SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
Wake up to Sloth arts
(Mark Wilson)
There’s nothing slow or sleepy about the newest multi-arts event in Footscray. Sloth Bar is inviting artists of every discipline to head along to Sloth Arts Wednesdays, a free weekly event dedicated to showing off art of every stripe. Hosted by Footscray housemates George O’Hara, Loran Steinberg and Steve Smart (pictured), the night is open to dance performances, comedy, freestyle hip hop, short film and theatre or visual art, sound art, poetry, puppetry and more. Smart said plenty of venues offer music or poetry nights, but this is the area’s first such event for creative talent of every background. “A lot of people are coming in who don’t really know what to expect,” he said. “We are trying as much as possible to make people feel welcome and supported.” Smart said some people have turned up just to see what happens and ended up part of the performance. “People have been getting up telling stories and wildly improvising.” Sloth Arts Wednesdays runs 7.30-10.30pm weekly upstairs at Sloth Bar 202 Barkly Street, Footscray. Further details: facebook.com/ SlothArtsWednesdays Benjamin Millar
Fire takes toll on health By Benjamin Millar Children have been hospitalised suffering migraines, nose bleeds, sore throats and breathing difficulties in the wake of the West Footscray factory fire. People from West Footscray to Spotswood have reported ill-health since the August 30 blaze, with many critical of mixed messages from authorities about air quality, particularly in the vicinity of contaminated Stony Creek. Kingsville resident Peter Camilleri said his 10-year-old son had been in hospital twice since the fire. “He’s had asthma for the last eight years – we know how to deal with it,” he said.
“This is different. It’s a wailing cough, rather than a barking cough, and his preventer hasn’t helped him this time.” Mr Camilleri said the doctors had noted the fire on his son’s medical paperwork, but had made no firm conclusions about whether his illness was related to the blaze. Claire Halford, who lives near Cruickshank Park in Yarraville, said her family was still experiencing poor health after runoff from the firefighting efforts sent toxic chemicals downstream. “Everyone’s had a runny nose and a bit of tightness in the chest … I’ve spoken to a lot of people whose kids have been in a worse-off situation,” she said.
She said the EPA had warned people to stay away from the contaminated creek, yet signage was poor and the message wasn’t getting through to everyone. Spotswood father Phil Dean said he and his daughters were sick for three days and half of his colleagues at his Williamstown North workplace had been affected. Juanita McLaren, whose home backs on to the Stony Creek Backwash Nature Reserve, told a community meeting in Footscray Town Hall last Thursday that she and her son, Tibor, 12, had been experiencing migraines, sore throats, stinging eyes and persistent coughs. EPA chief environmental scientist Andrea Hinwood told last week’s public meeting
that the fire so far appeared to present little long-term risk to human health. “We were very, very fortunate that the plume was as high and elevated as it was,” she said. Dr Hinwood said that although asbestos sampling had come up clear to date, asbestos could still become an issue as the major clean-up got under way. “Measures will be put in place to make sure that there is no presence of asbestos leaving the site which might cause an impact,” she said. - with Goya Dmytryshchak ■ More
reports: Page 4-5
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