The Melbourne Snap⚡- Thursday 13 February
CBD stabbing, "extreme" fire danger risk, ice cream festival, Valentine's ideas in the city and Liam Neeson again.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap. There’s so much information out there now. We’re bombarded with it constantly. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who avoid the news altogether. It’s a shame because it’s important we know what’s happening around us BUT it’s becoming very hard to filter out the noise when browsing online. That’s where (I hope) The Snap can help. One espresso-like shot of news every morning to get-you-up to speed and always with links for further reading if you choose to read more. Now on to Wednesday’s edition.
🚨Shepparton is outside the Snap’s patch (which is Greater Melbourne) but this item is worth sharing. Police are seeking assistance to find a missing 14-year-old boy called John last seen on Tuesday. His disappearance is out of character, and concerns for his welfare are growing. - A picture and detailed description of John can be found here
❌A total fire ban has been declared today in Victoria for the South West, North Central and Central (includes Melbourne and Geelong) districts of the state as an “Extreme” fire danger warning is in place. - CFA
🌡️ Thursday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news.
🔪Detectives are investigating a stabbing in Melbourne’s CBD overnight, where a 19-year-old man was left with non-life-threatening injuries after being found near Queen and Franklin Streets. - Victoria Police
🏛️A Melbourne woman jailed for bashing an autistic girl, 14, while her friends filmed it is appealing to have her sentence quashed. Alajeck Anai’s (18) lawyer argues the court imposed the order without assessing her suitability for youth detention. She was sentenced over the assault at Altona Pier in February last year. - Nine News
🔥More details have emerged regarding the woman who was arrested yesterday (covered in Wednesday’s Snap) for allegedly starting a fire in a 7/11 petrol station and assaulting one of the workers in the city’s inner south. New footage appears to show the woman using an aerosol can as a makeshift flamethrower before setting a pile of logs alight in the Windsor servo. - Allanah Sciberras, Nine News
➡️Officers used force, including baton strikes and a Taser, to arrest her. The 46-year-old local has now been charged. - Victoria Police
⛓A 15-year-old boy who attacked a man with a machete during a mugging last month in St Kilda will remain in custody after a magistrate deemed him a danger to the community. Despite pleading guilty to the attack and other crimes, the boy was denied bail, with the court citing concerns about the risk of further harm. - Alexandra Alvaro, ABC News
👨🏻⚖️Infamous conwoman Samantha Azzopardi has dropped her appeal against a two-year fraud sentence after a Melbourne judge warned she could face more jail time. During the hearing, she abruptly walked out. - Liam Beatty, news.com.au
🚗Attempted car break-ins have been reported in the leafy north-eastern suburbs of Eaglemont and Ivanhoe this week. The thieves were moving along residential streets looking for unlocked cars. - Ivanhoe 3079 (Facebook)
❓ If you have a community event, news, announcement or new business you want to share, please fill in this form here. If it’s suitable it’ll go in the noticeboard section.
🍀The St. Patrick’s Festival in St Kilda returns on March 15-16 and will take over O'Donnell Gardens right next to Luna Park. Featuring a free family-friendly day with live music, a parade and Irish food followed by a ticketed over-18s music celebration with The Tumbling Paddies band and more. - More details
🔥Emergency services are responding to a fire at an apartment complex on Ballantyne Street in Thornbury this morning. - Madelaine Burke, 3AW
🍦It could hit 37C in the city today so it’s the perfect day to talk about ice cream. Melbourne’s annual Ice Cream Festival is now running from February 12 to 23, featuring 144 unique flavours across Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and Great Ocean Road locations. - Nicole de Souza, Secret Melbourne
🎬For the second day in a row, Holywood actor Liam Neeson is in this newsletter (I’m sure he’s thrilled). Yesterday we reported how he is helping a mate in the eastern suburbs sell his house. Now, the Irish star has been spotted filming his latest movie 'The Mongoose' around Victoria and transforming it into Afghanistan, Arkansas and Texas. - 7 News.
📢The organisers of Melbourne’s weekly pro-Palestine rallies have announced a shift to monthly protests, with the next one set for 23 March. They claim Melbourne is the only city in the world to have protested for 70 consecutive weeks. freepalestinemelb/Instagram
🛴Yarra City Council is introducing designated e-bike and e-scooter parking bays on footpaths in a Victorian first. The initiative aims to reduce clutter on walking paths, with 40 more spaces planned across Richmond, Abbotsford, and Fitzroy. - April Glover, Nine News
🗳Victoria Police officers have begun voting on a no-confidence motion against Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, citing rising crime, staff shortages, and reduced services. - Shannon Deery, Herald Sun
☕A new Greek (and Italian) cafe has opened up in Oakleigh. Caffé Greco Oakleigh even got a blessing from the Orthodox Bishop of Melbourne to mark the occasion. - Instagram.
🦎It’s been a good week for rare animals in the state. An endangered swamp skink, feared to have suffered major losses in the Black Summer fires, has been discovered in bushland set for development in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. ➡️Conservationists are now calling for housing plans to be scaled back to protect its habitat. - Adam Carey, The Age
➡️Critically endangered plains-wanderers have been found in Melbourne’s west for the first time in over 30 years. Zoos Victoria, using AI, detected the rare and elusive birds in two pockets of remnant grassland. - Petra Stock, Guardian Australia
🏨The $275 million upgrade of the Austin Hospital's emergency department, set for completion in 2028, will add 29 treatment spaces and treat 30,000 more patients annually in Melbourne's north-east. - Vic Gov
💐It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow so Time Out has compiled a list of the best things to do in Melbourne on February 14. - Time Out
📢Community Noticeboard📢
📌”This Valentine’s Day, join a free, beginner-friendly gentle yoga class to breathe, move, and connect with yourself in a space of compassion and self-love at at Deshi-Do Martial Arts Studio, Oakleigh East. - more details
📌”Students & recent graduates...do not miss out on this incredible FREE opportunity! Join us for the Melbourne STEM Women Graduate Careers Event and network with outstanding graduate employers. Held on 25 March at Crown Conference Centre.” - more details
📌”Calling mural artists! James Park Reserve in Heidelberg is getting a new public toilet and rebound wall, and we’re looking for artwork to bring these spaces to life.” - more details
Have your news, event, gathering, new business or community update featured here. Fill in this form.
And finally…The Full Snow Moon illuminated Melbourne skies last night and it will do so again tonight. The Snow Moon is named for the season it falls within, as February is often one of the snowiest months in the northern hemisphere. It’s basically a very bright, white full moon but it may add a bit more romance to your Valentine’s Day.
Thank you for reading edition 62 of The Melbourne Snap.
This newsletter is 100% independent, free for all and has 470 subscribers. If you’re new here you can read about why I started the Snap below. Thank you to everyone who shares The Snap, subscribes, tips me, becomes a paid supporter or simply opens the email. It means a lot. See you tomorrow for the Friday edition.
I still don't know why Melbourne (of all places) is protesting so hard to free Palestine, but this morning nobody helped a person lying in the middle of the street on the tram tracks in front of RCH.