HOMELESSNESS is rife in areas near Weld Square despite a line of empty Housing Authority homes crumbling away on nearby Parry Street. Local resident John Collins says he often sees homeless people in the area, and when Voice was there a man rocked up to his makeshift camp on the porch of one of the…

WA Labor’s “Missing” posters have gone, well, missing. Last week the party put up posters across the city, poking fun at the Liberal party for not fielding a candidate for the federal Perth by-election on July 28. Now the “missing” posters are missing, and when we contacted Labor HQ to ask if they took them…

WA is getting some woefully low return numbers on the first day of pre-polling for the Perth and Fremantle by-elections. Australian Electoral Commission figures show that the Perth pre-poll had just 264 votes and Freo had 238. Meanwhile Mayo’s by-election in South Australia got 968 people lodging a ballot on the first day, and Longman…

THIS month Victoria Gardens in East Perth will say goodbye to its oldest resident – a tree more than 140 years old. The Hoop Pine was one of the first trees in the 1877 garden – the same year WA got its first, single telegraph line connecting Sandgropers to the rest of Australia. Jeff Broun…

A POOR duck with its neck constricted by plastic has been evading rescue efforts for more than two weeks at Lightning Swamp bushland in Noranda. Photographer Muneer Al Shanti was at the bushland on Sunday July 1 when he spotted the Pacific black duck and took a picture. At first he didn’t realise what was…

A MAMMOTH new mural by artist Mel McVee – paying homage to the historic general stores of the area – has been painted on the side of the Good Grocer Leederville IGA. The concept was to draw on the elements of the old grocery stores – delivery trucks, fresh food, orchard trees and food-producing animals,…

MAYLANDS Waterland may become little more than a splash unless Bayswater council can find $3.2 million within four months. Although the council in June last year committed to spending that much upgrading the waterpark, at last week’s council budget meeting, staff instead proposed  putting $1.5 million towards a regional playground that “could include water play…

VINCENT council will force all events that get council funding or sponsorship to hold Aboriginal welcome to country or acknowledgement of country ceremonies, and provide opportunities to fly the Aboriginal flag. At its June meeting, the council approved a revised Protocols for Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country to Recognise Aboriginal Culture and History…

IT’S been a mammoth turnout of candidates contesting for the federal seat of Perth this by-election, with 15 people putting their hands up to replace retiring Labor MP Tim Hammond—three times as many contenders as the 2016 election. Here’s a quick run-down of who’s thrown their hat into the ring. JULIE MATHESON nabbed top spot…

MAYLANDS creatives will get the chance to pitch their ideas to locals over a bowl of soup later this month in the hope of scoring a micro-grant. The community-led initiative is being put together by the Maylands Neighbourhood SOUP committee, which will charge people $10 for a bowl of soup and a vote on where…