The Local Paper. Heidelberger Edition. Wed., Feb. 22, 2023

BUNDOORA BOOMING SAYS MP BROOKS

CROWDS EXPECTED FOR ELTHAM JAZZ

■ After an absence of two years the legendary Eltham Jazz Festival is returningfor a free day/night concert in the Eltham Town Centre, on Saturday February 25.

Organizers of the Festival have engaged a rich selection of artists and band,s hoping to return the Eltham Festival into the top ten jazz festival in the world.

Eltham Festival held this honour several years ago and hopes this prestigious ranking can be regained in 2023-24.

■ “There is more happening now than I can say has happened in decades,” Bundoora MLA Colin Brooks told State Parliament this month.

“The North East Link is literally changing the face of transport in the north-east of Melbourne – a massive project,” Mr Brooks said.

“It gives me great pleasure to see in local shopping centres so many people, particularly young people, with boots and hard hats on, working on a project and going in to buy their lunch, supporting local businesses.

“There is the ability to direct so many young people who come to my office looking for work and training opportunities to the jobs hub at North East Link in Watsonia, where they can find out more about working on that wonderful project.

“Alongside that is a great public transport project, the Hurstbridge line upgrade, which the member for Eltham and I are keenly involved in in terms of communicating the benefits to our local community.

“That involves a brand new station at Greensborough, a brand new station at Montmorency and more trains run-

ning more often. The combination of a North East Link, when it is finished, that takes trucks off local roads and gets them onto that link and a better public transport system in the north-east cannot be underestimated.

“Along with that there are a whole raft of schools that are in different stages of redevelopment or upgrades in my electorate.

“ Greensborough College has been completed. That is a college that was mentioned in the Treasurer’s very first speech when the Andrews Government came to office along with, I think, Essendon Keilor College if I am correct.

“They were the two schools that were mentioned as being quite run down and in need of being rebuilt.

“In the spirit of the Andrews Labor Government in following through with its election commitments, we have delivered three stages of upgrades

to the Greensborough College, and that has now been completed, along with new sports fields which were funded by the North East Link Program

“There have been upgrades to Watsonia Heights Primary School, Watsonia Primary School, Watsonia North Primary School and Bundoora Primary School, and funding is being provided to Bundoora Secondary College for their upgrade as well.

“So this is a significant upgrade, and we know that there are more schools that need to be upgraded as well.

“Diamond Hills Preschool and Greensborough Preschool will receive upgrades as well, so these are significant investments in education and early education.

“I was very pleased to see the investment of $101 million in La Trobe University’s sports precinct, which will become the home of the Matildas, the home of Football Victoria and the home of Rugby Victoria as well.”

Mr Brooks said this is important for the benefits for sports and the students who study sportsrelated fields. Funding came at an important time for the university.

Talented jazz, blues, soul, and funk bands, including The Shuffle Club, Para Para Band, The McNamarr Project, Soul Sacrifice - The Music of Santana, and local students from St Helena Secondary College, will perform at the Festival from 11.30am to 11.30pm.

Attendees can enjoy a variety of cuisines and locally-produced wine, gin and beer. There will also be free kids' activities such as face painting, a jumping castle, and craft activities between 1pm and 5pm on Pryor Street.

The 2023 lineup also includes: The Lachy Doley Group, Pearly Shells Swing Orchestra featuring Julie O'Hara, Spoonful, Rambal, Nat Bartsch Quartet, Shirazz, 32 Bars, Wilson and White, Bluetone Assembly and Nu Funk-O-Matics

The Eltham Jazz, Food and Wine Festival was first held over two decades ago with five roving bands on a street corner.

It is run as a not-for-profit event with funding from the Nillumbik Shire Council, the Eltham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and local businesses.

- John O’Keefe

NE Link is key to progress

The Local Paper

Online weekly. Print copies fortnightly.

In association with the Established September 14, 1969

Published in localised editions in 40 areas across Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula and some country areas.

ABOUT US

Incorporating the traditions of the Evelyn Observer (Est. 1873), Northcote Budget (Est. 1888), Heidelberg City News (Est. 1897), Preston Post (Est. 1888), Whittlesea Post (Est. 1935), Diamond Valley News (Est. 1959), Diamond ValleyWhittlesea Advertiser (Est. 1995).

The Local Paper is published weekly online and printed fortnightly and circulates in local editions:

• Northcote Budget

• Preston Post-Reservoir Time • Whittlesea Post • Heidelberger • Diamond Valley News

CONTACT US

Vale Marjory Long

■ Marjory Long, matriarch of The Local Paper/Melbourne Observer, has died, 10 days short of her 99th birthday.

Mrs Long, mother of Editor Ash Long (and Denise Meikle and Greg Long) was born on February 25, 1925.

She passed away last Wednesday (Feb. 15).

Marjory Norah

Local Briefs

Montmorency death

■ Police are investigating a fatal collision in Montmorency on Thursday, February 9.

It is understood a motorcycle and car collided, before the motorcyclist crashed into a pole on Dobson Rd about 7.20pm.

The male rider was pronounced deceased at the scene. The occupants of the car were not injured and stopped at the scene. Investigations are ongoing into the exact circumstances of the collision.

Cat confinement

■ Cats in the City of Whittlesea will be required from August to be confined to their owner’s properties.

Changes make the rules for cat owners consistent with those for dog owners, however Whittlesea Council says it understands that keeping an active cat confined is not without its challenges.

Phone: 5797

311, 9489 2222, 9439 9927, 0450 399 932 Reg. Office: 30 Glen Gully Rd, Eltham, Vic 3095 (same address for 29 years)

Mail: PO Box 1278, Research, Vic 3095 Web: www.LocalPaper.com.au www.MelbourneObserver.com.au www.LocalMedia.com.au

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Lawrence was raised in Thornbury, daughter of Albert (‘Bert’) and Honora, and sister to Jack, Joy (Wood), Sylvia (McPhee) and Bobby.

OUR TEAM

She attended Wales St State School, Preston Girls’ High School and Stotts Business College, before starting as a stenographer at Club Motor, the insurance arm of the RACV.

The family ran Lawrence Leathers, a tannery.

The Lawrence were one of the first land holders at Merricks Beach, with several properties taken by family members from the mid1920s. Members of the family still retain holdings there.

At age 19, she volunteered for the Australian W omen’s Army Service, serving as a Craftswomen, located at centres including Darley, Seymour and Bandiana.

It was at the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineering workshops that she met her husband-to-be, Warrant Officer II James Long.

After their wedding in February 1945, they lived at Albury, Moreland, East Preston and Reservoir.

The family home was a happy one.

Editor: Ash Long

Features Editor: Peter Mac

Columnists: Len Baker, Matt Bissett-Johnson, Rob Foenander, Mike McColl Jones, Peter Kemp, Aaron Rourke, Jim Sherlock, Ted Ryan, Cheryl Threadgold, Julie Houghton, Kevin Trask, Gavin Wood, John O’Keefe

Honorary Reviewers: Juliet Charles, Sherryn

Danaher, Mary Downie, Peter Green, Lyn Hurst, Kathryn Keeble, Beth Klein, Deborah Marinaro, David McLean, Graeme McCoubrie, Maggie Morrison, Jill Page, Elizabeth Semmel

Logistics: Steven Andrews, Graeme Hawke, Susan Karolyi, Gary McQuade

Credit Manager: Michael Conway OAM, Fast Action Debt Recovery, 0402 142 866

Long Shots

The Council says it has developed a transition plan that supports cat owners, including educational information, workshops, videos and practical advice.

The Local Paper

Read online editions at: www.LocalPaper.com.au

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

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Denise attended Wesleigh and Coreen schools, with both sons completing theior secondary education at Ivanhoe Grammar School.

Family was central to Marjory Long, and she was involved and proud with her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.

After the untimely of Jim Long at age 66 in 1987, Mrs Long lived in locations including Benalla, Grenfell, Camperdown, Ivanhoe, and at the Royal Freemasons Homes for the past 10 years.

In her youth, Marj participated in Brown-

with Ash Long, Editor

Celebrating 54 years in local media

Winner, Best Local Reporting Award

Victoria-wide Westpac Award

Direct: 0450 399 932

E: editor@LocalPaper.com.au

Web: www.LocalPaper.com.au

Personal: www.AshLong.com.au

“For the cause that lacks assistance, ‘Gainst the wrongs that need resistance For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do”

ies, Guides and Rangers, and also became a Cub leader.

There wa plenty of sport with tennis and basketball, as well as ice skating and ballroom dancing.

The Merricks Beach connection meant swimming, fishing and friends.

The neighbouring Brooks family had a piano. All the families were involved in bringing the big fishing nets in. She said the haul was plenty of sea-

weed, shells .... and, on the odd occasion, even fish.

In later years, she also owned a weekender at Hastings, in its days as a seaside village.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Long family began its association with newspapers, first with a weekend distribution business connected with titles such as the Sunday Observer and Nation Review.

Marjory took a

keen interest in the family business, and she known to be bundling newspapers at 4am Sundays, in those early days.

Marjory was a keen reader, and a great conversationalist, noted for her rapid wit. Her past-times including doll collecting and craft.

In their few years of retirement, Marjory and Jim motored around Australia. After his passing, Majory undertook a number of trips to the United Kingdom, Europe and America.

Marjory was a member of the Country Women's Association, joined Probus , participated in Adult Education, was involved with Legacy and the War Widows.

In later years, she showed courage and resilience, especially after a bad fall in which she broke both shoulders.

She beat a number of health challenges. In recent times, Marjory decided it was time to “go home”.

A funeral service was held at Cordell Chapel, Fawkner, on Monday (Feb. 20), followed by interment at the Fawkner Lawn Cemetery. Arrangements were in the hands of Bethel Funerals.

Marjory Long was a loved and loving mother. and lived a good, honourable and useful life.

In association with the Established September 14, 1969

Online weekly. Print copies fortnightly. Published in localised editions in 40 areas across Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula and some country areas.

BANYULE

Incorporating the traditions of the Heidelberg City News (Est. Mar. 26, 1897), Heidelberger (Est. Nov. 12, 1958) and Evelyn Observer (Est. Oct. 31, 1873). The Heidelberger area comprises Bellfield, Darebin, Eaglemont, Heidelberg, Heidelberg Heights, Heidelberg West, Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe East, Macleod, Rosanna, Watsonia, Viewbank and Yallambie. Banyule is home to more than 121,865 people, living in approximately 50,223 homes.

DAREBIN

NORTHERN

Incorporating the traditions of the Preston Post (Est. 1888) and the Reservoir Times (Est. 1955) Preston Post-Reservoir Times area comprises Keon Park, Kingsbury, Northland, Preston, Preston East, Preston West, Regent, Reservoir, Reservoir East, Reservoir West. The City of Darebin is home to more than 146,719 people, living in approximately 63,562 homes.

SOUTHERN

Incorporating the traditions of the Northcote Budget (Est. 1888) Northcote Budget area comprises Alphington, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Croxton, Dennis, Fairfield, Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Merri, Northcote, Thornbury and Westgarth. The City of Darebin is home to more than 146,719 people, living in approximately 63,562 homes.

NILLUMBIK

Incorporating the traditions of the Heidelberg City News (Est. Mar. 26, 1897), Diamond Valley News (Est. 1959) Evelyn Observer (Est. Oct. 31, 1873), and Eltham & Whittlesea Shires Advertiser

The Diamond Valley News area comprises Briar Hill, Eltham, Greensborough, Lower Plenty, Montmorency and St Helena. Nillumbik Shire is home to more than 64,659 people, living in approximately 21,753 homes.

WHITTLESEA

Incorporating the traditions of the Whittlesea Post (Est. 1935), Whittlesea Chronicle, Whittlesea Advertiser, and Eltham & Whittlesea Shires Advertiser, Evelyn Observer (Est. Oct. 31, 1873).

Whittlesea Post area comprises Bundoora, Epping, Epping North, Lalor, Mill Park, Thomastown, South Morang, Wollert. The City of Whittlesea is home to more than 197,491 people, living in approximately 71,014 homes.

Read online editions at: www.LocalPaper.com.au

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● ● Marjory Long

Money laundering syndicate arrests

■ Detectives from the Criminal Proceeds Squad this month charged a man and a woman following an investigation into a significant money laundering syndicate.

A 29-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman, both from Epping, have been charged with traffick large commercial quantity drug of dependence and knowingly deal with the proceeds of crime.

The duo was remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 3.

A 35-year-old Whittlesea man, and a 36-yearold man and 31-year-old woman, both from Kalkallo, were all released and are expected to be charged on summons.

Warrants were executed on Wednesday at four properties in Whittlesea, Kalkallo and Epping (2).

During the search of the Kalkallo address, police located approximately $1M cash throughout the property.

Searches of the other addresses uncovered more cash, along with gold, jewellery and drugs, believed to me methamphetamine and opium.

Two clandestine drug laboratories were also found contained within one of the Epping properties.

Ticks & Crosses

Mini Ads

Whittlesea man extradited by police from Sydney

■ Detectives from the Criminal Proceeds Squad were extraditing a man to Victoria as part of their investigation into a significant money laundering syndicate allegedly operating in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

A 35-year-old Whittlesea man was arrested at Sydney Airport on Friday, Feb. 10, by Australian Federal Police after attempting to board an international flight.

He faced an extradition hearing at Sydney Central Court on Monday, Feb. 13, and extradition to Victoria was granted.

● ● ● ● Michael Rogers

✖Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate Michael Rogers. A warrant has been issued for the 51-year-old Brunswick man’s arrest in relation to burglary offences. Rogers is described as 170 cm tall with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a solid build. He is known to frequent the Melbourne CBD, Richmond and Fitzroy areas. Investigators have released an image of Rogers in the hope someone may have information on his current whereabouts. Anyone who has other information about his whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

✔The State Government is rolling out additional bus services in inner-Melbourne to make it easier for locals and students to travel. Some 13 additional bus services have been introduced each weekday on route 505 from Moonee Ponds to the University of Melbourne, via Parkville Gardens. “The additional bus services will better connect the community to employment, education and shops – and forms part of Victoria’s Bus Plan, which is delivering improvements to the state’s bus network,” said a spokesman. “Students will now have better access to the University of Melbourne and University High School, while it’ll also benefit locals with access to Mercy Health Aged Care, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Zoo, Royal Park and Princes Park. Route 505 was introduced in 2006 to provide public transport access to the former Commonwealth Games athletes village. Demand for the service has since increased, being popular for students to get to university, as well as among locals in the growing Parkville Gardens residential development.”

● ● More than $1 million in cash seized in raid. File image.

The six-month investigation followed information provided to police in relation to money laundering and drug trafficking by a syndicate in the northern suburbs of Melbourne The investigation remains ongoing.

Local News

The man has been charged with knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and trafficking a drug of dependence, and was to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on February 14.

He had previously been arrested on February 8.

30 beds for mental health

■ The re is now better access to mental health support with a new state-of-the-art acute mental health facility at the Northern Hospital, Epping.

Mental Health Minister Gabrielle Williams this week announced the completion of the new 30-bed facility, one of nine being delivered across the state through the Mental Health Beds Expansion Program.

The new facility features treatment and multi-purpose rooms, staff and family lounge, internal courtyards and enclosed garden areas. Opening in the coming months, this facility features 240 modules and will provide almost 11,000 days of care to around 650 people each year. These new facilities provide a safe and welcoming environment for people experiencing acute mental health concerns.

DRUG BUST IN NORTH

■ Gang Crime Squad detectives have charged three men following a year long investigation into drug and firearm trafficking linked to organised crime syndicates.

Warrants were executed at three residential addresses in Lalor, Wollert and Thomastown at 5am on Wednesday, February 8.

A 23-year-old Lalor man was charged with a range of offences, including prohibited person possess firearm, acquire traffickable quantity of firearms, attempt to dispose of traffickable quantity of firearms, dispose category A or B longarm except licenced firearms dealer, possess firearm with no serial number, unlicensed person fail to store firearm in secure manner, eight counts of traffick cocaine, traffick methylamphetamine, drive whilst suspended and commit indictable offence whilst on bail.

He was bailed to appear at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on February 15.

A 58-year-old Thomastown man, believed to be a patched member of the Mongols OMCG, was charged with prohibited person possess firearm, handle stolen goods, knowingly deal with proceeds of crime, possess firearm with no serial number, possess imitation firearm, two counts of possess prohibited weapon without exemption and dispose category A or B longarm

except licenced firearms dealer. He was bailed to appear at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on July 13.

A previously stolen Harley Davidson motorcycle and two samurai swords were also seized at the Thomastown address.

A 23-year-old Wollert man was charged with two counts each of traffick cocaine, possess cocaine and commit indictable offence whilst on bail.

He was bailed to appear at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on March 11.

Police will allege the two 23-year-old men have links to Middle Eastern organised crime. The investigation remains ongoing.

PAIN RELIEF AND REJUVENATION

Back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain. Leg, knee, ankle and foot conditions. Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand conditions Headaches including migraines. Cranial conditions including whiplash.

● ● ● ● Gabrielle Williams, Minister for Mental Health

Where to pick up your free copy of The Local Paper

■ ■ ALPHINGTON. 7-Eleven. 785 Heidelberg Rd.

