Front page news: August 22-28, 2007-2015
A snapshot of news from across the years
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August 22, 2007: Be warned! Horsham police have had enough of being the target of assault.
‘‘We are not punching bags,’’ was the police response after tempers flared during a crackdown on antisocial behaviour in Horsham at the weekend.
In Operation Street Sweeper, police arrested 15 people and issued 20 on-the-spot fines as they swooped on pubs and clubs in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The majority of arrests were for alcohol-related offences.
But assaults on police during the operation has angered Horsham station officer in charge Senior Sergeant Trevor Elsom.
He said police had suffered minor fractures, grazes and bruises as a result of assaults but consequences could have been far more serious.
‘‘These fights have the potential to escalate into brawls and can lead to serious injuries or even death,’’ he said.
‘‘Not every time do we get to use the OC (capsicum) spray or OC foam and in those situations police are getting injured.
‘‘Police are not punching bags and this behaviour will not be tolerated.’’
Sen Sgt Elsom said an increase in assaults and property damage had led to Operation Street Sweeper.
He said police had recorded a 30 per cent rise in property damage in the past three months.
August 24, 2007: Cannabis-impaired driving was the main cause of a car crash that killed seven people near Donald, a Victorian coroner said yesterday.
Driver Max Purdue, 38, and his four passengers died when his car collided with a van at the Donald-Swan Hill Road and Borung Highway intersection in September last year.
The driver of the van, Graham Millard, and his wife Kathleen also died in the crash.
Chief Magistrate and Coroner Ian Gray said yesterday Purdue had smoked cannabis in the hour before the crash which also killed Purdue’s friend Daniel Kelly and Mr Kelly’s children Gavin, 7, and Natalie, 6.
Mandy Niblett, the 17-year-old girlfriend of Mr Purdue’s son, also died.
‘‘The principle cause of the collision was the cannabis drug-impaired driving of Maxwell Purdue,’’ Mr Gray said.
The coroner said the case dramatically highlighted the dangers of drug use and driving and recommended police and the Transport Accident Commission maintain high-level advertising discouraging the practice.
But he said the design of the intersection and a lack of adequate signs had contributed to the fatal crash.
Kevin Millard said he was still angry his parents had been killed in such circumstances, but hoped their deaths would alert all drivers to the dangers of mixing drugs and driving.
August 27, 2008: Wimmera leader Darryl Argall has launched a scathing attack on Horsham people for campaigning to have water in Green Lake.
Cr Argall, a Kiata farmer, Hindmarsh councillor and former North West Municipalities Association chairman, said Horsham councillor Bernard Gross and Green Lake and Dock Lake Action Group member Greer Dellar were not acting on behalf of Wimmera communities.
Cr Argall said Green Lake campaigners were acting on their own self-interest and greedy attitudes, at the expense of the environment and communities near the Wimmera River.
Cr Argall said his comments were his opinion and not that of Hindmarsh Shire Council.
‘‘I think they are being extremely Horsham-centric, and they’re missing the point,’’ he said.
‘‘The federal and state governments have invested in the pipeline so water is saved for the environment.
‘‘Why would anyone in their right mind deserve to have two water bodies five to 10 kilometres away from each other.’’
Cr Argall said Horsham people needed to think about communities along the Wimmera River and Lake Hindmarsh.
He said he was very disappointed Horsham Rural City Council would take the issue to Premier John Brumby.
‘‘They should be planning for Taylors Lake instead,’’ he said.
August 26, 2009: A Horsham woman who choked to death on food lay on her loungeroom floor for two weeks before being discovered by police.
Police found the woman, 57, about 2.20pm on Monday after a local pharmacist noticed she had not collected medication and notified a government welfare agency which called police to investigate.
Detective sergeant Stephen Walker of the Criminal Investigation Unit said police broke into the woman’s Crump Street home to find the lights and heater on and her body on the floor.
‘‘We were suspicious at first but results from a post mortem in Melbourne revealed the woman had choked on food,’’ Det Sgt Walker said.
‘‘It was a tragic accident.’’
Det Sgt Walker said the woman’s death should act as a wake-up call to the community.
‘‘Because she has choked, if someone had noticed her not coming out it wouldn’t have saved her. We aren’t laying any blame on anyone, but the fact it took two weeks to realise something was wrong shows we need to pay more attention to our neighbours, friends and family,’’ he said.
‘‘This circumstances have been made a lot harder for the family because she was left so long.’’
Det Sgt Walker said there were simple things for the community to look out for such as mail piling up, someone not putting the bin out or not seeing any activity around the home.
August 27, 2010: Dooen landowner Barry Robinson wants answers from Wimmera water authorities and Horsham Rural City Council after his 30 horses were stranded in flood waters earlier this month.
Mr Robinson’s paddocks, which are adjacent to Dooen Swamp, were flooded during heavy rain between August 16 and 18.
Mr Robinson said his calls for help to rescue his horses returned nothing but sympathy from the council, GWMWater, Wimmera Catchment Management Authority, the Department of Primary Industries, Horsham police, the State Emergency Service and RSPCA.
He said it was only when Rev Dr Ian Wilson and Sunnyside Lutheran Retirement Village chief executive David Grimmett arrived with a boat that his horses were able to be fed.
