Coronavirus Closes Churches While Councils Fight to Stay Open

BY MEGHAN RICHARDSON

As the Coronavirus situation continues to evolve, many local organisations and councils have been forced to review their regular programs and events.

The reshuffle follows after the federal government announced that "non-essential" gatherings of more than 100 people are banned.

Many religious organisations have said they will close their doors to keep their followers safe.

This includes the mosque at Wallsend which has suspended regular services until further notice.

Similarly, Catholic and Anglican churches reported they will also shutting down and temporarily stopping all Sunday services.

However, religious schools in the area are to remain open.

Catholic Schools around Newcastle and Maitland said they will stay open until the 9th of April.

While Anglican schools around the Hunter have stated they are currently open but continue to evaluate the situation daily.

The Coronavirus has also threatened to close many local community events and activities.

Newcastle council said Blackbutt Reserve's bushland will remain open, but services requiring staff to interact with the public are suspended.

Meanwhile, Maitland City Council has addressed the uncertainty and said all council facilities will remain open but public programs across the libraries, pools, and art gallery have been suspended.

The council also announced that the annual Street Eats event is still set to go ahead on April 3rd, but the event will be split across several sites in order to promote social distancing.

Several Injured in Collision on Carnley Avenue, Involving Allegedly Stolen Car

BY ISABEL EVERETT

Several people have been taken to hospital following a collision in New Lambton on Carnley Avenue this morning, allegedly involving a stolen car.

Two cars allegedly collided at the intersection of Orchard Town Road near the Blackbutt Hotel, at around 8:10am this morning.

A traffic pole has been knocked down.

Emergency services were called to the scene, with a  24-year-old woman freed from her vehicle after becoming trapped.

Another passenger also sustained neck and back injuries after becoming trapped in their vehicle.

One the patients reportedly said she had been exposed to COVID 19, with paramedics using protective equipment.

Police allege one of the vehicles involved in the accident was stolen.

The intersection is currently blocked, with the crash causing heavy delays from Newcastle Intercity Bypass to Bridges Road.

    Intersection of Orchard Town Road and Carnley Avenue 

Blackbutt Welcomes some Scaly new Friends

BY JESSICA ROUSE

While the brazen theft of reptiles from Blackbutt Reserve is still under investigation, today Blackbutt is welcoming some new reptilian residents.

Two olive pythons, a bearded dragon, eastern long-necked turtles and various creepy crawlies will be calling Blackbutt home and feature in new reptile shows starting next month.

Blackbutt Coordinator Brad West said it was tragic to lose the reptiles last September, but it's exciting they can welcome some new ones.

Olive Pythons Image NCC

"This [the theft] was really unfortunate and sad for our visitors and also our staff, it happens I guess and it's unfortunate. But we're back and going to be better than ever so we have the start of our reptiles, we have a few more on site as it is so we are able to start our reptile shows again."

The snakes who are siblings were donated by Wild Life Sydney Zoo and the female central bearded dragon was donated by a private Newcastle reptile keeper.

The reptiles play an important part at the reserve, particularly for educational purposes for children.

"Part of the main reason is for the education, obviously we generate some income for Blackbutt, we're trying to make Blackbutt sustainable for the long term. Council has invested a lot of funds into infrastructure upgrades," said Brad.

Blackbutt Reserve coordinator Brad West.

Last September isn't the first time reptiles were ransacked, so now the reserved has beefed up their security in a bid to stop it happening again.

"We've upgraded our security so now we're hoping that should restrain our animals and keep the public out or whoever would like to break-in and take them. We've got a back-to-base system we always had that, that's what alerted us last time. We've got upgraded security on the windows to slow access down and also CCTV," said Brad.

A competition will be launched next week on the Newcastle City Council and Blackbutt Reserve social media channels with the winner receiving a VIP meet-and-greet with the reptiles they name.

Bearded Dragon Image NCC