■ ALPHINGTON. Foodstore. 52 Wingrove St.

■ ALPHINGTON. Milk Bar. 50 Wingrove St.

■ BRIAR HILL. Briar Hill Post Office/Newsagency. Shop 1/111 Mountain View Rd.

■ BUNDOORA. BP Service Station. 1050 Plenty Rd.

■ BUNDOORA. Bundoora Newsagency. Unit 3, 39 Plenty Rd.

■ ■ CLIFTON HILL. Clifton Hill Lotto. 306 Queens Pde.

■ ■ CLIFTON HILL. Clifton Hill Newsagency. 316 Queens Pde.

■ ■ CLIFTON HILL. Continental Grocery. Spensley St.

■ CLIFTON HILL. McCoppins Supermarket. 292 Queens Pde.

■ CLIFTON HILL. Milk Bar. Cnr Fenwick St and Spensley St.

■ COLLINGWOOD. Metro Petroleum. 318 Wellington St.

■ EAGLEMONT. Australia Post/ Newsagency. 64 Silverdale Rd.

■ EAGLEMONT. IGA Supermarket. 83-85 Silverdale Rd.

■ EAST IVANHOE. Australia Post/ Tatts/Newsagency. 249-251 Lower Heidelberg Rd.

■ ■ ■ EAST PRESTON. East Preston News and Lotto. 669 Plenty Rd.

■ ■ EAST PRESTON. Liberty Service Station. 502 Plenty Rd.

■ ■ EAST PRESTON. Plenty Road Cellars. 766 Plenty Rd.

■ ELTHAM. Bolton Street Deli and Liquor. 120 Bolton St.

■ ELTHAM. Caltex. 527 Main Rd.

■ ELTHAM. Coles Express. 650 Main Rd (Cnr Mt Pleasant Rd)

■ ELTHAM. United Service Station. 1050 Main Rd.

■ ELTHAM NORTH. 330 Ryans Rd.

■ EPPING. Cnr Dalton Rd and Childs Rd.

■ FAIRFIELD. 7-Eleven. Cnr Darebin Rd and Station St.

■ ■ ■ FAIRFIELD. BP. 490-500 Heidelberg Rd.

■ ■ FAIRFIELD. Caltex. 215 Heidelberg Rd.

■ FAIRFIELD. Coles Express. 377 Heidelberg Rd.

■ FAIRFIELD. Coles Express. Cnr

Darebin Rd and Station St

■ FAIRFIELD. Fairfield News and Lucky Lotto. 99 Station St.

■ FAIRFIELD. Service Station. Cnr Separation St and Station St.

■ FAIRFIELD. Station Street IGA. 140 Station St.

■ FITZROY. BP. 143-145 Johnston St.

■ ■ FITZROY. Fitzroy News. 125 Johnston St.

■ ■ GREENSBOROUGH. Milk Bar. 31 Greenhill Rd.

■ ■ HEIDELBERG. 7-Eleven. Cnr Burgundy St and Lower Heidelberg Rd.

■ HEIDELBERG. Heidelberg Tatts/ News. 112 Burgundy St.

■ IVANHOE. Ivanhoe Newsagency. 194 Upper Heidelberg Rd.

■ IVANHOE. Milk Bar. 53 Lower Heidelberg Rd.

■ KEON PARK. Australia Post/Tatts. Johnson St

■ KINGSBURY. Bottle-O. 949

Plenty Rd.

■ ■ KINGSBURY. BP. 935 Plenty Rd.

■ ■ KINGSBURY. Supermarket and Tatts. Link St.

■ MONTMORENCY. Australia Post/ Newsagency. 41-43 Were St.

■ MONTMORENCY. Caltex. 180 Sherbourne Rd.

Local News

Sculpture planned

North, West chase

■ Police have arrested two men following a pursuit through Melbourne’s northern suburbs on Sunday morning (Feb. 19).

■

■ NORTH FITZROY. Terminus Hotel.

492 Queens Pde.

■ NORTH IVANHOE. Australia Post.

Cnr Waterdale Rd and Beatty St.

■ NORTHCOTE. 7-Eleven. Cnr Victoria Rd and Separation St.

■ A bold sculpture with intricate detailing that plays with line, light and shadow has been announced as the public artwork to feature in the revitalised Eltham Gateway.

of Main Rd rehabilitated and landscaped with significant plantings of native vegetation.

A stolen black Ford Ranger was spotted on Pascoe Vale Rd in Oak Park about 9.50am.

■

■ LALOR. Kingsway Corner Store. 1/70 Kingsway.

■ LALOR. Lalor Lucky L:otto. 332 Station St.

■ LOWER PLENTY. IGA Xpress Supermarket. 101-105 Lower Plenty Rd.

■ LOWER PLENTY. Lower Plenty Newsagency/Tatts. 95 Main Rd.

■ MACLEOD. Macleod Newsagency.

62 Aberdeen Rd.

■ MILL PARK. 7-Eleven. Cnr Childs Rd and Morang Dr.

■ MILL PARK. Mill Park Newsagency. 4 The Stables Shopping Centre.

■ ■ MONTMORENCY. 7-Eleven. 215 Sherbourne Rd.

■

■

■ NORTHCOTE. Licensed Supermarket. Cnr Mitchell St and Victoria Rd.

■ NORTHCOTE. Northcote Newsagency. 335 High St.

■ PRESTON. United Service Station. Cnr Chifley Dr. and Bell St.

The sculpture has been created by Nillumbik artist Maureen FayeChauhan and celebrates the Shire’s unique bushland and the traditional owners, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people.

With assistance from the Air Wing, Police followed the vehicle through a number of suburbs before it was allegedly seen driving on the wrong side of Sydney Rd in Fawkner.

The car continued along the Western Ring Road towards Melbourne.

■

■ PRESTON. United Service Station. Cnr Bell St and Albert St.

■ PRESTON: Town Hall Lotto. 403 High St.

■ REGENT WEST. Post Office and Tatts. 136 Regent St.

■ RESERVOIR. Australia Post. 10a

Gellibrand Cres.

Wurundjeri Elders have chosen the title for the sculpture, ‘Gunga winhanga warr bundha ba winhanga warr djurring’ in traditional Woi wurrung language, meaning ‘Take what you need and not what you greed’.

The project is a collaboration between Nillumbik Council, Major Road Projects Victoria, Eltham MLA Vicki Ward and community group The Southern Gateway Renewal Group. Made of weathering steel and measuring more than 2m tall and 5m wide, the sculpture will be located north of Main Rd between the flower stand and the Diamond Creek Bridge.

Stop sticks were deployed and the car continued, before eventually coming to a stop on Geelong Rd.

It is alleged the male driver got out of the black Ford Ranger, then into a white Jeep, which travelled towards Altona North.

“I’m passionate about the bush,” Maureen says. “Walking through the bush, it changes every day. You see the different forms of branches and rocks.”

Police deployed stop sticks and the Jeep stopped in Borrack Square where the two occupants fled the scene on foot and were arrested a short time later.

■

■ RESERVOIR. BP Service Station.

Cnr McFadzean Ave and Hughes Pde.

■ RESERVOIR. Broadway Lotto.

238 Broadway.

■ RESERVOIR. Caltex. 931 High St

■ ■ RESERVOIR. Coles Express. 192-

202 Broadway.

■ RESERVOIR. DM Deli and Liquor.

35 McFadzean Ave.

■ RESERVOIR. Liberty Service Station. 101-111 Edwardes St.

■ RESERVOIR. Milk Bar. Cnr Yarra Ave and Boldrewood Pde.

The artwork announcement comes as landscaping works started this week on the Eltham Gateway project, which will see both sides

Court Lists

Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court Plaintiff / Informant / Applicant vs Defendant / Accused / Respondent. Information Division.

Criminal Case Listings

Wednesday, February 22

It’s the exploration of form that has formed the basis of the artwork.

A 24-year-old Glenroy man and a 34year-old Altona North man are assisting Police with their enquiries.

Police appeal

■ Homicide detectives continue to investigate the death of a 24-year-old man in Craigieburn on February 15.

The investigation will examine the complete timeline of the man’s movements that afternoon, including interactions with the public.

■

■ RESERVOIR. News and Lotto.

251 Spring St.

■ RESERVOIR. Reservoir RSL. 251 Spring St.

■ ROSANNA. Rosanna Newsagency.

137 Lower Plenty Rd.

■ ■ ST HELENA. Milk Bar. Cnr Glen

Katherine Dr and Weidlich Rd.

■ ST HELENA. St Helena Newsagency. St Helena Marketplace,

Aqueduct Rd.

■ THOMASTOWN. BP. 123 High St.

■ ■ ■ THOMASTOWN. Foodworks. 126

Alexander Ave.

■ THOMASTOWN. Milk Bar. 128

Alexander Ave.

■ THOMASTOWN. Stevens Cellars

Licensed Grocery. 20 The Boulevard.

■ ■ THOMASTOWN. Thomastown News and Lotto. 223 High St.

■ THOMASTOWN WEST. 7-Eleven.

Cnr Mount View St and Edgars Rd.

■ THOMASTOWN WEST. Supa IGA

Supermarket. Edgars Rd

■ THORNBURY. 7-Eleven. Cnr High St and Hutton St.

■ ■ THORNBURY. BP. 410 St Georges Rd.

■ THORNBURY. Normanby News and Lotto. 638 High St.

■ THORNBURY. Tatts and Licensed Grocery. 400 Station St.

■ ■ WATSONIA. BP. Cnr Watsonia Rd and Morwell Ave.

■ WATSONIA. Coles Express. Cnr Greensborough Rd and Yallambie rD

■ WATSONIA. Watsonia RSL. 6 Morwell Ave.

Abdulnasir, Yusef Adelinis, Anthony Aloi-Farah, Yusuf Amos, Peter Gordon

Contents of Court Lists are intended for information purposes only. The lists are extracted from Court Lists, as supplied to the public, by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, often one week prior to publication date; for current Court lists, please contact the Court. Further details of cases are available at www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au The Local Paper shall in no event accept any liability for loss or damage suffered by any person or body due to information provided. The information is provided on the basis that persons accessing it undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content. No inference of a party’s guilt, innocence or liability should be made by publication of their name as a defendant. Court schedules may be changed at any time for any reason, including withdrawal of the action by the Plaintiff/Applicant. E&OE.

It is believed the deceased was assaulted in two separate altercations involving different groups of people, prior to police locating him.

The first altercation is understood to have occurred in Hothlyn Drive about 2.15pm.

The second incident is believed to have occurred on Mitford Crescent around 2.30pm.

While being treated by ambulance crews the man became unresponsive and died at the scene.

■

■ ■ WEST HEIDELBERG. Convenience Store. Moresby Cres.

■ WEST HEIDELBERG. Foodworks.

571-573 Waterdale Rd.

■ WEST HEIDELBERG. Licensed Supermarket. Olympic Village. Moresby

Cres.

■ WEST HEIDELBERG. Milk Bar.

Cnr Banksia St and Oriel Rd.

■ ■ WEST HEIDELBERG. Tatts. The Mall. Cnr Bell St and Oriel Rd.

■

■ ■ WEST PRESTON. IGA Xpress Supermarket. 392-298 Gilbert Rd.

■ ■ WEST PRESTON. Liberty Service Station. Cnr Gilbert Rd and Union St.

■ WEST PRESTON. Thornbury Cellars. 141 Miller St.

■ WEST RESERVOIR. 7-Eleven.

Cnr Gilbert Rd and Henty St.

■ WEST RESERVOIR. Lakeside Newsagency. 716A Gilbert Rd.

■ WESTGARTH. Lotto/SubNewsagency. 107 High St.

■ WESTGARTH. Milk Bar. Cnr Westgarth St and South Cres.

■ YALLAMBIE. 7-Eleven. 371 Lower Plenty Rd.

Austin, Caleb Boskovic, Natalija Bretes, Matthew Broderick, Harley Caffyn, Shayne Callen, Jack Camenzuli, Bree Canevski, Boris Carlos, Dillon Chand, Sanjay Pravin Clemmet, Christopher Coghlan, Marc Collins, Beau Cox, Dylan Cvetkov, Keti Dagher, Daniel Dautcehajic, Medina Delaney, Jaidyn Di Federico, Kara Di Pasquale, Sebastiano Dib, Ibrahim Difederico, Kara Easton, Steven James Ebreo, Cara Edwards, Christopher Ennis, Scott Michael Erol, Guven Ferraiolo, Frankie Fitzpatrick, Aaron Gadze, Dominic Galota, Vincent Geary, Deborah Goulter, Bonnie Guled, Abdulkadir Hahling, Janne Hawkless, Glenn Hearty, Michael Hellyer, Dylan Huynh, Ngoc Illin, Leandro Ismail, Yusef Javed, Romika Jennings, Andrew Johnstone, Joe Jones, Danielle Jose, Alisha Kalajdic, Ashlee Kalogeropoulos, Matthew Kandiah, Aaron Karimkhani, Ali Kerr, Dylan Kesic, Nenad Kniese, Matthew Lagousakos, Georgia Lawry, Lisa Linton, Christopher Littleton, D'angelo Loza, James Macsporran, Finulla Malceski, Ice

Malceski, Itse Mateiasevici, Stefan Matta, Alex May, Giriwa Mazzei, Vanessa Mcclain, Shane Mcdonald, Fianna Mclachlan, Lauran Mclean, Shane Mcsweeney, Daniel Meach, Vat Meakins, John Mercer Valve Co Messina, Charlie Morgan, James Muddyman, Paul David Murphy, Max Musa, Amin O'brien, Jack O'donnell, Ty Harley Ottaviani-Giammarco, Fabian Pearce, Georgina Leeah Perosevic, Brian Peterson-English, Daniel Presnell, Matthew Pucek, Daniel Pullen, Ashley Quinn, Stuart Leigh Rawiri-Miller, Isaiah Rimmer, Jessica Rodriguez, George Perez Sahin, Hasan Saini, Anish Surinder Schute, Jeffret Walter Shehab, Ayyoub Shehab, Mokbel Shomshe, Murat Sidhu, Gagandeep Singh, Sumar Sommers, Lochie Sommers, Lori Stack, Lawrence Charles Stojanovski, Lena Taynton, Brett Vastag, Scott Watson, Shaun Wilson, Matthew Winch, Taylor Wise, William Zara, Dale

Drugs, firearms

■ A Braybrook man has been charged with firearm and drug trafficking offences as part of an operation designed to disrupt and deter illicit firearms use.

Detectives from the Maribyrnong Crime Investigation Unit with support from the Hobsons Bay and Wyndham CIUs, the Westgate Divisional Response Unit and VIPER Taskforce conducted a series of Firearm Prohibition Order compliance searches on Wednesda (Feb. 15)(.

Some 16 searches were conducted across Altona Meadows, Braybrook, Hoppers Crossing, Kingsville, Newport, Maribyrnong, Seddon, Truganina, Point Cook, Werribee and Williamstown on those with active Firearm Prohibition Orders. Detectives seized a range of items during the searches, including:

■ Two sawn off shotguns

■ Quantities of drugs including methyl amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis plants

■ Stolen registrations plates

The 32-year-old Braybrook man has been charged with possessing a firearm in contravention of a Firearm Prohibition Order, prohibited person possess a firearm, possess ammunition without a licence, trafficking methyl amphetamine, drug possession, handle stolen goods and deal in the proceeds of crime.

He was directly presented to the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court. He has been bailed to appear at court on 10 May.

Detectives from the western suburbs will continue to investigate and disrupt offenders to prevent serious and violent crime and ensure those in the community are complying with Firearm Prohibition Orders.

Drug trafficking

■ Fawkner Divisional Response Unit have arrested three men and seized illicit drugs and weapons in Preston as part of an investigation into drug trafficking. Detectives executed search warrants in Preston and Melbourne on Monday last week (Feb. 13).

MADE IN CHINA 2.0

■ Wang Chong, recognised globally as one of Beijing’s most significant theatre directors and celebrated for his visionary experiments with classic and contemporary plays, returns to Malthouse Theatre from February 28 to March 19 for Made in China 2.0 This follows the sell-out success of Little Emperors presented in Asia TOPA 2017. Chong teams up with director and production designer Emma Valente, dramaturg Mark Pritchard, and co-designer Emma Lockhart Wilson to shine the spotlight on his own experiences as an artist.

Made in China 2.0 is written and performed by Wang Chong, who also co-directed the show with Emma Valente.

In Made in China 2.0, Chong takes audiences on a journey deep inside his personal experiences of creating theatre around the globe, unpacking stereotypes of the global expectations of what China brings to the world. An immersive, funny, one-persontour-de-force, revealing a portrait of family, pop culture, and the role of the artist and provocateur in uncertain times.

Performance Details: February 28March 19. Venue: Malthouse Theatre's Beckett Theatre, Southbank.

MOUSETRAP OPENS IN MELBOURNE

■ The 70th Anniversary Australian production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has opened at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne for a limited season.

Directed by Robyn Nevin, with costume design and associate set design by Isabel Hudson, and lighting design by Trudy Dalgleish. The Mousetrap is produced by John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia.

