Peninsula in the news

Here is a summary of news items about the Peninsula appearing in other news media over the last two weeks.

Wednesday January 12 A 17-year-old youth was in a serious condition in Royal North Shore Hospital with head injuries after the car he was driving slammed into a tree in Umina recently.

Witnesses told police the car was travelling at a high speed moments before the crash on Lentara Rd at 11:15am.

Four other teenagers in the car escaped with minor injuries.

Express Advocate Jemma Rosen of Daleys Point is working in a school in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, where 2000 refugees, the majority of them children and infants, are staying after the tsunami.

She and her family have spent thousands of dollars to buy basic necessities for them, including cleaning products, nappies, soap, shampoo and toilet paper.

Express Advocate Lifesavers at a surf boat competition at Ocean Beach recently raised their oars in silent tribute to tsunami victims.

The gesture by 150 competitors was the result of discussions held that morning, said Surf Lifesaving Central Coast surf sports director Paul Quick.

Express Advocate Thursday January 13 A branch of the Bendigo Bank is expected to open at Ettalong Beach in April with its steering committee announcing this week that it had sold the required $650,000 in shares.

Steering committee coordinator Mrs Debra Wales said the committee would call for tenders to outfit the community bank premises on the corner of Pacific Ave and Ocean View Rd.

Express Advocate Olivia Doble, 10, of Ettalong Beach, Chelsea and Melanie Imber, 11 and 9, of Umina Beach and Emilie Muller, 11, of Ettalong Beach weaved strands of coloured wool to make "friendship bands" in a campaign to do something for the survivors of last month's tsunami.

Express Advocate Ettalong Beach business owners say they are under siege from vandals and thieves.

Glynis Francisco of Ettalong Country Deli said she had to replace the front window of her store twice since Christmas Day.

Express Advocate Friday January 14 Molly the Maltese terrier is still not home despite many offers to "pay her fare". Molly was impounded by the RSPCA after she escaped from the Ettalong Beach home of her owner Bridie Burke and her children.

Express Advocate Samantha Kell and Brett Eadie, of Ettalong Beach, were born three hours apart at Gosford Hospital, the newborns were placed next to each other in the post-natal ward on December 7, 1978.

They met again at 16 and, on the 10th anniversary of their second meeting, they will marry at Linton Gardens, Somersby.

Express Advocate Bob Scilinato of Woy Woy has developed a product that cuts environmentally-dangerous emissions from heavy equipment and also improves the machinery's life span and productivity levels.

The Woy Woy man has spent the past four years designing and building two special filters and now he has listed his company, Axial Depth Filters, on the Newcastle Stock Exchange.

Express Advocate Thursday Jan 20 Two youths on bikes demanded money from a woman, 32, as she left Deepwater Plaza, Woy Woy, recently.

The cleaner was leaving a loading bay dock when she was confronted by the teenagers, who fled when a male employee approached.

Express Advocate James Rugless, of Umina Beach, turns two this month, after being born prematurely with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, a hereditary and fatal disorder which makes him extremely susceptible to infection.

Express Advocate A 39-year-old Umina woman, stopped for a random breath test in Woy Woy, was arrested and charged with goods in custody recently.

She was accused of being in possession of a dead person's pensioner concession card.

Sun Weekly Pearl Beach may not to be included in higher density living patterns involved in new planning strategies to be invoked for the Sydney metropolitan area.

Gosford mayor Cr Malcolm Brooks said last week the proposed Metropolitan Strategy, announced in September, should leave Pearl Beach and its fragile environment untouched.

Sun Weekly Friday January 21 There was more trouble at the controversial Umina Beach skate park this week with a family claiming their eight-year-old son was assaulted on Friday, January 21, by up to 20 teenagers.

Adam Webster, of Umina Beach, said his son, Jesse Cox, was riding his bike at the skate park at 3pm when a group of youths allegedly surrounded him and started kicking and punching him.

Express Advocate Baby Jayson Walter Scourse is 20 days old, born six weeks prematurely at Gosford Hospital at 1:01am on New Year's Day, the first birth on the Central Coast for 2005.

Express Advocate Owner of the Ettalong Beach markets building, Mr Jerry Altavilla, supports the idea of a business rate for the Peninsula.

However, said he had concerns about how the money would be spent and believed Gosford Council and the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce had more questions to answer.

Express Advocate Proposals to upgrade street security at Ettalong beach following a spate of vandalism are not connected to the new levy, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce president Matthew Wales said.

The chamber is proposing the use of closed circuit television cameras, security guards and better communication between police, pubs and clubs.

Express Advocate A revolt is brewing against Gosford Council's new Peninsula business levy which is due to come into effect in July.

Some business and property owners claim there was not enough consultation about the introduction of the levy and not enough known about how funds would be used.

Express Advocate He has only been in the army for a year but Sapper Joel Toms, of Umina Beach, was aboard HMAS Kanimbla when it left Darwin on January 7.

He is now helping with the clean-up in the tsunami-devastated city of Banda Aceh in Indonesia.

Express Advocate Kim Courtney, 21, of Woy Woy is a local entrant in the Girl Next Door competition being conducted across Australia and New Zealand.

Express Advocate