Inside this weeks print edition!

JOURNALIST: Sonny Coombs

PORT Broughton’s bustling summer tourism trade could be “savaged” if snapper spatial closures go ahead.

THE Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA held a workshop to discuss the economic and social impact of proposed snapper spatial closures last Wednesday, December 12.

THOUSANDS of couples across the country said “I do” on 12-12-12 including on Yorke Peninsula where there were several weddings last Wednesday.

REPORTER: Kristin McEvoy

TWO years of hard work by the Formby Bay Environment Action Group has paid off with the Daly Head region successfully being nominated for National Surfing Reserve status.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

SOUTH Australia should have an Independent Com­missioner Against Corrup­tion by mid 2013.

THE District Council of the Copper Coast has received an early Christmas present, with three tenders for stage one of its Community Wastewater Management Scheme for Moonta and surrounds coming in under budget.

JOURNALIST: Rhiannon Koch

THE development application for the proposed Ceres wind farm project is close to being lodged with the state’s Development Assessment Commission, according to project manager Peter Sgardelis.

JOURNALIST: Sonny Coombs

A REPORT into the Tickera boat ramp has found the facility is “severely degraded” and unusable during low tide.

THE District Council of Yorke Peninsula received 27 applications for this year’s round of progress association and township group funding.

WORKS on the former Incitec Pivot Limited industrial site at Wallaroo are expected to be completed on schedule.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

THE $10million North Beach tourist development has been named Silver Shores villa resort.

AN application to extend the development plan consent for a six-storey hotel on Heritage Drive, Wallaroo, has been refused.

THREE Yorke Peninsula emergency service personnel who have gone above and beyond the call of duty were honoured at a special ceremony in Adelaide last week.

THE Wallaroo jetty will remain closed from the electronic gates onward after it was damaged in a fire believed to have started from a discarded cigarette.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

WHEN Brevet Sergeant Wayne “Bluey” Wardale locks up the police station at Stansbury this Friday he ends a 38-and-a-half- year career with SA Police.

SCHOOL’S out for summer and across Yorke Peninsula local police will be paying extra attention to reduce trespassing, theft and property damage on school properties.

ALL public spaces in Wallaroo as well as beach areas in Moonta Bay and Port Hughes will be dry zones from noon on New Year’s Eve until 7am on January 1.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

AFTER enduring open-heart surgery and 33 days in hospital from birth, baby Isabelle Miller spent her first night at home in Wallaroo on November 16.

YORKE Peninsula’s mining potential will be assessed as part of a $1.5million long-term plan being created for the federal government.

THE Ascot Theatre, Kadina, will start screening movies from January 3 and viewers are in for a treat with the cinema boasting state-of-the-art digital equipment and 5.1 surround sound.

THE 2013 Copper Coast Visitors’ Guide is out now, just in time for the summer holiday season.

THE District Council of Yorke Peninsula announ­ced its 2013 Australia Day award winners at last Wed­nesday’s council meeting.

YORKE Peninsula streets have been brought out of the darkness with many residents decorating their houses with Christmas lights.

SOUTH Australia Country Women’s Association Moonta branch members and UnitingCare Wesley Country South Australia are ensuring children do not go without this Christmas and beyond.

BRIAN Watters, from the Brentwood Uniting Church, was wandering around the farm looking at old sheds when he started thinking about how he could create a nativity scene using what was at hand.

JOURNALIST: Amie Brokenshire

FOR the past 11 years, Wallaroo Primary School principal Brenton Lamshed has stood at the school gate at 8.30am every day, greeting students by name as they start another day of their education.

Personal bests 14-12-12

REPORTER: "Full Court Press"

Kadina’s A women had their biggest win of the season against reigning premiers Bears in the Yorke Valley Amateur Basketball Association on Friday night.

REPORTER: Joan Hill

Maitland defeated Wallaroo Mines by nine shots at the Mines, showing it is worthy of third spot and now has a two-game gap ahead of Kadina, which is starting to breathe down Maitland’s neck.

REPORTER: Kenn Rogers

Warooka bowlers will enjoy a well-earned break over Christmas, having replaced Minlaton in the top four of SYP bowls.