Agatha Christie originally wrote the story as a short radio play entitled Three Blind Mice, which was broadcast in 1947 as a birthday present for Queen Mary.

Christie eventually adapted the work into a short story before again rewriting it for the stage as The Mousetrap.

Christie did not expect the play to run for more than a few months and stipulated that no film of The Mousetrap be made until at least six months after the West End Production closed. 70 years on, a film adaptation looks unlikely at this stage.

Venue: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne

Performance Dates: Now playing for limited

season

Prices: From $69 (transaction fees apply)

Bookings: ticketek.com.au or 13 28 49

Groups 8+ call 9299 9873 themousetrap.com.au

- Cheryl Threadgold

Williamstown death

■ Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a fatal crash which occurred in Williamstown North on Thursday fternoon (Feb. 16).

Officers have been told a car crashed into a parked truck on Kororoit Creek Rd about 1.30pm. The driver of the car died at the scene.

Police have spoken to a number of people at the scene including the driver of the truck and the investigation is ongoing.

● ● Anna O'Byrne and Alex Rathgeber in The Mousetrap.

Photo: Brian Geach

- Cheryl Threadgold

● ● Wang Chong returns to Melbourne for Made in China 2.0.

https://americasvoice.news/trustless-trustee-weaponization-of-the-doj-by-the-chinese-communist-party/

Trustless Trustee: Weaponization of the DOJ by the Chinese Communist Party

The CCP’s unrestricted warfare infiltration hits home

It’s no secret that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), currently led by General Secretary Xi Jinping, has engaged in unrestricted warfare against the United States for decades in a massive effort to become the world’s sole superpower. Yet little is known by U.S. lawmakers and the public of the CCP’s tactics and the scale of its influence inside its own government institutions.

That war of “malign influence,” infiltration, and lawfare has grown exponentially in scope and threat level—especially over the last few years—making the CCP threat, by many accounts, the biggest existential challenge to America’s national sover- eignty today.

In July of 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Walter Russell Mead, Ravenel B. Curry III

Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesman- ship for the Hudson Institute, “We’ve now reached the point where the FBI is opening a new China- related counterintelligence case about every 10 hours,” and “Over the past decade, we’ve seen economic espionage cases with a link to China increase by approximately 1,300 percent.”1

The US House of Representatives Takes Action

The U.S. legislature must address this serious “lawfare” threat through investigations, legisla- tion and other means at its disposal, and it seems that the process has finally begun in earnest.

The U.S. House of Representatives showed their concerns in a rare bipartisan vote on January 10 to create a new Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the CCP . As reported by The Epoch Times, “A succes- sion of speakers from both parties extolled cre- ation of the new panel, with Rep. Andy Barr (R- Ky.) telling colleagues that ‘this select committee will examine the threats from the Chinese Communist Party with a fine-tooth comb and expose them for the American people and for the whole world to fully understand.’”5

No one understands the plans and no methods of the CCP better than prominent Chinese dissi- dent Mr. Miles Guo

He’s intimately familiar with the CCP because he’s been their primary target. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Some U.S. national security offi- cials view Mr. Guo, who claims to have potentially valuable information on top Chinese officials and business magnates and on North Korea, as a use- ful bargaining chip to use with Beijing.”2

As the highest-profile defector from Communist China, Guo is an invaluable asset of unparalleled strategic importance of U.S. national security. Guo has spent nearly three decades inside the small yet exclusive circle of both past and present deci- sion-makers of the CCP , accumulating personal knowledge of the CCP’s most hidden secrets that are indispensable to our understanding of America’s arch nemesis: the CCP

And the CCP has been abusing the American judi- cial system to silence Mr. Guo through infiltration, bribery and threats.

All Eyes on the Prey: Modern-Day Bounty Hunters

In 1992, the CCP officially changed its policy and began allowing foreign law firms to establish of- fices and practice law in China. However, unlike in the U.S., China’s communist regime requires that “laws should respect the CCP; the law should be interpreted according to the CCP’s orders, direc- tives, and interests, and the basic requirement for legal service personnel is to uphold the leadership of the party.”1 This would be like one of the U.S. political parties demanding that laws and legal decisions conform to the desires of that party (by some accounts, this is happening in the U.S. with increasing regularity). Furthermore, lawyers are not even allowed to cite their own constitution as a source of law.

Law firms doing business in and on behalf of China are subject directly to the malign influ- ence of the CCP

Law firms doing business in and on behalf of China are subject directly to the “malign influence” of the CCP in a shockingly direct and obvious con- flict against the interests and security of the United States, not to mention the “dissidents, political rivals, dissidents, and critics”1 who have trusted our government’s laws protecting those seeking asylum from hostile foreign governments.

The CCP’s weaponization of U.S. legal justice sys- tem to extend its influence in the U.S.—including attempting to extradite Guo back to China using extrajudicial means—“flies in the face of signifi- cant corroborated information supporting [Guo’s] fears and will naturally lead to a lack of confidence in the [judicial] process as well as unwarranted stress to [Guo] and his family, several who have been jailed and tortured by China,” said Aaron Mitchell, an attorney representing Guo. Federal Title 8 U.S. Code § 1158 confers the protec- tion of asylum to “any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality…who is un- able or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protec- tion of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Once an appli- cation for asylum is filed, the U.S. Government is bound by law to protect the asylum seeker. It appears this legal protection for asylum seekers is being actively violated in Mr. Guo's current Chap- ter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Connecticut (Case No. 22-50073 and 22-05032) by none other than a branch of the Department of Justice itself.

Inserting a Bounty Hunter in the Courthouse: Luc A. Despins

On June 15, 2022, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order directing the United States Trustee’s Office (UST)—a branch of the Department of Jus-

tice—to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to oversee Mr. Guo’s assets during court proceedings. Attor- ney Joe D. Whitley was vetted and signed a sworn Declaration of Disinterestedness under penalty of perjury, after which UST nominated Mr. Whitley for appointment as Trustee on June 30, 2022.

Paul Hastings, LLC, is a firm with a significant presence in China, which has done significant business representing CCP-controlled state enti- ties

Five days later, in an unprecedented move, UST withdrew the nomination, and recommended Luc A. Despins, a Partner of Paul Hastings, LLC, a firm with a significant presence in China and Hong Kong, which has done significant business repre- senting CCP-controlled state entities.

According to a letter by Mitchell, The U.S. Trustee’s Unusual Action to Withdraw its Appoint- ment of Mr. Whitley was spurious: “On June 30, 2022, just before the 4th of July weekend, the UST in light of its excessive delays in appointing a trustee for this matter, filed a motion for an expe- dited hearing for the Court to approve Mr. Whitley as the trustee. This motion was granted on the same day it was filed with an expedited hearing scheduled on July 5, 2022. Just hours before the expedited hearing was to begin and with no ad- vance notice to the Debtor (and possibly all par- ties), the UST took the unusual action of unilater- ally withdrawing its Notice of Appointment of a trustee and its request for Court approval of the proposed appointment.”

Asked to explain their rationale, the UST re- fused to answer, citing “government privilege.” Mitchell asked for an explanation of “how the U.S. Trustee, in light of the information previously pre- sented by the debtor as well as information avail- able to the U.S. Department of Justice demon- strating that the Debtor is a high-level political target of the authoritarian ruling Chinese Commu- nist Party, believes that the trustee of a firm [Paul Hastings, LLC] with a significant presence in China and Hong Kong and which has done signifi- cant business representing Chinese-controlled state entities, can remain a neutral and disinter- ested party with the ability to avoid undue influ- ence and interference from the Government of China.”

The conflicts of interest in having Luc A. Despins, a partner of Paul Hastings, LLC as trustee are many. Despins has developed business relations with PAG in a $671M bid for Spring REIT. According to sources, entities represented by Paul Hastings include HNA Group, BioNTech SE, Evergrande, Binance and many other companies tied with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Not only is the Chinese Communist Party a client of Paul Hastings, they also control the licenses to keep their law offices open in both China and Hong Kong. Effectively, the CCP controls the purse strings to hundreds of millions of dollars for Paul Hastings and Mr. Despins as a partner in Paul Hastings. This allows the CCP to exert tremen- dous influence and pressure on law firms like this to achieve their objectives—as indeed they already have.

The UST has shown that it is incapable of iden- tifying and appointing a disinterested trustee in this case.

The UST, as part of the DOJ, is aware that the DOJ is currently suing casino tycoon Steve Wynn for acting as an unregistered foreign agent of China due to his attempt to have Mr. Guo extradited un- der threat of losing his gambling licenses in Macao.2 At best, assuming it was incompetence rather than malice, the UST has shown that it is incapable of identifying and appointing a disinterested trustee in this case.

The appointment of Despins has obvious conflicts of interest and also reflects the infiltration of the U.S. judiciary system by the CCP using unrestricted warfare tactics.

The letter continues, “At the hearing, the Bank- ruptcy Judge pointed out the unusual nature of this action by the UST and questioned the UST legal authority to do so. The UST did not provide a detailed explanation for this rash action at the hearing nor was Mr. Whitley called to explain the conflict to all parties and the Court. The UST sim- ply swept Mr. Whitley away from the Debtor, the parties, and the public.”

Asked to explain their rationale, the UST refused to answer, citing “government privilege.” In the present political climate, and in light of revela- tions such as those brought to light from Elon Musk’s Twitter drops, the American people may not accept such a lack of transparency.

The FBI and the DOJ especially have lost the benefit of the doubt

In August, The Federalist senior editor Chris Bedford explained to Fox News why Americans should be holding the Justice Department and FBI accountable:7 “Right now the plurality of Inde- pendents, according to polling, and the majority of Republicans are saying, ‘Hold on, FBI. The ball's in your court. You show us what you have because right now, we don’t trust you.’"

Former Trump White House acting chief of staff

Mick Mulvaney said on CNN that the FBI and the DOJ have "lost the benefit of the doubt" with Republicans in the U.S. “I think if you’re a conserva- tive Republican who follows politics, the FBI and the DOJ especially have lost the benefit of the doubt. Because of the way they have behaved in the past, the burden is on them to actually show information”8 justifying their actions. According to a 2022 Convention of States-Trafalgar poll,9 when asked for their opinion on the Depart- ment of Justice and the FBI, 46.2% of respondents said they are "too political, corrupt, and not to be trusted." The poll had 68.3% of Republicans and almost half of people reporting no party affiliation saying the DOJ and FBI are "too political, corrupt, and not to be trusted."

The Biggest Kleptocracy Case In DOJ History: CCP Infiltration

Because Guo has worked tirelessly to expose the CCP’s “hunting dogs,” including their “legal beagle” lapdogs, it has become increasingly diffi- cult for these criminals to hide their conflicts of interest and payoffs. This is why Xi’s CCP has engaged middlemen within the U.S. legal system— government officials, law firms, lawyers, journal- ists, lobbyists, and more—who are attempting to extradite Guo back to China; this is also why fam- ily and associates of Guo still in China have been brutally persecuted, arrested and imprisoned. Guo has worked ceaselessly for years to alert the U.S. and the world about CCP's long-planned scheme to undermine the U.S. Guo has worked ceaselessly for years to alert the U.S. and the world about CCP's long-planned scheme to undermine the U.S. as the world's superpower and replace it with CCP's authoritarian regime. As a whistleblower, Guo has perhaps re- ceived more attention from the CCP than from the U.S. government. Court documents reveal that as early as May 2017, high-ranking CCP officials worked constantly with its unregistered agents in an effort to deport Miles out of the U.S. back to China.

In 2017, Guo brought to light the secret plans of the CCP as detailed in two programs: BGY (an acronym for Blue, Gold, and Yellow) and 3F (Fo- ment weakness, Foment chaos and Foment the destruction of America).

Blue represents an array of technology-related tac- tics including hacking, malign social media influ- ence campaigns, media control, spying and sur- veillance. The CCP hackers are sophisticated enough to breach even the highest security data- bases, including those that control U.S. power and other critical infrastructure. These hackers have nearly unlimited black budgets and the organiza- tional flexibility afforded by the CCP’s other opera- tions. They can also access your detailed financial records, personal health data, your daily activity, and location, as well as the potential to develop AI- determined estimates on the individuals’ vulnerabilities to blackmail, corruption, or even simple spearphishing.

The CCP has been harvesting the data of millions of unsuspecting individuals in innocuous-looking mobile apps like TikTok and WeChat and by sell- ing its Trojan-horse-like surveillance camera sys- tems to the world.10 Gold represents money and bribery using direct or indirect financial benefits to influence and control individuals, institutions, and businesses.

Sometimes that influence is indirect, as may be the case with the recent revelation that the University of Pennsylvania received a total of $54.6 million from 2014 through June 2019 in donations from China, including $23.1 million in anonymous gifts starting in 2016. “Most of the anonymous do- nations came after the university announced in February 2017 that it would create the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement” according to the New York Post. “Joe Biden, whose term as vice president had just ended, was to lead the center and was also named a professor at the university.”3

Multiple former intelligence officials surmise that such schemes carried out by Chinese spies have long played out on U.S. soil and remain ongoing Yellow represents the use of “honey traps” to com-

promise espionage targets. One well-known ex- ample is that of Representative Eric Swalwell, D- Calif., who had a relationship with a woman sus- pected of being a Chinese espionage operative. After federal investigators met with Swalwell in 2015 and gave him a “defense briefing,” he broke off ties with the suspected “honey trap” spy.

“However,” as the New York Post reported, “Swalwell wouldn’t be the first or last political figure to be “honey-trapped”—with multiple former intelligence officials surmising that such schemes carried out by Chinese spies have long played out on U.S. soil, and remain ongoing.”

“I can say with a high level of confidence that there are many more of these women out there,” Daniel Hoffman, a retired CIA Senior Clandestine Ser- vices Officer, told Fox News. “China’s MO is to flood the zone.”4

China’s BGY Program is a direct violation of our nation’s sovereign interests and a threat to our national security. Its presence in the American justice system is a stain on the good will America needs to maintain in its relationships within the international community. However, prosecution of those violators caught in the act treats the symp- toms without addressing the cause, ostensibly costing American taxpayers millions of dollars and tying up DOJ agents that could be addressing other threats. Enforcement, as opposed to preven- tion, also does not protect the victims of these crimes.

Addressing the Threat

One of the stipulations negotiated by the U.S. House Freedom Caucus before Kevin McCarthy could be voted in as Speaker of the House was “to look into the weaponization of the FBI and other government organizations.” It is incumbent, then, that our legislators enact sanctions and/or other responses to confront the weaponization of the U.S. legal system and prevent the CCP from hunting and persecuting dissidents like Guo who have come to the U.S. for sanctuary.

As Founder of the New Federal State of China (NFSC), Guo has been providing the U.S. with crucial assistance in its battle against the CCP . NFSC’s mission is simple: Taking down the Chi- nese Communist party. As a significant number of NFSC members are American citizens or residents, NFSC is concerned with preventing what they or their families have experienced in China from tak- ing place in the United States. The organization is funded by two foundations: the Rule of Law Foun- dation, a 501(c)(3), and The Rule of Law Society, a 501(c)(4). Each of the foundations has its own inde- pendent board of directors and mission statement. Miles Guo issued this call to action on GETTR: “If the newly elected Speaker of the House is serious about taking on the CCP with substantive actions, he must seize all CCP’s overseas assets, stop the U.S. media, technology companies, Wall Street, law firms, etc. from continuing their collusion with the CCP , and have the Congress thoroughly inves- tigate the CCP enablers lurking inside American government agencies especially in judiciary sec- tor.”

Speaker McCarthy, make it so.

Op-ed by Kelly John Walker

#####

Postscript

Evaluating the specific case of the CCP’s persecu- tion of a Chinese resident who has been providing valuable whistle-blowing intel is in the best inter- ests of United State national security. FreedomTalk is taking a deep dive into the case and will be unpacking the details of this attempt by the CCP to extradite a protected dissident back to China by lawfare and force.

1. Hudson Institute: China’s Attempt to Influence U.S. Institutions: A Conversation with FBI Director Christopher Wray. July 7, 2020

2. The Wall Street Journal: China’s Pursuit of Fugitive Businessman Guo Wengui Kicks Off Man- hattan Caper Worthy of Spy Thriller. October 22, 2017

• New York Post: $54M in Chinese gifts donated to UPenn, home of Biden Center: April 9, 2022

1. New York Post: China ‘honey trap’ plot could span thousands of operatives: December 11, 2020

2. The Epoch Times. New Select China Committee Approved by House on Bipartisan Vote: January 10, 2023.

3. www.NSFCofficial.com

4. https://www.foxnews.com/media/chris-bedforddoj-lost-american-peoples-trust August 31, 2022

5. https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-raidmick-mulvaney-tells-cnn-fbi-doj-have-lost-benefitdoubt-with-republicans August 11, 2022

6. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/poll-fbidoj/2022/08/25/id/1084605/ August 25, 2022

7. https://gnews.org/articles/198009

About Kelly Walker

Kelly John Walker is an American statesman, ac- complished writer, branding professional, and en- trepreneur. He is Founder of FreedomTalk, Host of FreedomTalkTV, and a senior writer for The Epoch Times. Kelly holds a BA in English & Theology, and a Master of Science degree on a graduate fel- lowship with the US Department of Defense. He had a distinguished career as a conservation pro- fessional before founding two award-winning ad- vertising agencies.

