MOUNT LAWLEY and Meltham train stations are not closing, with transport minister Dean Nalder quashing rumours of their demise this week. Whispers about the stations closing stemmed from a meeting between Bayswater council and the public transport authority, where a state bureaucrat’s comment they were underperforming had the locals worried about their future. Mt Lawley…

THE rundown Banks Reserve in East Perth will get a little love with $90,000 of state government cash being pumped in to restore the riverfront. Mt Lawley MP Michael Sutherland says the spot “is a lovely area” and “well used by the community and needs to be well looked after”. He says it’s in poor…

BAYSWATER CEO Francesca Lefante will be replaced after councillors decided not to renew her contract. The secret vote happened behind closed doors last week and councillors are unable to speak about it. However from murmurs in the weeks leading up to the vote it sounds like there was a split between Ms Lefante’s long-time supporters…

NAMED for the Greek goddess of inescapable justice, Sea Shepherd’s Operation Nemesis will take the fight against Japanese whaling to the Southern Ocean. The eco-warriors have a new vessel, which is also their fastest, and it’s expected to make all the difference in their 11th direct action anti-whaling campaign. “For the first time we will…

PERTH COLLEGE’S Rosie Cake is hoping her invention the “Key-Ze” could win her a trip to NASA’s Cape Kennedy space centre in Florida. Rosie’s working on schematics for a blue-tooth key holder to help forgetful kids who leave their keys behind. She says the gadget would hold kids’ keys with a magnet and be secured…

VINCENT council is cutting investment ties with the fossil fuel industry following a visit from environmental group 350.org. 350.org member and Vincent ratepayer Rachael Bott was joined by a dozen other activists at March’s meeting; “I would prefer my rates are preferences toward banks that do not invest in fossil fuels,” she’d argued. She quoted…

A MEMORIAL to late Bayswater mayor John D’Orazio will be erected in Riverside Gardens, adjacent to the block of privately owned wetlands partially cleared by his heirs. Bayswater council has $40,000 on offer for an artist to create a large bench and bust memorial to Mr D’Orazio, who also served as a minister under the…

LABOR leader Mark McGowan has formally thrown his support behind Maylands MP Lisa Baker’s campaign to quash historic anti-gay convictions. Ms Baker raised the issue in a speech to parliament earlier this year, saying the record should be fully cleared for pre-1990 convictions when it was illegal to have gay sex. Untold hundreds of men…

NEW Perth federal MP Tim Hammond delivered his inaugural speech to parliament this week. Mr Hammond told of his long path to parliament as a lawyer representing asbestos victims and people in remote Aboriginal communities. As a 20-something longhair he read the tale of Rex Dagi, a Papua New Guinean tribesman who successfully took on…

PERTH lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi is to hold her position as chair of the council’s audit and risk committee. Following the scandal surrounding her lack of disclosure of gifts and travel, the council had looked into replacing her with an independent member of the committee as a way of boosting transparency. But the committee itself…