AS vape shops pop up near schools and parks, new rules proposed at Bayswater council could see any new ones restricted from opening in sensitive areas. Councillor Catherine Ehrhardt lodged a notice of motion at the October 25 council meeting calling for options on how to exert planning control over where vape shops, tobacconists and…

Anzac Cottage holds its annual sunset service for Remembrance Day this November 11. Most local ceremonies are held at 11am but the Friends of Anzac Cottage decided in years past to hold its service at 6pm so it matched 11am in France, where the armistice was signed to end World War I.  The Friends of…

A 10-MINUTE continuous-take confession of a fictional serial killer has landed local performer Jay Jay Jegathesan in the global finals of the World Monologue Games. Before Covid, competitive monologuing was usually held live on stage, but in 2020 when performers were languishing amid lockdowns Australian producer and writer Pete Malicki started up the online-based World…

Peninsula with a past ANYONE who travels on the railway through Maylands will know the Old Peninsula Hotel, located just opposite the station.  Opened in 1906, the hotel was a venue for many social events early last century and in later years was a local hostelry. In the 1970s the Peninsula was about to be…

LONG time community campaigner and Voice correspondent, the late John Collins, has been memorialised with a public bench in Weld Square. Mr Collins lived on Edward Street in Perth for 45 years until his death last year. He was active on local issues like re-opening long-empty public housing for homeless people, and pushing out East Perth’s…

AS the campaign to ‘save SymbioticA’ art research lab at the University of WA goes global, the uni maintains no decision has been made and it wants “genuine consultation” over its future. The cutting edge biological art research centre has been part of UWA’s Nedland campus since 2000, but has been flagged for possible closure…

LEIGH STRAW loves the dark corners of history. The local author, an associate professor at Notre Dame Fremantle, has released a regular stream of crime thrillers over the last decade; but what makes her works stand out is that most have been non-fiction. Her latest release The Ballroom Murder follows that theme, exploring the shooting…