DECEMBER 4, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
(Damjan Janevski)
Fingers on the pulse Visitors to The Northern Hospital are being encouraged to make their mark on the hospital’s fingerprint tree to take a stand against family violence. The fingerprint tree was launched by Northern Health chief executive Siva Sivrarajah last Tuesday as part of the hospital’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. The campaign, which began on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and will end on Hume Rights Day, aims to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. The fingerprint tree will be framed and displayed at the hospital. Latest Crime Statistics Agency data reveals there were almost 3200 family violence reports to police in Whittlesea between July 2017 and June this year, up 4.4 per cent from the previous 12 months. In Hume, there were 3300 offences recorded, up 11 per cent on the previous year. Northern Health’s strengthening hospital response to family violence project officer, Natasha Knapic said the organisation was committed to the elimination of gender-based violence. It is only the second health service in Victoria to be awarded White Ribbon accreditation. SIVA SIVARAJAH
Laura Michell
Hunt for reserve arsonist By Laura Michell A suspicious fire at a Gladstone Park reserve has left Hume council facing a repair bill totalling thousands of dollars. A fire was lit on the cricket pitch at Ginifer Reserve, on Carrick Drive, damaging the synthetic pitch surface. The fire was reported to Broadmeadows police by the council on November 19 but is believed to have occurred on November 17 or 18. It is one of a spate of fires at sporting grounds across Hume.
Hume council said the fire caused about $4000 damage, with the pitch needing to be fully replaced. Repair works were carried out last week. The damage left Gladstone Park Cricket Club without a home ground for its November 23 and 24 games, forcing it to make late schedule changes. Club president Wayne Mathews said the damage to the pitch was significant. “We spent about two and a half days rescheduling games to other grounds and then all the fixtures had to be redone,” Mr Mathews
said. “We would have played Friday night juniors at the ground, then Saturday morning. Also our Luscombe [Shield] seniors had to be re-located on the second day of their game. It would have been a full weekend of games at home.” Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Gipp of Broadmeadows police said arson chemists examined the pitch but the cause of the fire was unknown. Police are investigating. Detective Senior Sergeant Gipp said there had been a “real spate” of grassfires at sporting reserves in recent months. He said that in
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late October, police received a number of reports about fires at reserves in Dallas and Craigieburn. The Ginifer Reserve fire is the first one in which a playing surface has been damaged, he said. Hume council corporate services director Daryl Whitfort said the behaviour of the offenders was “completely unacceptable”. “It is extremely disappointing to see community sporting facilities damaged in this way,” he said. “The fire danger period is now active across Hume City.” Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000
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