News blog, January 31: Greater Shepparton case numbers decline; school’s back; food fest a delicious success

This is Rosa Ritchie, on board this sunny Monday to keep an eye on what’s happening around town.

It’s another humid day with a possible shower expected, and a top of 33. As has been the theme this summer, there’s the chance of a thunderstorm during the morning and afternoon.

UPDATE, 4.30 pm: Afternoon headlines

Let’s take a look at a few more top stories, before wrapping up the blog for the day.

Packed crowds and lively atmosphere for St Georges Road Food Festival: The News has prepared a gallery with highlights from Saturday night’s event, full of good food and music.

Freed from jail on appeal following stabbing: A woman who broke into a Tatura house and stabbed a man because she thought he had assaulted someone close to her has been freed on appeal.

Police find body following bushland search: Police have confirmed a body was located in bushland near Shepparton’s Raftery Track campground on Sunday, January 30, following a search for a missing man.

Johnson grasps her chance at AFLW level: From Echuca to VFLW, to now running out in the AFLW against the best female footballers in the country, it’s been a rapid rise to the top for Annabel Johnson.

Grades rebranding in GMC honours league legends: Past and present legends of Goulburn Murray Cricket — as well as the former Campaspe and Kyabram cricket associations — will be honoured with a rebranding of the competition’s senior cricketing grades, including several league accolades.

UPDATE, 3 pm: Fond farewell to Shepparton Family Restaurant

After 34 years of business, Shepparton Family Restaurant is selling up and passing the baton to another family.

Owner Lina Lagana bought the restaurant in 2019 off her previous boss, who she had worked with since it opened 31 years before, in an effort to keep the business going.

See the full story with Lina here, reflecting on the past and the future of the favourite restaurant of many.

UPDATE, 1.30 pm: 17 new cases in Greater Shepp

Today there are 293 active cases of COVID-19 in the City of Greater Shepparton local government area - and 17 of those are newly recorded.

One week ago on January 24, Greater Shepparton recorded 64 new cases of COVID-19, and had a total of 721 active cases.

That’s about a 60 per cent drop in active cases over the course of the week.

This is heartening news, although as we’ve learned the hard way, things can change quickly.

I don’t mean to be a buzz kill, but it’ worth remembering that last week Goulburn Valley Health chief executive Matt Sharp warned case numbers may climb with the start of the school term.

UPDATE, 11:30 am: Education minister speaking on first day back

Victorian Minister for Education James Merlino spoke at a press conference this morning to mark the first day of the 2022 school year.

Greater Shepparton Secondary College is one of 14 new public schools opening today.

“The first day of school is a big day – and even more so after the last two years,” Mr Merlino said.

“I want to wish all students and staff heading to school this year all the very best for an exciting and much less disrupted school year.”

“We’ve done the work to make sure schools are as safe as they can be – so we can keep our school communities protected and ensure that 2022 is a much less disrupted year of learning.”

All 51,000 air purification devices have arrived in government and low-fee non-government schools in time for the beginning of term, helping remove potentially infectious particles from high-risk areas of schools.

Meanwhile, more than 300 shade sails are under construction, helping more classes conduct outdoor lessons.

A pool of inactive or retired teachers and school staff, and final year teaching students, has seen more than 346 teachers and 28 principals ready to be employed for short-term stints at schools as required.

This talent pool has been assembled to minimise disruption to students in the case of staff COVID-19-related absences.

UPDATE, 10:15 am: Victorian COVID-19 numbers

Today there are 873 people admitted to Victorian hospitals with COVID-19, with 102 of those in ICU and 33 on ventilators.

Sadly another eight people have died with the virus, contributing to a total 3,751 lives lost to COVID-19 in Australia.

The rate of third dose vaccinations in Victoria continues to climb — now 38 per cent of the adult population.

And 93 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over have had two doses.

Today there are 10,053 new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria.

Most of those were detected by rapid antigen tests: 6,485, the result of RATs and 3,568 from PCR tests.

There are more than 76,000 active cases in Victoria.

We’ll take a look at Greater Shepparton’s latest numbers once they’re released after 12pm.

UPDATE, 10 am: Body found, police confirm

In breaking news this morning, a Victoria Police spokesperson has confirmed a body was found yesterday following a search for a missing man in bushland near Shepparton.

UPDATE, 9:30 am: Morning headlines

Did you ferry a young one to their first day back at school this morning?

As the start of the school year begins, police are asking motorists to be aware of school zones in their area.

Students start returning to school from today, and Shepparton police Senior Sergeant David Gillespie said drivers needed to remember the 40km/h speed limit is back between 8am and 9.30am, and 2.30pm to 4pm.

More details here.

St George’s Rd Food Festival was a big success on Saturday, attracting large crowds keen to sample some of the mouth-watering cuisine on offer.

I went with a small group and we got pretty tactical - each joining a different queue to economise on time and maximise the number of dishes sampled.

Unsurprisingly, it was all delicious.

Speaking of events, Riverlinks is warning music and entertainment lovers across the Goulburn Valley to buy tickets through authorised channels to avoid scalping.

“It’s upsetting to see customers getting scammed through resale ticket markets,” Riverlinks Venues manager Ken Cameron says.

Get the low-down in this article.

Independent candidate for the federal seat of Nicholls Rob Priestly has stood aside from his duties as a Greater Shepparton City councillor.

Mr Priestly confirmed he had formally notified council of his decision - read the full story to learn what events may have sparked the move.