Eaglehawk UFS Dispensary has used National Volunteer’s week as an opportunity to recognise the strength of community volunteers As part of the promotion residents were invited to submit nominations for community awards, with three to be selected. On Wednesday the winners were announced, an..

By STEVE KENDALL DO you want to know the parentage of your pet? Well, you can find out about your prize pooch’s canine clan at one of Australia’s favourite dog events, the RSPCA Million Paws Walk on Sunday at Lake Weeroona. In a new initiative Passionate Vetcare on Eaglehawk Roa..

THE Pennyweight Walk Open Air Gallery has a new look with the launch of this year’s offering. The walkway links Hargreaves Street and Bath Lane, and houses a temporary display of artworks on large ply boards. Greater Bendigo council’s arts and culture co-ordinator Maree Tonkin said ..

By Rosemary Sorensen Management structure at La Trobe University Bendigo will be reviewed as the campus sets about finding a replacement for its director. Andrew Skewes resigned this week, “to purse other opportunities outside the university”. The popular campus director had been o..

By Rosemary Sorensen Ambulance callouts for people affected by drugs or alcohol are proportionally lower in regional areas such as Bendigo than in Melbourne, except in cases involving cannabis. Figures just released by Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre list 402 ambulance attendances in Great..

The mission to turn one of Bendigo’s most infamous, historic buildings – the Bendigo Gaol – into a unique community theatre is finally being realised with the successful construction tenderer announced today. The new $25.8 million community theatre project contract has ..

A NEW State Government smart phone app has snubbed two of Bendigo's largest tourist events. The app, called VicEvents, was launched this week by Technology Minister Gordon Rich-Phillips and Nationals Member for Bendigo Damian Drum. The app is aimed at allowing "community groups and businesse..

ONE Bendigo lawyer knows how to sue for damages on behalf of injured workers for a very simple reason: he made the law. Former Bendigo West MP Bob Cameron, now back in private practice, made the laws when he was Workcover and TAC Minister in the Bracks Government. “Workers with s..

A BENDIGO family who cannot find respite for their severely autistic teenager have welcomed a State Government plan to fund new services. In October 2009, the Bendigo Weekly published an emotional letter from Carolyn and Mick O’Sullivan. The O’Sullivan family had just been t..

VICTORIAN Treasurer Kim Wells has announced a second stage of public consultation for the design of the new property based Fire Services Levy. The State Government is implementing the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommendation that the state replace the Fire Services Levy with a pr..

Deputy Premier and Emergency Services Minister Peter Ryan has released the new community fire refuges policy, delivering on a key recommendation of the Bushfires Royal Commission. Mr Ryan said the Community Fire Refuges Policy provided the framework for identifying, establishing, managing an..

The state government has been accused of disregarding advice from a Melbourne University academic warning against cuts to VCAL. Shadow Education Minister Rob Hulls said the academic’s report outlines the importance of VCAL course coordinators, which are the target of the Baillieu Gover..

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s philanthropic arm, Community Enterprise Foundation™ has launched the Cyclone Yasi Appeal. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s Queensland State Manager, Noel Jessup said the bank was pleased to be able to launch the appeal to assist communities affected by ..

ONE of St Kilda’s favourite sons used the backdrop of a fundraiser lunch in Bendigo to attack the culture of his former club. Neil Roberts played 169 games for the Saints between 1952-1962 during which time he won a Brownlow Medal and also captained his club. He was inducted into St Kild..

Spyndrift's Yellow Brick Road tour is paved with gold… musical gold! There are very few acts on the live circuit that can match Spyndrift in terms of their unique, highly visual performance style, musicianship, energy and out-and-out groove. Bendigo's Newmarket Hotel on Saturday a..

MICK GRIFFIN “Fabulously naughty, exotic and noisy Spyndrift is more than just a band, it’s a visual feast being served hot to the Goldfields this April and May.” So states the sensational Spyndrift on their newly launched website, with dates in Bendigo..

Hermitude’s Angus Stuart doesn’t just craft future beats, he hears voices. Whether he’s in the studio, or side of the dance floor (more on that later), they’re always there. “Sometimes it’s really good, (a voice) saying, ‘I wonder what people wil..

Approaching their second successive Groovin the Moo slot, Ballarat’s Gold Fields hope to be a little better prepared this time round. To make it in time for their opening slot in 2011, the band drove overnight from Adelaide, only to discover 20 minutes before the show they’d arri..

Ink May 26 in your diaries local derby fans as Mortal Kombout! has been declared at the Bendigo Exhibition Centre. It’s a double header bout, starting with a mixed league demo featuring skaters from seven leagues across Victoria, for the Scorpions and Suz Zeros clash. Then Bend..

Bendigo remains the centre point for a group of musicians who have reunited for charity, after two decades apart. Steve Saxton, Mik Weir, Paul Van Emmerik and Anthony Murphy played together in various Bendigo-based bands from 1989 to 1992, and in 2012, they’ve reunited, as the latest l..

By JOEL PETERSON The first day of play in round six of Emu Valley Cricket Association play was one for the batsmen, with both Emu Creek and reigning premiers Mandurang posting big scores. This season’s surprise packet, Emu Creek, continued their fantastic form against Maiden Gully smashing..

Kennington Recreation Reserve sporting community has been given a boost with the opening of a new $400,000 multi-purpose training facility. The synthetically carpetted 44m x 24m facility – at what is otherwise known as Harry Trott Oval – features soft interior retractable netti..

