Castlemaine Independent was established in February 2010 and has logged over 65,000 visitors*  viewing 179,354 pages to date. Readership has experienced phenomenal growth each month.

Many readers were looking for, and have now found a new news voice. News, stories, change, community, world.

Our banner ads in the side bar are currently seen on 1899 page views a day.

One of our early advertisers is receiving 14% of their total website traffic from their banner ad on Castlemaine Independent.

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Sarah Burdekin (left) with Sue from front of house, was delighted by the funding announcement.

Castlemaine’s premier arts and movie venue has received a $150,000 Federal grant for restoration works. Federal Member for Bendigo Steve Gibbons announced the funding at the theatre yesterday morning.

The funding, from the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts means the Theatre Royal can replace its exit stairs and goldrush-era roof, and make improvements to the building to bring it into compliance with current building regulations. Continue Reading »

Last night the Australian Greens launched a policy platform to help young and emerging artists earn an income from their art and reward all artists for their success. The launch took place as Australian Greens Deputy Leader Senator Milne opened an exhibition of Charles Blackman’s work. Continue Reading »

Flowserve, which manufactures pumps and valves in Castlemaine, is calling for voluntary redundancies.

The company announced earlier this month that it will cut 38 jobs over the next six months.

Staff have 10 working days to decide whether to take an exit package, and the company will determine if further job cuts are needed.

Last Thursday night CI attended the glamourous launch of  a booklet showcasing Victoria’s cultural attractions at the Newport Substation. Arts Minister Peter Batchelor said the Victoria’s 2010-11 Cultural Guide detailed information about what to see and do across the state.

“From our major cultural landmarks to local treasures and quirky gems, this free guide brings together 72 of Victoria’s exciting arts and cultural attractions,” he said.

“Going through the guide you can see exactly why Victoria is Australia’s number one cultural destination, and why arts and culture have become a major drawcard for tourists. Continue Reading »

By Andrew McKenna

Early last century the ‘mystery man of literature’, B Traven, wrote electrifying prose about the horrors mariners were subject to in his novel The Death Ship. It remains the most famous of all Traven’s books. When it was published first in Germany in 1935, it sold over 200,000 copies before being banned. It is subtitled ‘The Story of an American Sailor’.

It’s 2010, the UN-declared International Year of the Seafarer, and things have changed. Or have they?

Tucked away down the bottom of Collins Street in Melbourne is the Stella Maris Seafarers’ Centre. Continue Reading »

By Andrew McKenna

It’s goodbye shipbuilding, real estate, coal, steelworks, machinery, and hello social work, teaching, psychology and healing arts. A recent article sent to CI staff – and a recent trend – got us talking in the office. From Iceland’s Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, the world’s first openly lesbian head of state, who campaigned against the male elite she said had destroyed the nation’s banking system, to the latest research showing that companies and nations developing their feminine side do better, the evidence is pointing to a major shift in the way we organise our lives.

CI staff caught up in our favourite restaurant in Melbourne, Sapa Hills, after a seminar in Melbourne on how to read body language.

Lorne (IT): I’m not inclined to believe that it’s end of the Age of Testosterone. Look at Iraq and Afghanistan. US foreign policy is hardly about to start being all consensual. Continue Reading »

By Matt Wobbly

Mt Alexander Shire Council this week voted 5-2 in support of the new Maldon community bank building.

The meeting was held in the town hall with a large public turnout. The objectors made their case that features of the building, mainly a concrete wall, which they argued did not adhere to heritage guidelines for the town. Continue Reading »

State Government-regulated attire for all female councillors in 'villages'

By Andrew McKenna

So now it’s official. We all live in ‘villages’, so we must be ‘villagers’. I wonder do we have to troop around in overalls and say thing like ‘yup’ and ‘howdy, pardner’ and ‘just let me finish shoeing this horse’.

Maybe we could dance around maypoles, burn wicker men and die of the Black Death as well, Mr Brumby?

For a while there we were ‘provincial Victorians’, but now we’re ‘villagers’. Yup yup yippee!

