News blog, February 7: Police appeal for witnesses following hit-and-run; ADF to assist aged care

We’re expecting a sunny top of 31 degrees today.

UPDATE, 4.25 pm: Man accused of helping selling stolen guns faces court

A man accused of helping to sell stolen guns in exchange for drugs was cheated in the deal and never got the drugs he was promised.

James Anthony Sheehey, 42, of Shepparton, unsuccessfully applied to Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to have his case heard in the magistrates’ court jurisdiction, rather than the county court.

Read the full story here.

Additionally, two Shepparton brothers have won $150,000 — which is exactly the type of energy we all want to bring into 2022. Check out that story here.

That will do us for today’s news blog, as well, with a few more things on my plate this afternoon. Keep your eyes peeled on the website, and we’ll catch you again tomorrow.

UPDATE, 4.00 pm: ADF to be deployed to assist aged care facilities

Earlier this afternoon Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Australian Defence Force would be deployed to assist aged care facilities.

Facilities across the country have been hit by outbreaks in recent weeks — with Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley not being spared — by rising case numbers in both residents and staff.

A quarter of shifts each week weren’t being covered due to isolation or illness, the aged care sector said last week.

Mr Morrison said 10 teams would be set up to enter facilities with just 24 hours notice and work with state health departments and public health agencies.

“When you have large numbers of people taken out of the workforce, that is very hard to deal with and there is no simple answer,” he said.

UPDATE, 3.10 pm: Victim critical following hit-and-run

Police are appealing for witnesses after a woman was run over with a car in an alleged armed robbery in Olympic Ave, Shepparton on Friday night.

He said police allege there was an assault outside an Olympic Ave address with possibly up to three offenders and weapons involved, resulting in a man receiving serious injuries.

The group then moved outside a different address in Olympic Ave and there was a fight in the street.

Read the full story from Anna McGuinness here. Meanwhile, there were some thefts in Numurkah last week which police are also seeking information about.

UPDATE, 2.45 pm: International borders to open to all visa holders on February 21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the border will open to all doubly vaccinated visa holders on February 21.

International borders have been progressively opening up since December, but state government caps have still applied. They will continue to do so under the new announcement.

Family members of citizens and international students were the first cabs off the rank late last year.

Mr Morrison also urged any Australians in Ukraine to leave, so if you’re one of our no doubt many Ukrainian readers, the government is “highly concerned” about the situation there.

UPDATE, 1.05 pm: Kids getting vaccinated; more than 4000 teachers and students test positive

Students have returned to class across the state last week, with some 3300 of them catching COVID-19 in their first week back according to the state government.

More than 3300 were positive last week, while another 600 had positive results come back over the weekend, Deputy Premier James Merlino said.

However, Mr Merlino also said Victoria was on track to reach 50 per cent of children aged between five and 11 getting their first dose at some stage today.

This has been boosted by pop-ups at schools across the state, including at St George’s Rd Primary the weekend just gone.

UPDATE, 12.30 pm: African House hopes to keep its doors open through funding

St Paul’s African House has received a $30,000 grant from the Greater Shepparton Foundation to keep its doors open, something the facility has struggled with due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional funding is still needed and the facility is calling out for more support to ensure the venue stays open in the long term.

Check out the full story — complete with a video — from reporter Youssef Saudie here.

UPDATE, 12.00 pm: Shepparton family feels the gaps in regional perinatal mental healthcare

Apologies everyone, I’ve been up looking at the Mall redevelopment and how that’s tracking - and it took far, far longer than it should have. I’ll have more on that this afternoon.

My colleague - or correctly former colleague, as she finished up with The News on Friday - Rosa Ritchie put together this story about yet more gaps in region healthcare.

Shepparton’s Melissa and Nathan Hocking are devoted to their 10-month-old son, Ollie, and Rosa spoke to them about the enormity of the challenges they’ve faced as a family, which started soon after Ollie was conceived.

Check out the full story here.

UPDATE, 10.15 am: Victoria Park Lake to close for two weeks

The lake at Victoria Park will be shut for a few weeks from February 14 as council undertakes ribbon weed cutting.

Notably, the tracks and equipment around the lake are expected to stay open - it’s just the water itself which will be closed to the public.

The process involves use of an aquatic harvester boat, which cuts the plant below the surface and stores the cut material on board for later disposal.

UPDATE, 9.45 am: More funding coming for health services

A $1.4 billion package will ensure doctors, nurses and paramedics have the resources and support they need to continue caring for Victorians at home or in a hospital, including $938 million to help public hospitals cover coronavirus-related costs and continue surge payments for healthcare staff.

Coming out over the weekend, the Victorian government announcement also pledged to bring forward the recruitment of 120 new paramedics.

There was nothing targeted at any specific areas of the state, but check out the full story here for the full breakdown.

UPDATE, 9.15 am: Your morning headlines at a glance

Those first mornings back from leave are always a bit frantic, and there’s a bit to cover off so far this morning so forgive me as I fire up the typewriter and get clacking away.

In case you missed it yesterday, a pilot had a miraculous escape following an accident at Shepparton airport.

The pilot came down heavily within the boundary of the airport after takeoff, but somehow didn’t require medical attention at the scene. Check out the full story from Darren Linton here.

Additionally, we’ve got several photos of the Shepparton Hotel as it starts being pulled down, while a road maintenance blitz in regional Victoria has hit the halfway mark.

In coronavirus news, Victoria has recorded 8275 new cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths as elective surgery resumes.

There’s also a bit happening in the Federal politics arena, with Peter Dutton accused of calling Prime Minister Scott Morrison a "complete psycho“.

(I thought he’d leaked Barnaby’s text messages, but there are too many text messages being leaked by too many people for me to keep up, my apologies.)

That allegation was made by former NSW Labor Premier Bob Carr, and Mr Dutton’s come out this morning and denied it.

Also, in Winter Olympics news, Jakara Anthony has won the gold medal in the women’s moguls at Beijing.