Author: Stephen Taylor

RESIDENTS whose efforts have made a difference to the city were honoured at the Citizen of the Year Awards, held at Kingston Council’s annual Australia Day Breakfast on Monday at City Hall. The four awards include Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Group of the Year and Young Community Group of the Year. Presenting the awards, mayor Geoff Gledhill said each of the award winners had tirelessly served the Kingston community. “Thanks to their efforts our community is more connected and supportive and we thank them and commend them for their good work,” he said. Citizen…

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TWO shadows in the water near the mouth of the Patterson River – thought to be large sharks – prompted Carrum Surf Life Saving Club members to clear the beach on a Saturday over the Christmas break. The dark shapes were spotted by a life saver on a routine jet ski patrol between Mentone and Frankston on Saturday 27 December. On shore, lifesavers on the club’s all-terrain vehicle evacuated the beach as a precaution and life savers in the club’s inflatable searched the water. Although nothing was found, patrol captain Ben Rooks said it would be wrong to downplay the…

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EARLY morning weekend car parking bans – and a greater emphasis on road safety after an elderly pedestrian was knocked down and killed by a peloton cyclist in Mentone in 2006 – have been credited with reducing accidents and improving road manners along Beach Rd. Communicating with other cyclists and keeping an eye out for parked cars were other keys to safer Beach Rd cycling, Kingston Police Pro-Active Policing Acting Sergeant David Ingram said. He said ‘doorings’ and smashing into the backs of parked cars accounted for a “good proportion” of cycling accidents – especially when cyclists were riding in…

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IT wasn’t a bomb, but it was just as destructive. A Frankston house was partly demolished last Wednesday afternoon when its hot water service exploded. The force of the blast in Drum Close destroyed much of the rear of the house and part of the roof. It is believed no one was home at the time. Witnesses said the hot water tank “took off like a rocket” and ended up on a nature strip in Dalpura Circuit. “When it exploded there was a loud bang and it shook houses for quite a distance around,” said a neighbour, who asked not…

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ONLOOKERS to a hazardous material – hazmat – incident at Carrum Downs could have been forgiven for thinking Santa had arrived early, or, perhaps, that strange little men from Mars were taking over the neighbourhood. In protective orange suit and green boots, and carrying a large yellow plastic container, a chemical-protected officer gingerly made his way down the driveway of a house in Pebble Beach Drive. He placed several articles in the container and moved back to a man-size decontamination unit set up in the middle of the street – watched by police, firemen and ambulance crews. The officers watched…

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