About NFSC

The New Federal State of China (NFSC) is a group of freedom-loving individuals united by the com- mon goal of taking down the Chinese Communist Party. Many of its members have experienced or witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party. NFCS opposes the Chinese Communist Party on every front—orga- nizing protests, assisting CCP dissidents, and sharing their knowledge of the CCP with the rest of the world. As a staunch adversary of the Chinese Communist Party, supported by The Rule of Law Foundation, NFSC seeks to prevent the destruc- tion of America by communist infiltration and cor- ruption.

Authorised by Melbourne ROLF Inc.

The Third Warfare

In its relentless quest for global hegemony, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) knows no bounds. Arguably the world’s most oppressive regime, the CCP has one overarching goal: to promote the interests of the Party, spreading its ideology and control to every corner of the globe. That said, the United States and its western allies stand firmly in their way.

The CCP is keenly aware that it is not yet able to destroy the West at a kinetic level of warfare. In a head-to-head confrontation with the U.S. and its allies, China would be outmatched — literally outgunned, militarily. However, there are devastating ways to wage asymmetrical warfare to undermine and weaken the U.S. while simultaneously bolstering the CCP’s military objectives and capacity to wage war in multiple theaters.

The Three Warfares

The CCP works from a premise of “three warfares” (san zhan): public opinion warfare, psychological warfare, and legal warfare. These three interrelated and mutually reinforcing systems can hamstring the strategic and tactical capacities of the U.S. and its allies — even including their military capabilities.

The CCP has learned to use the robust U.S. legal system to weaken America’s standing as the world’s leading superpower. Tactics collectively known as “lawfare” exploit both the strengths and weaknesses of American law and litigation to tie up, obstruct, undermine, and divide the U.S. internally and on the global stage.

Lawfare is a major component of fifthgeneration warfare, which uses information and data to exploit and redefine cognitive biases, manipulate worldviews, and destroy opponents from within.

“The CCP understood they needed the West to advance, and they are still taking advantage of that,” according to retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Spalding. “Thus, the only option is for us to completely decouple and prevent our citizens from engaging with China.”

It is critical that U.S. lawmakers, policymakers, and military leadership understand China’s three warfares strategy and meet their threat headon. A merely defensive posture plays into the CCP’s intent to immobilize U.S. companies, governmental agencies, and military powers through endless litigation and the manipulation of public opinion.

Ultimately, lawfare is a means of achieving military objectives — while constraining the West’s ability to employ its martial advantages — making it a serious threat to U.S. national security. The first step in defeating these tactics is to, as Sun Tzu wrote, understand the enemy. The second is to use that understanding to formulate offensive and preemptive strategies to beat the CCP at its own game.

Unrestricted Lawfare

It is important to understand that the CCP will hold its opponents to

legal and ethical standards that it has no intention of following itself. Lawfare, wrote Dean Cheng, a former senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, “involves ‘arguing that one’s own side is obeying the law, criticizing the other side for violating the law, and making arguments for one’s own side in cases where there are also violations of the law.’”

“Like the Soviets, the CCP’s dictators are never shy of saying that law is the party’s instrument to destroy enemies,” wrote Bradley A. Thayer and Lianchao Han, and “the Communist Party always remains above the law.”

The ends sought by the CCP justify the means, even if the means include deceit, racism, and human rights abuses. As Cheng wrote, “current PRC behavior suggests that one should not necessarily expect the Chinese to refrain from engaging in activities they condemn in others.”

This approach is essentially “unrestricted lawfare,” the use and abuse of the U.S. legal system by the CCP to weaken America, break the will of the people, and exert its political influence beyond its own borders, weaponizing the American judicial system to persecute Chinese dissidents on American soil and punish whistleblowers.

The CCP has demonstrated before the watching world a willingness to use mass murder to further its agenda, so it comes as no surprise that antisemitism is not off-limits.

Antisemitism as a Weapon: A Current Case Study

Witness the legal persecution of highprofile Chinese dissident, Ho Wan Kwok (“Miles Guo”). This ongoing battle is a cautionary tale in real-time that needs to spark a conversation about whether U.S. law firms should represent the interests of the CCP , knowingly or by default.

In early December 2022, Elliot Dordick — a Jewish-American lawyer — filed an ethics complaint with the attorney grievance committee of New York’s First Judicial Department against Paul Hastings LLP and four of its attorneys,

including two partners. The complaint stems from filings by those Paul Hastings LLP attorneys in an ongoing bankruptcy proceeding (case number 22-50073) in Connecticut involving Miles Guo.

Dordick posted the entirety of his complaint to Twitter, asking, “Why would these Paul Hastings LLP attorneys repeatedly cite a notoriously antisemitic, racist, anti-immigrant website in federal court to attack a Chinese dissident seeking asylum in the U.S. without telling the court of the nature of their source?”

The source in question is The Unz Review, a website founded by Ron Unz, who the ADL said “has denied the Holocaust, endorsed the claim that Jews consume the blood of non-Jews, and has claimed that Jews control the media, hate non-Jews, and worship Satan.”

According to Dordick’s complaint, Chapter 11 Trustee Luc Despins and other Paul Hastings attorneys substantively cited The Unz Review at least five times over several pages to justify their beliefs about Guo’s alleged actions. The Unz Review article cited by Despins and the other Paul Hastings LLP attorneys was written by Pepe Escobar, who the U.S. State Department said is involved in disinformation campaigns by foreign, authoritarian states.

Dordick pointed out that while Despins and the other Paul Hastings LLP attorneys made sure to remind the bankruptcy court of its obligation to view the Department of Justice-appointed bankruptcy trustee’s evidence with deference, they “conveniently” failed to mention noteworthy aspects of the evidence’s source.

On Twitter, Dordick continued, “I’m stunned to see this coming from such a prestigious firm. I took it upon myself to file the ethics complaint attached to these posts immediately upon discovering their actions. This legitimization of such an outrageous source has no place in our courtrooms.”

Infiltrating the DOJ

Guo has said in several videos posted to GETTR that Despins has a close connection to and partnership with the Pacific Alliance Group (PAG) in communist China.

“The appointment,” according to an Aussie Brief News story, “has an obvious conflict of interest and also reflects the infiltration of the U.S. judiciary system using unrestricted warfare tactics. Luc A. Despins is a partner of the law firm Paul Hastings LLP , which has developed business relations with PAG in a $671M bid for Spring REIT … and many other companies tied with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Guo has also “questioned the appointment of Luc A. Despins,” according to the Aussie Brief News, “asking why such appointment will be allowed by the U.S. Department of Justice. He said the appointment is unbelievable and that the CCP can heavily influence the U.S. Department of Justice.”

“The infiltration of the U.S. judiciary system accumulated over the years,” according to the report, “as the CCP’s judicial unrestricted warfare plan intended.”

Dordick requested that the attorney grievance committee office to which he submitted his complaint investigate Paul Hastings LLP , Despins, and other Paul Hastings LLP attorneys for potential ethics violations of rules related to dishonesty, deceit, and misrepresentation, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, conduct that adversely reflects on a lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer, and the failure to adequately supervise lawyers at the firm.

“How could Paul Hastings LLP possibly claim it properly oversees its attorneys if they lend credibility to sources of hatred in federal court?” Dordick wrote in a post on GETTR.

Supporters of the New Federal State of China (NFSC), a movement seeking to take down the CCP and liberate the Chinese people, flooded the comments sections of Dordick’s social media posts with messages of support and solidarity with the Jewish community. Comments on his posts indicate NFSC supporters’ strong opposition to any promotion of antisemitic outlets in federal court by anyone, let alone attorneys at influential or respected law firms.

Additionally, several noteworthy figures in the Jewish community, including but not limited to, former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Ellie Cohanim, Newsweek Opinion Editor Josh Hammer, and former New York State Representative Dov Hikind shared Dordick’s social media posts.

The struggle between Guo and Paul Hastings LLP is just one battle amid a war for hearts, minds, and, ultimately, global hegemony. The U.S. government would do well to commit significant re sources and scrutiny to ensure this is a war it does not lose.

Townhall Editor’s Note: Communist China is America’s biggest threat. Help us to continue to expose the evil. Join Townhall VIP to support our conservative journalism and use the promo code CHICOM to get 25% off VIP membership.

Authorised by Melbourne ROLF Inc.

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File

Local Theatre Local Theatre Shows

Shows

■ Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company: Family Values (by David Williamson) Until February 25 at the Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre, 39-41 Castella St., Lilydale. Director: Ian Frost. Bookings: www.lilydaleatc.com

■ Williamstown Little Theatre: All My Sons (by Arthur Miller) Until February 24 at 2-4 Albert St., Williamstown. Director: Loretta Bishop. Bookings: www.wlt.or.au

■ Peridot Theatre: Night Must Fall (by Emlyn Williams) Until February 19 ar the Clayton Theatrette, Cooke St., Clayton. Director: Alison Knight. Bookings: www.peridot.com.au

■ The 1812 Theatre: Confusions (by Alan Ayckbourn) (a series of five one-act plays, featuring the same cast) Until March 4 in The Lowe Auditorium, The 1812 Theatre, Rose St., Upper Ferntree Gully. Director: Chris Procter and five other directors. Bookings: https://www.1812theatre.com.au/.../2023-season/confusions/

■ Heidelberg Theatre Company: The Ladykillers (by Graham Linehan) Until March 4 at Heidelberg Theatre, 36 Turnham Ave., Rosanna. Director: Chris McLean. Bookings: 9457 4117 or email boxoffice@htc.org.au.

■ The Revlon Girl (by Neil Anthony Docking) Until March 4 at the Brighton Cultural Centre, Carpenter St., Brighton. Director: Natasha Boyd. Bookings: www.brightontheatre.com.au

■ Mordialloc Theatre Company: The Effect (by Lucy Prebble) Until March 4 at the Shirley Burke Theatre, 64 Parkers Rd., Parkdale. Director: Claire Abagia. Bookings: 9587 5141 or www.mordialloctheatre.com

■ Maffra Dramatic Society: God of Carnage (Yasmine Reza) February 24 – 26 at the Stratford Courthouse, 66 Tyers St., Stratford; March 4 - 6 Newry Hall (Upper Maffra Mechanics Institute). Bookings: maffradramatics.com.au

■ CPAC Musical Theatre: Jersey Boys Musical February 25 – March 11 at the Cardinia Cultural Centre, Pakenham. Director: Lee Geraghty; Choreographers: Ashlee Holdsworth; Nicole Everitt; Musical Director: Kent Ross. Bookings: cpacmusicaltheatre. com

■ Malvern Theatre Company: Ladies’ Day (by Amanda Whittington) Until March 4 at 29 Burke Rd., Malvern. Director: Pip Le Blond. Bookings: www.malverntheatre.com.au

■ The Basin Theatre Group: Two and Two Together (by Derek Benfield) February 23 –March 5 at The Basin Theatre, Doongalla Rd., The Basin. Director: Bob Bramble. Bookings: www.thebasintheatre.org.au

■ Strathmore Theatrical Arts Group (STAG): Fortune’s Fools (by Fredrick Stroppel) February 23 – March 4 at Strathmore Community Theatre, Loeman St., Strathmore. Director: Audrey Farthing. www.stagtheatre.org

■ The Mount Players: The 39 Steps (by John Buchan) (adapted by Patrick Barlow, Nobbie Dimon and Simon Corble) A play for radio adapted and directed by John Rowland. February 24 – March 12 at The Mountview Theatre, 56 Smith St., Macedon. Director: John Rowland. Bookings: www.themount players.com

■ Eltham Little Theatre: A Play in a Day (or Two) February 24 and 25 at the Eltham Performing Arts Centre, 1603 Main Rd., Research. Director: Bella Preston. Bookings: www.elthamlittletheatre.org.au

■ Wonthaggi Theatrical Group: School of Rock the Musical, March 3 – 18 at 7.30pm at the Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre, 96 Graham St., Wonthaggi. Bookings: wtg.org.au

■ Gemco Players (A Gemco in the Park Production): Much Ado About Nothing (by William Shakespeare) March 3 at 6.30pm; March 19 at 6.30pm at the Gus Ryberg Amphitheatre, Emerald Lake Park, Emerald Lake Rd., Emerald. Director: Sharon Maine. If weather is unsuitable for outdoor performance, the show will be presented at The Gem, 19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald. Bookings: www.gemcoplayers.org

■ Williamstown Musical Theatre Company: Encore (showcase concert) March 4 at 7.30pm at the Williamstown Town Hall, 104 Ferguson St., Williamstown. Seating at tables. All tickets $40. www.wmtc.org.au

Talk is cheap, gossip is priceless

MYSTERY IN A BLIMP

■ The Shift Theatre presents Mystery in a Blimp from March 23 to April 2 at the Bluestone Church Arts Space, 8A Hyde St, Footscray.

Promotional descriptions of Mystery in a Blimp include: 'A dangerously farcical joyride, comedy as anti-theatre, a murder mystery mashup. a play that self-references to the point of implosion, and 'an absurdist take on play writing and fringe theatre'.

Written by Nathan Curnow, the Melbourne work has references to local theatre culture and the difficulties of staging a new play.

“With a distinct Dadaist bent, identity formation, the creative process and the act of collaboration are explored and exploded – with no safe landing guaranteed.”

The story tells of Hershall waking up on a blimp but nobody knows where they are going or how they even got on board. It’s all the writer’s fault. “He’s 10 pages into it, the drugs have worn off and he doesn’t know how to finish.”

Mystery in a Blimp is directed by Kevin Hopkins with design by Greg Carroll. The cast features Brian Davison, Helen Hopkins, Mia Landgren, Claire Nicholls, Gabriel Partington, Lachlan Watts and Cristina Wells.

Founded in 2009, The Shift Theatre is focused on presenting dynamic works with strong roles for women, both from existing texts and in the development of new works.

The company's aim is 'to provide a stimulating and collaborative platform for directors, actors and a creative team who share our vision for a vibrant ensemble company and stories that capture the heart and the imagination.'

Performance Season: March 23 - April 2

Venue: Bluestone Church Arts Space, 8A Hyde St., Footscray

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/CFJPW

- Cheryl Threadgold

Virginia

■ Edna O’Brien’s play Virginia takes its entire dialogue from Virginia Woolf’s writing, her letters and diaries, and those of her husband Leonard Woolf and her sometime lover Vita Sackville-West.

Essentially a monologue played out in scenes from Virginia Woolf’s (Heather Lythe) life, the dialogue is interspersed with scenes with Leonard ( Mark Opitz) and Vita (Beth Klein)

The loss of her mother and half-sister and her brother's death in the First World War are pitched beside the struggle she faced as a woman for acceptance as an equal intellectual.

“The world belongs to men,” she tells us.

The narrative moves between Virginia’s work and her reminiscences of her fellow Bloomsbury group peers, that of her sister Nessa, Clive Bell, Sidney Turner, Lytton Strachey and her husband, Leonard Woolf.

Other modernist writers are mentioned in passing, lunching with W.B. Yeats and “the suave sausage,” Gertrude Stein.

Self-absorbed and introspective, moments of clarity about her work are punctuated with dayto-day activities and sketches of social life.

She addresses the audience directly, stepping in and out of scenes with her characteristic stream-of-consciousness descriptions of her thoughts.

Director Nicholas Opolski’s simple set helps to make the transitions between monologues effective.

Special mention to the choice of costumes that work to tie the narrative to its time.

The audience follows the monologue thread as Virginia shape-shifts between flirtatiousness and an increasing dread that her “crack-brained” illness will prevent her from writing.

What is first and foremost is Virginia’s battle with increasing bouts of depression and her fear of being sent away for “rest cures”.

Lythe brings a brittleness to Virginia that works well.

Both Klein and Opitz are worthy foils, but Lythe’s portrayal of Virginia Woolf anchors the performance.

● ● Nanna threatens the whole family with her kitchen knife - just one twist on the traditional ‘who done it' in Mystery in a Blimp. (From left) Mia Landgren, Brian Davison, Lachlan Watts, Cristina Wells, Claire Nicholls, Gabriel Partington and Helen Hopkins

Performance Details: Until February 26

Venue: La Mama HQ, 205 Faraday St., Carlton Bookings: www.lamama.com.au

- Review by Kathryn Keeble

Family business

■ The family dynasty of writers continues for Barry Dickins, with his son Louis Dickins now also a successful playwright and film-maker. Louis Dickins attended his father's event at The Channel, Arts Centre Melbourne, where Barry Dickins shared entertaining stories about his life and work as a Melbourne playwright for nearly 50 years, in conversation with Dr Cheryl Threadgold.

The booked out event was well received by the appreciative audience, with a second event likely to be scheduled next year.

