TRADERS welcomed the latest attempt to build a new retail precinct in Pakenham.
Civic leaders hoped it would be third time lucky as they again attempted to attract a developer to develop vacant land behind the town’s library.
CASEY Council rejected an application for renovation and the extension of trading hours at Hotel Eden in Berwick.
Hotel chief executive Perry Stork said he was disappointed and would appeal the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
A TRUCK accident in Mt Burnett killed about 2000 chickens, with emergency services noting it was not the first time a truck had overturned on the road.
The truck was taking about 4000 chickens from Cockatoo to Devon Meadows when the accident happened, breaking several crates and spilling chickens on to Pakenham Road.
PAKENHAM dress designer Rhonda Nocker took out the Designer of the Year award at the Sydney Miss Earth Australia beauty pageant.
THE Berwick post office was to open for three Saturdays in December as traders called for the busy store to open every weekend.
Store manager Jessica Allison said she was opening the High Street Australia Post store in the lead up to Christmas to cater for demand.
Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce president Harry Hutchinson said weekend trade would ease congestion at the post office during the week.
VANDALS threw bricks and concrete and scratched an obscene message on Cockatoo bowling greens.
Members of the Cockatoo and District Bowls Club spent the following day cleaning up the mess from the damage.
AN ARMED robber escaped with cash after threatening staff at Subway in Pakenham.
The raider, who was armed with a knife, entered the store and demanded money, wearing a stocking to obscure his face.
PAKENHAM’S Joe Byrne was setting his sights on a World Championship medal after claiming gold in the Oceania Karate Championships in New Zealand.
The 14-year-old fighter added the title of Oceania champion to his resume in Auckland, winning the 14-15-year-old under-52kg category.
A SURVEY of Harkaway residents found that most did not support the connection of town water, sewerage and gas to the town.
Judy Wallace, secretary of Friends of Harkaway Reserves, did not support the connection to most areas of Harkaway, but called on the State Government to install a sewerage system for the houses bordering Grassmere Creek.
CARDINIA township residents were angry and in a state of shock after learning of State Government plans to install a large booster pump station in the rural township.
Members of the tight-knit community were outraged that the station, required for the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant, could be built just 500 metres from Cardinia Primary School.
PERFECT weather greeted punters for the Pakenham Racing Club’s inaugural Caulfield Guineas Day.
The sunny skies encouraged a big crowd to turn up to the races, with racing manager Michael Hodge putting the attendance above 1500, a good result for the new event.
The Geoff McDonald-trained ‘Know His Power’ made the most of the dead track and was a surprise winner in the day’s feature race, the 1300 metre Pakenham Football Club Class 1 Handicap.
AN OFFICER family was left with little more than the clothes on their backs when fire gutted their home of 22 years.
Firefighters rushed to the Carson Road house but there was little they could do to stop the blaze.
Members of the Carson family, who rushed home after hearing the devastating news, watched in despair as their house burnt to the ground.
THE mayor’s ratepayer-funded motoring holidays were scrapped after community outrage.
Freedom of Information (FOI) documents given to the Gazette revealed Cardinia councillor Bill Ronald took ratepayers for a ride during his terms as mayor in 2006 and 2008.
His latest trip to Darwin, which cost ratepayers more than $1800, came after a previous motoring holiday to Queensland.
MARYKNOLL singer Sophie Paterson was farewelled from Australian Idol as her dreams of becoming the program’s next winner came to an end.
The 23-year-old blonde bombshell bowed out of the competition after making it through to the final seven contestants.
EMERALD B-grade’s Tim Sproule used his spin to take five wickets and help his team restrict Upper Beaconsfield to 305 runs.
Emerald eventually bowled out Upper Beaconsfield in the last over of the day.
BERWICK Village traders were fuming about paying up to five times more for rubbish collection since the introduction of a new system by Casey Council in August.
Two garbage compounds replaced individual bins under the system to service High Street businesses.
Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce president and owner of Harry’s Male Fashion, Harry Hutchinson, said his annual garbage collection cost was $1000 – up from $200 in 2007.
A GROUP of Bunyip residents called for the closure of a recycling business operating in Murray Road.
Michael Jusic, who lives near the business, said he was worried about materials stored there and the possible contamination of the Bunyip River.
DESPITE rumblings of discontent from the Dandenong District Junior Football League, the MPNFL was set to push ahead with the formation of the Casey Cardinia Junior Football League in 2009.
The Casey Cardinia Colts under-18 competition will be the first division to play under the new banner.
A SENIOR officer at Casey Council resigned, a casualty of what had been described in State Parliament as the Labor Party “waging war on Casey”.
The officer, director of community services Jennie Lee, had been unable to work due to illness following sustained attacks on her credibility in council.
The circumstances surrounding Ms Lee’s absence from work are now the subject of investigations by Workcover and the Local Government Association into Mayfield Ward councillor Kevin Bradford.
THE theft and destruction of oxygen equipment in Cockatoo stunned police officers and paramedics.
Police believe the Oxysaver bag was stolen when a man called emergency services to a party in Nioka Close, claiming he had been assaulted.
The man, who was laying in a gutter and had vomited on himself, then told attending police he had not been assaulted.
The on-call ambulance crew discovered the theft during the next call.
Paramedics returned to the address of the assault, and found the Oxysaver bag, its contents and cylinder burnt about 100 metres from the site of the original call-out.
VLAD Duric’s Melbourne Cup dream had to wait at least another year after the Nar Nar Goon jockey rode 2007 Caulfield Cup winner ‘Master O’Reilly’ into fourth place.
Duric, 33, positioned the six-year-old gelding perfectly at the turn and surged into second spot at the 200-metre mark, but Master O’Reilly faded to finish just out of the placings.
MICHAEL Griffey’s killer was still at large after his estranged wife walked free from court.
Diane Griffey was to stand trial for the murder of Mr Griffey, but prosecutors withdrew the charge, telling the Supreme Court the Crown wouldn’t be able to prove who killed the Pakenham businessman.
BEACONSFIELD experienced a crime wave as burglars struck a home and two schools three times, while police investigated a report of a sexual assault.
The spate of criminal activity began with two thefts at St Francis Xavier College. In both break-ins, thieves entered the school through a window and stole a laptop.
The value of the stolen goods was about $3000.
Beaconsfield Primary School was also a target for thieves, with an IBM laptop computer taken from the school.
$5000 worth of goods was also stolen from a home in Tranquility Place.
In a house on Stella Street, Beaconsfield, a 58-year-old woman was asleep on her couch when a person woke her and made obscene comments before indecently assaulting her.
FALLEN servicemen were honoured across Cardinia and Casey on Remembrance Day.
At 11am people gathered in townships across both municipalities to pay their respects on the 90th anniversary of the Armistice.
