The Melbourne Snap⚡- Thursday 6 February
Cops investigate murder-suicide, end of the dry zone, 'narco subs carry pink cocaine', Q fever warning and The Sims come to Melbourne.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap. I’ll keep things short and sweet today. Here’s Thursday’s edition. If you’re not yet subscribed you can sign up below. It’s free!
⚫More details have come out about the two deaths hours apart across the city which were reported on Monday. Rachel McKenna, a 35-year-old mother of one, has been identified as the victim of an alleged murder-suicide in Melbourne's inner north, with police later discovering a critically injured man on the Princes Freeway in Little River. - Molly Magennis, 7 News
➡️The man has not been identified, but police confirmed he was known to Rachel.
➡️On a fundraiser page set up by her family, the Ascot Vale resident was described as a “completely devoted mother to her 7-year-old, Leo.” - Visit the GoFundMe page
🏖️ Melbourne beaches are open again after recent storms - except for Seaford and Sorrento - which remain unsafe due to poor water quality, while the Yarra River and Moonee Ponds Creek at Oak Park are also advised against contact.
➡️The Environment Protection Authority Victoria announced yesterday that 10 Port Phillip Bay beaches rated “GOOD”, 24 “FAIR” and two “POOR”. - EPA Victoria/X
➡️You can check the status of your nearest beach here
⛅ Thursday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news.
🕵🏻♀️ Detectives have launched a murder probe after a house fire on Chapel Street, St Kilda, on Monday around 8:40 pm. A man was found critically injured and died at the scene. He is yet to be formally identified. - Victoria Police
👮Cops are examining the display of a Nazi flag on an overpass in Dandenong North, which was removed by officers around 1pm on Saturday, February 1. A Reddit user reported the flag to police and it was removed within 20 minutes of the call. The public display of Nazi symbols is illegal in Victoria, carrying penalties of up to 12 months in jail or fines of up to $23,000. - Dandenong Star Journal
⚖️A man who faked nursing qualifications to get a job at a rehabilitation facility serving First Nations people has been fined $4000. - Holly Hales, 7 News
🚨You may remember in yesterday’s edition The Snap reported that seven teenagers were arrested after a high-speed police pursuit in the western suburbs. On Wednesday all seven were charged. -Victoria Police
➡️Among the youths, aged 15 to 17, was one boy who had been released on bail dozens of times. - Lachlan Abbott, The Age
🚓 There was a police incident at Cranbourne West Woolies this morning. Several residents spotted multiple police officers around the store. - Casey Crime Page
➡️Less than 24 hours earlier in the same area, rocks were thrown through the pharmacy window at Our Medical Home in the city’s south-east. - Casey Crime Page
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🍻 After nearly a century as part of Melbourne’s “dry zone,” Box Hill’s alcohol restrictions are officially over, marked by the opening of Bar Nearby. The bar, run by locals Ella and James Bishop, is one of the first venues in 100 years to be granted a general liquor licence in the area. Luke McCarthy, Broadsheet
🤿A senior AFP commander told ABC Radio Melbourne that narco-submarines carrying pink cocaine will be the new frontier for drug trafficking in Australia. Crime gangs are apparently using underwater super-highways to traffic drugs here. - ABC Radio Melbourne
☢️ A dangerous and infectious disease that can cause long-term health complications is spreading across Victoria.
➡️Health Victoria has warned that Q fever cases have significantly increased in 2024, with 77 reported cases and five outbreaks linked to exposure to infected animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats.
➡️The bacterial infection is mainly spread to humans from cattle, sheep and goats but can also spread from other domestic and wild animals such as kangaroos, camels, rodents, cats, dogs, birds and wallabies.
➡️Health authorities recommend that at-risk groups - like people who work with animals - receive a Q fever vaccination. - Health Victoria
🏛️Victoria’s police minister is considering reintroducing bail offences scrapped by the government in 2023 in response to a high-profile coronial inquest into First Nations woman Veronica Nelson’s death. - Benita Kolovos, Guardian Australia
🏡Videogame makers Electronic Arts (EA) and ACMI are celebrating 25 years of The Sims with a nostalgic pop-up event at Federation Square from February 21–23, 2025. The Sims was a smash hit life simulation game from the early noughties that sold over 200 million copies worldwide. Ask a millennial about it, they probably played it.
➡️Visitors can enjoy gameplay stations, explore a Y2K-inspired installation by local designers Josh & Matt Design, and attend live broadcasts and a specialist panel discussion. - Concrete Playground
🤖A radical gig – featuring cyborg art pioneer Stelarc – aims to make you question what it means to be human. Stelarc will debut wearable wrist synthesizers, created with JOLT Arts engineers and the Noise Scavengers, in performances merging human movement with sound. The Melbourne show will take place on March 13 at Northcote Social Club. - Beat Magazine
🎬Australia’s only and largest dedicated First Nations led film festival, Birrarangga Film Festival, returns to Melbourne from March 13-18, 2025, with events at multiple locations across the city. - FilmInk
🏢The Victorian government is being urged to start showing more “active leadership” as Melbourne CBD office vacancy rates remain the highest in the nation and demand falls to its lowest level in three years, prompting pleas from city restaurateurs. - Carly Douglas, Herald Sun
🐶Producers working on Channel 10’s "Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly" show are looking for dog owners near Brimbank Park in the city’s north-west to participate in the show for filming in the middle of February. - Brimbank Community
📢Community Noticeboard📢
📌”Victoria’s Pride Street Party hits Fitzroy this Sunday! 🌈 Don’t miss this vibrant day-to-night street festival celebrating Victoria’s diverse LGBTIQA+ communities, presented with Midsumma Festival.” - More details
Get your news, event, gathering, new business or community update here. Fill in this form.
🚧And finally… Last night trams were disrupted along Swanston Street due to a taxi blocking southbound trams at RMIT tram stop. Reddit users rightly asked 1) why is a taxi driving through a tram stop? and 2) why is the car on the wrong side of the street?! The car was removed around 11:30pm and services will run as usual today.
Thank you for reading edition 57 of The Melbourne Snap. I write The Snap in the early hours every weekday morning so you can get up-to-speed with what’s happening in Melbourne in the fastest, least overwhelming and enjoyable manner possible. If you can afford to support the newsletter you can do so for as little as $10 a month. Or simply share it with a friend. Thank you, see you tomorrow.
Every time you share a story written in a complaining, scandalised tone, sure enough it's from the Herald Sun! :) They hate that people can achieve work life balance without the need to attend an office in the CBD every day!