THE postcodes of drug users visiting Frankston’s methadone outlets will be collected to help authorities identify the best locations for methadone outlets in other areas. The short-term tactic is aimed at diluting the cluster of six outlets near the station that dispense opioid replacement therapies – and reducing the need for addicts to congregate there. It is a key outcome of a meeting held last Thursday between the Minister for Community Services, Mary Wooldridge, and Frankston councillors, aimed at combating drug-related problems in Frankston city centre. Also attending was David Southwick, Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Services and Minister Kim Wells,…
Author: Stephen Taylor
MOVIES starring lovable animals – such as Red Dog or Lassie – are always family favourites. We grieve at their misfortunes and thrill to their courage and stoicism. Oh how we yearn for a happy ending. And, then, when the lights come on, there isn’t a dry eye in the house… Harnessing this theme is an upcoming movie by Mordialloc dance school proprietor and filmmaker Steve Kearney, which he describes as being in the same vein as The Castle and Crocodile Dundee. Oddball – starring established local star Shane Jacobson and his ‘daughter’, nine-year-old Coco Gillies – is about (you…
FUNDING cuts to Family Life’s SHINE program will end assistance it gives to children suffering mental health disorders. The program is a victim of new funding criteria which sees “well off” areas such as Bayside, Kingston and Glen Eira judged as not needing funding as much as “less fortunate” areas. That means the $450,000 needed to provide services for children with early signs of mental illness, or those emotionally affected by parents suffering alcohol or substance abuse, will not be forthcoming after December. Family Life chief executive Jo Cavanagh said she was concerned that “in the current funding environment the…
FROM little things big things grow – and that’s what history buffs at the Kingston Historical Network hope will happen to their fledgling World War I memorabilia display. The group is putting together an exhibition of items to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great War, which began in August 1914. Residents are asked to fossick through their memorabilia and to loan the museum for display any items handed down by loved ones over the years. Of special interest would be tactile objects made by the troops in the trenches while waiting to go into battle, said curator Dorothy Booth,…
A DEPUTATION from Frankston Council is for the second time thisa year seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister for Housing to thrash out concerns over public housing. Councillors are frustrated at the lack of maintenance, serious anti-social behaviour by problem tenants and “deplorable management by the Department of Human Services” – and they want action. Leading the charge is Cr Glen Aitken, who said the minister, Wendy Lovell, “would be made to listen” to the council’s concerns about anti-social behaviour which had been “going on for years”. “Problem tenants have for too long caused untold misery to neighbours and…