Leading teacher at Bairnsdale Secondary College, Kim Green, was the coordinator of last Thursday’s most successful East Gippsland Music Festival held at a packed out Boucher Hall which included 250 local students. The annual event invites schools with students who play musical instruments to perform after practicing and learning parts earlier in the year. The students then came together for a...

East Gippsland’s crime statistics are down 7.5 per cent compared to the previous year but police concede there remains a problem with youth offending. There were 3,349 criminal incidents in the region for the year ending March 31, 2023. Bairnsdale had the highest number of incidents with 1,285 crimes perpetrated. Lakes Entrance had 585 criminal incidents, Orbost 177, East Bairnsdale 150 and...

It's been a long time coming, but the day has finally arrived. Kmart's new Bairnsdale store on the Princes Highway will officially open tomorrow (Thursday) at 8am. Manager of Kmart Bairnsdale, Maree Day, has been working tirelessly with her dedicated team of staff to have the store ready in time for the grand opening. "We've had four weeks to fit the store out," Ms Day said. It's been a military...

A special relationship between a group of Aboriginal men and Bairnsdale Police is changing lives for the betterment of the East Gippsland community. Yoowinna Wurnalung Aboriginal Healing Service has been funded to deliver programs and services for Aboriginal men and youth, who struggle to control their aggression and can be prone to family violence. The aim is to support men to understand and be...

An alleged fuel thief has recently been disturbed in Bruthen attempting to siphon petrol from vehicles parked outside people’s houses. A police spokesperson said the petrol pincher used a novel way of targeting potential victims - riding around the neighbourhood on an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) in the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, for the thief, the sound of the rather noisy ATV woke...