Vic

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A staunch advocate of women in agriculture, long-time Landcare supporter, strong community proponent and anti-cancer fighter has received an Order of Australia (OAM) in today’s honours list. Julie De Hennin of Talgarno was recognised for her service to the North East community and is well known in the Upper Murray.

The first of three spans of girders are now in place as the basis of the new Towong Bridge deck slab begins to take form. The first five pre-cast bridge girders were craned into place early this week with each spanning up to 20 metres in length and weighing up to 30 tonnes.

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If you’re aged between 3 and 60 and grew up in the district, chances are you were taught to swim by Geoff Dale. Geoff has celebrated 30 years of his Geoffswim program, which has seen him teach swimming and water safety to the youth of Cohuna since 1992. But his swimming teaching goes back much further – to 1967.

An emergency services leader and a passionate musician have taken out Gannawarra Shire Council’s 2023 Australia Day Awards. Kerang Fire Brigade captain Ramon Steel was named Gannawarra Shire Council’s Citizen of the Year, and Deaken Fawcett presented with Council’s Young Citizen of the Year Award.

ABC rural reporter Angus Verley was on location last Friday, January 20 in the flood ravaged Benjeroop area ... “We haven’t been flooded out in 100 years but we’ve been flooded out twice in 13 years,” Mr Schultz told Mr Verley. “Something’s not quite right and that’s what we have got to get to the bottom of.”

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Buchan & Gelantipy Racing Club

The state government’s program for the collection of sandbags from properties in Echuca and Echuca Village has resumed. Campaspe Mayor Cr Rob Amos is encouraging Echuca residents and businesses with sandbags on their properties to take advantage of the free service, which is provided through Emergency Recovery Victoria’s (ERV) Flood Recovery Clean-up Program.

We are thrilled to announce that Festival of Small Halls is heading out on their Autumn Tour 2023: Port Fairy Folk Festival to Lake Gkula and we would love it if you would join us again ... There are 18 communities across Victoria, ducking into New South Wales and South Australia, flinging open the doors of their halls and welcoming you in this March and April.

Maldon’s heritage-listed gutters in Main Street and High Street may look good and are effective during heavy rain events, but they can be tricky to negotiate when getting in and out of your car. The wooden footbridges can also be dangerous, particularly for people with balance problems.

Our children have been nagging us for some time to get a dog, and I’m thinking about finally giving into them. We want a breed that is child-friendly, doesn’t shed too much, is easy to train and doesn’t need too much exercise. Any suggestions?

Helen Whiteman. Last Saturday saw the third and final race in the Pacer Series, designed to introduce our new and novice sailors to the rules of racing and competitive sailing ... Rob Champion also took the opportunity to bring along a friend and bring his father's Fireball out of retirement to race with the rest of the fleet.

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With lightning-fast hands, Jaydyn Coggins stacks cups faster than eyes can focus – the former Barham, now Adelaide resident has a Guinness World Record under his belt. Cup stacking is a sport in which competitors race the clock to stack up cups in set formations and pack them up again.

Ali Bohn. Travelling three hours a day, five days a week for six years to attend secondary school in Echuca might seem more than a little daunting for many students, but for Harry Coughlan, he looks back on the last six years and feels that every minute of travel was worth it. The Koondrook local graduated from Echuca’s St Joseph’s College last year with a 95.3 ATAR score, affording him the opportunity to enrol and be accepted into his first course preference of bio medicine at the University of Melbourne.

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Mildura Rural City Council’s routine mosquito monitoring program has detected Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) virus in our municipality ... This detection of the virus in Mildura and northern Victoria, marks the first detection in Victoria in more than a decade.

Mrs McArthur said Labor’s Federal position on nuclear submarines further changes the energy landscape, with the Liberal Party federally adopting nuclear as a potential energy solution ... “If the Victorian Government really thinks it is Australia’s most progressive jurisdiction – then it should be brave enough and big enough to drop the moratorium and get real about the energy solution staring us in the face,” Mrs McArthur said.