A two-part Theatre Heritage Australia oral history interview with Barry Dickins , interviewed by Cheryl Threadgold, can be found on https://theatreheritage.org.au/digital-collection/oral-history-interviews/item/857-barrydickins

■ Theatrical: Green Day’s American Idiot, March 9 – 26 at Chapel off Chapel, Prahran. Director: Scott Bradley; Musical Director: Tahra Cannon; Choreographer: Grace Collin. Bookings: theatrical.com.au

■ Eltham Little Theatre: Theatre Trivia, March 10 at the Eltham Performing Arts Centre, 1603 Main Rd., Eltham. Director: James Chappel. Bookings: www.elthamlittletheatre. org.au

■ Beaumaris Theatre: Puffs (Two Act edition by Matt Cox) March 10 – 25 at Beaumaris Theatre, 82 Wells Rd., Beaumaris. Directors: Dan Bellis and Kristina Doucouliagos. Bookings: www.beaumaristheatre.com.au

Auditions

■ Peridot Theatre: #BacchaeToo (based on The Bacchae by Euripides) Adapted and directed by Elise D’Amico and Joe Dias. The directors seek a dynamic and diverse cast for this modern adaptation. Initial audition will be a self-tape and must be submitted by Wednesday, February 22. If required, callbacks will be held at Fleigner Hall, 31 Highland Ave., Oakleigh East. Full details: https:// www.peridot.com.au/auditions

■ Strathmore Theatrical Arts Group (STAG): An Inspector Calls, February 26, 27 from 7-10pm at the Strathmore Community Theatre, Loeman St., Strathmore. Director: Roderick Chappel. Further information from the director via http://www.stagtheatre.org/ auditions/

■ PLOS Musical Productions: Strictly Ballroom February 25 – 28, Call-backs March 14. Further details: www.plos.asn.au

■ Avid Theatre and Ardour Productions: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (by William Shakespeare) March 14, 7pm –10pm; March 18, 2pm – 5pm at Malvern Community Church Hall, 29 Burke Rd., Malvern East. Director: Nicholas Opolski. Audition enquiries: nopolski@hotmail.com or 0400 507 788.

■ Mordialloc Theatre Company: Summer of the Seventh Doll (by Ray Lawler) March 19 from 2pm and March 21 from 7.30pm at Factory 8/417-419 Warrigal Rd., Cheltenham. Director: Martin Gibbs. Audition enquiries: mandcgibbs@tpg.com.au or call 0411 645 003.

- Cheryl Threadgold

White Season

■ Melbourne independent author Brian Sherlock's newly-released novel, White Season, is an adult comedy-drama set in the Victorian snowfields in fictional Mount Frogmore in the winter of 2019.

The novel's setting has been inspired by the winters Brian has spent as a seasonal worker in Victoria's alpine region. Family relationships and the Deaf are explored, CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) and LGBTQ communities.

White Season tells of two seasonal workers, Toby and EJ, who are on personal journeys to find themselves in the snowfields.

Toby is a first time winter seasonal and a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) who, on account of outside influences, has developed a fierce resistance to verbal communication and accepting blame for wrongs he hasn’t committed.

EJ is a far more experienced seasonal and bisexual who is attempting to better himself and his lifestyle – he is the victim of several betrayals and as a result is unwilling to create familial connections with those around him.

Media Flashes

■ Nick Ludlam has started as the International Editor of SBS World News. He was most recently the Foreign Editor for Nine

■ James Preston has started at Fox Sports News as a News Anchor. He is also a Weather Presenter at Sky News Australia.

■ Broede Carmody has stepped into the role of State Political Reporter at The Age.

■ Seven will welcome television presenter Chris Brown to the network in July.

Toby and EJ commence the season on bad terms, but soon form a friendship which allows for both to achieve their goals.

The novel is classed as new adult fiction and contains adult language. The targeted audience is 18+.

White Season sells as an ebook or paperback from Amazon, and is freely available from Kindle Unlimited.

●

- Cheryl Threadgold

of

ply register at FreePaper.com.au

● ● ● ● Barry Dickins with son, Louis Dickins, at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Photo: Malcolm Threadgold

■ Musician Sean Donehue and writer Nick Waxman have created Bearded: a New Queer Aussie Musical to be presented at Frankston Arts Centre's Cube 37 stage from March 13.

Bearded has been in development since 2019 with support from the Australian Music Theatre Festival, the Victorian College of the Arts, Home Grown Theatre Company and supported by Frankston City Council's Artist Project Grant Program.

The show raises the question, 'So what’s it like figuring out you’re queer in 2023?'

For best-friends Bet and Ace, it’s not great. In order to appease the masses, escape the spotlight, and just be seen as “normal” for once, Bet and Ace decide to “date” one another; be each other’s beards.

However, living comfortably in their lie can only last so long. The cracks begin to form as Ace falls for an older boy and Bet learns things about her family that have long been hidden. No matter the lie they live, it would seem the truth will always find a way to reveal itself.

Despite the show’s Queer context, Bearded is ultimately a story about family, given and chosen. This new musical is like reading the diaries of two Aussie queer teenagers; it is intellectual but it sounds and speaks like the youth of today.

Bearded doesn’t deny the fact that queer youth are still subject to blatant queer-phobia and abject hatred, however it also explores distinctly 21st century problems like queer misrepresentation, tokenism, gaslighting and toxic positivity.

Performance Season: March 1 - 3

Venue: Cube 37, Frankston Arts Centre

Tickets: artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au

Further enquiries: bearded.musical@ gmail.com or 0407 550 391

- Cheryl Threadgold

Puffs

■ Beaumaris Theatre opens its 2023 season with Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, from March 10 - 25 at 82 Wells Rd, Beaumaris.

The two-act edition is written by Matt Cox and co-directed by Kristina Doucouliagos and Dan Bellis. Puffs tells of 'a certain boy wizard who for seven years went to a certain Wizard School and conquered evil.'

This, however, is not his story, but is the story of the Puffs who just happened to be there, too. Puffs is promoted as 'A tale for anyone who has never been destined to save the world.'

Puffs is not authorised, sanctioned, licensed or endorsed by J.K.Rowling, Warner Bros. or any person or company associated with the Harry Potter books, films or play.

Performance Details: March 10 - 25

Venue: Beaumaris Theatre, 82 Wells Rd., Beaumaris

Bookings: www.beaumaristheatre. com.au - Cheryl Threadgold

‘TEMPEST’ AT MALVERN

■ The Melbourne Shakespeare Company returns to Central Park, Malvern with their adaptation of The Tempest

This new musical production is the brainchild of Melbourne director Chelsea Matheson (Telling Tales) with Musical Direction from Benjamin Colley (As You Like It) and Movement

Direction from Tref Gare (The King’s Player).

Returning to Central Park, Malvern for the first time since their sell-out season of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Melbourne Shakespeare Company is ready to take audiences back to the '80s, imbuing this Shakespeare classic with punk rock.

Whilst audiences know Melbourne Shakespeare Company for their outdoor productions, The Tempest is going to take that concept and turn it up to 11.

With hits like Holding Out for a Hero, It’s Raining Men, and Final Countdown performed live by the cast of actor musicians, a rock concert will accompany the picnic in the park.

Director Chelsea Matheson says: “It’s The Tempest like you’ve never seen it before. As a group of magical outcasts thrive in the sub-cultural landscape and image of 1980's Punk, we take an engaging story of exclusion and rebellion, and set it against the clear and colourful world of commercial 1980s pop culture.”

“As a returning Melbourne Shakespeare Company collaborator, Chelsea also says: ‘Seeing a Melbourne Shakespeare show is the perfect summer activity in the park for the whole family. Melbourne Shakespeare Company truly relishes the art of creating engaging and exciting outdoor Shakespeare

“Audiences can expect not only an entertaining day in Malvern’s beautiful Central Park, but a show that is colourful, bold, hilarious, and filled with familiar music we all know and love.”

The cast of 13 includes Aram Geleris as Prospero, Katherine Pearson as Ariel, Liliana Dalton as Miranda, and Michael Sakinofsky as Caliban.

For Melbourne Shakespeare Company being able to perform in beautiful outdoor locations like Central Park, comes with a responsibility to look after the spaces in which they rehearse and perform.

That’s why they are proud to be industry leaders in sustainable theatre-making, empowering designers to make environmentally conscious choices.

Guests are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket or a foldable chair and to sit back and relax whilst Melbourne Shakespeare rocks their socks off. Protective sun-wear is recommended for matinee performances. Tickets are now available at melbourneshakespeare.com

- Cheryl Threadgold

Much Ado About Nothing

■ Gemco Players present William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing from March 3 - 19 at the Gus Ryberg Amphitheatre, Emerald Lake Rd, Emerald.

This Gemco in the Park production of one of Shakespeare's most widely performed plays, is directed by Sharon Maine.

The themes of love, mistaken identity, sexual jealousy, honour, betrayal and friendship all play out against the background of the Sicilian countryside.

If the weather makes it impossible for an outdoors performance, the show will be presented at The Gem, 19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald.

Performance Details: March 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 17,18,19.

Venue: Gus Ryberg Amphitheatre, Emerald Lake Park, Emerald Lake Road, Emerald (alternative indoor vene, The Gem, 19 Kilvington Drive)

Bookings: www.gemcoplayers.org

- Cheryl Threadgold

Nosferatu

■ There is satirical bite in Keziah Warner’s, Nosferatu (pun intended). Invited to invest in a small Tasmanian town by local entrepreneurs, Count Orlok (Jacob Collins-Levy), a venture

We are reminded here of Queenstown’s denuded mining landscape. This leaves the local doctor, Kate (Sophie Ross), as the last bastion against rampant capitalism.

The effectiveness of Warner’s script lies in its ability to balance the comic nonsense of a much vaunted myth with the deeper message of individuals giving in to their baser desires for success and wealth.

Director Bridget Baladis keeps the pace moving on an open stage with its chequered parquetry like a mesmeric variegation and a backdrop of doors that suggest the foreboding of other worlds (Romanie Harper).

Paul Jackson’s lighting facilitates the transition between interconnected scenes where the same character can almost appear in two moments simultaneously.

This adds to the momentum of the production. Nosferatu’s shadow, a bloody table and Orlok’s vanishing are well handled staging effects, there also being enough gore to capitalize on the tropes associated with Dracula’s lust for blood.

The double entendre of the lines delivered by Collins-Levy are a comic delight, but each character suggests a different type of loss. Joyce plays a well-meaning but lost individual, Brown, a greedy developer, Ross a doctor facing the loss of her mother and those she is caring for and Siva, a journalist who, against her better judgement, having exposed the fault lines in the original development, still falters.

There is something in this play for everyone; blood, carnivorous plants, environmental degradation, venture capitalism and moral corruption. The integrated theatricality of it all balances the comedy with the gore and has the audience questioning the cause of social disintegration.

Performance Details. Until March 5

Venue: The Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse, Southbank Bookings: www.malthousetheatre.com.au

- Review by David McLean

Sculptures on move

■ Five significant sculptures from Arts Centre Melbourne’s Public Art Collection are temporarily located at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery and Heide Museum of Modern Art during the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation.

Sculptures, Rhythms of Life, Family of Man I, Family of Man II, formerly located around Arts Centre Melbourne’s Theatres building, were installed at McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery last week.

■ Author Robert Hood has been described as one of the grand masters of Australian horror writing.

In his latest novel, Scavengers, he has married horror and crime, with his main character, Mike Crowe, being a not exactly legal private investigator.

Mike is blackmailed into tracking down a serial killer the media calls The Scavenger, who is notorious for cutting up his victims.

At the same time, he finds himself increasingly plagued by visions - and eventually visitations - of a young girl he failed to save from being murdered a decade before.

While Mike Crowe doesn't believe in ghosts, it seems there's one ghost that believes in him.

But can Mike escape the attention of a serial killer long enough to help her, and are these things connected?

These are the questions that Mike must answer in his journey to discover the truth.

Mike must scavenge through the debris of a world going to pieces around him - at first just to survive, then to find answers to questions he'd rather hadn't been asked.

As an author, Hood has long been known for his inventive and creative mind, and in his earlier life spent many years as a journalist.

While studying for his Master of Arts (honours) at university, he analysed the monster imagery in the works of English literary giant William Black.

A career as an English teacher followed, before he eventually left teaching in the 1980s to focus on full time writing.

Hood has published over 120 short works of fiction in Australia and overseas and his work has been included in anthologies and major magazines. His short fiction has spanned a number of genres, including horror, science fiction and crime.

Scavengers is available through www.clandestinepress.net

Julie Houghton

Lovers’ Vows

■ 24 Carrot Productions presents Lovers' Vows at Mansfield Park from February 2226 at Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford, in the Bishop's Parlour space.

The show is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, following Fanny Price, the biracial cousin to the Bertram family who has never quite fitted in with all their privilege.

When the family decide to take advantage of their father's absence to stage their own play, sparks fly and somehow Fanny manages to be in the centre of it all.

There is intrigue, scandal and scheming, but also kindness and love in the face of family pressure and social expectation. The show delves into themes of race, colonialism and discussions on slavery and abuse.

Performance Details: February 22 - 26

The performances on February 22-23 will also be live streamed and available for viewing for up to two weeks following the event for patrons with an online access code.

Venue: Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St., Abbotsford in the Bishop's Parlour space. Bookings for the in-person or online event: https://www.trybooking.com/events/ landing?eid=1001011&

● ● ● ● Katherine Pearson (Ariel) in The Tempest. Photo: Chelsea Neate

capitalist, bleeds the town dry. Developers Tom (Keegan Joyce) and Knock (Max Brown) debase themselves to win Orlok’s favour and even the local journalist, Ellen (Shamita Siva), will do anything to achieve a story, despite initially exposing the toxic foundations of the development site with its cobalt blue tarn.

- Cheryl Threadgold

● Robert Hood

● ● Bek Schilling (Bet Rawler) and Sean Donehue ( Ace McKinnon) and composer/co-writer in Bearded.

THE REVLON GIRL

Decision To Leave

■ (MA). 138 minutes. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Director Park Chan-wook has built up an impressive career since bursting on to the international scene in 2000 with JSA : Joint Security Area, then subsequently cementing his place as a world-class film-maker with Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (2002) and especially Oldboy (2003), which should have won the Palme D’Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Park’s latest sees him in a refined, even restrained mode, but he continues to lead his characters down dark tunnels from which they may not be able to escape from.

Hae-il perfectly encapsulates Haejun’s growingly illogical behaviour. Decision To Leave is a masterful piece of cinema from a true cinematic master, but unlike Drive My Car and Parasite, the Academy has bizarrely ignored what was easily one of the most celebrated films of last year (it was my favourite for 2022). It is a glaring omission that has left a bad taste in the mouths of movie fans around the world.

Everything Everywhere All At Once

■ Brighton Theatre Company presents The Revlon Girl until March 4 at Brighton Theatre, Cnr Wilson and Carpenter Sts, Brighton.

Written by Neil Anthony Docking and directed by Natasha Boyd, The Revlon Girl is a story of grief, hope, guilt and makeup set in the aftermath of the 1966 Aberfan Welsh Village coal mine disaster.

In this tragic incident 144 people, including 116 children, were killed when a mountain of coal waste crushed homes and a school in the small Welsh town.

While the immediate aftermath was recently portrayed in The Crown Series 3, this play is set eight months after the disaster and depicts four bereaved mothers who meet with a Revlon makeup artist in the local pub one evening to talk, cry and even laugh without feeling guilty - all while navigating how to cope with heart-breaking loss.

Performance Details: Until March 4 Venue: Brighton Theatre, Cnr. Wilson and Carpenter Sts., Brighton Bookings: www.brightontheatre. com.au

- Cheryl Threadgold

Frame

■ Frame: A biennial of workshops, talks and performances will be held at various venues from March 1-31. (Venues are listed below)

The inaugural Frame will host a set of workshops where dance students and independent artists can experience a rich diversity of techniques, styles and approaches, taught by a selection of highly experienced teachers.

Each morning during March, classes at Chunky Move and Lucy Guerin Inc are completely free. In a joint statement, Antony Hamilton (Chunky Move) and Lucy Guerin Inc (LGI) said “We’re delighted to offer these free Morning Classes across March. Whether you’re a regular or a

complete beginner, the program of classes has something for all.”

“(Change from Aotearoa)” is a talanoa/exchange between street dance leaders exploring the currents and tides of dance in Te moana nui a Kiwa and open to all advanced movers over the age of 16 at Dancehouse. At The Substation, “DaS” exists as a form of training for dance artists and musicians to practice live performance together.

“Dancing outside the Frame” presented by Ausdance on Sunday afternoons throughout March will be delivered with choreographic artists Caroline Bowditch, Phillip Adams and David Prakash.

March 10 at The Substation , 1 Market St Newport: “DaS #7” is facilitated by The Substation resident artists Melanie Lane and Jo Lloyd and soundtracked by a live set from artist and musician Female Wizard.

Imagined as an experience of 'choreography and sound', “DaS” exists as a form of training for dance artists and musicians to practice live performance together. Open and free to all practising dance artists, “DaS ” focuses on listening; to sound, to the body, to space and considers this as a frame to transport, transform, share and rupture.

March 18 at the WXYZ Studios ,130 Dryburgh St, North Melbourne: Over a 12-hour cycle notions of sleep/lessness will be explored as a corporeal practice; as sites of unlearning and resistance.

Considering relations between standing and falling, activity and passivity, doing and undoing, “Sleep Activism” declares itself first and foremost a choreographic practice in which our bodies become sites of encounter. This workshop is suitable for artists of any discipline who are interested in collective, durational, emergent, and generative choreographic practices. You don’t need to be a professional dancer to engage in this lab, but need to be open and willing to move.

