IN BRIEF

Leigh Webber

Smash arrest

A Whittington man has crashed a stolen car into a pole in his home suburb after a police pursuit early Wednesday morning.

Police initially attempted to intercept the man in Belmont and later arrested him following the crash in Freedom Court.

Family supported

Locals have raised about $15,000 in three days for the grieving family of two young girls who died in a tragic fire last week.

A group of East Geelong residents on Monday set up a donation page for the family at www.gofundme.com/help-the-qorbani-family-geelong.

Paw-print survey

Geelong’s council has invited the community to have their say on the Draft Dog Controls in Public Places Policy as part of a second round of public consultation.

Community feedback in the first round of consultation had helped guide council in making changes to its dog policy, a City Hall statement said.

Potholes plugged

Council workers have reduced their response times to pothole reports by half thanks to a trial of a new system in July, according to a City Hall statement.

City Hall had reduced its response time by cutting unnecessary steps from its existing processes, the statement explained.

Design edge

Barwon Water’s head office in Ryrie Street has been short-listed for a national architecture award.

Designed by Architects GHDWoodhead it is among the projects across the nation in the running for the commercial architecture prize at the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Architecture Awards. The award winners will be announced on 1 November.

Power promise

Victorians keen to reduce their power bills can now apply for 50 per cent rebates on solar panel installations. Eligible Victorian households who installed solar panels on or after 19 August can now apply for a rebate to cover half the cost, up to a maximum of $2225. Applications for a $1000 rebate for solar hot water systems will open shortly.

Full details about the Solar Homes Package can be found at solar.vic.gov.au.

Rorts charges

State Labor MPs embroiled in the party’s 2014 campaign rort will face interviews over the scandal, police sources have told the Herald Sun.

Lara MP John Eren was one of about 20 MPs that Ombudsman Deborah Glass named in her investigation into the rort.

Wedding-crasher jailed

A brazen wedding-crasher who stole $3700 will spend two months behind bars after accepting a prison sentence.

Ocean Grove plumber Leigh Webber originally appealed the sentence but on Wednesday withdrew his application.