Perjury admission
Lara police inspector David Manly has admitted lying under oath to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog after investigators caught him with a mobile phone he claimed to have destroyed.
The 74-year-old’s admission in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday related to an Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) investigation of a female police colleague.
Homeless award
A Geelong initiative helping young people at risk of homelessness has won a statewide award.
Barwon Child Youth and Family’s The Geelong Project won Excellence In Ending Homelessness – Young People at the Victorian Homelessness Achievement Awards on Monday.
AirPod theft
Police have charged a 15-year-old male for allegedly stealing AirPods from a 14-year-old boy on a train from South Geelong to Melbourne on 25 August.
Geelong Crime Investigation Unit detectives investigating the alleged robbery asked a witness who might have filmed the incident to come forward.
Railway crash
A P-plate driver has run from his vehicle before a train hit it on tracks at South Geelong
Emergency services said the driver apparently lost control on Barwon Tce before crashing onto the track minutes before the train arrived.
Burning question
A power-pole fire that blacked out hundreds of central Geelong properities has prompted a call in parliament for Powercor to upgrade its timber poles.
Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur this week asked parliament why Powercor had yet to buy a Moolap manufacturer’s cement poles, which she said lasted “seven times longer”.
Canberra lobby
Municipal alliance G21 has led a local delegation to Canberra seeking a time-frame for the delivery of Geelong’s $355 million in City Deal funding.
The delegation also sought more detail on Federal Government’s 2019 commitment election to build self-propelled artillery in Geelong, said G21 chief Elaine Carbines.
Rental rise
A six per cent rise in Geelong rental prices has helped prompt a call for “incentives” to encourage investors into selling their houses.
The September quarter increase on the same time last year reflected an “absence” of rental properties that was pushing up prices for renters, said Real Estate Insitute of Victoria chief Gil King.
Police hunt
Geelong police have released images of seven people wanted for a range of offences including unlicensed driving, drug possession, theft and breaching bail or court orders.
Tayla Smith, 23, Christopher Foy, 29, Christopher Chiron, 49, Ryan Kelly, 25, Zachery McKenna, 23, Elizabeth Grindley, 48 and Amy Williamson, 34, all had outstanding arrest warrants, police said.