March 5 - 26 at the Temperance Hall 199 Napier St, South Melbourne: Ausdance VIC partners with three choreographers and dance leaders; Caroline Bowditch, David Prakash, and Phillip Adams to investigate the ability to create, consider, connect, and curate, and collaborate beyond our individual reality through a series of exploratory workshops and an industry-led interactive forum. Held on Sunday afternoons, the sessions are a holistic dive into dance and discussion.

March 1 - 31 at WXYZ Studios,130 Dryburgh St, North Melbourne:Lucy Guerin Inc (LGI) offers a regular program of dance classes at WXYZ Studios in North Melbourne, part of the company’s ongoing commitment to supporting the continued development of Melbourne’s dance artists.

Morning Classes are taught by a selection of highly-experienced teachers, providing a rich diversity of techniques, styles and approaches.To celebrate the inaugural Frame, LGI Morning Classes will be free of charge for the month of March. LGI Morning Classes are recommended for dancers with some training or experience including recent graduates, current students, trained and practicing dancers.

March 20-29 at Dancehouse, 150 Princes St, North Carlton. Presented by Dancehouse, these workshops are suitable for advanced movers over the age of 16. “Vogue Runway and Essence” with Jaycee Iman. Learn the essence of Vogue and strut it down a catwalk. This class includes working on Essence, a term used in ballroom to explain performance quality and movement expression rooted in gender empowerment. “ Waving” with Ooschon . Join waving champion Ooschon for their first Naarm masterclass as they share the fun. For a complete list of workshops and talks please visit www.framebiennial.com.au

- Cheryl Threadgold

Park Hae-il (of The Host fame) stars as Hae-jun, a Busan detective who is known for his meticulous work ethic.

Married to Jung-an (Lee Junghyun), Hae-jun focuses on the job 24/7, and his latest is the death of a prominent immigration officer who fell to his death while mountain climbing.

When the deceased man’s Chinese wife, Seo-Rae (Tang Wei) is interviewed, everyone except Haejun suspects her of murdering her husband, and as the dedicated detective surveils the woman, he begins to have deeper feelings for the person he should just be investigating.

Park and his regular co-writer, Jung Seo-kyoung (Thirst, The Handmaiden), set up a traditional noir plot before fracturing and twisting it into different directions, and it is a joy to see this gifted film-maker carefully guide us through an increasingly bleak journey, but one typically containing moments of dark humour.

Like Park’s previous films, the frame is filled with exquisitely detailed patterns, symbols and colour schemes.

As his 2012 English language debut, Stoker, was a homage to Hitchcock’s Shadow Of A Doubt (1943), Decision To Leave is a loving tribute to Vertigo (1958), and Park confidently combines the love he has for a bone fide classic with the story he wants to tell here.

As usual, Park surrounds himself with a first-rate crew, and everyone, from cinematographer Kim Ji-yong (A Bittersweet Life, The Age Of Shadows), editor Kim Sang-beom (The Man From Nowhere, Inside Men) , production designer Ryu Seong-hie (Mother, Assassination) to composer Jo Yeong-wook (The Spy Gone North, The Man Standing Next), are at the top of their game.

The acting is equally fantastic. Wei (Lust, Caution) gives a powerhouse performance, while Park

■ (MA). 140 minutes. Now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Imagine if Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry directed Jet Li’s The One, and you’ll be on the way to understanding what kind of journey you will be taking. Michelle Yeoh is terrific as Evelyn Wang, a Chinese-American who runs a laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, who most audiences won’t have seen on screen since the mid 80’s, in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom and The Goonies), and has a tempestuous relationship with her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu). Her very traditional father, Gong Gong (a superb James Hong), also lives with them. While going through a particularly difficult audit with a tough IRS agent (Jamie Lee Curtis, having a whale of a time), Evelyn is suddenly made aware that the universe she lives in is not the only one, and that hundreds of others exist, each containing an alternate version of herself, and if she is unable to tap into their various skills, she won’t be able to defeat a powerful entity who wants to destroy everything. Directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (who helmed the frustrating misfire Swiss Army Man ) have carefully thought through their script, which is meticulously plotted, and the world building is convincing and enthralling. Unfortunately the emotional core doesn’t resonate as much as the film-makers would like, so the epic nature of the story doesn’t fully work, which in turn makes the 140 minute running time feel somewhat unjustified. Due to this, some elements fall into repetition. Production values are strong. While not a total bullseye, this is good fun, where everyone fully commits to the material. A breakout box-office hit last year, and has received a massive eleven nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, this entertaining film will achieve Oscar glory, and personally I really hope Yeoh wins for Best Actress.

RATING - ***½

- Aaron Rourke

● The Revlon Girl cast: Casey Bohan (Jean), Jen Bush (Sian), Tanya Wade (Rona), Kaila Michael (Marilyn) and Jessica Symonds (Revlon).

■ American actress Mamie Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander in South Dakota in 1931.

In 1946 Joan began working as an usher at The Pantages Theatre in Hollywood Film producer Howard Hughes "discovered" the beautiful 18-year-old in a beauty contest. She was given the screen name of ‘Mamie Van Doren’. It is said that ‘Mamie’ came from Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of President Eisenhower.

Hughes arranged bit parts for Mamie in RKO Films and this led to a contract with Universal Studios

My first memory of seeing Mamie Van Doren in films was in the 1954 comedy Francis Joins The WACS with Donald O'Connor and Francis the Talking Mule.

Mamie appeared in many films which included - Yankee Pasha, Running Wild, Born Reckless and High School Confidential

The 1950s was the era of the ‘sexy blonde bombshells’ and Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren were known as the big three.

In a radio interview Mamie told me that in 1957, when she was appearing at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Elvis Presley came backstage to ask her for her autograph and then took her on a date to see Louis Prima at the Sahara Hotel

In 1958 Mamie made her most memorable

Whatever Happened To ... Mamie van Doren

By Kevin Trask of 3AW and 96.5 Inner FM

film when she co-starred with Clark Gable and Doris Day in Teachers Pet

Mamie had actually known Marilyn Monroe from about the age of 12. They lived very close to each other and Mamie used to watch Marilyn (then Norma Jean) doing modelling work.

The photographers would say "Get that kid out of the picture!"

In later years they shared the same drama coach and became good friends. They met for the last time at the Russian Tea Rooms in New York, two weeks before Marilyn died.

Mamie realised that Marilyn was not well but was shocked to learn of the news of her passing.

In the 1960s Mamie organised her own tour

● ● ● ● Mamie van Doren

of Vietnam to entertain the American troops. She became very ill and spent three months in Saigon before returning to the United States

Over the years Mamie appeared in many stage productions including Wildcat, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Dames at Sea and Chicago

By the 1970s the era of the sex symbols was over, Marilyn and Jane were gone, and things changed for Mamie Van Doren.

Mamie was married five times and her last

film appearance was in Slackers in 2003. These days Mamie still makes personal appearances and has her own website.

Kevin Trask

Kevin can be heard on 3AWThe Time Tunnel - Remember WhenSundays at 10.10pm with Philip Brady and Simon Owens. And on 96.5 FM That's Entertainment - Sundays at 12 Noon. www.innerfm.org.au

NEW EXHIBITION AT ART GALLERY OF BALLARAT

Public Palaces: Expanded Textiles & Fibre Practices.

Includes new commissions and recent works by Akira Akira, Sarah Contos, Lucia Phrmann, Mikala Dwyer, Janet Fieldhouse, Teekah George, PaulKnight, Anne-Marie May, John Nixon, Kate Scardifield, Jacqueline Stojanovic, and Latie West . It is curated by Karen Hall and Catherine Woolley.

The exhibition takes its title from a 1957 essay by celebrated Bauhaus artist Anni Albert who sought to rethink weaving through the lens of architecture, interpreting textiles as fundamentally structural and endlessly mutable.

The exhibition presents works that experiment with materiality. Special fluidity, and process and features painting, assemblage, sculpture, video, sound, and installation, It reflects artists’ use of textiles and fibre to chart social and cultural change, respond to historical modes of production and representation and test formal properties through weaving. Embroidery, knitting and sewing.

Exhibition opens March 4 and closes April 30.

Art Gallery of Ballarat

40 Lydiard St, North Ballarat

Develop

■ The works on display have been selected from the vast talent that emerged from Melbourne’s tertiary institutions in 2022.

For this year’s Develop we see a large range of issues exploring the personal to the universal, including cultural identity, mental illness, diaspora and love letters to places. Showcasing a variety of styles and techniques, this is a celebration of the next generation of Australian photographers.

Exhibition opens March 4 and closes April 16.

Monash Gallery of Art

869 Ferntree Gully Rd. Wheelers Hill

At Mildura

Percos – Andrea J. Smith

Andrea J. Smith is a classically trained painter and whose work marries classical still life and portraiture

The Arts

and Sophia Cal presents a performance lecture with K-Pop fans and a dance troupe on March 18 from 3pm. Exhibition opens February 25 and closes on April 1. Hours Wednesday-Saturday 11am6pm. Or by appointment 9380 8888. Project8 Gallery Level 2/ 427 Collins St, Melbourne - Peter Kemp

Pink in Melbourne

■ Three-time Grammy Awardwinning singer, performer, and international pop icon Pink has announces her highly anticipated return to Australia with a massive tour in February, 2024.

with contemporary style and technique.

Having spent more than 25 years overseas, away from her Australian roots, she has exhibited internationally and founded schools both in New York and Rome.

Her latest exhibition Percoso will show around 199 works from her various studios; a journey of perennial musings recorded on Paint.

Andrea is a Mildura expat, who has created an extraordinary, internationally based career, and who we are honoured and privileged to share her artworks, her story and her journey –her Percoso.

Exhibition opens February 24.

Mildura Arts Centre 109 Coreton Rd, Mildura

Experimental

Recreation: Art sport and leisure

Project8 Gallery presents Recreation, an exhibition that explores the human inclination toward play through the experimental realm of art.

Bringing together the work of 11 artists who reflect broadly on leisure activities, this exhibition looks across sporting and artistic histories, themes and forms.

Two performances will also take place during the exhibition. Mark Shorter presents a 30-minute durational performance inside a netted enclosure on March 19 from 6pm,

As part of this tour, Pink will head to Marvel Stadium on Friday, February 23, 2024.

The announcement of Pink’s Summer Carnival tour of Australia coincides with the release of her highly anticipated new album, ‘Trustfall’.

Play On The Plains

■ Organisers have advised that Play on the Plains scheduled to take place in Deniliquin on Saturday, March 11, will not be proceeding.

Play on the Plains is a community run, not-for-profit event which would have had its third iteration in 2023 but due to poor ticket sales it is not viable for the organisation to continue and suffer a financial loss.

Jazz concert

■ Cardinia Shire Council is hosting the Royal Australian Navy Jazz Band – Melbourne Ensemble at Emerald Lake Park for a free concert from 1.30pm-2.30pm on Saturday (Feb. 25).

The band features seven of the Royal Navy's finest jazz musicians, including a rhythm section, trumpet, saxophone, trombone and vocalist.

- Contributed

■ Michelle Pfieffer is a super strong willed lady. She speaks her mind and this time has refused the lead role in the celluloid remake of ‘ Silence of the Lambs’. When questioned on her decision Michelle said ‘I was uncomfortable with such evil in the film’, The remake will still go ahead with a yet to be announced leading lady.

Positive out of pandemic

■ Australia is currently experiencing boom times when it comes to film production in our wide, brown land. Overseas owned production companies have engaged 11,000 locals for on location jobs adding $ 1.47 billion into the Australian economy.

What’s Tom up to?

■ Avid TV viewers have fond memories of Tom Selleck, the actor with the most famous mo in Hollywood . Remember him in various series of the seventies, then he rose to fame in Magnum PI that was a favourite on our screens for eight seasons. Tom even took time to film Quigley Downunder in the Alice. These days the affable Tom lives on a 60-acre ranch outside of California where he grows advocados.

Danger money

■ Former NRL player Beau Ryan hosts The Amazing Race series on Ten Beau has to do all the daredevil stunts prior to the other contestants. He is said to have left a video to his wife and kids just in case one of the stunts proves fatal. For the three months he is away filming Beau was paid $800,000, or $ 61,538 a month .

Kate Ceberano is isolation

■ Kate Ceberano was a Melbourne girl until she got the urge to shift to Sydney to be closer to Sony, her recording company. Kate’s timing meant she faced a couple of weeks in isolation in the Harbour City. Rather than staring at blank walls she wrote two new songs that feature on her latest release. Songs are titled ‘Sweet Inspirations’ and ‘Hold On’.

Michelle refuses lead role

with Peter Kemp

- John O’Keefe

OK. With John O’Keefe

● ● Michelle Pfeiffer

Stateside with Gavin Wood in West Hollywood

PRESENTATION FOR HISTORIC ROUTE 66

■ Hi everyone, remotely from my suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites in West Hollywood comes this week’s news.

Days of The Trop

■ Fifty years ago, The Tropicana in West Hollywood was home to the stars and also the junction of the famous Route 66, which served as America’s east-west artery towards California

This site is now the Ramada West Hollywood, built in the 80s. It remains home to the stars and has become a famous Aussie watering hole.

The old Tropicana is where Jim Morrison of The Doors lived and where Janis Joplin partied, where the Beach Boys, The Byrds, Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses and Eddie Cochran, to mention a few, would hang out.

The Trop , as it was affectionately known, was the place to hang out in LA when you made it in the recording capital of the world.

The Ramada Plaza Hotel on Santa Monica Blvd, recently held a special event marking the further western placement of a historic Route 66 sign.

The Ramada Plaza is located at the western end of the historic and romanticised Route 66 which began in Chicago and travelled through the midwest ending at the Pacific Ocean.

Established in 1962, Route 66 signified the first all-weather highway that linked Chicago to Los Angeles, making the route popular for motorists who drove west to pursue better lives, symbolizsing unprecedented freedom and mobility for citizens who owned cars. The road was the first transition from dirt road to superhighway and linked “small town” USA to major metropolitan cities.

Beware Smoothies

■ It’s very likely that you are getting more calories and sugar when you drink a smoothie than when eating whole fruits or vegetables, said Sarah B. Krieger, a registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist who spoke for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a professional trade group.

Smoothies enjoy a “health halo” that can be misleading, “but the bottom line is quantity, and people are often consuming a 20- or 24-fluid-ounce smoothie. That’s a lot.”

Even if you’re making your smoothie at home, using only fruits and vegetables with no other added ingredients, you can drink it in just a few minutes, compared with the 15 or 20 minutes it would take to eat the same fruits or vegetables whole, Ms Krieger said.

And if you’re drinking smoothies frequently, you may be consuming a lot more fruit than you would otherwise. The fibre in whole fruit “acts as a net” to slow down the process by which the body turns sugar from food into blood sugar, Ms Krieger said, and though the smoothie still contains fibre, it has been pulverised during the blending process.

As a result, you’re likely to feel hungrier again sooner after drinking the smoothie than you would have had you eaten the same fruits and vegetables whole.

And if you aren’t preparing your own smoothies, buyer beware. Commercially prepared and store-bought smoothies often contain added sugar, honey or other sweeteners, protein powder that’s often sweetened, or milk, yogurt, nut butters and other ingredients that make them more filling and more palatable but also add calories.

Problem with fat

■ Fifteen years ago, there was a lot of talk about the obesity epidemic. In 2008, Michelle Obama started a government program called “Let’s Move!” that sought to reduce childhood obesity.

You might remember the First Lady teaming up with everyone from Beyoncé to Big Bird to promote exercise and better eating habits.

Unfortunately, the program was largely a failure. And the obesity statistics continued to rise. 74 per cent of Americans today are either obese or overweight.

And yet, we’re no longer talking about it.

The national conversation around health and weight has turned away from things like good nutrition, weight loss and the importance of physical fitness, and instead adopted phrases like “fat acceptance” and “healthy at any size.”

In some circles, there’s even blanket denial that there is anything unhealthy at all about being obese.

Out and About

Where are my kids?

■ Actress Megan Fox is clapping back at a social media user after being asked about her kids’ whereabouts.

The Jennifer’s Body actress, 36, shared a series of sultry selfies on Instagram, where she poses in a fuzzy burgundy hat, a black corset bodysuit and black pants.

“Pick me energy [heart and 1/4 moon emojis],” she captioned the photo carousel, garnering tons of comments on her look from fans.

Fox however replied to one user who commented on the photo, “where your kids at?” “Wait, wait, wait, I have kids?!?” she sarcastically wrote in response.

“Oh my god I knew I forgot something!!” “Quick, someone call the valet at the Beverly Hills hotel. That’s the last place I remember seeing them,” she added. “Maybe someone turned them into lost and found.”

World goes completely mad

■ Now Disney is ditching its “fairy godmothers.” Its theme parks will now use the more gender-neutral title “apprentices” for cast members working at its dress-up salons.

You have got to love the World Health Organisation. New WHO guidance says that “Sex is not limited to male or female.” It says that it was going “beyond” the use of binary terms to “recognise gender and sexual diversity.”

