Wednesday, Wednesday, 19 30 January, June, 2021 2022
Pakenham
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60 years of laughs PAGE 10
PAGE 9
Main Street ram-raid
Animals great ‘n’ small
The owners of the Pakenham Tobacco Shop woke up to a devastating scene on Monday morning after their small business was targeted by thieves in a ram-raid overnight. The shop’s crumpled security gates, smashed glass and debris were strewn across the footpath on Main Street on Monday 17 January, after a vehicle ploughed into the business and ransacked the shop in the early hours of the morning. Detective Acting Senior Sergeant, Chris O’Brien, said that the ram-raid had occurred at about 3.20am on Monday and the culprits had caused “a significant amount of damage“ to the store. STORY PAGE 2
The 125th annual Lang Lang Agricultural Show welcomed back exhibitors and spectators to the showgrounds over a bumper two days of events Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 January. This year, the focus was on the competitors, particularly the animal kind. “We wanted to support the competitors who keep their animals in prime condition to show and then have had nowhere to show them,” Lang Lang P.A and H Show secretary Barbara Bullen said. “A lot of people said they came to see the animals. We are very pleased.“ STORIES PAGES 20-22 and 42
Flash floods Widespread flash flooding across Pakenham caused building damage to homes and businesses on Friday 14 January. Pakenham SES spokesman Shayne Honey said the unit had 30 calls for assistance in the space of an hour, beginning around 8.30pm. “Within an hour we had activated our crews because we realised we needed to quickly get on top of the jobs,“ he said. Most of the calls required assistance from flooding in homes either from the ground or through roof damage. STORY PAGE 4
Charlotte, 4, with her mini pony Houdini and her dog Sibyl. Houdini won the longest mane event at the Lang Lang Show. 264359 Picture: ROB CAREW
Plagued by theft 12497981-NG23-21
A number of teenagers were arrested by police on Friday 14 January in relation to a series of burglaries that have been plaguing local business owners throughout the Pakenham area. Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Chris O’Brien from the Cardinia Criminal Investigation Unit said that three teens, one as young
as 13 years of age, had been tracked by police with the help of the canine unit and arrested on Friday - with two having faced the Childrens’ Court on Monday morning. He said that although three culprits had been identified, the investigation remained ongoing as police “believe there are others involved“ - and he urged anyone with informa-
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tion to come forward. The series of robberies that the group are believed to have orchestrated range from both large shopping centre attacks to small businesses, including ransacking the Henry Road cafe, Oven Kraft, three times over the last few months - the two most recent incidents occurring in the last fortnight. Oven Kraft’s owner and operator, Amit
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Sharma, said that it had been incredibly disheartening to be the constant target of these attacks, as business was hard enough already due to the pandemic. “We are struggling with things the way they are anyway because of this new variant... so this is just the last thing we need,“ he said. STORY PAGE 3
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