LOCAL street artists are in the midst of brightening up some of the town’s unloved laneways. Perth Voice favourite Mel McVee raised $1000 through crowdfunding, with locals and businesses chipping in and Vincent council matching it dollar for dollar so 10 street artists could paint murals along the Psychology Australia wall. Brenton See, Paul Deej,…

BUSINESS is booming in Bayswater, recording a 25 per cent increase in sales over the year to August 2015. Morley was up 24 per cent and Maylands 23 per cent, according to the local council’s economic modelling contractor Remplan. Council spokeswoman Julia Kogan is confident street festivals, enhanced public spaces and the provision of business…

RIVER-loving locals are needed to clean up the waterside area near them, with the River Guardians asking people to post before-and-after pics for Clean Our Rivers week January 18 to 24. You can get bags and gloves from Vincent city council’s HQ (244 Vincent Street Leederville) or bring your own, then pick your favourite riverbank…

THE man behind the Sydney Olympics iconic Tin Symphony opening, Nigel Jamieson, is about to set Langley Park buzzing with a theatrical extravaganza paying homage to WA. Many of the performers are big names even on the world stage, but they still call Western Australia home, and they’ll be back to launch this year’s Perth…

SANTA wasn’t the only person entering homes in the dead of night over the holidays. Nasty little gremlins were also about, taking advantage of empty houses, says Bayswater acting officer in charge Will Withers. There were 25 burglaries and seven car thefts in his district alone between Christmas and new year’s. Snr Sgt Withers told…

VOICE photographer Matthew Dwyer was out looking for some Christmas cheer when he came across the students and teachers from Kingston International College celebrating an Aussie picnic Christmas party in Hyde Park. They tried to share their food with the affable Mr Dwyer but, as a hobbit fond of too many breakfasts, he politely declined.

BAYSWATER council is going back to the drawing board to better develop a short-term accommodation policy. The rethink follows concerns its current draft policy may be too harsh on residents wanting to hire out spare rooms and properties via websites such as Airbnb (Voice, December 12, 2015). Under the draft, a failure to gain council…

KIDDIES expecting a few jaunty singalongs about Santa and Rudolf got a bit of a surprise at Hyde Park’s Carols by Candlelight the other night — a full-on “fire and brimstone” sermon, according to unhappy Voice reader Donelle Phillips. Run by Youth with a Mission for more than a decade without complaint, the event this…

WA doesn’t have enough organic meat to go around this Christmas, says a local butchering veteran. Mondo Meat’s Vincenzo Garreffa says he hasn’t been promoting his organic meats because he doesn’t want to “create a rush that can’t be met”. “There’s an Australia-wide shortage,” Mr Garreffa says. “There’s a demand for it now that is…

DEVELOPERS can’t be trusted to commission public art, it seems. At least that’s the view of Vincent mayor John Carey who is keen to tighten up his council’s “per cent for art scheme”, following the emergence of a number of works he regards as below par. Under the scheme, developers must spend at least one…