Monthly Archives: January 2016

Warning follows post on illegal dumping 21/01/2016

Posted on by

WORDS AND PICTURE BY GEOFF VIVIAN

This is the kind of local story I love to do, and I will tell you why.

Click on this image to read the story.

Click on this image to read the story.

It is about an everyday citizen trying to do the right thing by his community and his family, despite apathy and opposition.

Mr McPherson liked to cycle the gravel paths around a large bush block near his home with his kids.

These paths had become increasingly blocked by illegally dumped rubbish, the last item being a whole discarded trailer.

Taking this sort of issue straight to the media is an aggressive measure, but he had already tried to contact the landowner and the local City council so I didn’t mind batting for him.

I contacted both of these late in the afternoon, and by next day the landowner had decided to start fortnightly inspections, and the City council to “revisit” the issue.

From The Great Southern Weekender, January 21, 2016.

Curtain drawn on ‘average’ harvest 14/01/2016

Posted on by

High soil moisture levels had farmers in the Great Southern excited about a bumper harvest last spring.

Click on this image to read the story.

Click on this image to read the story.

The reality turned out to be different for some, with destructive hail storms and catastrophic fires bringing down Western Australia’s overall yeild.

Still, many grain growers reported a good year if they were lucky enough to avoid these events, and smart enough to put their crops in at the right time.

From the Great Southern Weekender, January 14, 2016

Lessons learned from fire 14/01/2016

Posted on by

ALBANY’S chief fire control officer offers a different slant on the events of the past few weeks.

Click on this image to read the story.

Click on this image to read the story.

Residents of the South West town of Yarloop have criticised authorities for not warning them of the catastropic blaze that destroyed their town until it was almost upon them.

He contrasted this with the actions of a few young campers at Two Peoples Bay, near Albany, who alerted authorities within 15 minutes of a similar fire starting, allowing firefighters to start arriving within another 20.

From The Great Southern Weekender, January 14, 2016.

Juvenile toad snacks save local goannas 9/01/2016

Posted on by
f1de7f83255ed833853ae2fd5dd02af0_L

Rangers Herbert and Wesley Alberts with Georgia Ward-Fear. Photo courtesy Georgia Ward-Fear

Almost every conceivable measure to stop cane toads advancing into the Kimberley has been tried and failed.

525743344-1

Click on this image to read the story.

Collecting cane toads and killing them has failed.

Constructing barriers to keep them out of waterholes has failed.

Experiments with lungworm showed the worms were even more harmful to native frogs.

Meanwhile, other researchers have been training larger predators to avoid eating the toxic amphibians.

And strange as it may seem, a future program could involve releasing more toads into the environment, ahead of the invading wave.

Science Network WA [read this story]

This story has been republished in The West Australian, Friday, January 15, 2016.

Recognition for deal ‘architect’ 11/6/2015

Posted on by

Here is a nice local angle on a national story I missed posting last year.

Click on this image to read the story.

Click on this image to read the story.

Albany man Glen Colbung was acknowledged as the architect of a $1.3 billion native title settlement between the Noongar people and the WA Government.

Former South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council CEO Glen Kelly paid tribute to Mr Colbung at the signing of the deal in Perth last June.

Under the arrangement, the state is to pay $50 million into a Noongar futures fund every year for 12 years.

Six Noongar corporations will then be able to draw on the interest for social and economic programs.