Author: Stephen Taylor

MEMORIES good and bad came flooding back when a former child patient of a now-dilapidated and disused Mt Eliza children’s hospital visited the Jacksons Rd site last week. Don Lawson, 83, but only “three or four” at the time, spent many weeks at the 100-bed Royal Children’s Orthopaedic Hospital in 1939 when it cared for children with tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, club foot, curvature of the spine, and infantile paralysis. He was there to have his feet “straightened”, as was the way in those days, which meant fracturing the bones and resetting them in plaster. Visiting from Toora last week with his…

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A MOTHER and son arrested in Somerville last week allegedly supplied cannabis to school students over the past 12 months. Sniffer dogs taken to their house assisted police in allegedly finding two cannabis plants, 57 grams of cannabis in foils and $2865 cash. A 41-year-old woman was charged with drug trafficking and possession and profiting from the proceeds of crime. She was bailed to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court in April. Her son, 15, a former student of the school, was charged with cultivating, trafficking and possession. He was summonsed to appear at a children’s court at a later date.…

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A FRANKSTON woman has been duped into handing over several hundred thousand dollars to a man she never met in an online dating scam. The lonely woman, 63, was contacted in December by a potential “friend” who said he was in Australia but was soon returning to Turkey. The man said he was a civil engineer who was working on a project in that country and “needed funding to finalise the project” which he wasn’t able to provide himself.  “They continued with online conversations which were quite affectionate and made it sound like they were a couple and had been…

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FRANKSTON detectives played a crucial role in apprehending a man wanted over multiple service station robberies in Mornington, Frankston, Moorabbin, Berwick and Frankston on Friday night, 17 February and early Saturday morning, 18 February. Detective Senior Constable Mitchell Hardisty, of Frankston CIU, said police believe the same man may have been responsible for previous robberies at the United service station on Tyabb Rd, Mornington, and the 7-Eleven on McMahons Rd, Frankston. It is alleged the Mornington man, 43, struck at the United service station in Mornington-Tyabb Rd, 10.15pm, Wednesday 15 February, wearing a hoodie and with his face covered. He…

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THE huge crane working above a large commercial site in Nepean Highway, Mornington, has been turning drivers’ heads for a few months. Ralph Mackie, of the Frankston-based construction company that bears his name, agrees towering 64-metre boom has “stirred up a lot of interest”. The machinery is at the heart of a construction project to build a $35 million, 92-bed nursing home. Once finished, the home will have underground parking on the 5000 square metre site. The first stage is scheduled for completion in 12 months. The second stage, for 35 more beds, will lift the total cost of the…

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