A rusty shipping container and the imaginations of two students at Sheldon College at Redlands have come together to help victims of domestic violence.

It’s taken three years and the help of the school’s Technology Design Teacher but the container has been reborn as emergency housing.

Tomorrow it will be presented to a local women’s shelter and college principal Dr Lyn Bishop tells Mark the two students felt compelled to do something after being confronted by the statistics around domestic violence.

In the early 80s Queensland was in the grip of a drink driving epidemic with alcohol found to be a factor in half of all road fatalities.

Things have improved over the last few decades but after crunching the numbers the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety has found alcohol is still a factor in a quarter of all road deaths.

Professor Barry Watson from CARRS-Q tells Mark random breath testing has had a marked impact but it may be worth exploring new measures to save lives.

The results from the latest NAPLAN tests are in and for Queensland it’s a bit of a mixed bag with the message to educators - could do better.

While Queensland is generally on the improve, the state is below the national average in reading, grammar and punctuation and numeracy. 

Dr Kevin Donnelly is one of Australia’s leading authorities on education and he tells Mark it’s clear the billions being thrown at education aren’t producing the results we want.

Queensland’s first operational medical cannabis farm, located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, has been officially opened by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.

MEDIFARM is the first of more than 20 Australian companies licensed to cultivate and manufacture medicinal cannabis.

The greenhouses grow a number of genetically different strains tailored for different conditions such as epilepsy, chronic pain and multiple sclerosis.

Medifarm Australian Director Adam Benjamin tells Mark it’s taken three years to realise the dream of being able to meet the needs of the tens or thousands of Australians who can benefit from medical marijuana.

Queensland pay packets are becoming lighter according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Average weekly earnings dropped by $15.90 in May, compared with six months earlier, making Queensland the only state to record a decline.

Dan Petrie from the Chamber Of Commerce And Industry Queensland tells Mark the problem is that the number of hours on offer to workers has fallen.

What a difference 12 months can make.

This time last year blueberry growers on the Sunshine Coast and in the Granite Belt were up against it after frosts dealt a savage blow to production.

Berries Australia Executive Director Rachel Mackenzie tells Mark perfect growing conditions this season have led to a record crop.

Five-time Grammy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy-nominated singer Michael Feinstein has played the White House, Buckingham Palace, the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall and this November he’ll play QPAC.

He’ll be joined on stage by special guest, Bobby Fox who originated the role of Frankie Valli in the Australian production of Jersey Boys.

Together they will reinterpret the Great American Songbook on their Shaken And Stirred Tour and Michael tells Mark it’s a thrill to keep the classics alive and relevant to new audiences.

https://www.tegdainty.com/tour/feinstein-fox-shaken-and-stirred/

It is becoming increasingly difficult these days for charities to catch the attention of potential donors, but one Brisbane charity has turned it into a fine art.

The Sunlight Centre at Cannon Hill is running ANON 2019, its second public art initiative to raise funds for its work offering counselling for people contemplating suicide or self harm.

The initiative involves people buying postcard size artworks produced by more than 200 local and international artists.

Sunlight Centre clinical director Ken Loftus tells Mark the trick is that the artists are anonymous until the artworks are bought and paid for.

https://www.sunlightcentre.com.au/

Olympia What's On

Back in the late 80s perhaps no Aussie rock song was more ubiquitous on the radio than ‘Run To Paradise’ by the Choirboys.

The album it came from, ‘Big Bad Noise’, went double platinum and also included the hits ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ and ‘Struggle Town.’

The Choirboys are back at playing the album in its entirety.

Frontman Mark Gable tells Mark instead of playing the album start to finish, the band is playing it finish to start.

FRIDAY AUGUST 23 & SATURDAY AUGUST 24 2019

DOO-BOP BAR

https://www.oztix.com.au/ 

https://www.doo-bop.com.au/