EX-PERTH lad Jason Chatfield has won the ComicOz award for Best Australian Original Comic for 2020 for his cautionary coronavirus comic. The former (and still occasional) Voice cartoonist, now living it up in corona-central New York, penned the multi-page toon back in April after contracting the virus. It depicts a hellish experience lying about for…

TRAFFIC will be diverted from North Perth Common for 12-months as Vincent council tries to get the drastically underpopulated public space working. The $1 million public square at the corner of View and Fitzgerald Streets was opened mid-2019 to address a shortage of casual hang-out space on the pedestrian-unfriendly strip. But apart from some organised…

AN old photo tucked away in the back of a drawer has revealed a stark West Perth of 50 years ago.  Ian Hale owns The Backlot cinema down in the former industrial wedge of the suburb now known as the Pickle District. He was first given the photo by neighbour Andrew Kailis shortly after moving…

MT HAWTHORN mainstay Marjorie Williams has returned to celebrate her 100th birthday at Anzac Cottage, where she was born on January 3, 1921. The cottage on Kalgoorlie Street was built by the community in 1916 both as a memorial to Anzac soldiers, and to serve the practical use of housing a veteran. Private John Cuthbert…

Vincent’s headache: What to do with Beatty? VINCENT council may have to fork out $7.5 million in repairs for a grandstand unlikely to ever seat sports fans again. The money is needed to maintain Beatty Park Leisure Centre’s heritage-listed grandstand and facade, with Vincent council resigned to DIY maintenance if state or federal funding doesn’t…

PERTH’s new councillors have slashed the city’s advertising budget by $1.26 million despite a warning from staff shoppers could drift to competing centres.  The cut to ads and external PR consultant spending was prompted by a motion from councillor Brent Fleeton at the December 15 meeting. “Social media likes is not enough to warrant the…

AT the December 15 meeting councillors approved a $280,000 “Light it Up” program suggested by deputy lord mayor Sandy Anghie. It will see local artists installing seven permanent lighting projects across various neighbourhoods.  Cr Anghie said many residents felt the city was unsafe after dark and part of the problem was a lack of well-lit spaces,…

THE Friends of Maylands Brickworks funded, planned and organised the open day which was a great success with 320 people attending the three-hour event.  THE Friends of Maylands Brickworks funded, planned and organised the open day which was a great success with 320 people attending the three-hour event.  The team included Ken, John, Josie, Adrienne,…

AFTER more than a year of people sleeping rough at the Lord Street homeless camp the state government has pledged $3.8 million to get them into accommodation. The two years’ worth of funds will see a partnership between the WA Department of Communities and an Indigenous organisation to ensure culturally appropriate and effective efforts. It’s…

A BIG idea from little Mount Hawthorn has spread across the world, with Pippa Candido’s The Little Bar Cart branching out to Rhode Island, Vancouver and Connecticut.  Four years ago Ms Candido came up with the idea of hiring out an old-timey wagon decked out as a bar, with top-notch service staff for weddings, parties…