A savage vandalism attack has left Maryborough’s Coles Kmart construction site with an estimated $100,000 damage bill.

“It’s the most substantial damage I’ve ever seen on a construction site,” shocked senior project manager, Paul Rooney, said yesterday.

The vicious attack occurred between 9 pm on Wednesday night and 6.30 am on Thursday morning.

Mr Rooney said the site manager discovered the extensive damage when he arrived for work at the Tuaggra Street site at 6.30 am yesterday morning.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

The grass is about to become greener on Maryborough Education Centre’s senior sports oval following an $850,000 announcement.

Member for Ripon, Joe Helper last week announced the State Government funding to lay down a new synthetic turf surface for the 12,000 square metre senior sports oval.

MEC principal, Barney Healy said the entire Maryborough community, not just the school, can benefit from the new facility.

“We’re keen to have the community have use of the oval as it currently does for the Performing Arts Centre,” Mr Healy said.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

A major road and bride upgrade at Moolort will significantly improve access for B-doubles and semi-trailer trucks.

Recycled materials will be heavily used in the $1.36 million upgrade of Locks Lane and Rodborough Road concrete bridge.

Member for Ripon, Joe Helper on Wednesday announced a total $655,000 in state Local Roads to Market funding toward the total project.

Demand for heavy transport to use the road by farming industries including Moolort’s large scale chicken farming development had helped the shire secure the funding.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

Delighted — is the way Labor’s Steve Gibbons has described his convincing re-election to a fifth term as the Federal Member for Bendigo.

On a first preference basis, Mr Gibbons and the ALP secured 37,321 or 47.84 percent of the votes, representing a positive swing of 0.7 percent, with a voter turnout of 80.60 in the electorate.

On a two candidate preferred basis Mr Gibbons secured 46,552 votes, representing 59.67 percent and a swing of 3.54 percent in his favour.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

Maryborough’s town hall and Highview Christian Community College are set to become hives of activity as polling opens from 8 am Saturday morning.

The two venues will host polling in Maryborough with enrolled voters also able to cast their votes at a range of other polling places across the Bendigo electorate.

The list of polling places include Talbot Primary School, Carisbrook Town Hall, Dunolly Senior Citizens Centre, Bealiba Public Hall, Laanecoorie Mechanics Hall and Newstead Mechanics Institute.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

Recent rainfalls have dramatically increased the region’s reservoir volumes with several reservoirs spilling over.

A spokeswoman for Central Highlands Water, Shelley Best said Evansford Reservoir had overflowed last Thursday.

And yesterday the Goulburn-Murray Water-managed Laanecoorie Reservoir was also continuing to overflow after exceeding its 8000 megalitre (ML) capacity after last week’s solid rain.

G-MW acting resource manager Mark Bailey yesterday said the Laanecoorie Reservoir, within the Loddon Catchment system had been spilling over since Friday morning

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

SES volunteers lost sleep Wednesday night fielding continual calls for help as severe weather lashed the Central Goldfields.

Lexton was among the hardest hit areas with numerous trees down across roads, Maryborough SES incident controller, Steve Moyle said.

Between Wednesday evening and yesterday morning SES volunteers from Maryborough had responded to at least 18 separate calls.

On Wednesday night powerful wind gusts which reached “near cyclonic speeds” of 148 km on Mt Ben Nevis, south west of Avoca, brought power lines down at Amherst.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

Maryborough Police have named the traffic lights at the corner of High and Tuaggra Streets as Maryborough’s most dangerous accident blackspot.

The intersection, notorious for its high collision rate, topped a list of the five worst blackspots in Maryborough given to The Advertiser by police.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

The mother of a teenager who was at the centre of a missing persons appeal this week has warned parents to be alert to their children’s internet habits.

Maryborough teenager, Lani McDonald, 18, was found alive and well on Wednesday after her mother reported her missing the previous Friday.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.

Children’s literacy skills are the focus of a new campaign launched by the Best Start Program and Central Goldfields Shire Council.

Every Child a Reader will see 750 of the shire’s youngest students visit the Central Goldfields Art Gallery and Maryborough Library to partake in literacy focussed activities.

Launched in conjuction with Chester and Gil, the latest exhibition at the art gallery, the program will run for five weeks.

The whole of shire program involves children from two childcare centres, five kindergartens and seven primary schools, aged from four years old to eight years old, and 32 sessions.

For the full story, see the current edition of The Maryborough Advertiser.