Stalker charges
Detectives have arrested a Bellbrae man over a series of sexually explicit letters and phone calls to women in Torquay, Anglesea and Melbourne in January.
The detectives charged the 68-year-old with eight counts of stalking before he was bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 1 November, Victoria Police said.
Pothole idea
Cameras on garbage trucks to detect potholes has emerged as a leading idea at a summit of “experts” in Geelong.
City Hall said MAVHACK, part of a Geelong Innovation Festival, pitted teams comprising representatives of various government and corporate bodies against each other to find solutions for “common community pain points”.
Rapist breakthrough
A Hamlyn Heights man has pleaded guilty to raping a 44-year-old woman almost 33 years ago after DNA evidence tied him to the crime.
Michael Mush, 56, will return to court for sentencing next week, with police using DNA extracted to investigate a separate crime in 2014 to secure his conviction for the 1985 attack.
Deal fears
Federal “leadership turmoil” threatens a $150 million Commonwealth funding package for Geelong, according to an alliance group representing local councils.
G21 expected the City Deal funding to appear in the next federal budget but said the region “must not allow” recent changes in the coalition’s leadership positions to “undermine” the package.
Whittington fire
A mother and her four children have fled a house fire at Whittington, according to emergency services.
Six CFA units battled the blaze on Wednesday night, with the family escaping the fire without needing medical treatment.
Search fruitless
A police helicopter and lifesavers on jet skis have searched for a man apparently struggling in large surf between Bells Beach and Point Addis.
Surfers reported seeing the unknown man “quite a distance from the shore” on Sunday afternoon but the searchers were unable to locate anyone before calling off the operation, Victoria Police said.
Compost jobs
Local green waste will become compost for parks, sports grounds and farms after the opening of a $3.5 million processing facility north of Geelong.
The Geelong Garden Organics Composting Facility, between Lovely Banks and Anakie, would employ 10 staff to handle the waste from the city’s green bins, City Hall said.
Men wanted
Geelong police have released image of two men wanted for outstanding warrants.
Forty-year-old Deon McCann had “several” warrants for arrest and Christopher Shane Warner, 29, had three against his name, police posted on social media this week.