Yorketown Area School students Luke Sykora and Dane Graham, both from Marion Bay, are back from last month’s National Schools Surfing Championships, held over 10 days at Tasmania’s Roaring Beach south of Hobart.

REPORTER: Peter Argent

A brilliant century from Paskeville top order batsman Luke Harrop was the standout performance for a Yorke Peninsula side that had just one win in the four days of the SACA BankSA under 16s Country Cup held in Adelaide, December 10-13.

The annual Christmas shoot is an event which provides a fun afternoon’s shooting and a diversion from the serious trophy events held every Saturday afternoon.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

AUTOMATED agriculture could be about to take another leap forward with farming ‘robots’ potentially available to farmers within the next few years.

A LUPIN-based diet for ewes in the six weeks before lambing increases lamb survival rates, according to agribusiness Landmark.

AT 63 years old, I’m proud to be an environmentalist — not a greeny. 

OUR family has been part of the Copper Coast district for the past four years through our placement as commanding officers (ministers) for The Salvation Army Copper Coast Corps.

AFTER reading the report of the recent Curramulka/Minlaton bushfire (YPCT 11-12-12) I remembered why I moved to Minlaton, a town where kindly people still genuinely care for and about each other.

WHEN paying at the checkout at Drakes Foodland, Wallaroo, on December 7, I took out a $20 note from my wallet, gave it to the checkout assistant Jess and then looked in my wallet for small change.

RECENT correspondence suggests there are two types of drivers in the Copper Coast area — inconsiderate slow-coaches who travel at much less than the speed limit, and inconsiderate tailgaters who want to pass.

I WOULD like to congratulate the organisers of the Carols by the Sea which was held on Sunday (December 16) evening at the Ardrossan foreshore.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

HOT, windy weather fuelled the flames in Friday’s fire which started near Curra­mulka and spread quickly south towards Minlaton, threatening the township.

AFTER the Minlaton fire was first reported at 12.56pm on Friday, it took only eight minutes for the Country Fire Service to issue a bushfire advice warning, 30 minutes later the service’s emergency warning was activated.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

FOR those planning to celebrate Christmas outdoors this year, the outlook is good with warm, dry weather expected for the big day.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

SEVERAL Minlaton and Curramulka residents put their bushfire survival plans into practice for the first time during Friday’s fire.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

USERS of the Copper Coast Sport and Leisure Centre are being asked to help fund a master plan for a $4million redevelopment, including a new stadium, of the complex in Kadina.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

SLEEPING peacefully, 7-week-old Archie Joseph Spencer Cook is blissfully unaware of his dramatic arrival into the world as parents Rachel and Rick, of Minlaton, recount their frantic dash to Wallaroo hospital on October 12.

JOURNALIST: Sonny Coombs

VOLUNTEERS are the glue which holds the community together.

THE trial no-parking zone along Port Road, Kadina, will continue until February as originally planned, despite an attempt to end it after just one month.

JOURNALIST: Rhiannon Koch

YORKE Peninsula’s only wheelchair taxi is again off the road, this time due to an unsuitable lift.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

NORTH Beach Tourist Park at Wallaroo has new facilities ready for the holiday season and more refurbishments are on the way.

IT is D-day for the Moonta, Moonta Bay and Port Hughes Community Wastewater Management Scheme.

A KADINA resident was served an ongoing Environment Protection Order, the first of its kind to be handed out in the area, last Thursday. 

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

TARNASEY Farm, between Kadina and Wallaroo, will provide tourist accommodation within the next two years after six self-contained units were approved for the site last week.

ADELAIDE Resources has found more copper at its Moonta Project, this time between Kadina and Alford.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

IN three days on location in Kadina, the town centre master plan consultants put together a 50-page report including images showing possible long-term changes to the central business district.

OPAL will launch its recently-installed outdoor fitness equipment at the start of the Smelter’s Way walking trail in Wallaroo this Thursday, December 13.

SIGNIFICANT reforms have been announced to the state’s Electoral Act.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

PARENTS take an average of 1000 photos in their child’s first year, with many admitting they like nothing more than seeing others coo over their precious baby pictures.  

