JULY 30, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
Sweet taste of success
(Joe Mastroianni)
When Anthony Cruz put down his spatula and walked away from a chef’s apprenticeship he thought his cooking days were behind him. However, earlier this month he took home three first place trophies at the Geelong Baking Show, matching it with some of the best bakers in the state. After claiming the top prize in the vanilla slices, fruit flan’ and custard tarts categories, the Kurunjang man reflected on a long road. “I started my apprenticeship in 2011, but I wasn’t enjoying it at the time so I went to work at the airport for a bit, but then in 2014 a position came up for a pastry chef and I got the job,” he said. “I had no experience really, but along the way I learnt so much and now I’m here. “I only put in an entry at the last minute so to get three wins is amazing. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard I’d won, it was pretty cool.” Now one of the head bakers at LaManna Food Group in Essendon, Mr Cruz said his dream would be to take his talents around the world. “Long term I’d love to work on a cruise ship,” he said. “Seeing the world and making pastries would be great, and there’s always more to learn so I’ll see where it all takes me.” Ewen McRae
Melton’s driving shame By Ewen McRae Melton drivers are among the worst in the state for drug driving offences according to new police data. The data shows 66 drug driving infringement notices were issues in Melton in 2018, the third highest number in the state behind Frankston (67) and Wodonga (88). Nearby Melton South also recorded 24 drug driving notices, while Bacchus Marsh had 17. However the notices only form part of the data – 295 Melton drivers failed drug driving tests – roughly 50 per cent of the 735 roadside drug driving tests administered in the area in
2018. Melton also sat inside the top 10 suburbs in the state for total drink and drug driving infringement notices, with 109 notices placing it seventh in the state for 2018. Melton Highway Patrol Sergeant Chris Stuhldreier said the 295 failed drug tests that did not receive an infringement notice were destined for the courts. “Where there are no prior offences or convictions, they get an infringement notice, but if we’re going to impound their car or there are prior offences we are going to court,” he said. “So the vast majority of drug driving offenders are either repeat offenders, or they
have some sort of record that makes it necessary to put it before a magistrate. “Across the state there were 100,000 drug tests given, whereas for drink driving it’s over four million, so we are a bit more targeted with our drug tests. “The vast majority of the community would be shocked by the high detection rates.” Methamphetamine, MDMA and cannabis were the most common drugs detected in drivers. Sergeant Stuhldreier said the data reflected a statewide drugs issue, but hoped the message would slowly spread. “Demographics obviously play a major part,
when you’re talking urban fringes and those low socio-economic areas we tend to see a higher reading of illicit drugs,” he said. “We know drug use is a problem across the entire community so it’s not isolated to any one particular area. “Unfortunately we know that most of those that test positive are going to keep using drugs and drive, but if we can test your average Joe Citizen and really put the wind up them, it will hopefully act as a deterrent. “We’re 40 years down the track with testing for alcohol and the detection numbers there continue to drop so I would imagine over time we would see something similar for drugs.”