Oberlin College was assessed $36M in defamation damages to a family-run bakery in Oberlin, Ohio, over false racism claims. The college has now been assessed $4M in interest fees for refusing to pay the money it owes.

The Michigan Attorney General says “drag queens make everything better” and suggests a “drag queen for every school.” Now, I am the last person to suggest that drag queen shows are not fun. But for schools?

NPR is being mocked for a tweet warning that the tampon shortage is a problem for “people who menstruate.” Gee, I wonder who those people are.

The Air Force Academy is promoting a Fellowship Program for “gender minorities.” “Cis gender” men need not apply. (Does that mean you and me?) Eligible applicants must be cisgender women, transgender women, non-binary, agender, bigender, two-spirit, demi gender, genderfluid and gender queer. Why can cis gender women join but not cis gender men?

Another one from the Air Force Academy. The Academy’s diversity training tells cadets to use words that “include all genders,” dropping of course “mom and dad.”

Education fails

■ National test scores released recently show the largest math declines ever recorded for fourth and eighth grade students across the country, while reading levels dropped to the lowest level since 1992. The results are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the “nation’s report card,” which tests hundreds of fourth and eighth graders and was administered for the first time since 2019. The results are considered the first nationally represented study of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on learning. The findings show math scores for eighth graders fell in nearly every state, with the average math score dropping eight points since 2019, from 282 to 274, out of a possible 500. The average math score for fourth graders fell by five points. In reading, both grades’ averages fell three points. Researchers say a 10-point decline or gain is equivalent to about a year of learning.

Come and visit us

■ If you are considering coming over to California for a holiday, then I have got a special deal for you.

We would love to see you at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites, 8585 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood

I have secured a terrific hyoliday deal for readers of the Melbourne Observer and The Local Paper. Please mention ‘Melbourne Observer’ when you book to receive the ‘Special Rate of the Day’ for your advance bookings.

Please contact: Jennifer at info@ramadaweho.com

Happy

They advise cadets to use “person-cantered” and genderneutral terms. Consider “parent or care-giver” rather than mom and dad. You can’t say that you are “colour-blind” or that you “don’t see colour.” You must be colour conscious. Not sure how “person-cantered” fits in here.

The Navy has been advised to rename the USS Chancellorsville to avoid ties to the Confederacy. We all know that this is a guided-missile cruiser that was named after General Robert E. Lee’s most famous military victory during the Civil War. Why has it taken so long?

Rushdie loses sight

■ Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand after he was brutally stabbed in the neck during a literary event in upstate New York two months ago, his agent said.

The 75-year-old author, whose novel The Satanic Verses has prompted calls for his death, was stabbed in the neck and torso as he walked on stage to deliver a speech at the Chautauqua Institution on August 12.

His agent Andrew Wylie gave an update on his condition in an interview with the Spanish newspaper, El País. “[His wounds] were profound, but he’s [also] lost the sight of one eye,” said Wylie.

“He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack.”

● ● ● ● Pictured at the historic Route 66 sign at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites at 8585 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood is Ramada Managing Director Alan Johnson with Countdown Motion Pictures founder Gavin Wood.

6.

Across

Crossword No 26 Across Down Down

149. Gallows rope

150. Group of eight

152. Hang loosely

154. Flog

157. Fluid unit

158. Minutest

162. Iran's neighbour

163. Exhausts supply of (4,2)

166. Porridge cereal

167. Pour with rain

169. Slow down!

171. Car pioneer, Karl ...

172. Tobacco user

173. Leers

175. Lever (off)

176. Single

179. Swiss banking centre

180. Come to rest (3,2)

182. Liqueur, ... Maria

183. Towards stern

184. Blackboard stand

186. Negative

189. Harness-racing horse

190. Return (of symptoms)

191. Epic movie-maker, Cecil B De ...

192. Big Apple city (3,4)

196. 60s pop dance (2-2)

197. Dad

198. Heedful

199. Spend extravagantly

201. Not fit for consumption

202. Gloomier

203. Performing

204. Car-top luggage frame (4,4)

205. Worked hard

208. Guidance

210. Up to this time

211. Aquatic bird 212. Pragmatism

213. Vein of ore

215. Vending machine

219. Nimble

221. Small & efficient

223. Striped brown gem (5'1,3)

227. Biology or physics

228. Mummifies (corpse)

230. Donations

231. Scorch

232. Charts (course) (4,3)

233. Villain 234. Arrogant newcomer 238. Power outlet

239. Knit with hooked needle

240. Scratch

243. Eagle nests

246. Ancestry

247. Lease again

250. Naming words

251. Greek philosopher

253. Muddles (up)

256. Frequent visitor

257. Mischievous

258. Character

262. Manufacture

263. Florida's Key ...

266. Is in debt to

268. Citrus fruit

269. Surgical removal

270. Not enclosed (of land)

271. Ruling (monarch)

272. Decimal unit

273. Opinion surveys

274. Corroded, ... away at 275. Slyer 276. Supervised 277. Perseveres 278. Least

1. Manages

2. Annoyed

3. Abstains from food

4. Salt Lake City state

5. Absconded (3,3)

7. Severely

133. Inaccuracy

134. Songs for one

137. Actress, ... Sarandon

138. Scoundrel

141. Heredity units

142. Cosy corners

143. Clean with broom

151. Household jobs

153. Riddle

155. Hot & moist

156. Lower leg joint

159. Revealed (knowledge)

160. Foolishness

161. Inducting, ... in

164. Too soon

165. Open wound

168. Alienate

170. Unfashionable

173. Reverse

174. Giving university talk

177. Soundly constructed (4-5)

178. Worsened (of crisis)

181. Leaves uncared-for

185. Permitting

186. Liked

187. Retailers

188. Football umpire

193. Sun or rain

194. Acorn bearer (3,4)

195. Sing-along entertainment

200. Prayer beads

201. Official emblems

206. ... & lemons

207. Wear best clothes (5,2)

208. Human rights group, ... International

209. Modesty

211. Large pedal

214. Moral

216. Dip in liquid

217. Capers

218. Numerals

220. Conclude

222. Toadstools

224. Great joy

225. Questionable

226. Junior

229. Fully satisfy

232. Liquefy

235. Actress, ... Cruz

236. Straighter

237. Reaction

241. Changing booth

242. Picasso & Monet

244. Library patrons

245. Belongings, personal ...

248. More meagre

249. You

251. Walk with heavy steps

252. Turns away

253. Imitate

254. Father Christmas

255. Praise highly

259. Divine messenger

260. Combine

261. Roman VIII

262. Small tick

264. Unknown writer

265. Swallow noisily

267. Appear

Crossroads

By Rob Foenander info@countrycrossroads com.au

Doing Judy proud

■ Standing ovations were the order of the day at the National Theatre production of Judy Australia 1964.

The three shows relived both the music and drama that Judy Garland created all those decades ago. Nina Ferro played Judy and was the perfect choice for this intriguing two-part presentation.

Her powerful voice effortlessly brought to life the timeless classics that were synonymous with the late electrifying entertainer.

Matt Hetherington as the concert promoter Harry M. Miller was outstanding too with an engaging narration and vocal contribution that added to the emotion and excitement of the show.

Along with a seven-piece band masterfully directed by Phillipa Blandford, the show left the audience clearly understanding the story that surrounded this concert tour that made headlines around the world.

Wyreena Music Cafe

■ Liz Frencham and Robbie Melville will perform at the Wyreena Conservatory Café Croydon on Friday (Feb. 24).

Wyreena hosts a live musical event featuring some of Victoria’s most talented artists each month.

Frencham and Melville share a love of jazz, pop and folk.

They instinctively blend their influences into a warm, earthy sound - like red wine on a winter's night, says the media release. For more information, phone 9298 4598.

- Rob Foenander

■ The loft at Chapel off Chapel was a great venue for this premiere production - Coming Out.

This is almost two shows in one, a cabaret/drama, highlighting the reactions of various characters when secret relationships are revealed, offering various points of views.

Whilst an interesting concept, this play written and directed by Scott Taylor (who also played Simon) did not have enough diversity in the drama to warrant a 2½hour running time.

There was a feel of ‘theatre in education’ and I think would do very well in a shorter format as a piece of theatre for an audience unfamiliar or not open to the issues being presented.

This piece also lacked direction and whilst long, the dialogue felt rushed, less sincere than could have been. The plot twists are too obvious. More unspoken communication would have allowed the audience to catch up and find the ‘ahhh’ moments for themselves. Perhaps this will settle as the run continues.

Stephen Loftus was the best of the cast, capturing the emotions of Cole. He belted out some good tunes (written by Robert Taylor) with his singing improving once the show got going. The songs were catchy, yet wordy and fast, sometimes difficult to hear all the lyrics.

I felt privileged to be a part of the audience in this thought provoking commentary, learning some

new things, yet would recommend Coming Out more highly after an edit, with a non-cast member directing it with fresh eyes.

- Review by Elizabeth Semmel

Dear Doris

■ I knew where they were headed as I caught up with a huge stream of 50 +s heading towards the Hamer Hall. They were surely going to Dear Doris, the tribute to the great legend of song and film of the 50s and 60s, Doris Day.

A packed Hamer Hall was appreciative of the warm voice of Tamara Kuldin as she introduced us to the long and illustrious list of hit songs and memorable films that the all-American beauty and idol Doris Day thrilled us with.

After a brief introduction to Day’s life, Kuldin drew us in with what is considered almost an anthem to WWII, Sentimental Journey.

In the second half of the hour the audience were delighted to be able to join in singing imprinted phrases such as Que Sera , Sera and Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Melbourne is fortunate that our Arts Program includes Morning Melodies, where for reasonable cost, patrons can sit in the comfortable Hamer Hall and enjoy an hour’s varying styles of music, dance or band.

But it is disappointing that series such as these don’t include a

program, because it would be appropriate to mention here the names of the marvellous eightpiece band that accompanied Kuldin, with the violinist and trumpeter even adding to the vocals.

Kuldin’s vintage bluesy voice carried well in the wide variety of songs. But her projection dropped back a little during some of the easy chat moments, losing momentum.

And I would question the need to have the gorgeous Calamity Jane visual towering over centre stage for most of the hour. A little distracting when gentle changes in lighting over Kuldin could have intensified the sentiment of the moment.

Some in the younger demographic could learn something from attending a few short shows like these where the art of projecting clarity of words and using gentle audience interactions are on proud and successful display.

Morning Melodies are a monthly event at Arts Centre Melbourne. www.artscentre melbourne.com.au

- Review by Maggie Morrison

At Gasworks

■ Deaf Children Australia will showcase entries of its 2023 national art competition ‘Heroes and Leaders’ at an exhibition at Gasworks Arts Park this April and May.

The only one of its kind in Australia, the competition celebrates the art of young deaf and hard of

hearing people from around the country.

The exhibition theme ‘Heroes and Leaders’ explores who the budding artists, aged 8-23, identify as a hero or leader and why. Artworks include visual and digital art across portraits, paintings, photography, digital illustrations and more.

The exhibition will showcase all the competition entries including the finalists and winners selected by a panel of professional deaf artists.

“We’re excited with the calibre of entries in this year’s exhibition from budding young deaf and hard of hearing artists,” says Deaf Children Australia CEO, David Wilson.

“Getting creative is a great outlet for everyone, especially deaf and hard of hearing young people because they often feel isolated and lonely, as they can be the only deaf and hard of hearing person in the family, community, school or work place.

“So, expressing themselves creatively is great for their mental health and wellbeing.”

The exhibition will be at Gasworks Arts Park, 21 Graham St, Albert Park, from Monday, April 3 to Sunday, May 7 (excluding April 7-10), 9:30am to 4pm, and entry is free.

- Cheryl Threadgold

I NICK N TOGA I MUSH E YOGI U R

5. Joe Biden shoots down Daffy Duck.

4. Matthew Guy seen at Weightwatchers having a meal with some “heavies”.

3. Andrew Lloyd’s new musical

and his Amazing New Technicolor Balloon”.

2. Paramount’s new seasons

shows now available for sale at Camberwell

1. Altona RSL “Over 80s” team beats Australia XI by an

Observations with Matt Bissett-Johnson with Matt Bissett-Johnson

■ The classy Sydney two-year-old, Barber, looks the one to beat in next Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes classic to be run at Sandown.

He made it three on end, with a gutsy win after the downhill start over 1100 metres, showing he will have no worries with the additional 100 metres of the final.

His rider Jamie Kah was full of praise for the son of Exceed and Excel, well named, being out of the smart mare Trim

She said he handled the track well and there’s room for a lot of improvement seeing he hasn’t had a race start since he won back in November last year.

One that has been heavily supported is the, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace trained filly, Steel City, and has moved into second spot in the market for the big one.

You have to go on her run in the Widden Stakes at Rosehill where she was narrowly beaten by another possible star on the horizon, Learning to Fly, who made it two from two, with an outstanding win last start.

The Peter and Paul Snowden team have the smart King’s Gambit hopefully going around despite being scratched from the Coolmore Pierro Plate at Randwick.

A late report said that they may run him in the Silver Slipper and give the Blue Diamond a miss.

SYDNEY COLT HOT FOR BLUE DIAMOND Ted Ryan

His progeny always attract those looking for speedsters. One sire that is taking all before him is the New Zealand entire, Dundeel, who has a big team of 27 entries to go under the hammer. They always attract a good price and he has 16 fillies and 11 colts, to be knocked down.

The former Blue Diamond Stakes winner, Extreme Choice, has only two entries from the sales, which is disappointing, as I feel that his progeny will race well.

He has two fillies, one out of the American mare, Leamington, and Steady Hand.

The next sire represented, I Am Invincible, could top the sales as his brood are winning races all over Australia in major events. He has top of 10 youngsters representing him, five fillies and five colts. They are expected to bring a top dollar.

One of the younger entires, Microphone, formerly trained, by James Cummings, has only three nominations, two fillies and a colt, which should attract a good dollar, if you are looking for speed..

ing at 10am, Lots 271 through to 540. On the final day, March 7, from 10am, it is lots from 541 through until 615 inclusive.

Young Victorian entire, All Too Hard, has nine colts and two fillies representing him, and are sure to sell well.

One of the big chances in the Diamond was Learning to Fly, who had won in brilliant style at her first two starts, but will now go for a spell.

The filly, in the care of Annabel Neesham, is one of the best fillies going around, especially after her outstanding win in the Inglis Millennium over 1100 metres.

The Western Australian galloper, Brave Halo , ran a good fourth behind Barber , after failing to get a run in the latter stages, in the Prelude.

His connections were deciding whether to pay the late entry fee of $55,000 to run in the classic.

Overall, I like the Sydneysider, Barber, who looked good at his first crack at Sandown.

His rider, Jamie Kah, was a big rap for him, and said after his victory, he was never going to get beaten.

The Ciaron Maher-David Eustace filly, Steel City, has been heavily backed, but is yet to crack it for a win, although has run some good places.

Of the others, I like the Gai WaterhouseAdrian Mott trained The Instructor who won well on the first day of the preludes at Sandown.

Inglis big sale

■ Racing folk are gearing up for the popular Inglis Yearling Sales to be held from Sunday March 5 through until March 7 inclusive, at their sales complex at Oaklands, near the Tullamarine Airport.

As mentioned in a previous column, many a top galloper has gone under the hammer at their yearling sales in the past.

These include the best sprinter in the world, Nature Strip, Masked Crusader, Santa Ana Lane, Gytrash, Ollie Kirk, Hey Doc and Bella Nipotina.

The cream of Australia’s best sires are represented.

Commencing on Sunday March 5, at 10am, Lots 1 to 270, will go under the hammer.

On Monday, March 6, once again commenc-

Another leading sire, who is producing speed machines is Brazen Beau, who will be led by 10 fillies and eight colts, which are sure to attract serious bidding.

The English stallion, Camelot , sire of the good galloper, Russian Camelot, has three fillies and three colts to be sold.

A former Golden Slipper and Sires winner, Capitalist, has nine colts and five nice fillies to be sold, which could bring some good dollars.

A prolific sire of speedsters, Deep Field, is sure to attract buyers with his team of seven colts and six fillies.

Here is one I really like: R ussian Revolution , who is breeding good young winners at present. Russian Revolution has nine colts and five nice fillies, ready to be sold.

A former winner of the Cox Plate, Shamus Award, from Rosemount Stud, under Anthony Mithen, has 12 fillies and 14 colts, ready to be knocked down. His progeny racing at the moment are winning races all over Australia.

The ever reliable, and possibly Australia’s leading stallion, Snitzel, has only six fillies and one colt to go under the hammer.

Former Cox Plate winner and placed in the 2010 Melbourne Cup, So You Think, has a top of 28 entries, which include, 15 colts and 13 fillies. So You Think stock, have generally been good sellers at previous auctions.

Then you also top flight stallions represented: Starspangledbanner, Street Boss, The Autumn Sun, Written Tycoon Toronado, Yes Yes, and Zoustar.

Barber winning at Sandown. Racing Photos.

