Aoife Cunningham kicks off a new weekly column rounding out the highlights ifrom each AFLW round. Round 4 of the 2026 AFLW Season saw a wide array of results around the weekend, a double-header at Princess Park resulted in wins from both Fremantle and Carlton, who continued their unbeaten run. Carlton have continued their impressive start to the season with a commanding 68–29 victory over Collingwood at IKON Park on Sunday, establishing themselves as one of the competition’s

By Lily Nicolitsopoulos Petition promotion (Photo: Richard Welch, MP website) After a year-long battle to scrap the Blackburn Station activity centre project, residents have been handed a partial win as amendments and budget-funding address their key concerns. Blackburn Station is one of 60 train and tram activity centres proposed by the State Government in 2025. Activity centres are a designated zone for increased development, centred around public transport activity hubs.

By Abbie Gargett Nigel Farage has won the Clacton-on-Sea seat with 63.3% of the votes, ending one of the strangest by-elections in British history. Despite the absence of all major parties, there were 34 candidates, including many satirical candidates and serious independents. Most notably, one with the alter-ego ‘Count Binface’, who came second with 26.9% of the vote. Farage triggered the by-election last month when he resigned from parliament, amid inquiries into a £5 milli

Charlotte Sanderson reports on Victorian women's football teams finally getting a fair go The growth of local Victorian women’s football teams has contributed to building a more equal and fair environment for women of all ages in local AFL clubs. North Ringwood Saints Football Club - in one of Melbourne’s eastern suburban football leagues - has shown a drastic increase in the number of female players since the 2019 debut of their women’s team. North Ringwood Saints Footb

Hayley Price reports on a short documentary to raise awareness, shot by Swinburne student Emerging filmmaker Luke Pafumi has directed a trailblazing short documentary on the Victorian Deafblind Community in conjunction with Swinburne University. The World in Your Hands is a short documentary Pafumi has been working on since March, 2026, as a second-year Film and Television student at the university. Pafumi, who experiences colour-blindness, says the documentary aims to sp

Mark Lucas reports on a new challenge facing Melbourne engineering students hoping to win a top F1 race. Melbourne engineering students compete in SAE race Melbourne university students will be facing a new challenge in their quest to win the internationally-recognised SAE-A (Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia) car race. After 20 years based in Melbourne, this December the race moves to the South Australian desert. Over 1200 engineering students from Australia, Asi

After eight years hosting local and touring musicians, Brunswick’s Stay Gold shut its doors, writes Daniel Jones Beloved Brunswick venue, Stay Gold, shut its doors on June 21 as the cost-of-living crisis dealt another blow to Melbourne’s live music scene. The venue on Sydney Road announced the closure in a Facebook post on April 29. Bookings assistant Hannah Hopwood said with their lease ending, the general cost of living led to the tough decision to close down the club inste

Leila Cochrane reports on a community that banded together to save a dog Redgy the Runaway Dog (courtesy of Maureen Fielding) Two months after being abandoned on the side of the road and sparking a community-wide search, a red heeler dog has found a loving home and become a familiar face around town. The dog was allegedly dumped from a black ute before spending 32 hours on the run, evading concerned residents who were determined to bring him to safety. What began as a dis

Amritha Raviprasad reports on a new cafe offering vinyl listening access to customers Inside Sabi Sounds (photo: Amritha Raviprasad) Sabi Sounds - Melbourne’s first listening cafe and record lounge - is reshaping cafe culture with unique vinyl and community events at its Hawthorn location, attracting music enthusiasts, fitness lovers and Swinburne university students alike. Opened in December 2025, the cafe has already cemented itself as a Glenferrie Road hotspot. Customers c

James Sykes reports on a new music model that could save Melbourne musicians. An iconic Melbourne venue is backing emerging musicians through guaranteed payments and multi-show residencies. As similar live music venues face closure, Fitzroy’s Punters Club is offering an alternative for gig-goers and musicians alike with unique free gigs. According to Punters’ audio production manager, Kaelan Edwards, “Punters’ unique offering of artist guarantees and residencies has launche

Abbie Gargett reports on the major cybersecurity breach that shut down education platform Canvas in universities around the world On May 5, Canvas shut down its services due to a major cybersecurity breach, impacting thousands of students across Swinburne University, the University of Melbourne, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and over 9,000 other institutions worldwide. According to public statements from the universities, the hackers accessed the names and em

Daniel Allen reports on the new upcoming sequel to the 1995 classic heist movie Heat and whether it’s a good time to revisit the original. Following its release over 30 years ago, the high-stakes heist drama Heat, directed by legendary filmmaker Michael Mann, is getting a much-anticipated sequel, not surprisingly titled Heat 2. Based on Mann’s own script - adapted from his 2022 best-selling novel, Heat 2 – the new film will function as both prequel and sequel to Heat as it