FOR 35 years Mandy’s Deli owners Dina and Frank Rechichi have dreaded the rain. The Maylands couple say they’ve been plagued by flooding since they purchased the business and have been hand-balled between the local council and Main Roads ever since. “The water comes in through the door every time there’s a downpour,” Ms Rechichi…

CONTENTIOUS plans for a big upgrade to Rosewood Care Group’s retirement home on Cleaver Street were deferred by the Development Assessment Panel on Wednesday, leaving the 421 people who signed a petition against it breathing a temporary sigh of relief. Perth’s in dire need of more aged care beds and the $65 million upgrade to…

IN lighter Rosewood news, the old-timers at the Cleaver Street retirement home were visited by a koala, dingo and apparently, a python, for a therapeutic animal session. WestOz Wildlife brought in the animals and coordinator Beth Mullany says “coming to nursing homes is one of the most rewarding parts of our job. Many older people…

GREENS party election signage has been graffitied up and down Beaufort and Oxford Street’s pavements and WA Police have been called in to find the culprit. The #Green17 hashtag, used by Greens pollies for the impending state election, has been spraypainted onto footpaths every couple of metres in some parts of town. Greens campaign manager…

AN APP which marries small business owners with cheap unused premises will help transform Bayswater into a ‘Smart City’, says Future Bayswater chair Paul Shanahan. Developed by Perth’s Alina Racu, The Local Tribe has been dubbed “Airbnb for industrial spaces”, and helps landlords find short-term tenants for properties that would otherwise lie empty. Activating Ms…

WHILE both major parties have pondered getting rid of the accident-prone Bayswater underpass, independent candidate Greg Smith reckons it’s part of the cultural fabric of the town centre and a “trucking calming device”. Along with wanting to scrap the WA Planning Commission because it favours big developers over locals and steamrolls councils, he says if…

THE population of Carnaby’s black cockatoos is declining by 10 percent each year, warns BirdLife WA’s Adam Peck. Data from the annual great cocky count suggests there’s only around 1600 Carnaby’s left in the coastal plains between Mandurah and Gingin and their population continues to decline as their habitat is cleared to make way for…

NORTH Perth’s Alex Hickling is one of two Western Australians involved in an “unprecedented”  expedition around Antarctica. Carrying scientific teams from all over the world, the Russian research vessel Akademik Treshnikov is hopping around the craggy ring of islands which surround Antarctica to collect data for 22 different projects in a wide range of interrelated…

A FREE one-of-a-kind legal clinic for WA asylum seekers could face closure unless emergency funds are raised, says Humanitarian Group CEO Helen Pearce. The Abbott government axed legal funding for ‘irregular maritime arrivals’ in 2014, leaving asylum seekers in WA to muddle through complex visa application forms on their own. Relying heavily on volunteers and…