Commitment to mobile phone coverage

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Nationals Agricultural Region MLC Paul Brown has welcomed the commitment of an additional $45million of Royalties for Regions funding for a second stage of the Regional Mobile Communications Project (RMCP).

Announced during recent State Budget deliberations, Mr Brown said the decision would help build on the success of the current program and continue to improve mobile phone coverage throughout regional WA.

Stage one of RMCP has already delivered 89 of a committed 113 new phone towers in regional WA including Walkaway, Three Springs, Ajana and Binnu South.

On completion of Stage one, some 8,000 kilometres of WA roads will have near continuous mobile coverage and overall coverage across regional WA will be increased by 22 per cent.

“No matter where I go across my electorate mobile phone coverage is an issue which is raised with me regularly,” Mr Brown said.

“Mobile phone coverage is a key aspect of day to day life.

“Be it for emergencies, business, or connectivity the appetite for coverage is insatiable.”

Mr Brown said RMCP had dialled in on an area of great community demand and it was pleasing to see Royalties for Regions continuing to deliver fantastic outcomes.

RMCP has successfully leveraged significant investment from Telstra, which has ensured the sizeable scope of stage one and has been at the core of the program’s success.

Mr Brown called on members of the community who experience major mobile phone black spots to contact his office, so these communities can be considered during the planning of RMCP stage two.

“RMCP is one of my favourite Royalties-funded projects but I need your help to ensure the second stage delivers the best possible outcome for our communities. I encourage you all to contact my office with your concerns,” Mr Brown said.

Sand moved from Pages Beach to Beresford Foreshore

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photo The Port Authority are underway in their transport of approximately 6,250m3 of sand from Pages Beach to Beresford Foreshore.

As part of the Northern Beaches Stabilisation Programme, the works began on Monday, May 19, and will conclude on Friday, May 23.

The purpose of the sand by-passing is to feed sediment into the longshore current operating in a northerly direction along the Geraldton coastline.

Through a coastal process known as littoral transport, the sand by-passing provides sediment to Geraldton’s northern beaches through the action of the breaking waves and the longshore current.

For further information on these works and the Northern Beaches Stabilisation Programme, contact Project Coordinator, Michael Dufour, on (08) 9956 6600 or email council@cgg.wa.gov.au.

Rowing an ocean for Mum and MS

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DCIM100GOPRO Victorian policeman Tim Spiteri is set to launch an audacious bid to row across the Indian Ocean later this month.

In a world-first, Tim and his team of eight, will attempt to row 8,500km non-stop, from Geraldton to Durban in South Africa without assistance – setting a new world record.

This is the second ocean crossing attempt Tim will embark on after successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 2013.

Through the combined crossing attempts Tim and his team aim to raise more than $250,000 for MS Australia.

Tim has been inspired to tackle the ocean rows by his mother Rhonda who has been living with MS for more than 30 years.

“Mum has been a constant inspiration for me. Every day I’m amazed at her courage and positivity and she’s always been there to support me throughout my life,” Tim said.

“This row is another opportunity to help her and to give back to people like Mum who are living with this terrible disease.”

The journey will not be an easy  and it will pose considerable risks to the team with high winds and large swells expected along the way as well as the threat of injury, boat damage and even piracy.

“I’m confident the team will be ready for departure and that they will be able to complete the challenge ahead,” Tim said.

“We’ve been training now collectively for quite some time and there is always a great camaraderie once you get in the boat and head out, because once you’re out there, you have to rely so much on each other.

“I’m sure it will get tough along the way but we have received such wonderful support so far and we know we will have family and friends back home cheering us on. I have no doubt this will spur us on regardless of what the ocean throws at us.”

Tim and his team will depart from Geraldton, (weather dependant) in the next couple of days.

To follow Tim’s voyage, and to support his journey by donating, visit www.timsvoyage.com.

Youths charged with burglary and stealing

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Two youths have been charged regarding recent burglary and connected offences.

Ongoing investigations by the Geraldton Police Volume Crime Team resulted in the arrests earlier this week.

A 13 year old male was charged with two counts of aggravated burglary and two further counts of stealing.

A 14 year old male was charged with aggravated burglary and stealing.

Both males were released on strict bail conditions and will appear in court in the coming weeks.

"True love and hard work" the secret to 70 years of marriage

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image002 Alfred and Jean Weston celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary today and the couple are still as much in love as the day they met.

When asked the secret to their marriage, Jean said, "hard work and loyalty" and Alfred said, "true love".

Alfred, better known as Snow, and Jean, met at a dance in Perth when they were just 19. Snow winked at Jean from across the room and the rest is history.

"It must have been his looks that attracted me to him," Jean said.

When asked if it was love at first sight, Snow answered, "more or less".

The pair were together for 2 years before being married in Perth's Catholic Cathedral in 1944.

Jean recalls how difficult it was to communicate with each other living in Perth and it was a either a push bike ride or a train ride to talk to each other.

"It was a lot of guess work just to see each other. We didn't have phones back then."

Snow and Jean both worked in, and owned hotels around the state before moving into their Geraldton home 40 years ago. Snow mentioned they paid $20,000 for their Wonthella home at the time.

The couple have two daughters, four grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

Jean, 92, and Snow, 93, said they had already enjoyed big celebrations for their 50th and 60th wedding anniversary and decided to celebrate this occasion quietly in their home today.

"I'm more than happy," Snow said.

Congratulations Snow and Jean, it's not everyday you meet a couple who have celebrated such a huge milestone!

Mid West Cat Shelter Cat of the Week

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image1 This week’s cat of the week is Freddie.

Freddie is a delightfully playful male black and white juvenile who loves a good cuddle. He is quite the little man, enjoys other cats and dogs, and is just becoming quite playful. Freddie has been micro chipped, sterilized, immunized, flea treated and wormed and is ready for his new home.

