PERTH doctors say young office workers who participate in a White Collar Boxing match at the WA Italian Club “have a problem and should seek help”. “The only aim of the game is to punch another person in the head and body, the ultimate goal being to bash them unconscious with your fists,” says Australian…

HAVING a leafy tree on the verge outside your house increases your median property value by more than $16,000, according to a new academic study. Conducted by three academics—including UWA assistant professor Ram Pandit—the study analysed data from 23 northern Perth suburbs, including Stirling, Bayswater, Perth and Vincent. It found broad-leaved trees (not pine needle…

MORE than $300,000 was flicked the arts community’s way at Perth city council this week, with councillors unanimously endorsing three big artsy spends. The Black Swan Prize for portraiture was handed $41,000, with Cr Jim Adamos saying it “is an important part of Australia’s art calendar” and its free events draw people into the city…

ROLF HARRIS’ commemorative plaque on St Georges Terrace is to be pulled up with nary a word, with laconic Perth councillors unanimously voting Tuesday night for its removal. The chamber was near-silent as lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi presented her motion to remove the 1959 plaque “due to community concerns relating to the guilty verdicts relating…

A NASCENT community group led by Catherine Ehrhardt is set to take over the running of the Maylands Hawkers Market. The Maylands Lions Club oversaw a successful 12-month trial of the markets, but struggled to get enough volunteers to support the weekly event at The Rise. The Lions have agreed for it to be managed…

WITH a bid to ban plastic bags stalled, Vincent council’s moved to at least allow residents to recycle them. Up till now the bags just ended up in landfill to rot over the next 500 or so years. With the average person using about 200 a year, that’s 270 tonnes of bags for Vincent alone.…

THE rundown playground at Upper Bardon Park is set to be transformed into a regional nature playground. Bayswater city council is looking at spending $175,000 to upgrade the small riverside Maylands site into an eco-friendly play space. A concept with four zones representing European seasons and featuring sand, mulch and turf will be presented to…

THE Melbourne Hotel will (probably) be redeveloped to the tune of $40 million after a few stalled starts over the years. In 2011 owners Oakesfield put forward a plan for a $30m refurbishment and construction of 17 levels of offices above the circa 1897 hotel. That didn’t end up going ahead, following in the footsteps…

SUBIACO councillor Mark Burns has beaten Vincent council in his bid to open a gym next to the popular Bikram yoga studio in North Perth. The studio already ties neighbours in knots over parking and the council feared a gym would make things worse. While a council planning officer had written the application should be…