THIRTEEN WA-based game developers have been given a financial leg up through Screenwest’s new Digital Games Production Fund. Screenwest’s digital games manager Mark Smith said the fund, which was launched in December last year, aimed to help smaller developers and studios turn their dreams into a reality. Since the last funding available for game developers…

WA’S only arts precinct has called for greater protection as developers eye off the prime land in the West Perth wedge south of Newcastle Street. The area’s been redubbed “the Pickle District” in recent years as arts and cultural uses have reinhabited the old warehouses and dormant factories.  But its rejuvenation has started attracting developers,…

A YOUNG brother and sister business duo have found a way to turn hard-to-recycle bottle lids into a sustainable craft business. Morley kids Toby, 11, and Maddie, 9, have spent months crafting more than a hundred artistic pots for small succulent plants and have now started selling them. “We got the idea from our nannie,”…

BEATTY Park Swim School has been nationally recognised with team leader Rebecca Ross taking home the top award for emerging talent.  Ms Ross started as a swim teacher there in 2010 and is now a team leader. She won the award at the Australian Swim Schools Association excellence awards in Adelaide, and the Beatty Park…

THE Leederville town centre is set to have a new biggest building with the approval of 12-storey apartments on Leederville that are double the height of any existing builds.  The block at 200 Carr Place was originally going to host the triple-building, eight-storey, 52-unit “Locale” project by owner Hanrise (“Locale on the up,” Voice, February…

THE councillor who drove Vincent’s crackdown on smoke and vape shops has welcomed the federal government’s plan to stamp out vaping. Federal health minister Mark Butler announced a week ago increased efforts to stop illegal importation of non-prescription vapes, restrictions on flavours, colouring and fancy packaging, and a ban on disposable vapes.   Councillor Jonathan…

AFTER seven years in storage a Northbridge memorial has been restored and re-dedicated to people who spent their childhoods in institutional care. Unfolding Lives by Judith Forrest featured text by poet Terri-ann White reflecting experiences of care leavers: former child migrants, foster children, stolen generation members, and those who grew up in residential camps.  It…

THE abandoned Russell Street Bunnings is holding back the Morley town centre according to Bayswater councillors who want the hardware giant to secure and spruce up the site. Bunnings closed the site in 2020, save for the carpark which was briefly used as a drive-thru Covid testing point and later as a polling location in…

Vaping crackdown welcomed THE federal government’s crackdown on vaping has been welcomed by a Bayswater councillor pushing to get vape shops away from schools. Vapes containing nicotine currently require a prescription, but the law is poorly enforced. Federal health minister Mark Butler announced a crackdown on the vape black market by stopping import of non-prescription…

A PROPOSED petrol station on Angove Street in North Perth has been unanimously rejected by a state assessment panel. All local council members and state government representatives on the JDAP unanimously voted down the plan by petrol company On The Run, heeding advice from Vincent council planning staff who warned of “adverse impact” on local amenity.…