NOSTALGIA always plays an important part in Christmas, but this year it appears fond childhood memories are having a big effect on gift giving.

LOCAL author Tricia Stringer launched her latest book, Queen of the Road, last month, but this time her work has been picked up by a publishing company meaning up to 10,000 copies will be distributed around Australia.

A PLAYGROUND will be installed at the Port Broughton oval ready for the first football and netball games of the 2013 season.

JOURNALIST: Rhiannon Koch

SA Ambulance Service volunteer Regina Bishop, of Yorketown, recently joined other volunteers on a two-week exchange to New Zealand hosted by members of NZ’s St John Ambulance Brigade.

ANDREW “Cosi” Costello, South Aussie with Cosi television show host and Triple M radio presenter, does a lot of travelling to film his Channel Nine program.

LOOKING for something to do these school holidays?

PERTH medical student Kaitlin Dubrawski has recently returned to Kadina to learn more about rural medical services and practising in the country.

AFTER much deliberation and public consultation, the 2013 Kernewek Lowender program has been released.

THE inaugural Kadina Apex Club Beer Can Regatta was a highlight of this year’s YP Beach Day Out and, to entice more entrants, the prize has been significantly upped for next year’s event.

JOURNALIST: Sonny Coombs

WITH the tourist season approaching and the weather warming up it is important to remember to treat Yorke Peninsula’s beaches with care and respect.

CHRISTMAS in Moonta is about to get a little more exciting!

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

Maitland equestrian Anthony Thomas came back from injury to put in a solid performance at the 2012 Australian International 3-Day Event in Adelaide last month, the biggest event of its kind in Australia.

JOURNALIST: Sonny Coombs

Port Broughton’s Tait Mackrill continues to bat and bowl her way to the top, performing exceptionally well in the recent Under 15 National Cricket Championships held in Sydney.

JOURNALIST: Rhiannon Koch

The weather is heating up, causing the cancellation of some summer sporting matches in recent weeks.

Saturday, December 8, was the Yorke Peninsula Dirt Kart Club’s last official day for 2012 as well as a come and try session, annual general meeting and club presentations.

REPORTER: Kenn Rogers

Yorketown skipped to the top of the ladder after a big win against Curramulka and the shock loss of Stansbury to fast-moving Minlaton.

REPORTER: Joan Hill

No pennant matches were played on Saturday, as a consequence of world championships being contested in Adelaide.

REPORTER: "Full Court Press"

Bears finished the victors of a tight contest against Arthurton in what could turn out to be an A women grand final preview in the Yorke Valley Amateur Basketball Association last Friday.

Ships Warrant Officer (WO) Gary Fuss, originally of Moonta Bay, and a 23-year veteran of defence cricket, made history bagging the first International Defence Cricket Championship hat-trick during the navy’s match against the Royal Australian Air Force recently.

REPORTER: Peter Argent

As many cricket lovers sat on their lounges on the weekend to enjoy the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash League season start, it is hard to believe twenty20 isn’t yet 10 years old.

The Yorke Peninsula Cricket Association A and B grades twenty20 grand finals were contested at Paskeville on Sunday, December 2.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

THE 2012 grain harvest is wrapping up on Yorke Peninsula, with growers in the north and south hoping to be finished in time for a well-earned Christmas break.

JOURNALIST: Rhiannon Koch

AS part of the Australian Year of the Farmer celebrations, the Yorke Peninsula Country Times is looking at different types of farming; this month we are looking at prawns.

CONCERNS the region’s low spring rainfall could lead to a greater risk of erosion in autumn have been raised by the Yorke Peninsula Natural Resource Management Group.

CONSUMER COLUMN:
By Robert Harding – SA/NT Regional Director

SUMMER is here and now is the time the local property market also heats up.

MORTGAGE broker Mortgage Choice hopes last week’s decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points, to three per cent, will bring additional Christmas cheer to borrowers and spur positive consumer and business sentiment this festive season.

AFTER 30 hair-raising days, Movember has drawn to a close for another year.

RE comments from all in the paper (YPCT 4-12-12).

