Vic

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Ali Bohn. The world was informed of the news last Thursday that Her Majesty the Queen had passed away at the impressive age of 96; not a bad innings for anyone, least of all for someone who is often considered as having the most important position in the world ... So, what are your thoughts on the Queen’s passing and our new king?

A cold and windy day with fleeting glimpses of sunshine set the stage at the Nullawil Football Grounds for the Golden Rivers Finals. The action was hot and so too were some tempers as passions ran high ... Murrabit walking away as A Grade netball premiers in the ’22 Golden Rivers Football Netball League season.

Kirstin Nicholson. Cohuna’s Dean Smith has just returned from the Royal Adelaide Show with a haul of Grand Champion ribbons. Dean and his family own Strzboer Goat Stud and breed Fullblood Boer Goats, the fullblood meaning that there is traceability with genetics back to South Africa. With 10 years of showing experience at Sydney Royal Easter Show and numerous local and interstate shows, Adelaide had been beckoning.

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The latest issue of Australian Zoologist is titled “Out of the ashes: Lessons learned from bushfires and how we can better manage our fauna”. But the editorial wrap-up suggests we’ve learnt nothing. It seems our fauna will continue to suffer from mismanagement under a Lock It Up and Let It Burn conservation’ paradigm. The abstract mentions monitoring, mapping and research, but the only reference to management is “use of supplementary resources such as nest boxes and artificial roosts to replace those lost in fires”.

There are voices that are instantly recognisable, Morgan Freeman is an example in movies, Bert Newton on TV and for the Australian horse community it’s Graeme Barker. This week Equestrian Victoria awarded him "hall of fame" status for his service to the equestrian industry as one of Australia’s finest commentators.

Phillip Island’s bold vision to become Victoria’s first fully sustainable tourist hot spot in Australia is one step closer, with plans approved for a revolutionary community energy storage system. The Phillip Island Community Energy Storage System (PICESS) will offer greater reliability in electricity supply for the Island, especially during peak holiday periods and could potentially slash power bills, with residents able to use the grid to store their power.

Bendigo’s stunning tulip displays will take centre stage in a new annual Bloom spring program that brings together 60 exciting events, experiences and attractions, including new night time activations in the city centre. A sea of 53,000 tulips will bloom from mid-September at the Conservatory Gardens, Queen Victoria Gardens, Civic Gardens and along Pall Mall.

Greater Shepparton’s popular Moooving Art collection continues to grow as Council welcomes a new member to the herd this week. Introducing Moobird, designed by talented Mooroopna artist Mandy Charquero, Moobird is inspired by the region’s very own Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton and the native birds which can be found there, and around our region.

Geoff McLennan. There can really be no comparison between football and petanque, but as finals fever has hit Victoria, the finals games this weekend deserved a mention. On Sunday 28 August a group from Maldon was invited to a social petanque day with the Woodend-Hanging Rock Petanque Club. It was decided to play for a trophy ‘The Dig’ which was made from an old fork bought in France.

The Maldon Streetscape Revitalisation Project, which has been underway for several years (in fact, the push to have power lines put underground is believed to have started over 50 years ago), is now nearing completion ... The final stages of the project include filling the tree bases with crushed granite, finishing and modifying the bridges, modifying car park signage and installing crossings.

The bakery, established in 1854, is one of the oldest brick buildings in town, with a rare wood-fired scotch oven. The concerns of some, recently posted on the Maldon Noticeboard Facebook site that the bakery was to be repurposed as a cafe, have now been allayed by new owner Rebecca Barnett. ... Rebecca will be restoring the original wood-fired scotch oven with the help of locals with extensive experience in working with scotch ovens.

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Dunolly will come alive next month as the Gold Rush Festival makes its exciting return on the 22nd and 23rd of October. Events will get underway at the Dunolly Music Festival at the Dunolly Golf Club from 4pm to 10pm where Bebop-alula, Grim Fawkner, Chenai Boucher, Devils Brew and The Groove Dudes, will take to the stage.

The current timber supply shortages in Victoria brought about by vexatious legal action against VicForests is causing anguish among the people of Orbost, where 37% of its workforce faces the axe ... Forest & Wood Communities Australia went to Orbost last week to speak with what we thought would be a few families to get an idea of what they are going through ... FWCA MD, Justin Law, said the heart-breaking situation in Orbost was unnecessary.

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Climate change threatens our forests, but it is not necessarily an existential threat, according to a leading Australian scientist. “It’s not necessarily the case that we will be wiped out by wildfire. The existential threat of fire can be mitigated, but we must use ALL knowledge,” Mark Adams, Professor of Bioscience and Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology ... This included indigenous people’s use of fire as a management tool.

A timely update for the Rushworth to Murchison Rail Trail Project, with the $3 million development progressing through Campaspe Shire Council’s planning stages. Mayor Chrissy Weller said the trail project will develop 11 kilometres of the former railway track, between Rushworth and the Campaspe Shire boundary of Channel Inlet Road.

Former Mildura resident and award-winning intuitive, mixed media abstract artist Jacklyn Foster has chosen Mildura Arts Centre (MAC) to host her very first solo exhibition, which opens this month. Vibrant  is a collection of contemporary acrylic abstract paintings that draw inspiration from finding the joy and humour in life.

Minister for Environment and Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio visited a business in Werribee South which is turning surplus vegetables into powders ready for supermarket shelves ... The powders – on shelves soon under the label Nutri V - can be added to smoothies, sauces, soups and used in muffins, cakes, breads and other baked goods to boost vegetable intake.

The resistance of  green peach aphid (Myzus persicae,  GPA)  to numerous chemical mode of action groups makes it an ongoing management challenge. In Australia, GPA has evolved resistance to synthetic pyrethroids, carbamates, organophosphates, neonicotinoids, and quite recently, to sulfoxaflor. And now, Australian researchers have found populations of GPA with resistance to spirotetramat, the active ingredient in Movento ® 240 SC Insecticide, as well as several generic products containing the same active ingredient.