Author: Stephen Taylor

FRANKSTON ranks highly on family violence statistics, according to Hanover Welfare Services. CEO Tony Keenan said the city’s reported incident rate of 1747 cases per 100,000 people was higher than Dandenong’s 1574 – and far more than the state average of 1072 cases per 100,000 people. The welfare service provides emergency accommodation to 6500 victims – including 2500 children – in 240 houses in the Frankston through to Clayton areas. The biggest single cause of their homelessness is family violence. “Usually it’s mum and the kids escaping a violent relationship,” Mr Keenan said. “Kids are badly affected by family violence…

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IF all goes to plan, a free mobile phone app developed by a group of Monash students could offer Mornington Peninsula residents economic, social and environmental advantages all rolled into one. Their ‘Sustain Me’ recycling app will make the Mornington Peninsula Shire the first council in Victoria to have a centralised recycling platform that allows residents to recycle more efficiently and effectively. Ultimately, this will allow the shire to reduce its waste volumes and increase its reuse of materials, extending the life of existing landfills and, potentially, reducing household recycling charges resulting in cheaper rates. Such is the shire’s enthusiasm…

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THE shock death of a Chelsea Heights man after smoking synthetic cannabis has prompted police to warn of potential life-threatening reactions to the drug. Their comments also follow a raid on a Frankston tobacconist which found packages containing plant matter thought to be the drug. The man, 34, died at a Patterson Lakes house on Friday 14 November after smoking the drug with a friend. Sergeant Leo Raso, of Kingston police, said the man became severely dehydrated and began drinking large quantities of water from an outside tap. Returning inside he went into a bathroom and forced his mouth over…

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DESPITE “ticking all the boxes” for being in a location where people are most likely to drown – near beaches, rivers, pools and boating areas – Carrum Surf Life Saving Club has, touch wood, been spared the drama this year. And it has all the more reason to be satisfied because the Patterson River mouth is regarded as one of the busiest recreational boating zones in the southern hemisphere. With a sandbar across its mouth, it is now especially rough as it enters Port Phillip Bay. “Boats power into the river and then come to an immediate stop,” club secretary…

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FRANKSTON has the dubious honour of having the second highest number of children left unattended in cars in the Melbourne metropolitan area over the past 12 months.\ That figure – 23 – trails Pakenham on 30 and equals Cranbourne’s 23. Narre Warren had 21 and Mornington 11. Ambulance Victoria paramedics are disappointed at the 10 per cent increase. They describe the incidents as a mix of “deliberate or careless acts”. The officers responded to 1165 cases of children under-13 locked in cars in the period. It’s estimated around 100 more calls were for teenagers or adults accidentally locked in cars.…

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