DURING Friday’s Curramulka/Minlaton fire, a house was saved as a direct result of water bombers dumping loads on the flames.

I AM not a speeder, nor a creeper, but I can appreciate the frustration of so many who are held up due to someone driving well below the regulated speed limit.

WHAT an appalling act of ignorance for Premier Jay Weatherill to release the 19 SA marine parks within 24 hours of the Parliamentary Select Committee chairperson Dennis Hood handing down the committee’s interim report, which, amongst a number of findings, recommended a raft of changes.

I WAS surprised at some of the comments in the last issue of the Country Times (4-12-12) supporting the concept it is acceptable to drive 10 to 20km/h under the legal speed limit.

THE government has totally screwed the townships of Port Wakefield and Port Clinton, based on the assumption it is a garfish breeding ground, this is simply not true.

WHY support wind power?

IT’S that time of the year, I love hearing from Father Christmas.

RE: Doing the speed limit (27-11-12).

THANKS to YPCT for publishing Joan Hill’s letter Fraud email (20-11-12). The more these scams are publicised, the better informed we will all be.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

SINCE establishing a Mission to Seafarers to serve Port Giles just over 15 months ago, Chaplain Geoff Harrison, his wife June, lower Yorke Peninsula Anglican parish priest Father Thomas Karama and a small group of volunteers have visited about 4000 seafarers aboard 40 ships which have come into the port.

JOURNALIST: Jenny Oldland

SOUTH Australia’s 19 marine parks, including four surrounding Yorke Peninsula, are now in effect after an announcement by Premier Jay Weatherill which took many by surprise.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

A SEVERE storm whipped through northern Yorke Peninsula on Friday night, tearing up trees and damaging properties around Bute, Alford and Snowtown.

THE Ceres Wind Farm Project has the ability to supply Rex Minerals with up to 85 per cent of its power, according to a Memorandum of Under-standing signed last week by the two companies.

JOURNALIST: Rhiannon Koch

TO vaccinate or not is the question which has again become a hot topic recently after the release of a new booklet, The Science of Immunisa­tion: Questions and Answers.

STEELwork for a supermarket warehouse to be built in the Tiwi Islands has been fabricated in Kadina, where it left this morning (Tuesday, December 4).

KEEPING fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a stressful exercise for many Australians, according to a new study.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

IDEAS for reinvigorating Kadina’s town centre will be compiled over the next few months before a draft master plan is presented to the community for feedback.

PATRONS of the Paskeville Hotel, which burned down last month, have said there is a huge void in the town with the loss of yet another business.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

MOONTA, Moonta Bay and Port Hughes residents should know which company will be constructing stage one of the Comm­unity Wastewater Man­age­ment Scheme before Christmas.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

INTEREST is rising in blocks at the District Council of the Copper Coast’s housing development site in Wallaroo formerly known as Swansea Park.

A PETITION is being prepared aiming to restrict commercial fishing in Moonta Bay.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

A MAJOR redevelopment of Owen Terrace, Wallaroo, including a new Drakes supermarket and additional stores, could begin early next year.

A 28-YEAR-old male was killed in a car crash at Snowtown yesterday morning (Monday, December 3).

JOURNALIST: Sonny Coombs

A BASIC first aid course can be all it takes to save someone’s life; however, it is important your knowledge is up to date.

THE snapper season reopened on Friday and recreational and charter fishers are being reminded of the new snapper fishing limits.

MOVEMBER fever has been alive and well at the District Council of Yorke Peninsula, with six staff members, or “Mo bros”, from across the workforce putting their hands up to grow  moustaches during November.

THREE Yorke Peninsula doctors have been recognised for their combined 81 years of service to rural communities.

THE Barunga West Community Road Safety Group finished as a top-three finalist in the Community Achievement Awards on Friday night.

CURRAMULKA was a hub of Christmas festivity on Saturday with the annual Light Up event.

THE Yorke Peninsula Field Days has won the overall state award in its category at the Advantage SA 2012 Regional Awards on Friday night.

THIS year’s Wallaroo Christmas Party on Friday, December 14, will be held at a new location, the Wall­aroo oval, but still promises to be a great evening for the whole family.

