BAYSWATER council should focus on local services and not donate $5000 to help feed starving people in South Sudan, says Cr Brent Fleeton. Cr Sally Palmer is proposing the city make the UNICEF donation after years of war with the north, inflation and a recent drought led to famine in the nascent country. Cr Palmer…

HUNDREDS of kayakers paddled out into Claisebrook Cove on April 9 for the annual “Unite on the Swan” Guinness record attempt to form the largest raft of kayaks and canoes ever. With a count of 263 craft, they’re still 2,887 short of the world record, but it sure looked pretty, and organisers say this year’s…

MORE parking bays and an extra 2500 dwellings could be on the cards for Osborne Park after Stirling council approved a development plan for the precinct. Stirling is hoping to meet the state government target of 60,400 additional dwellings in the city by 2050. The Osborne Park precinct surrounds King Edward Road and borders Westfield…

WEST Perth has been overrun by an infestation of “giant” rats which locals say are running wild and wreaking havoc. In January Vincent council issued a notice warning residents about a rodent “epidemic” plaguing the areas surrounding Carr Place, Leederville and Kingston Avenue, West Perth. The flyer urged people to bait their premises and to…

PERTH councillor Reece Harley has requested CEO Martin Mileham investigate why the city has instigated a lengthy media blackout against the Perth Voice and Post Newspapers. The city has a well-funded PR department, but senior media officer Michael Holland stopped answering questions from the Voice around 18 months ago. The final communication in January last…

PREMIER Mark McGowan has written to Lisa Scaffidi urging the embattled lord mayor to stand down, but she is refusing to quit and has branded the move “extremely unprofessional”. Mr McGowan has pledged to sack Mrs Scaffidi, but it’s a lengthy process under the Local Government Act and he’d have to form a three-member enquiry…

THE developers of a troubled Leederville apartment block — including lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi’s husband — are contesting charges over excessive noise. Last year, neighbours living beside 275 Vincent Street complained to council about work being done outside approved hours (7am to 7pm, Mondays to Saturdays) and the council issued a $250 fine for excessive…

A 43-YEAR-OLD North Perth man has been swept up in a police operation that resulted in a $12.7 million drug seizure. On Monday last week, WA Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission raided three properties, including one in North Perth where an unlicensed firearm and $60,000 cash was seized. A property in Alexander Heights…

SURESH RAJAN was not the first president of the Ethnic Communities Council as we recently claimed on a Speaker’s Corner contribution. He was the ninth pres, with Sam Piantadosi taking honours as the first. No harmony in massacre

A NEW microbrewery is on the cards for East Perth but several locals, a homeless shelter and the Housing Authority are all opposed to the development. Perth council on Tuesday approved Bright Tank Brewing’s plan for a microbrewery at 98-100 Brown Street, to be run by husband and wife team Gemma Sampson and Matthew Moore.…