And that's it for our rolling blog for October 24. Thanks for following along.
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Check out on the day that was below:
Welcome to the Bendigo Advertiser's blog for Wednesday, October 24.
Expect a colder day today with partly cloudy top of 15 degrees and a slight chance of a shower.
Missed yesterdays blog? Check out what went down here.
Catch up on some of our top stories from this morning:
- City foots $50,000 bill for Bendigo councillor expenses: Bendigo councillor's expenses revealed in city's annual report
- Castlemaine Woolworths opening still more than a year away: Castlemaine shoppers will have to wait another year until a Woolworths opens in their town.
- Who is Andrew Cooney? Meet Bendigo's problem-solving new boss: Get to know City of Greater Bendigo's new CEO.
Boost in recruits after Bendigo event: police
Almost 30 aspiring police who attended the Bendigo Victoria Police Bendigo Careers Expo have already applied to join the force.
Police said the figure only includes people who registered for the event so the real number of applications generated could be higher.
"It's fantastic to see so many applications so soon after this amazing event," Acting Superintendent Ben Young said.
The expo, pegged as the largest of its kind in the force's history, gave potential recruits the opportunity to get up close and personal with various police units at La Trobe University on October 14.
ICYMI: Australia first foal hospital
Yesterday, Addy journalist Jenny Denton wrote about the country's first foal hospital, located right here in White Hills.
Read the story here.
Citizenship backlog sorted
Greater Bendigo's council expects to clear out a pandemic-era backlog of people seeking citizenship at a ceremony on Wednesday, October 25.
Mayor Andrea Metcalf expects 94 people will become Australians in the latest ceremony to pack out the Bendigo Town Hall.
It will bring the number of new Australians naturalised by the council in six weeks towards 400 people, she said.
"It's a great ceremony. Everyone is smiling at these citizenship ceremonies," Cr Metcalf said.
"You will see people dressed up in their national costumes, it's just a fabulous event."
Miners fire up drills
Miners have launched a fresh round of drilling at Pyramid Hill in the search for gold and, potentially rare earth elements used in electronics.
Falcon Metals have brought an aircore drilling rig from Western Australia and want to complete more than 40,000 metres of drilling, mostly on roadsides.
Miners do not expect damage to road infrastructure, private property or the environment.
They have been able to start drilling earlier than last season thanks to a drier winter.
Victoria has numerous large mineral sands deposits that also contain REE mineralisation.
The state's mineral explorers have been searching out more of those types of deposits in recent years and Falcon wants to know if some of its exploration zones could be part of the boom.
Drilling is expected to continue until April 2024 dependent on ground conditions.
Welcome to the Bendigo Advertiser's blog for Wednesday, October 24.
Expect a colder day today with partly cloudy top of 15 degrees and a slight chance of a shower.
Missed yesterdays blog? Check out what went down here.
Mental health help at hand
Need mental healthcare? Greater Bendigo is getting one of nine walk-in "Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals" accessible without the need for a GP's referral.
The service will be for people aged 26 years and over, living with mental health or co-occurring alcohol and other drug concerns and be a type of front door to the mental health system.
It will be staffed by qualified professionals from Mind Australia, in partnership with the Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co-operative, Bendigo Health, Echuca Regional Health, The Salvation Army and Thorne Harbour Health Ltd.
Support will be delivered in-person, via telehealth, and via outreach services and a care plan is then designed to match patient goals and preferences - family, carers and supporters can also be involved pending patient permission.
