A PROPOSAL to switch back to in-person elections at Stirling council has been killed off. Not a single councillor would back colleague Elizabeth Re’s motion to consider ending their 20-year all-postal voting experiment.  Cr Re had argued that after 20 years postal voting hadn’t lived up to the promise of increasing voter turnout, and research…

A PROPOSED adult shop hoping to win Perth city council’s approval is promising “a beautiful, clean and luxurious space” with shop fronts displaying “elegant and tasteful clothing with no adult toys”. The owner isn’t named in the application, but the business is registered under “Gape Pty Ltd” and they want to open up “Pink Rabbit…

TWO shisha lounges wanting to operate along Beaufort Street have been rejected by Vincent council under its crackdown on smoking in town centres. One of the pair, Petra Lounge at 624 Beaufort Street Mount Lawley, opened in August 2021 without authorisation from Vincent council to operate a shisha bar or build a smoking patio out…

THIS week’s history corner from the City of Vincent Local History Centre looks at the past lives of the North Perth Town Hall, from its early days as the region’s bureaucratic hub, to its bawdy nights as an RSL venue, and its time as a hub for the Jewish community during World War II. IF…

THE consulate general of India is seeking to rename a road near Kings Park to honour an Indian private who died serving with the ANZACs in the Great War. Nain Singh Sailani was a Hindu Gurkha from Shimla in northern India. He came to Australia in 1895 aged 22 and worked as a builder in Geraldton…

IN this week’s Speaker’s Corner, greyhound welfare advocate Melissa Harrison from Free the Hounds tells us the Covid-era has seen a surge of betting that’s brought a huge spike in the greyhound racing industry’s turnover, and now the largest e-petition ever signed by WA residents has been lodged to stop greyhound racing.  THE largest e-petition…

A HUGE redevelopment with a 29-level office tower is set to transform Barrack Street between the malls, and bring Perth’s Liberty Theatre back to life, but it’s at the cost of some heritage that hasn’t thrilled WA’s Heritage Council. Developer Randal Humich united the six properties along Barrack Street under the umbrella of his company…

LOCAL opposition is emerging to plans to put 13 storeys of apartments across a North Perth mega-block stretching from Raglan to Alma Road. Developer Celsius has submitted plans for two towers with 97 apartments, seven ground floor commercial tenancies and a couple of levels of offices. It’s been three years in the making, revised down…

ENTREPRENEUR Melody McCarthy is the brains behind Perth’s latest fashion phenomenon, which has stormed the country and is now poised to go international. Fashion Thrift Society, which Ms McCarthy founded just over a year ago, is a second-hand and vintage clothing market that’s cashing in on a younger generation’s eagerness for more sustainable threads.  According to…

IN this week’s look back in time, the Vincent Local History Centre helps celebrate the Leederville Hotel’s 125 years as a magnet for locals looking for a good night out. ESTABLISHED suburbs in Perth are filled with local pubs that have their own rich history and character. This year, the Leederville Hotel clocks up over…