BARRY McKENNA is Bayswater’s new mayor. The veteran councillor was voted in by colleagues after Sylvan Albert lost his ward seat at last weekend’s council elections. Cr McKenna won the mayoral ballot 7:4 against Cr Terry Kenyon, a two-time former mayor. Following a high-profile south ward campaign, Mr Albert lost his seat to Catherine Ehrhardt,…

IT’S been a rough week for lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi but followers and the bookies are backing her to win this weekend. Supporters dismiss the media tsunami as “tall poppy syndrome”. The corruption and crime commission found Ms Scaffidi had failed in her duties by not declaring travel contributions and other freebies from BHP Billiton…

WELL, just after we’d told you turtle sightings were way down at Hyde Park (“Turtles Hyding”, Voice, September 26, 2015) our photographer Matthew Dwyer stumbled across a pack of the shy reptiles this week. While loitering in Hyde Park on a midday break he came across a woman tossing special turtle food in the water,…

THE big elephant at WA’s parliament this week wasn’t in the room — it was on the front steps. MPs were confused when a giant multi-coloured Jumbo unexpectedly materialised. The half-tonne, three-metre high “guerilla art” is designed to raise awareness about road safety in the Wheatbelt. “He’s a life-sized African elephant sculpture made out of…

THE odds on Lisa Scaffidi being re-elected as Perth lord mayor shortened slightly this week, despite the media tsunami over her failure to disclose lavish gifts and travel. At the time of going to print, Ms Scaffidi was a strong favourite at $1.6 and her sole opponent, Cr Reece Harley, an outside bet at $2.20.…

THE ballots are merely trickling in at Vincent with a smidgen over 23 per cent of people having voted as of Wednesday October 14. In a mayoral election the turnout rate usually hovers between 30 and 35 per cent but it’s unlikely to get that high come polling night, since most people post their ballots…

WORK has started on a $340,000 puffin crossing on Guildford Road, following years of complaints from locals that school children are unable to cross the road safely. A puffin crossing has lights that turn green for motorists only when infrared detects no pedestrians are on the crossing. Guildford Road is so dangerous that several parents…

BAYSWATER council should stop having meetings and making resolutions during election periods, says a Mount Lawley resident. Adam Parsonage says the council should follow the leads of Perth, Vincent and Stirling councils which all go into “caretaker” mode during council election periods. He says a caretaker period would stop councillors tabling eleventh hour motions to…

WITH Australia rivalling the US in childhood obesity rates, a free program is kicking off at Maylands’ The Rise centre for kids seven to 13 who are above healthy weights. The WA health department-funded Better Health program runs across 10 weeks and aims to help kids make informed food choices rather than just sticking them…

STIRLING city council is seeking legal advice on whether it can overturn approval for Perth College to bulldoze four homes in the city’s heritage protection zone. The elected council recommended unanimous rejection of the demolition application but the decision was in the hands of the Barnett government-appointed local development assessments panel, which gave it the…