LEEDERVILLE’S YMCA HQ hosts the Healthway Drug Aware skate series this Saturday, with WA’s best skaters and scooterers competing. Scooter contender Jiordan Giacoppo is in the finals after the competition was whittled down in 12 qualifying events over three months. 18-year-old Mr Giacoppo says he took up the scooter after a stack on his bike…

AMBER BEAVIS is the only sandgroper to be named one of Australia’s top five science voices under 40. The WA Museum research scientist and taxonomist saw off 250 other brainiacs to snag the top five place in the slightly-ageist ABC Radio National competition. The competition recognises those who can communicate complex science effectively to the…

AROUND 50 members of the Mount Lawley Society gathered on Walcott Street to protest the demolition of a 1923 shop front. The society is fuming that a developer wants to demolish the shop and build a four-storey mixed-use development that doesn’t incorporate the facade. “There is no reasonable justification for the removal of the shop…

THE Committee for Perth says light rail outpaces buses both financially and for moving more people. The Barnett government has “deferred” its high-profile election policy to install light rail through North Perth up to Mirrabooka, in favour of looking at fancy buses which it reckons can do the job for far less money. Trouble is,…

THE $18 million Point Fraser development with its waterside restaurants, kiosks, offices, boutique brewery and tavern has been delayed another four months, and is now expected to finish March 31 next year. The plan by City Foreshore Investment has been hanging around since the firm signed a deal with Perth city council in 2012 to…

MAYLANDS train station is set to get an additional 105 parking bays. For several years a shortage of spaces at the station has resulted in clogged streets and commuters illegally parking on verges and median strips. Carparks at the southern and northern end of the station are earmarked for an upgrade. The works will require…

JEROME DAVENPORT has been inundated with golden oldies who want to be in his Mt Lawley mural. The 25-year-old artist had nearly finished Faces of Beaufort St when he decided he needed some more mature faces to balance the age range. He put the call out—ironically on Facebook—and was floored by a grey-haired tsunami. “I…

AFTER half a decade of lobbying local and state governments, Bayswater locals have managed to get a pedestrian crossing built on Guildford Road. The road is so dangerous to cross that several parents stopped walking their kids to Bayswater and St Columba’s primary schools and drove instead, despite the short distance. Transport minister Dean Nalder…

Perth city council March 2015 PERTH could be one of 71 nations to host a Commonwealth walkway showing off historic sites, with councillors tentatively agreeing to the plan at Tuesday night’s meeting. Organised by UK group Outdoor Trust the walkways will be marked with her majesty’s royal cypher and cover a 10km route speckled with…

THE Voice has seen an artist’s impression of a $720,000 sculpture set to be installed in Maylands, and it’s absolute junk. Literally. The artwork is earmarked for the entrance of the new $72 million Finbar development on Railway Parade and will be built with auction-sourced materials “synonymous” with former site tenant Ross’s salvage. As well…