Benalla News

Benalla street art goes bridal

The vibrant streetscapes of Benalla have created a bold backdrop for a wedding magazine photoshoot. While Chloe Jones of Chloe Jones Photography had heard of the Benalla street art, she had never seen it in person before shooting Urban Kaleidoscope...

Benalla Ensign

COVID-19 cases in decline as restrictions eased

Active COVID-19 cases in Victoria are once again trending downwards with the current figure sitting at 58. That number is down from 101 at this time last week. Benalla Rural City still has no active cases. Due to this, some restrictions were further...

Simon Ruppert

RedB4 Bookshop re-opens June 1

The Friends of the Benalla Library would like to let their valued customers know that the RedB4 bookshop on Bridge St will be re-opening on Monday, June 1, at 10 am. Committee spokesperson Geraldine McCorkell said the volunteers were happy to...

Simon Ruppert

RedB4 Bookshop re-opens June 1

The Friends of the Benalla Library would like to let their valued customers know that the RedB4 bookshop on Bridge St will be re-opening on Monday, June 1, at 10 am. Committee spokesperson Geraldine McCorkell said the volunteers were happy to...

Simon Ruppert

Benalla’s history to be revived with impressive water tower project

Benalla’s water tower complex is steeped in local history. The tower, and the three buildings beneath it, are heritage listed and the oldest surviving examples of that type of structure in Australia. The towers and building are part of a precinct...

Simon Ruppert

Coo-ee: Looking back

Recently, because of Covid-19, unsettled stockmarkets plunged deeply after a 30-year bull market. This has happened before. In the Black Thursday crash of October 1929 that began the Great Depression, share values collapsed by 80 per cent. They did...

Simon Ruppert

Margaret celebrates 90th birthday

Benalla’s Margaret Goudie, who lived for many years in Chesney Vale, turned 90 on Empire Day, Sunday May 24. A family member told The Ensign that fortunately a few relatives were able to celebrate the occasion, but the best fun was face-timing with...

Simon Ruppert

Tomorrow Today’s Connect9 programs goes digital during pandemic

It was a somewhat unusual setting for Benalla’s Venturers – an online Zoom chat rather than a Scout Hall meeting or mountainous hike. But that did not prevent new connections and new experiences at their meet-up with Connect9 last week...

Simon Ruppert

Tomorrow Today thanks volunteers

The board and staff of Tomorrow Today joined in a social media campaign last week to recognise the fantastic contribution of volunteers during National Volunteers Week. The campaign saw volunteers take a selfie with a smiley face drawn on their...

Simon Ruppert

Mayor and Member for Euroa make pleas to save Benalla’s Target

Benalla Mayor Danny Claridge and State Member for Euroa Steph Ryan have made separate last-minute plea to Wesfarmers’ to save the town’s Target. The popular store’s parent company made the call last week to close 167 of their branches before...

Simon Ruppert

Let’s walk before we try and run - Op-Ed.

In my youth, not long after passing my driving test, myself and a friend set off to Bristol in my old ford Escort - the trip should have taken about four hours, A friend of ours was a first year at one of the cities unis, and the plan was to party...

Simon Ruppert

About 60 West Gate Tunnel workers made redundant from LS Precast

About 60 employees working on concrete sections for the West Gate Tunnel project at LS Precast were made redundant on Thursday. However, The Ensign has been forwarded two letters sent to LS Precast employees which imply this may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Simon Ruppert

Vale Mayor Geoff Oliver - popular former mayor passes away

Former Benalla mayor Geoff Oliver OAM is being remembered as a man who always put the community first. Geoff, 80, died on Monday after battling esophagus cancer for several months.

Simon Ruppert

Benalla Rural City seek community feedback into proposed 20/21 budget

Benalla Rural City Council’s proposed 2020/21 Budget is open for community feedback until Wednesday, June 24. It is based on the Victorian City Council Model Budget in accordance with the Local Government Act 1989 and contains financial...

Simon Ruppert

Helen Haines calls for end to childcare wars

Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines has called on the Commonwealth and state education ministers to end a damaging impasse over childcare funding that is pushing some local childcare providers to the brink. On April 2, the Commonwealth Government...

Simon Ruppert

Central Hume PCP celebrates 20 years in Benalla

When 36 people from Benalla booked in for a dental appointment in 2016 and none of them had ever had a dental health check before, all the organisations involved in the Waminda Community House initiative knew they were onto something. Central Hume...

Simon Ruppert

Age Friendly Benalla - A gathering of kindness

Music therapy has long been known to help people with conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, as music appears to be able reach parts of the damaged brain in ways other forms of communication cannot. Research suggests that listening to...

Simon Ruppert

Benalla to receive Federal drought support funding

Benalla is just one of the drought-hit communities in north-east Victoria that will receive government support in their battle to control pest animals and weeds. Agriculture Minister David Littleproud announced that 33 local government areas &ndash...

Simon Ruppert

Helen Haines Op-Ed: One year on - ‘doing politics differently’

When I was elected as the Independent Member for Indi one year ago, on May 18, I would never have imagined the challenges that lay ahead for our community. These past 12 months have been punctuated by two historical tragedies: the most devastating...

Simon Ruppert