He still cannot reach his horses but has been able to feed them.
Mr Robinson said council did not have a flood plan and someone was bound to be killed unless one was put into place.
“It is only a matter of time,” he said.
“There was no-one willing or able to help me. If there was a fire there would be volunteers everywhere to help with fencing, moving horses and everything else.
“But because there is no plan, no-one is allowed to help. Eventually someone will try to get out to his stock and drown.”
August 22, 2011: After nine months of wrangling and controversy, Horsham Rural City Council and Mercure Horsham have come to agreement about serving non-patrons in the hotel’s restaurant.
Council’s chief executive Peter Brown said on Friday the city council had withdrawn its application to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and had reinstated the original planning permit that allowed the hotel to serve members of the public.
The hotel and council have been involved in a public stoush over the planning permit since November last year, when council claimed it had an agreement with the hotel to only serve guests staying at the venue.
The Mercure denied any such agreement existed.
“In this matter, I believe Horsham council always acted in good faith and we recognised the legitimate concerns from objectors relating to noise,” Mr Brown said.
“We believe their concerns are now resolved. We have recently spoken to them, and an acoustic fence has now finally been put in at the hotel as was in the original planning permit.
“So we have agreed to withdraw the application to VCAT and we have agreed to the reinstatement of the original planning permit and accept it will allow guests and patrons not staying there the use of the restaurant.”
Mr Brown admitted council had made mistakes in its battle with the Mercure.
August 24, 2012: For years tales of pumas, big cats and something that ‘was not just a fox or a dog’ have become part of Grampians folklore.
Now, the State Government will investigate big cat sightings across Victoria to shed light on the existence of the elusive felines.
Horsham’s Paul Walter is one of dozens in the region who have seen a larger-than-normal black cat.
Almost 12 years ago Mr Walter and his friend Robert Goudie were driving towards Horsham when an animal at McKenzie Creek caught their attention.
“It was much bigger than a feral cat or a fox. It had a huge head,” he said.
“It was like a puma or leopard you see at the zoo.
“I have no doubt it was one of the big cats people have talked about.”
Mr Walter said more than a decade on, he does not doubt what he saw.
“I was not drinking. I had a clear mind,” he said. “I’m usually a pretty sceptical sort of bloke. Until the night I saw it I would have laughed at someone with a similar story.
“I believe there’s something out there.
There are too many sightings for there to be nothing.”
Agricultural Minister Peter Walsh said the big cat issue was more serious than people realised.
The government has not confirmed how much it will spend on the search.
August 23, 2013: A lifetime Green Lake resident has waged a 14-year campaign to improve safety at a Western Highway black spot intersection.
Gwen Kelm, 88, now of Horsham, said the highway’s intersection with East Road and Taylors Road at Green Lake was extremely dangerous.
“Whenever my late husband Frank and I turned off the highway and got to our dairy farm in Taylors Road, we said thank goodness we’ve made it home one more time,’’ she said.
She said the intersection forced them to retire into Horsham because the corner was ‘very scary’.
A crash at the intersection on Tuesday, injuring three people, sparked renewed calls for improvements including turning lanes on both sides of the highway.
Mrs Kelm showed the Mail-Times a sheaf of correspondence on the issue dating back to February 1999.
Letters from the Kelms stressed the intersection’s hazards and repeatedly called for improvements.
August 27, 2014: Six people have been arrested and a large amount of drugs seized following raids on eight houses in the Wimmera.
Police media spokeswoman Leading Senior Constable Lee Thomson said police executed warrants at six homes in Horsham and two in Stawell on Monday as part of an operation into drug trafficking.
“Officers seized an allegedly stolen vehicle, a quantity of mobile phones, a substantial amount of cash, green vegetable matter, 13 mature cannabis plants, a quantity of methamphetamine and other drug-related items,’’ she said.
“They also seized a quantity of ammunition and power tools also believed to be stolen.’’
A Stawell man, 40, was arrested and charged with having trafficked, possessed and cultivated cannabis.
Two Horsham men aged 31 and 37 and a Horsham woman, 39, were charged with having trafficked cannabis, having trafficked methamphetamine, having handled stolen goods, having possessed proceeds of crime and related offences.
August 28, 2015: Wartook Valley and Laharum residents feel their chances of getting a mobile phone tower are slim, despite government support.
Residents met with Member for Mallee Andrew Broad, Member for Lowan Emma Kealy, Horsham Rural City Council and Telstra representatives on Wednesday to discuss mobile phone blackspots.
Wartook Valley missed out on a new phone tower in June, despite residents, politicians and council believing the area should be given the hi
ghest priority.
Brimpaen farmer Luke Dunn said discussions at the meeting included why the region missed out and what strategies could be used going forward.
“It was positive, but unfortunately we were knocked back at a higher level,” he said.
Mr Dunn said even if a tower was funded, construction could be as far away as 2019.
“The area has been crippled by communication for many years and it came to head with the fires last year,” he said.
“I believe it will cost a life one day, if we don’t have decent phone coverage.
“It could be a tourist in the Grampians, a fire-fighter or a family member – it is a real possibility.”