Former independent MP Susan Davies believes it’s time for another local independent to “put their head above the parapet”. By Catherine Watson NOT quite 15 years ago, the Independent MP for West Gippsland,...

Stan Miles was ahead of his time in preserving a patch of "Kongwak scrub". By Susan Pryde and Catherine Watson As you drive into Kongwak, you can’t miss the stand of bushland on a ridge overlooking...

When blackberries were declared a national weed, blackberrying became a guilty pleasure. ​ By Catherine Watson ​IT’S BEEN a challenging season for blackberry lovers. The bushes that were missed by...

Lisa Schonberg’s five-year labour of love photographing the whales and dolphins of Western Port could prove crucial in the battle against plans for a massive container port at Hastings. By Catherine...

Bass Coast Shire Council staff and councillors have been bullied and threatened in the row over dogs on beaches.

Aquasure’s announcement last year of a 225-hectare coastal reserve surrounding the Wonthaggi desalination plant helped to soothe ruffled local feelings, but so far the reality doesn't match the vision. ​

Part hipster, part hippie, Kongwak Market has defied the doubters. On the eve of the market's 10th anniversary, Catherine Watson speaks to founder Jane Seaholme.

Reality rarely matches the dream but Wonthaggi’s Artspace Gallery appears to be an exception.

In the past 25 years Faye Hardie has rescued and rehoused hundreds of cats and dogs. And every one of them has a story. ​

Catherine Watson bonds with an unlovely cat over a visit to the vet.

Catherine Watson found rich pickings, but no bonanza, when she discovered a lump of emergris on a Gippsland beach

An occasional report from Catherine Watson, a jobseeker past her prime.

When Catherine Watson read a newspaper reports that Cape Woolamai traders were kicking up a stink about their new public toilets, she wondered if there might be another side to the story.

IT WAS fitting that last Sunday’s public tour of the Candowie reservoir was held on one of the hottest days this year, in the middle of a two-week heat wave in one of the driest summers on record.

When the Wonthaggi Bowling Club installs solar panels, you can guess solar power is no longer the province just of greenies and hippies.

A Newhaven man is claiming compensation from the council after allegedly being poisoned by an insecticide. Frank Coldebella and Catherine Watson looked behind the headline.

For decades, many Wonthaggi people have marvelled at Clive Dobson's mowing magic but this summer a bung knee put the kybosh on things.

If you won Tattslotto, you might just be able to afford Punchbowl’s pink palace but you’d probably need to win Tattslotto again to maintain it. Catherine Watson reports

For 99 years, Olive Justice was a familiar face in Newhaven and Cowes, and now her name has become synonymous with a bitter battle over a valuable site in Cowes. By Catherine Watson LAST year, in line...

For Courtney Moir, a licence and car add up to freedom. By Catherine Watson February 2, 2013 ON HER way home from work last week, Courtney Moir stopped at her favourite beaches and took photos of the...