Around the region

Subject to planning approvals and construction timelines, the new centre is expected to open in early 2028.

It will be expected to meet significant local demand for high-quality, inclusive early childhood education and care for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children.

‘Love Island: Animal Edition’

Seven critically endangered male plains-wanderer birds have been let loose on protected grasslands in the hopes of winning the affection of wild females.

Billed as ‘Love Island: Animal Edition’, the plucky birds have entered Barapa Barapa country, including Terrick Terrick, through a Zoos Victoria breeding program.

The Werribee Open Range Zoo conservation project is in place to supplement existing populations, with fewer than 1000 adult birds estimated to be left in the wild.

Their numbers have reduced by 85 per cent over the past few decades, with habitat loss and degradation driving the decline.

Arrest one week later

In last week’s Around the Region, we brought you a story about a car being stolen with a toddler in the back seat in Shepparton.

This week, we can tell you a Mooroopna man has been charged and appeared briefly in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Monday, for a filing hearing.

Police allege he stole a car from a supermarket car park in Shepparton on November 14, removing a sleeping 15 month-old boy from the vehicle, placing him in a box in the car park before driving away.

The car’s owner returned to the parking space and soon found the toddler, who was not physically injured and still sleeping.

Police found the stolen car with a broken windscreen in Mooroopna parkland the next day. After investigations, a man was arrested on November 21.

The man was charged with reckless conduct endangering serious injury, theft of a vehicle and committing an indictable offence while on bail.

Charges were also laid relating to separate incidents, some dating back to October.

The man was remanded in custody until mid-December.