IT is only three weeks until December 25, but for one lucky Country Times reader, Christmas will come early.

THIS year’s Carols by the Sea in Port Victoria is set to shine with a more family-orientated program, including a visit by Father Christmas, face painting and different carols to sing.

THE Motley Moonta Crew has finished the Novita Mighty River Run as one of the event’s top fundraisers.

THE Andy Hensel Support to Walk fundraiser will be held at the Port Pirie Trotting Track this Saturday, December 8.

Stansbury’s cricketers will play in the Country Living Homes Twenty20 Champions Cup final for the second time in three years.

REPORTER: Peter Argent

Moonta talents Malcolm Karpany and Will Northeast have been selected in the SANFL under 18 academy squad.

REPORTER: Joan Hill

Surprising Division I results on Saturday included Maitland soundly defeating Wallaroo Mines and Ardrossan winning by three shots against Bute.

REPORTER: Kenn Rogers

Despite losing to Yorketown on Saturday, Stansbury remains at the top of the table with an eight-point lead from Yorketown at the halfway mark of the season.

JOURNALIST: Nick Perry

A record 25 Yorke Peninsula basketball players have been selected to represent South Australia Country in upcoming national competitions.

REPORTER: "Full Court Press"

Kadina’s A men defeated Arthurton in a nail-biter in the Yorke Valley Amateur Basketball Association on Friday night.

Yorke Peninsula Softball Association hosted a carnival between teams from Port Augusta, Whyalla and Yorke Peninsula on Sunday, November 25.

Students from across the state competed in a three-day volleyball tournament at Wallaroo from November 21 to 23.

Five Yorke Peninsula riders competed in the Australian Junior Motocross Nationals at Coolum, Queensland, in the first week of October. The event attracted more than 400 of the best riders from around Australia and New Zealand.

JOURNALIST: Steph Callow

PINE POINT farmer Brenton Davey is having a bumper harvest, with high yields and good crop quality another reminder of why he refuses to sell his farm to Rex Minerals.

IT is critical Australian farmers have clear succession plans in place to ensure Australia’s agricultural sector is well positioned to capitalise on the increasingly important role of feeding Asia’s economic growth.

AGFARM is reminding photographers of all abilities to enter their images into its 2012-13 harvest photo competition.

WHEN the paper arrived today (27-11-12) we had just been talking about the P-plater with four passengers who passed us on a hill on the way to Kadina.

I WISH to thank Grainne Maguire (YPCT 27-11-12) for the clarification of the bird species Hooded Plover; my books of reference are quite old and one didn’t think birds’ names changed so frequently.

REGARDING P. Elliott’s letter (YPCT 27-11-12) having a dig at older people driving under the speed limits. I have to say people like P. Elliott don’t have much patience in everyday life.

I AM writing in response to the letter from the person about speed limits in last week’s paper (YPCT 27-11-12).

RE: Doing the speed limit (YPCT 27-11-12).

RE: Doing the speed limit (YPCT 27-11-12). In response to this letter, the writer may or may not be a P-plater but just because a person wants to do 50km/h in a 60km/h or 85km/h in a 100km/h zone it does not mean they shouldn’t be on the road.

RE: Kadina traffic matters. I dropped into the District Council of the Copper Coast offices several months ago and received no response to my request for consideration to the following matters.

WHAT is the big fascination with wrecking people’s fences? There must be a lot of idiots in this world.

I CANNOT believe this government has gone ahead with its crazy plans to divide up the SA oceans with its so-called marine parks.

ON May 12, 2013, it will be the centenary of the opening of the Port Hughes jetty. To assist with this celebration can anyone provide us with the date and reason the old goods shed and caretaker’s office were demolished?

WHILE the SYP Housing Association warmly welcomes Minda Inc. as the service provider to support tenants of the new disability housing  cottages at Minlaton (YPCT 27-11-12), we should not lose sight of the fact the project is the product of an effort by the local community, supported by the District Council of Yorke Peninsula.

A RECENT stay at Patrick’s Cove, Port Hughes, with family resulted in a swift departure when council chose to dredge the boat launching area.