THE police organised crime squad have charged a man after raiding a Yokine house earlier this week. Police allege they discovered eight rooms of the Flinders Road house converted into a hydroponic cannabis setup. They seized 160 plants, 62 cuttings and 10.5kg of cannabis head.

TRADITIONAL art dealers steadfastly sticking to their niche audience have had a rough run lately. The global financial crisis stifled art buyers worldwide, and in Australia they got a double-whammy; the federal government introduced laws telling art owners to either stick collections in storage or sell them off, otherwise they couldn’t put them in self-managed…

VINCENT council HQ is full of poisonous monsters: It’s been chosen as a location for a smartphone game where trainers battle strange creatures in the virtual world. “Pokemon Go” launched in Perth on Wednesday last week before being unleashed across the world over the next day or two. Google Maps and GPS help players wander…

POLICE have charged a 31-year-old man with murdering Ian John Wilson, 48, who was found dead on the steps of Beaufort Street’s Metro Church on Sunday at 8am. Police say a weapon was used and the attack happened around 9pm on Saturday night. They don’t believe the accused man knew Mr Wilson, and there didn’t…

BAYSWATER council is reducing the red tape to encourage the city’s restaurants to take up street-side dining. In theory local governments should roll out the red carpet for anyone wanting chairs and tables on the footpath, as it saves them from having to splash out on furniture or artworks to “activate” their streets. But for…

THERE were just two entries in the City of Perth’s heritage awards this year. The entrants in the hotly contested field were the restoration of St Georges College at 44 Mounts Bay Road and the RPH Heritage Society for its community achievements. The winner is still confidential, all we know is there was one “unsuccessful…

WARNING: This story contains the name of Aboriginal people who are now deceased. A NEW interpretive artwork installed at Weld Square has been unveiled, revealing the little-known story of the Coolbaroo League Social Club. Coolbaroo was a social club for Aboriginal people, operating at a time they’d been banned from entering the city without a…

AFTER a fractious council meeting Bayswater property owners face a rates bump of an average 3.25 per cent, more than twice CPI. It took two meetings to pass the budget and councillors were split over it, with Chris Cornish and Brent Fleeton walking out of the first meeting after an hour of debate. At the…

DRONES will not replace rangers at Bayswater council. Yet. The council poured cold water on the idea after resident Ian Walters suggested robo-rangers could monitor parking. He’s been dobbing in illegal parkers at the corner of Lawrence and Beaufort Streets near Chisholm College in Bedford but says “the parking breaches continue unabated”. He can’t get…

THE swish new $100,000 nature playground has opened at Bert Wright Park in Bayswater and chillens are flocking to it. Even before the official opening last week kids informally opened it, about 40 of them swinging by to scramble up the woodchip slopes and clamber over the log steps. On Tuesday more than 20 were…