Reigning Cafe Roubaix Summer Series champion Darren Lapthorne claimed his second Symes Motors Skoda A-Grade win of this year’s series on the roads of the Mayfair Park circuit in East Bendigo on Sunday. The race started at a gentle pace due to the windy conditions not providing ideal conditio..

Bendigo golfer Kris Mueck is heading home to play in the 10th Annual Mercedes Benz Christmas Challenge at the Bendigo Golf Club this Saturday. The Axedale golfer is set to team up with top Bendigo player Chris Wilkinson in the field of 260 players. Also taking to the fairways will be Carlton pre..

Reigning SEABL Most Valuable Player Renae Camino has signed a letter of intent and will play with the Bendigo Lady Braves in the 2013 season. Camino becomes the second player to commit to the team for the 2013 season after centre Elyse Penaluna signed on last week. The 26-year old from..

Just over two years after having nearly half-a-million dollars spent on redeveloping it, a Bendigo oval was rendered useless at the weekend. The oval at California Gully Recreation Reserve was deemed unplayable on Saturday, forcing the Emu Valley Cricket Association to abandon day one of a..

On Sunday May 13, the Mother’s Day Classic walkers and runners will be out in force again. Some people run, some walk, push strollers and wheelchairs or ride scooters around Kennington reservoir every year. They each have their own special reason for getting up early and striding out to..

A brave Elmore woman has honoured her late husband by giving the gift of music. The Bendigo Weekly reported Eileen Burke’s desire to find a new home for her late husband Roy’s drum kit. And after receiving a stack of requests for the skins, Eileen has finally chosen its new home: Be..

In the Goldfields, more and more artists are finding beauty and inspiration right on their doorstep. And while it’s usually trees and skies that capture the attention, there are also watery vistas in our landlocked region, worthy of commemoration. David Purdon lives in Taradale, not far fr..

Whose idea was it to fill the supermarkets with Easter eggs? I demand an explanation! Oh? It’s nearly Easter you say? Right. As you were. Temptation has hit me hard this past week. Bright, shiny, crinkly foil glimmers at me. Enticing me to cradle that egg gently in my hands and ..

When Noemi Cummings came to Bendigo 16 years ago, she felt very different. “People would turn to look at me,” she says. “I think I was the only brown face they’d ever seen, and it felt like I was in a cage.” It still happens occasionally, that people can’t s..

The Irish have taken over Eaglehawk’s famous Dahlia and Arts festival. This year’s 10-day event, which was launched on Wednesday, will have all the usual displays, flower shows, performances and debutante ball. The centrepiece street procession just happens to take place on St Patric..

At the beginning of spring, we gardeners were keen to get our veggie gardens up and growing and looking forward to the fruits of our labours come summer. To get those plots started, Keith MacDonald of MacDonald’s nursery shared his tips for a no-dig garden with us. So h..

TURN off the Old Calder Highway at Harcourt, up the drive winding between the vineyards, to the heart of Bress, and you pretty much feel like you are visiting Arcadia. Cradled in the granite embrace of Mt Alexander, this cidery and winery is picturesque to the point of cornines..

Winemaker Wes Vine is fast becoming something of a China expert. Although he had not ever thought of travelling there just a few years ago, when he visited Nanjing on a trade mission organised by the Victorian government in 2008, it was the beginning of what has become a massive part of his ..

By VICKI HARRINGTON The Bendigo Exhibition Centre will be bulging at the sides on the weekend of April 28 and 29 next year. It will be housing the annual Australian Chrysanthemum Championship, the Goat and Produce Fair, and for the first time, The Biggest Pumpkin Challenge. Competi..

The Bendigo food scene has fared well again in the newly released The Age Good Food Guide 2012. For the second consecutive year, Whirrakee Restaurant achieved a much-coveted chef’s hat in the new guide. The one hat category is awarded for restaurants achieving a score of 15 out of 20, an..

Spring has sprung and it’s time to bring your inner gardener out of hibernation. Whether you want to be more self-sufficient, save money, be more environmentally aware or just grow and enjoy your own fresh and tasty produce, spring is a great time to start a kitchen garden. Keith Macdonald..

We asked Bendigo Weekly bookclubbers to send us the titles of books they have enjoyed this year. Most are new, some are classics... Ape House by Sara Gruen: the follow-up to Water for Elephants, about a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab The Art of Fielding by Chad Har..

BENDIGO poet Tru Dowling says it feels a little strange finally to see her poems gathered in a classy chapbook, her name on the cover, the poems sitting firm and final on the white page. But it was always going to happen. “I feel like I can’t not write poetry,” Tru says. &ldquo..

Memoirs Of A Consenting Victim by Tru Dowling This is the time she aches for breaks given rules for bidden for the time it tick tick tick tick ticks ticks ticked him off the list the gist was to recognize realign the white lies, blow flies of his owl brown e..

Where do you go after Harry Potter? Daniel Radcliffe showed he is serious about developing his career as an actor by playing in a small-budget film made in Australia and based on the novel by Michael Noonan. Now, apparently, at 22 Radcliffe is preparing to take on a role that is as different fro..

IS there anybody out there? A couple of weeks back a newcomer to Bendigo contacted us at the Weekly because she has heard about our Bookclub. She had moved from another Australian city, where she had been a member of a different kind of bookclub, the reading group kind which meets regularly at a..

Ship Kings Andrew McGahan Allen and Unwin, $22.99 A SEA shanty with a mythical whirlpool at its heart. Miles Franklin-award winning author, Andrew McGahan, has continued on his merry way, working through every genre known to readers, by embarking on a four-book fantasy series. The Coming ..