If you would like to adopt Freddie or any of the other cats or kittens, visit the Mid West Cat Shelter's Facebook page www.facebook.com/midwestcatshelter or website www.midwestcatshelter.com or phone 0487 193 244 to speak to a co-ordinator.

Roving camera to nab fine defaulters

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A new high-tech mobile numberplate recognition camera will soon be hitting the streets to target hard-core fine and infringement defaulters where they work and where they shop. Attorney General Michael Mischin said the State Government had called a tender for a mobile licence plate recognition camera, which would either be hand-held or mounted on a sheriff’s vehicle.

Mr Mischin said the camera would be the latest tool in a range of measures to target the State’s worst fine defaulters, who owe more than $279million to the Western Australian community.

“Vehicles are most commonly clamped when they are parked at someone’s home, however this can be quite limiting as people take their cars to work or go out during the day,” he said.

“Also, the addresses for some hard-core fine and infringement defaulters are not always current, and sometimes those defaulters deliberately don’t park their vehicles on their own property to avoid being clamped.

“The sheriff will use the camera in busy areas during the working day, such as shopping centres, train stations and the main streets of country towns where the wheel clamping laws are in force.

“From the sheer volume of cars scanned, we expect to catch fine and infringement defaulters who would otherwise avoid detection. This is about reclaiming millions of dollars which rightfully belongs to WA taxpayers, who have been footing the bill for this small group of hardcore fine dodgers for too long.”

In August last year, new laws came into force which allowed sheriff’s officers to wheel-clamp vehicles, seize licence plates and other property, and ‘name and shame’ fine defaulters.  Since then, 421 wheel clamps have been applied and 362 licence plates have been removed.  More than $70.8million has been recovered - a 12 per cent increase on the same period the previous year when $63.4million was paid.

Last month, the State Government expanded the program to the Peel and South-West regions. The Government has also launched an SMS trial in Ellenbrook and Albany, contacting fine and infringement defaulters via text message to warn them that they could face wheel clamping, licence plate removal or have property seized if they did not pay their debt.

Phone in a Bikie Day

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Today, Tuesday May 20th, is phone in a bikie day.

Police ask the public to provide information about illegal gang activity.

Police say that some members of bikie gangs do more than just ride bikes and their illegal activities affect the entire community either directly or indirectly.

"The Western Australia Police ran a similar appeal in 2009 that led police to the prosecution of 69 gang members, over 189 charges and seized drugs worth almost $11 million on WA streets," a statement from the police said.

"By phoning in, the community can help police in this fight without being fear of identified."

The community can report any illegal activity associated with bikie gangs by calling Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Weekly Sports Wrap Up

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Netball The Redink Homes Mid West Tigers are yet to get a win this season despite putting in a huge effort in a double-header home fixture over the weekend. The Perth Lions who sit on second spot of the state league ladder looked prime to take two easy wins but a feisty Mid West Tigers side showed no signs of backing down. Despite not getting a win, there were two hard fought out matches. Saturday was a tight clash and the Lions managed a 37-31 win over the home side. Sunday's scoreline was bigger with the visitors taking a 50-37 win.

 

Basketball

The Geraldton Buccaneers have come off two wins on Perth on the weekend and they currently sit in second spot on the SBL ladder. The Buccs took a 125-101 win over their third spot rivals, Joondalup Woolves, and a 118-97 win over the Cockburn Cougars. The Buccs will take on Mandurah Magic on Saturday at Activewest Stadium with tip-off at 7pm. Tickets are available at the door.

 

Hockey

The women's Cardinals side has made history over the weekend - being the first women's team to win three Challenge Cup titles in a row. The side took an easy 4-1 win against Swans to regain the cup. In the men's game it was Murchison who were too good for Yacht Club winning 7-2.

 

GNFL

Brigades annihilated Rovers on Saturday with a massive 170-32 win. Brigades are currently sitting in second spot on the GNFL league ladder with Towns ahead of them. In third spot is Mullewa and they managed to get another win on the board on the weekend in a tight match-up against Northampton with Mullewa taking the 8-point win. In the other match over the weekend Chapman Valley lost to Railways, 113-84. Despite some high profile recruits this season, Chapman Valley sit on the bottom of the ladder but it's only early days. Next weekend Towns will take on Rovers, Brigades will go head-to-head with Northampton on Saturday and Mullewa and Chapman Valley will have the only Sunday match.

Vessel in search of MH370 flight hits Geraldton's coast

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photo-16 The ADV Ocean Shield arrived off the coast Geraldton yesterday and is awaiting on spare parts before departing.

The Ocean Shield is an Australian Defence Vessel and returned to Western Australia earlier this month to continue the search for missing flight Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The ship is using an underwater vehicle, Bluefin-21, to search the ocean floor where suspected black box signals were detected in April.

According to FZ.com, the vessel is waiting to receive spare parts related to the transponder.

The Ocean Shield was originally going to Dampier to retrieve the parts but it was found the parts could be delivered to the ship quicker via the Geraldton Port.

The spare parts are expected to arrive today.

Once the replacement parts are installed on the ship,  a series of tests will be conducted in Geraldton before the Ocean Shield returns to the search.

References:

http://www.fz.com/content/mh370-adv-ocean-shield-prepares-receive-spare-parts-transponder

Reports of gunshot caused by slingshot

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photo-15

At approximately 9pm last night, police were called to an incident at the Broad Water Mariner Resort where information suggested a shot had been fired into the front foyer of reception.

Police blocked Mabel Street off and attended the scene and conducted preliminary inquiries.

Police say it appears as if the damage to the door was not related to firearms and is believed to have been caused by a rock projectile from a sling shot or similar.