A blue New Year

WHILE Mansfield Shire residents decked their halls with boughs of holly and cheered in another New Year with a glass full of bubbles, a cloud of crime and tragedy brewed in the background. Criminal damage incidents either side of Christmas dampened a number of local spirits, while tragedy struck on the roads and in the lakes within and just outside of the shire, with several lives lost due to drownings and a vehicular accident. The body of a 34–year–old man was recovered from Lake Eildon on Monday, January 2 following the search for a swimmer who disappeared in water near the Jerusalem Creek campgrounds. The man was swimming with friends at 4.30pm on New Year's Day when he appeared to run into difficulty, before failing to resurface. On Boxing Day, a man died after being pulled from Lake Hume near Albury. Five–year–old Alison Johns devastatingly lost her life on December 27, after being pulled unresponsive from Lake Nagambie near Beckley Park. In a local tragedy, young father Shanan Wooley died just before Christmas in a motorcycle accident. His funeral is expected to be held today, Wednesday, January 11. Friends have created a Go Fund Me page to help support his wife and children. To make a donation go to: https://gofund.me/009e168b. Martin's Garage was the victim of criminal property damage and two stolen vehicles on Christmas Eve. One of the vehicles was later recovered, with police currently investigating persons of interest. A sentimental firearm was stolen from a property in Barwite; the culprit is yet to be located but was described as a "right little punk" by the property owner. Thieves also smashed the lock and took off with one of council's umbrellas from the Main Street, depriving locals and tourists of a spot of shade or shelter from the rain. The umbrella was subsequently found after a council officer posted of the theft on the community noticeboard. And another local posted on the community noticeboard that his identity had been used to fraudulently purchase a number of pseudoephedrine–based medicines, commonly used in methamphetamine production, at a number of pharmacies across the North East. He only discovered the act of identity theft after being refused the medicine when he tried to treat his cold and flu symptoms while shopping in Benalla, and connected the act to the recent Optus data breach. Following a white Christmas and a blue New Year the shire now faces a red summer, with forecasts predicting an end to the sodden La Nina weather pattern and the return of a dry and scorching fire season.