WA Brekkie Blog | Tuesday, May 9, 2017

MANDURAH: A Coodanup mum said she was “disgusted” after a “psychopath” jumped her back fence, sniffed the underwear hanging from her clothesline, helped himself to a pack of cigarettes and left on Friday night.

At the time, Oksana Panich was having a quiet night at home watching a movie on TV with her 11-year-old son, oblivious to what was going on.

But after she noticed her packet of cigarettes was missing the next morning, she decided to review the footage on her security camera. Read more. 

BUNBURY: Fremantle Dockers defender Michael Johnson will face a trial over an alleged kebab shop assault after pleading not guilty to the charge at Perth Magistrates Court on Monday. 

The 32-year-old is accused of striking a 23-year-old Bunbury teacher at a Leederville kebab shop in the early hours of November 13, after noticing the man was filming him with his pants down. Read more.

MARGARET RIVER: Local boy Tave James is celebrating the delivery of some special new play equipment designed to help him through play, physical exercise, communication and learning. 

Young Tave experiences a speech delay associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a lifelong developmental disability which affects how a person communicates with, and relates to other people. 

According to Tave’s mum Jade James, the equipment – including a ramp climbing wall, play tunnel and a special blue body sock – is the second time the Margaret River Lions have stepped up to help the family. Read more. 

MANDURAH: Fourteen Mandurah residents were awarded at the 2017 Coastal Bravery Awards on Friday, most of which aided in the rescue efforts when Mandurah man Ben Gerring was attacked by a shark at Gearies Beach on May 31.

Three men were given gold medallions: Ben Long, Glen Keaughran and Matthew Lodge.

These three were dubbed “angels of the ocean” and “absolute heroes”, as they ignored their own safety in order to assist their fellow surfer after he was attacked. Read more. 

BUSSELTON: A carousel has been earmarked for the foreshore by the City of Busselton which is looking for expressions of interest to operate the children’s ride. Read more. 

►VIC: A transport industry peak body is calling for the establishment of a “ring road” through central Victoria, connecting the Western and Hume freeways. Read more.

►HAVELOCK: A woman has died following a car crash in Havelock on Monday afternoon. Police said her vehicle was travelling along Bendigo-Maryborough Road before it lost control and veered onto the opposite side of the road, smashing into trees about 2pm. Read more.

►WHYALLA: Investigations are continuing into the unexplained death of a woman whose body was found at a Whyalla Stuart home. Read more.

►WODONGA: The thieves who stole Brad Ley’s Holden saw the booster in the back seat, but they torched his car anyway – along with university textbooks, toys and important paperwork. Read more.

► HAY: Police have allegedly unearthed a monster haul of marijuana during a routine RBT stop in Hay. Read more.

► ORANGE: The husband of a woman killed in a fatal car crash on the Mitchell Highway last year says the three-year jail sentence for the driver was not long enough but he wasn’t surprised by its leniency. Read more.

►ARMIDALE: An ex-priest accused of molesting young boys in the New England has been granted bail amid reports detectives have received another complaint. Read more.

►VIC: Collingwood Football Club legend Lou Richards has died at the age of 94. Richards passed away peacefully on Monday in his nursing home. Read more.. Read more.

►Federal politicians using travel perks to bring their children to Canberra will lose access to business class fares from July, while former MPs will have fewer free flights to the capital after they leave Parliament. Read more.

►It's the political move that stunned even the closest Canberra-watchers. On the eve of the federal budget, former ALP leader Mark Latham has announced he is joining the Liberal Democratic Party, headed by David Leyonhjelm. Read more.

►Two women have been charged after border force officers seized nine kilograms of methamphetamine at Perth Airport over the weekend. Read more.

►BALI: The body of a 63-year-old Australian man has been found in Bali.Police are treating the death as suspicious and investigating all possibilities, including murder. Read more.

►PHILIPPINES: The Turnbull government has denounced Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs that left has thousands dead, declaring Canberra is "deeply concerned" about reports of extrajudicial killings. Read more.

► CAMBODIA: They are Cambodia's stolen generation. More than 35,000 children and young people are living in the country's orphanages and other institutions, including some run and financed by Australians, according to a new study. Read more.

1386 – England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.

1901 – Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.

1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).

1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.

1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.

1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

1980 – In Norco, California, five masked gunmen held up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer were killed and 33 police and civilian vehicles were destroyed in the chase.

2001 – In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths were caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.

She’s a Tamworth Country Music Festival favourite whose powerful voice is known for turning heads; but even Lyn Bowtell was surprised when she turned the chairs of the four judges on The Voice on Sunday night. Read more.