Do you know where John Gill’s piano ended up? IT’S been 10 years since the death of Perth’s piano man John Gill, and the Museum of Perth is seeking his piano and busker’s bucket for an exhibition celebrating his life.  For more than 20 years he was often seen busking in the city malls with…

A BULK-BILLED nonprofit medical clinic in central Perth has been unable to open its doors due to WA’s shortage of doctors.  The Deen Clinic, founded and run by HepatitisWA, has had to push back plans to provide primary health care to Perth’s most vulnerable residents because it can’t find a GP. Deen Clinic CEO Brent…

THE Big Blue Head’s big rainbow headband has gone missing midway through Pride month. Vincent council had adorned the sculpture outside council HQ with a rainbow sweatband to celebrate local LGBTIQ+ sports clubs including OUTdance Perth, the Perth Rams, the Loton Park Tennis Club, and the Perth Spectres Basketball club.  But it’s mysteriously disappeared, with…

BAYSWATER councillor Catherine Ehrhardt has applied for a misconduct restraining order against local resident James Kozak over a years-long campaign targeting her. Cr Ehrhardt told the court her family felt unsafe and she was seeking an order that Mr Kozak not approach her, her children or their home. She also wants hundreds of social media…

A PROPOSED ban on scattering ashes in Vincent has been voted down by councillors (‘Scattered policy’, Voice, November 13 2021).  It’s currently allowable with permission from the council CEO, but staff recommended banning the practice altogether; “given the sensitive nature of the matter, the scattering of ashes may make some members of the general public…

“RESPECT” and “an openminded approach” have governed Italy’s Covid vaccination campaign, with the government avoiding a strict mandate by allowing unvaccinated people a couple of days’ grace each time they do a Covid test. Italy suffered during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, but WA Italian consul Nicolo Costantini is proud of how his country…

PERTH’S Italian community is commemorating 700 years since Dante Alighieri’s death, while using the occasion to preserve Italian culture and cuisine. Nicolo Costantini is Consul of Italy to WA, and says Dante is a giant figure in Italian culture. “He’s absolutely important because he’s the creator of modern day Italian language,” Mr Costantini says. “Dante…

FIVE decades of activism by the local LGBTQI+ community is being celebrated in an interactive timeline project, with organisers calling out for memories, memorabilia and photos to tell the tale. Rainbow Futures WA is a consortium of LGBTQI+ groups and individuals who’ve come together to focus on the community’s long-term wellbeing.  They’re collaborating with Vincent…

PERTH’S Afghan community is banding together to help victims of the unfolding crisis in their home country. One of the aims is to keep alive culture the Taliban has been accused of trying to erase in Afghanistan, with a charity dinner to help women, widows and orphans at North Perth Town Hall on November 27. …

THE WA Cancer Council has backed a ban on smoking in Vincent’s town centres, but the state government has flagged concerns about being cut out of the decision. Vincent council’s currently lining up a new local law that will give it discretion to ban smoking in town centres, in thoroughfares near facilities for young people, and…