The Melbourne Snap ⚡- Wednesday 7 January
Tree falls into home, the abandoned mansion, shark sightings at city beach and the newly created jobs with a $8,000 sign-on bonus.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap. I’ll keep it short and sweet today and just say if you’ve stumbled across The Snap, please consider becoming a subscriber (it’s free). Here’s Wednesday’s edition.
🔥 A man is in custody after a suspicious fire at Caulfield Racecourse which caused significant damage to its heritage-listed grandstand. The 51-year-old was arrested at Mordialloc Railway Station at about 1:45 pm today after reports of three grass fires at nearby parks. - Victoria Police
🌲A tree deemed safe by a local council came crashing down into a home as a mum and her two children were just metres away. The family had repeatedly reported their concerns to Merri-bek City Council (which covers Brunswick and Coburg) with fears the tree would fall and kill them. - Nine News
☀️Wednesday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news.
🕵🏻♀️An investigation is underway after a man's body was found inside a unit in Dandenong on Tuesday morning. A person discovered the body at a block on McCrae Street in the eastern suburb just before 9:40am. It’s not yet known how the man died but homicide detectives are now involved and the body was found with “serious upper body injuries”. - Victoria Police
💥Remember the dramatic explosion of a car last week in St Kilda East? A 16-year-old Glen Iris boy was charged yesterday following the suspicious car fire on Alexandra Street on 2 January. - Victoria Police
🚨There was a big police incident in Reservoir last night. Locals reported seeing multiple police officers on the corner of Spring Street and McPherson Street. A cordon was in place and officers with dogs were on the scene around 11:30pm. - Reservoir 3073
➡️A man on Twitter who witnessed the event posted: “Maniac trying to get past me and another car side by side in double lanes on Spring street, almost hitting us, went around on the wrong side to get by.”
🚗Cops want to identify a man who allegedly broke into a car storage facility in Altona on Tuesday. Three people inside a gold Nissan X-Trail were seen at the business around 9am. They left empty handed but detectives think the trio may be linked to a vehicle heist in Port Melbourne last year where 45 vehicles were stolen.- Victoria Police
🚓Melton police detectives have arrested a man and a woman after seizing 362 bottles of high-value spirits, 253 cartons of illicit cigarettes and 728 illicit vapes from them. The duo are believed to be part of a syndicate which has stolen more than $500,000 worth of liquor in the last 12 months. - Victoria Police
🎥A man was caught on camera allegedly trying to break into a property in Keilor East, north-west Melbourne, and when he was unsuccessful he urinated in the garden. - Brimbank Community
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🏚️An abandoned mansion in Melbourne’s outer southeast, is on the market with a $900,000-$990,000 price tag. So if you want to live out a zombie apocalypse and have the cash, go nuts. - realestate.com.au
⛱️Merri-bek City Council will set up a pop-up information booth at Coburg Olympic Swimming Pool today so residents can share their thoughts on the Coburg North Sports Hub Masterplan. It’s a big project aiming to drastically improve the area's sports facilities. - Merri-bek City Council
🔥Motorists were being urged to avoid parts of Mordialloc after bushes on a bridge caught on fire. - 3AW
🍿 Melbourne's Planetarium is set to be transformed into a portal for avant-garde cinema and cultural storytelling. The Dome Under Film Festival, running from January 31 to February 2, will project 32 films across the Planetarium‘s 16-metre domed ceiling. - Beat
🛠️The directors of a luxury Melbourne building group were being chased over allegedly shoddy work at multiple upmarket apartment block complexes in the months before they tipped one of their key corporate vehicles into liquidation. - Herald Sun
🏺South Yarra just got a new Greek restaurant. Astoria Bar Kè Grill will serve up traditional Greek fare from a terrace house on Toorak Road. - Concrete Playground
⛓️A new prison has opened between Geelong and Werribee and it’s looking for staff. The Western Plains Correctional Centre will start taking prisoners on from mid-2025. Corrections won’t be for everyone but the new roles come with a sign-on bonus of $8,000. - Vic Gov
🚧Staying in Reservoir, a car crashed and rolled on its side at the Broadway and Boldrewood Parade roundabout yesterday afternoon. - Facebook
🏊Registrations are open for places in a free 10-week swimming program specifically designed for multicultural women in the City of Maribyrnong area. - City of Maribyrnong
🤸♀️Darebin Council (north-east Melbourne) have published a list of activities for the kids to do in the area over the summer break. Today there is an ‘Inflatable Fun Day’ at Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre. - Darebin Council
🫶🏻A healing ceremony will be held in the city’s south-east later this month. Malvern Cricket Ground will play host to the council-supported event on Australia Day. The organisers hope the day will get people to “come together as a community to reflect, learn, and honour our shared history.” - City of Stonnington
There’s a farmer on the outskirts of Melbourne who had a really bad day yesterday. A flock of sheep were found wandering in Bulla, at the city’s northwestern edge, and have been taken in by the local council. - Facebook
🦈And finally…Two large sharks were filmed coming right up to the beach on Dromana Beach along the Mornington Peninsula. In the clip, posted to social media, it’s hard to determine what species of shark is being filmed, but I won’t be going into the water to conduct a further investigation. - Instagram/Damian Andres
Thank you for reading edition 36 of The Melbourne Snap. If you missed yesterday’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 after I finish my day job (which is actually a night job). If you enjoy it please spread the word. Thank you, see you tomorrow.