The Melbourne Snap⚡- Monday 13 January
Machete incident in St Kilda, flooding and power cuts, how to get free cabs from Aussie Open and bride claims her wedding was a social media stunt.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap, especially to the 50 people who joined the Snap last week. Before I get to the news I have three bits of housekeeping to mention. Bear with me.
1. I would love to feature local events, news, charity campaigns, new business openings and more from across the suburbs in a community noticeboard. Today I have two that were sent in with this form. I hope to make it a regular feature.
2. From today, you will notice that, when I can, I will not only link to the source of the story as normal but also credit the writer/journalist behind it. It just seems like the right thing to do.
3. Lastly, I’m looking for some reader testimonials to help me grow The Melbourne Snap. If you have a moment and feel like sending me one or two sentences on why you enjoy the Snap that would be really appreciated. You can hit ‘reply’ to the newsletter email, message me on the Substack app, put something in the comments or message on one of The Snap’s social channels. Thank you in advance!
Excuse the extra long preamble today, now on to Monday’s edition.
🌩️Let’s start with the deluge Melbourne endured yesterday. Around 25mm (half a month’s worth) of rain fell in just half an hour as a storm hit the city just after midday. The State Emergency Service received 165 calls for help. - Sarah Swain, Nine News
➡️There were flooded streets and road closures across the city, in particular around Port Melbourne, Docklands, Brunswick, Footscray, Southbank and East Melbourne.
➡️Power outages were still affecting pockets of Kew, Camberwell, Balwyn and Werribee last night. - CitiPower
➡️Heavy rain and winds were recorded in eastern Victoria, with a 91km/h wind gust recorded in East Sale at 3:04pm - BOM
➡️The good news is the worst of it is over but it will remain showery today.
🚨More information has been released about the Caroline Springs fatal shooting mentioned in Friday’s edition. Middle Eastern organized crime figure, Hawre Sherwani, 33, was gunned down in an ambush on Heysen Park Way in a suspected gangland hit. - Outlaw Media
➡️Sherwani, known for his past affiliations with the Comanchero bikie gang, ran to a house and banged on the door to be let in before collapsing on the step.
➡️A 15-year-old boy narrowly dodged a bullet during the incident. The teen was in his bedroom minutes before a bullet was fired into his mattress. - Nine News
⛅Monday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news. It tends to be longer on Mondays due to many incidents on a weekend.
🕵🏻♀️Remains found at a property in Melbourne’s west have been confirmed as belonging to an allegedly murdered man who has been missing nearly a year. Adrian Romeo, 43, was last seen by his family at his Craigieburn home at about 5:30pm on February 10 last year. - Alexandra Feiam, news.com.au
🔪Wyndham Vale, on the city’s south-western fringe, was the scene of a deadly confrontation after a 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed in what police describe as a “targeted” attack on Friday night. Two 27-year-old men were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Four were arrested. - Victoria Police
➡️Police have yet to uncover a motive, but the possibility of gang-related violence has not been ruled out. - Wyndham TV
🚨There was a machete attack and an armed robbery in St Kilda last night around 9pm. Police cars were pictured cordoning off a section of Barkly Street near the Vale Street intersection. The Snap broke the story last night. - Twitter
➡️Police believe that two male offenders approached a victim, and made demands for his car keys. The two offenders fled the scene on foot but the male victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after taking a blow from the machete.