SMALLISH SEVEN-CARD EVENT AT WARRAGUL

■ A smallish seven event card at Warragul opened the week on Monday February 13 and Maude trainer John Kendall snared a double during the afternoon with A Rocknroll DanceHelen Wheels filly Sherocks Sherolls taking the 1790 metre Downtowner 3Y0 Maiden Pace and 4Y0 Art Major-Miss Mach Kana gelding Ooga

Chaka the HockingStuart Pace over the same trip, both horses driven by Maryborough youngster Luke Dunne.

Sherocks Sherolls bred and raced by Mark Lawrence led virtually throughout to score by 1.9 metres over Johnthebullshark which trailed using the sprint lane, with Bulletproof Kid (three pegs – outside the winner from the bell) third a head away. The mile rate 1-59.

■ Kendall would certainly have been ‘hooked on a feeling’ after Ooga Chaka raced by his company Kenlach Standardbreds greeted the judge.

Going forward from gate three only to be trapped outside polemarker Lorimer Lady, Ooga Chaka gained cover when Damysus was sent forward from the tail to race in the open. Easing three wide in the last lap, Ooga Chaka sustained the run to defy all challengers in defeating Fightnfury along the sprint lane off the back of the leader Lorimer Lady by 1.2 metres returning a mile rate of 1-57.7. Shallow Beach which trailed the winner home from three back was third a head away.

■ Coimadai trainer Steven Zammit combined with Anthony Butt aboard 4Y0 Stunin CullenLittlemishollywood mare Strapping Red to easily land the Liberty Maiden Pace over 1790 metres, leading all of the way from the pole to score by 5.1 metres from Stanton Break which trailed moving to the outside on turning, with Daisy Starzzz third 6.4 metres away after following the pair. The mile rate 2-00.8.

■ Melton trainer/driver Ken Tippet’s 5Y0 Rock N Roll Heaven-Universal Alice mare Kia Ora Beauty was a huge victor of the 2210 metre Total Span Pace.

Beginning swiftly to lead from gate three, Kia Ora Beauty left her rivals standing on the final bend to register a 16.3 metre margin in advance of Illawong Danny from the tail returning a mile rate of 2-01.2.

Deft Touch after moving to race uncovered with two laps to travel was third 1.5 metres back.

Thrilling finish

■ The fast class race at Mildura on Tuesday –the Zilzie Wines Pace over 2190 metres resulted in a thrilling finish with equal favourite Dancing Finn dead-heating with Dennis as called by broadcaster Luke Humphreys.

Dancing Finn a 5Y0 A Rocknroll

Dance-Anna

Finn mare trained at Globe Derby Park in Adelaide by Lance Holberton was going for four straight Mildura victories and did exactly that to share the major prize.

Driven by Ellen Tormey, Dancing Finn starting from gate two on the second line settled with most of the field ahead of her as polemarker and equal favourite Foolish Pleasure (James Herbertson) led from the pole copping pressure from Regal Scribe a stablemate of Dancing Finn whereas Dennis trained by Aaron Coad and driven by Wayne Hill pushed through from inside the second line to trail the leader.

Going forward three wide on the back of Major Mal in the last lap which quickly dropped off, Dancing Finn made the final bend three wide with three in line on turning after Dennis had angled through a narrow opening to join the leader.

In a three horse titanic battle all the way up the running, the judge was unable to separate Dancing Finn and Dennis, with Foolish Pleasure 1.2 metres away third. The mile rate 157.9.

■ Red Cliffs trainer Kate Attard’s 9Y0 For A Reason-Czarina Katerina gelding Stormont Star was a tough victor of the McDonalds Pace over 1790 metres.

Driven by Jordan Leedham who has been a regular at most Mildura meetings, Stormont Star (gate two on the second line) was set alight from five back with a lap and a half to travel to join the pacemaker Loseashoe (gate three).

In an impressive staying performance, Stormont Star raced clear in the straight to reg-

Harness Racing

Beauty ($4.60) the victor. Trained by Anton Golino at Cardigan and driven a treat by Ryan Duffy, Hopeful Beauty after beginning safely from gate five slotted on the back of Sleepee ($3.30) which flew away to lead easily leaving Ready Jet ($1.70) from gate six parked outside the pair.

With reinsman Josh Duggan aboard Sleepee not allowing the favourite to cross, the race was to develop into a tactical affair. Joining Sleepee on the home turn, Im Ready Jet couldn’t get past in the straight with Hopeful Beauty using the sprint lane to blouse Sleepee by 1.3 metres and Im Ready Jet a head away third after locking wheels momentarily with Sleepee resulting in Nathan Jack lodging a protest against the runner up which was subsequently dismissed.

len-baker@ bigpond.com

ister a 5 metre margin over Loseashoe in a rate of 1-57.6. Heavily supported favourite Arockatthepark was a disappointing third 2.4 metres away after trailing the leader and easing three wide on turning.

■ Local Nichols Point trainer Ian Campbell was successful with 8Y0 Artesian-Goodtime Evie gelding Another Sparky who is relishing the Mildura sunshine.

Driven by Alex Ashwood for Heathcote owner Terry French, Another Sparky registered his 14th victory in 144 outings by leading all of the way from the pole in defeating Montana Pride (gate two) which trailed by 3.9 metres in a rate of 2-01.7. Only In Rome (gate five) was third 1.6 metres away after racing uncovered.

Charlton, Shepp.

■ Wednesday was double day with Charlton racing in the afternoon and Shepparton at night in extremely warm conditions.

Carlsruhe part-owner/trainer/driver Jack Sullivan loves the trotters and 5Y0 Majestic SonSullanders Pride gelding Sonnyboy led throughout from gate five to land the Ace Radio Trotters Mobile over 2100 metres at Charlton. Bowling along at his leisure, Sonnyboy never looked like stopping, scoring from Maori Muscle (three pegs) and Ivar (one/one) which dropped to trail the winner into the straight.

The margins 3.8 by 6.1 metres in a mile rate of 2-0.8. It was Sonnyboy’s first success since December 2021 at the same track,

■ Five year old Bettors Delight-The Presidentslady mare Royal Cadence trained on the track by Greg Norman who is shortly to shift to Avenel, also led throughout in the 1609 metre Bubbles In The Bush March 19 Pace.

With Kerryn Manning in the sulky, Royal Cadence was always in control and greeted the judge 7.3 metres in advance of Straight Up (four pegs) which eased wide approaching the home turn. Mynameisruby which trailed the winner was third a half head away. The mile rate 200.9.

■ At Shepparton the second heats of the Lyn McPherson Memorial Breed For Speed Trotting Series (1690 metres) were held, the first being the Bronze with Ardmona trainer Donna Castles snaring the quinella with 6Y0 Bacardi Lindy-Tender Annie mare Lindy Grace defeating Dances in a mile rate of 2-00.5.

Going forward from gate five with Mark Lee in the sulky, Lindy Grace led throughout to register a 4.7 metre victory over Dances (Doc Wilson) which trailed. NSW visitor Sally Em was third off a mid-field passage 2.2 metres back.

■ Heat two - the Silver saw Muckleford trainer Chris Angove’s 4Y0 Andover Hall-Shez Almighty mare Ebonys Avenger bring up two wins in succession, leading throughout from gate three with Ryan Duffy in the sulky.

Coasting along at her leisure, Ebonys Avenger had plenty in reserve at the finish to record a 9.8 metre margin over Violetta Gift (gate two) which trailed, with polemarker Abbie using the sprint lane from three pegs for third a half neck away. The mile rate 1-58.

■ Three quality mares (Sleepee, Hopeful Beauty and Im Ready Jet) looked head and shoulders above their rivals in Heat three – the Gold and that’s how it turned out, but not the way that punters anticipated with the third elect Hopeful

Sulky Snippets Sulky Snippets

This Week

■ Wednesday – Mildura, Thursday –Melton/Echuca, Friday – Ballarat, Saturday – Melton, Sunday – Horsham (Cup), Monday – Maryborough, Tuesday – Kilmore.

In quarters of 28.9, 30.5, 28.2 and 28 after a lead time of 5.3 seconds, Hopeful Beauty a 6Y0 French bred daughter of Brilliantissime and Beauty Life returned a scintillating mile rate of 1-55.2 which was a new track record.

Day racing

■ Day racing at Hamilton was Thursday’s venue with a compact eight event card.

Long time industry participant Russell Maisner was in the winners stall as owner/driver of 4Y0 Art Major-Aleppo Heiress gelding Anotherbigman which led throughout from outside the front line to land the Finchetts Plumbing Pace over 2160 metres.

Trained by the Stewart/Tonkin combination, Anotherbigman notched up his 4th success in 26 outings, scoring by 1.8 metres from Senna Storm (one/two) and Reason To Be (one/one) who was 1.6 metres away third. The mile rate 1-57.7. Russell has now driven 8 winners from 113 drives.

■ Portland trainer Emily Hinch combined with Kerryn Manning aboard 8Y0 Shadow Play-Roman Abbey mare Abbey Fields to snare the 1660 metre Become A Club Member Now Pace, leading all of the way from the pole to account for Surfsup Tigerpie along the sprint lane after trailing by a half neck Luv Me Or Hate Me (one/ one) was third 8 metres back in a mile rate of 157.8.

■ Mattie Craven’s 5Y0 Mach Three-Shes A Cool Lady gelding Hes A Cool Mac chalked up his seventh victory in 39 outings by leading virtually throughout in the Matthews Petroleum Pace over 2160 metres with Dunnstown’s Declan Murphy in the sulky.

Showing sparkling speed from gate five to cross hot favourite Eyethink (gate two) and lead on the first turn, Hes A Cool Mach never looked like being caught, but after kicking clear on turn

Ballarat fast-class

■ The fast class race at Ballarat on Friday –the www.ballarattrottingclub.com.au Pace over 2200 metres was a terrific race going the way of Melton part-owner/trainer Charlie Mizzi’s most consistent 6Y0 Tintin In America-Willow Rosenberg gelding Wotdidusaaay who by winning registered his 14th victory when making his 90th race appearance.

Driven by Jackie Barker, Wotdiduousaaay starting outside the front line enjoyed a cosy trip three back in the moving line as roughie Small Town first up since December led from gate five.

Not rushed three wide in the final circuit, Wotdidusaaay dashed to the front on turning, holding off a defiant Captain Pins (four wide home turn) after following the winner home. Hot favourite Imperials Reason was held up in the straight on the back of the weakening leader until too late and flashed to the wire late for third. The margins 2.4 metres by a neck in a mile rate of 1-57.4.

■ Shelbourne trainer Kate Hargreaves combined with Shannon O’Sullivan to land the Interpath Pace over 1710 metres with Wipe

The Canvas, a 5Y0 daughter of Art Major and Wenona Maggie, leading all the way from gate two to account for Jasperine (three pegs) which gained an inside run in the straight by 1.7 metres, with Island Caesar (three wide home turn) from mid-field third a head away. The mile rate 2-00.9.

ing, just held on by a head from Jilliby Ripper (three pegs) which flashed late in a mile rate of 1-56.1.

Eyethink given every opportunity after coming away from the markers in the straight was third 2.4 metres away. The mile rate 1-56.1.

Entertainment Extra 30TH ALBUM FOR CEBERANO

■ Australian music royalty Kate Ceberano will celebrate her illustrious 40-year career with the release of her 30th album, My Life is A Symphony, and a national concert tour that debuts with recording partner, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, at Hamer Hall this May.

Kate will perform with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at Adelaide Cabaret Festival on the Festival Theatre stage in June, with further national dates to be announced.

Singer, songwriter, performer, artist, icon, legend of Australian rock, pop, soul and jazz, Kate Ceberano has enjoyed one of the most enduring and inspirational careers in Australian music.

My Life Is A Symphony is a celebration of Kates’s songwriting from across her 40-year recording career. The MSO and Kate will take audiences through her incredible catalogue from pop anthems Brave and Pash to the iconic songs she has interpreted along the way I Don’t Know How to Love Him, Some Day I’ll Fly Away and more.

“Recording the album with the MSO was a musical joy – the full backing of a symphony orchestra elevates some of my favorite songs to new heights,” said Kate. “I am thrilled to release the album and embark on a national tour

to perform the music live for fans across the country with Australia’s great symphony orchestras.”

The album will be released on May 12, two weeks before the concert with the MSO at Hamer Hall. It can be pre-ordered through ABC Music and with MSO concert tickets now on sale at mso.com.au

Kate Ceberano burst on the music scene as a teenage sensation in 1983 fronting seminal band I’m Talking , becoming a superstar of the ‘Countdown’ era.

Since then, she has effortlessly moved across genres as a soulful tour-de-force, racking up 11 platinum albums, 10 Top 10 singles and countless awards and accolades.

The most prolific Australian female artist of the era, Kate has forged an unassailable distinction through more than 8000 live performances spanning every concert, theatre and festival stage in the country and beyond.

My Life Is A Symphony is an album and tour that brings Kate Ceberano back to her essence as a musical force and an electrifying live performer. Witness the voice of a generation as she celebrates four decades of music at Hamer Hall with the MSO - Prue Bassett

with Len Baker

The Local Paper

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Packaged liquor licence application

We Premium Co

Greensborough Pty Ltd applied to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation on [date] for the grant of a packaged liquor licence at Shop 121C, 25 Main St, Greensborough VIC 3088.

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BEDROOM SUITE. Near new. QS Bed, large dressing table, bedside tables. Toorak. 0412 728 133. F-I

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. Complete full set with 24 volumnes of 1965 edition. Maroon ‘leatherette’ covers. Original wooden shelving unit. GC. $50. Ashburton. 9885 2203.F-I

FLOOR MATS. Honda Accord. Euro luxury MY12 Genuine, front and rear. Genuine cargo mat/boot liner. Colour: Grey/black. EC. $85 ONO. Gladstone Park. 0402 282 477. F-I

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LOUNGE SUITE. ‘Fler’

Modular 6 Seater L-shaped Corner Unit with Fluro Light Sand Colour, would suit large room or Man Cave. EC. $200. Endeavour Hills. 0468 954 177.

F-I

OVEN. Fisher and Paykel, double doors, approx. 6 years old with new element and all shelving. $300 ONO. East Ivanhoe. 0418 322 569.

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RECLINER CHAIR Princess, on wheels, with full tilt, pressure care, manual and pump. Hardly ever used. EC. Cranbourne. 0452 442 561.

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ROCKING CHAIR. Antique. American style, adult size, spring based, casters, carved timber frame, EC. Upholstery in need of replacing. GC. $100. Croydon. 0408 332 181.

WATER TRANSFER

PUMP. Yardworks. 1100W model. YW1100TP integrated trolley. 4600 litres per hour. EC. $65 ONO. Gladstone Park. 0402 282 477.F-I

WHITE METAL BATH. Removed from a bathroom reno. Original from 1960s. No leaks or damage. surplus to needs, use for an animal water trough, lily pond, raised garden bed or could put back into a house. Pick-up in Watsonia. GC. $50 ONO. 0408 704 995.F-I

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MELBOURNE ADULT MIGRANT ENGLISH PROGRAM VOLUNTEER TUTOR SCHEME INFORMATION SESSION

One hour weekly sessions, volunteers support learners to gain confidence with conventional English, learn more about Australian culture, find employment or access local services. Sign up to volunteer: www. melbourneamep.com.au/ volunteer/

To find out more at an upcoming information session (Feb. 8) - register at www. eventbrite.com.au/my event?eid=4820856500157

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TANDEM TRAILER. 10’ x 5’, all steel construction, lights, brakes all in good working order. Made by Forest Hill Trailers. GC. $2000. Croydon. 9726 8513.F-I

VEGEPOD. Medium size. 2 covers. Base has been assembled (never used). One opened box which contains the cover/poles and joiners and a new unopened cover and all accessories/instructions. New cond. $250 ONO. Seymour. 0438 228 617.

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‘BE MY VALENTINE’ MOLLY ROSE MARKET. From moreish chocolate to groovy candles, Molly Rose at 279 Wellington St, Collingwood, will be filled with sparkling jewellery and beautiful smells by local makers and creators. Sunday, February 12. 12 Noon5pm. Free entry

CHOIR - YARRA GOSPEL COMMUNITY CHOIR. Starts on Thurs., Feb. 9. Weekly. 7.15pm. Join us singing in harmony in a friendly inclusive group. First night free. no auditions. Sheet music, wine and cheese supper provided. $12.50 per week. At St John’s Anglican Church, 552 Burke Rd, Camberwell. 0421 277 862. www.yarragospel.org F-I

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MOONEE PONDS BAPTIST CHURCH , 45 Eglinton St, 5.30pm Mondays, supports those from Moonee Valley in a tough place. All welcome for a free hot meal from 5.30pm on Mondays. If you have food handling, listening or cleaning skills, then contact us to help out. 0466 075 820. UFN

MORNINGTON Dutch Australian Seniors Club. Meets weekly in Tyabb Community Hall, Frankston-Flinders Rd, Tyabb on Mondays, 10am2pm. Morning coffee, games of Klkaverjas and Rummicub. New members welcome. Nel, 0414 997 161. Paula, 5779 8291. UFN

SOCIAL BALLROOM DANCING. Lessons and practice, 7.30pm -10pm Wed. Scots Church Hall, Yea. $5. Dance: 1st Saturday of month. 7.30pm11pm. 0490 425

CAR REG. No.

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