? I again ask you to please take the time to inspect these facilities for yourself, why provide public toilets if they can not be used for the specific task they are designed for?"

Peter Evans
Thornlie

New eye offers hope after bus attack

as posted here

The bus driver who lost an eye after a vicious attack was overjoyed at getting an artificial replacement yesterday, but says the incident has left him with ongoing nightmares and a heightened fear for his safety.

Gerard Sin, of Thornlie, said he was pleased with the life-like appearance of the prosthesis after it was fitted yesterday.

But while the physical scars are healing, Mr Sin said he was still having nightmares that started immediately after the rock attack. "On my first night I dreamt a group of people were pounding on me," Mr Sin, 59, said.

"They were jumping on to me and I got so scared I tried to kick them. My wife woke me up and I was delirious. I even asked my wife to make sure the door was locked."

Mr Sin was driving along Church Avenue, Armadale, on July 31 when he was hit in the face with a rock after refusing to let a group of men get on the bus. Doctors removed his left eye five days later.

Mr Sin reiterated yesterday that it was unlikely he would return to the job because he feared his mononuclear vision would put passengers at risk.

The father of two was also reluctant to put his wife Camilla through more anguish after she had long begged him to give up the dangerous work. The devout Christian said he might do some part-time work for his Presbyterian Church and was considering a request from his wife to become a "househusband".

He said he hoped to have counselling one day to cope with the trauma, but in the meantime, was managing to maintain his sense of humour.

Ocularist Jenny Geelen, from West Perth's Artificial Eye Services, said muscles around the eye socket had grown around an implant which was installed when the eyeball was removed. This allowed his artificial eye to move at the same time and in the same direction as his right eye.

The Christmas Islander and Friends Association is taking donations for Mr Sin at any Westpac branch. A morning tea fundraiser will be held at 9.30am on Friday at Westpac's Armadale branch.


as posted here

Day one ..

the following reply was given ...

Thankyou for your enquiry. Council meetings are conducted under the provisions of the City of Gosnells Standing Orders Local Law 2003, a co...