Tuesday, 25 February, 2025
National parks petition tabled to Parliament
Casey candidates debate reforms
New theatre group set to showcase in Healesville
See Real Estate liftout inside
PAGE 4
PAGE 5
PAGE 15
PAGE 21
A Star News Group Publication
Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808
Eastern 80 raises $19k By Callum Ludwig Careful counting this week has revealed that the annual Eastern 80 charity bike ride has broken a record in 2025. Over $19,000 has now been raised to top all previous editions of the event and boosting the event to over $110,000 in the last decade of rides. Eastern 80 founder Norm Orr said this magical total has been achieved through lots of people and participation. “A lot is involved and starts with setting up early morning then the official start for both riders including our youngest-ever entrants and walkers,” he said. “After-ride activities included face-painting, music and the big raffle draw completed by Claire and Georgia who represented the Hospital appeal and participants and family and friends enjoyed the Alpine Hotel’s hospitality.” Enjoy some of the best snaps from the day inside on page 18
Riders at the ready for the Eastern 80. (Supplied)
The CCTV promise lice who have been on the frontlines attempting to investigate and respond to incidents throughout the region. We will look back at the incidents that have plagued townships in recent years, both in words and photos. We will touch on the psychology of CCTV as a deterrent for crime by speaking to experts and where CCTV has been effective elsewhere. We will speak with traders, township groups and community advocates about their desire for
a working CCTV network and the safety concerns they have for their businesses, customers and staff. We will look at the reverse and understand the privacy concerns people have in being captured on camera at all times. We will also document the challenges in upkeep and management of this system. To begin, reporters CALLUM LUDWIG and MIKAYLA VAN LOON explore what triggered this campaign and the history of funding on page 2.
12748318-MC06-25
in an anti-social manner or committing an offence. But since the funding of projects across the Yarra Ranges, maintenance and the operation of the CCTV network has been called into question numerous times after an incident occurs. This Star Mail edition marks week one of a six week campaign initiated by the editorial staff to explore and determine the value of CCTV, as well as the current state of the network across the municipality. Over the coming weeks, we will speak to po-
1710 Warburton Hwy Woori Yallock 12739460-MS04-25
From smashed shop windows to bin fires, robberies to assaults, incidents across the Yarra Ranges of this kind have concerned communities for years. The promise of a working CCTV network aimed to relieve these concerns by deterring crime and protecting businesses, community groups and community infrastructure. While eliminating this behaviour was never the aim, CCTV increases the capacity of police investigations and may prevent some people from acting