It would all be laughable if State Government policies weren’t destroying the very ‘villages’ they’re purporting to support. Take the Chewton swimming pool. Continue Reading »

By Andrew McKenna

Castlemaine and its surrounding areas are renowned for … inventors? You mightn’t think so, but an inventor living near Castlemaine has come up with a device that might just revolutionise the care of some cancer patients. And there’s the revamped two-stroke engine as well…

‘I was there for one month and I managed to save them two million dollars,’ he said of a company he worked for in the States when he was not long out of mechanical engineering at Swinburne.

Did they give him a cut? Continue Reading »

The Mt Alexander Local Exchange Trading Service (Ma LETS) has around 100 traders. Barter for C21. Anything you’ve done today you could do for Pods (local money). Annual membership is $20 ($10 paperless – electronic directory, statements etc.). Only one rule: balance your earning and spending over the life of the account.

Monthly Trading Days: 1) First Friday in Maldon. 5pm, 110 Bells Reef Road, Maldon. Ring 5475 2891 for directions. 2) Third Tuesday in Castlemaine. Castlemaine Community House, 1.30pm after the community meal. AGM is Friday, 02 July 2010. Enquiries: 5472 3506 ma_lets@yahoo.com.au

To celebrate four months of independent journalism in Castlemaine, and to get behind the lovely businesses that are supporting and reading CI, there will be give-aways throughout the month. Keep reading CI though July, and tell your friends.

Mostly the give-aways will be for local residents, but you could always fly in from the USA (1,249 pages read so far in June in the USA. What’s wrong with Rupert Murdoch’s papers?)

Ticket give-aways: go to Classifieds 15-17 June and read through the ads for the first give away, even though it’s not July. Yet.

If you have a business and would like to participate, continue reading. Continue Reading »

At this week’s Council meeting, a tender was awarded for the landscaping and planting of the Wesley Hill Industrial Estate. Recoland will undertake landscaping work as part of the final stages of the construction of Stage 2 of the Estate. Continue Reading »

A complaint sent by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today details six separate examples of telecommunications advertising that the consumer group believes breach the Trade Practices Act because they are misleading, deceptive or unfair – and sometimes all three.

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A musician named  Dave Carroll recently had difficulty  with United Airlines. United  apparently damaged his $3500 treasured Taylor guitar during a  flight. Carroll spent over nine  months trying to get United to pay for  damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar.
During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that  he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for youtube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded: “Good luck  with that one, pal”.
So he posted a retaliatory video on youtube. The video has since received over eight million hits. United Airlines contacted  the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: “Good luck  with that one, pal”.
Taylor Guitars sent the musician two new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has led to a sharp increase in orders.

Do not adjust your screen. The Maldon & District Community Bank® Branch will reach a big milestone on Monday, 7 June when it officially hands out its one-millionth dollar in grants. That’s right, the bank is giving money away. Now, haven’t they heard of the GFC? Gordon Gecko?

Since opening in April 1999, the Community Bank® Branch has steadily donated to community organisations and projects in the Maldon, Newstead and Dunolly area. (And CI has one very important question: why does everyone do this: ® ? No one’s going to pinch the name, are they? I mean, if you’re an auto mechanic in La Paz, Bolivia, you’re hardly likely to call yourself  The Maldon & District Community Bank® Branch, are you? )

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The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland proclaimed June 1 to be International Children’s Day in 1925. It is not clear as to why June 1 was chosen as the International Children’s Day: one theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco (USA) gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in 1925, which happened to be on June 1 that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva. Continue Reading »

By Andrew McKenna

Lars and Jilli moved to San Francisco in 1997, to a warehouse space with no running water or heat on an industrial edge of The Mission, a Latin American community. It was the only place they could afford until work started coming in, and it was a tough time for college graduates in the States to get a job.

‘Suddenly this industry was created, the dot com industry,’ says Lars.

‘We lived at ground zero and it was crazy there. I’ve never seen a town gentrified so fast.’

Before the boom hit, there were condoms and needles on the streets. That changed overnight to cigar butts and smashed cell phones.

‘It was a weird place to live. We left just before the bubble burst.’ Continue Reading »

Why go to Melbourne for Chinese or Japanese food? Not quite Chinatown in quantity, Barker St makes up for it in quality …
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A new restaurant’s opened in town, and it was jumping this weekend. Continue Reading »