⚖️A suspended Melbourne chiropractor who continued to practise for 16 months has been sentenced to community work after his lawyer said he acted out of concern for patients rather than greed. - William Ton, AAP (via Nine News)
🕵🏻♀️Detectives have charged a man following the death of a man in Dandenong earlier this week. Emergency services were called to McCrae Street after a man was located with serious upper body injuries just before 9:40am on Tuesday, 7 January. - Victoria Police
💊A man is facing almost thirty drugs and weapons offences after allegedly being caught dealing drugs near Chapel Street. - Victoria Police
👮Police had a busy night on Thursday in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Four car thieves and a meth-affected motorcyclist riding at 200 km/h were among the arrests made in a single night in the east. - Victoria Police
🚓Frankston police are investigating a wilful and obscene exposure in Frankston last month. A 7-year-old boy was riding his bike in a reserve on Weatherston Road about 7 pm on 12 December when an unknown man exposed himself to the child. - Victoria Police
🚌Meanwhile, investigators in Carlton are investigating a wilful and obscene exposure that occurred last year. A 29-year-old woman was waiting for a bus when a man exposed himself. He then followed her onto a bus and had to be kicked off by the driver. - Victoria Police
🥯A new bagel shop opened in Collingwood on Friday. Masses Bagels has been popular at the Carlton Farmers Market since 2023, but now the founders have opened Masses’ first permanent store on Smith Street. - Claire Adey, Broadsheet
🚕Uber and Kia are on a drive to get more folks into air-conditioned electric cars by giving away free rides throughout the Australian Open. Is it a publicity stunt? Yes. But a free ride is a free ride. There is, of course, a catch. You need to be a member of Uber’s paid membership service Uber One to get one. - More details here
➡️Sticking with taxis, transport authorities were reportedly cracking down on dodgy cabbies at the Open this weekend and doing stringent meter checks along the ranks. - Jacqui Felgate, Instagram
👰🏻A heartbreak story for the modern age now. A Melbourne couple’s marriage has been annulled after the bride told a court she had thought their wedding was nothing more than a social media stunt to boost his Instagram following. - Benita Kolovs, The Guardian
❌An iconic street festival was canned by organisers on Friday. The Chapel Street Festival — which celebrated food, fashion and music in the city’s inner suburbs — was set to transform the street on February 23 after a two-decade hiatus. - Hayley Taylor, 7 News
✈️Victoria Police members are increasingly being enticed to leave the state as the Queensland force offers cash bonuses and incentives for recruits to make the move up north. - Alex White, Herald Sun
🏗️Work is starting on a new vision that will transform the city’s historic Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open. A 12-month program of work is underway which will “define a future vision” for the sporting hub. - Jack Snape, The Guardian
⛺Victoria’s free camping policy has led to an extraordinary boom in campsite bookings across the state. However, because it’s free to book a spot many campers are finding ‘fully booked’ sites scattered with empty sites. - Liam Mannix, The Age
📻Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson claim to have changed their ways on KIIS FM after a disastrous launch into the Melbourne radio scene. The Sydney pair, famous for their crude humour, have had a hard go of it down here and have been getting smashed in the ratings. - Jimmy Briggs, Daily Mail Australia
📚Sandringham Library was damaged by yesterday’s storm and will be closed for repairs today. - Bayside Council
📢Community Noticeboard📢
📌“Entries are open for the Melbourne Press Club's Victorian Student Journalist of the Year award.” - Details here
📌”Join us for a community walk to stand together for a safer neighbourhood! For too long, [St Kilda’s] streets have been plagued by street dealing, vandalism, and attacks, leaving many of us feeling unsafe in the place we call home. We’ve had enough, and it’s time for action.” The march takes place on 20 January. - Details here
🐍And finally… - Is it a dingo, a dog, a fox half-breed? This is the question people are asking online in parts of the northern and north-eastern suburbs after multiple sightings of this pooch around Darebin Creek. The exciting answer, that it’s a dingo, was the most popular. However, in Victoria wild dingos are usually only found in the north-west corner and eastern part of the state. Sorry to be a buzzkill.
Thank you for reading edition 39 of The Melbourne Snap. If you missed Friday’s edition you can read it again here. This newsletter is 100% independent and free for all. It’s written in the early hours every weekday morning. Any support you can give, either by becoming a paid subscriber or simply sharing this with a friend, is greatly appreciated. Thank you, see you tomorrow.