Latest news with #Bayliss
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rugby clubs apologise after fighting at cup final
Two rugby clubs have issued apologies after fighting brought a cup final to a premature end. The violence happened towards the end of the North Gloucestershire Combination Cup Final between Matson RFC and Longlevens RFC, who were named winners as they were so far ahead, at Kingsholm stadium on Sunday. In official statements, Lee Bayliss, chairman of Matson RFC, and the Longlevens Rugby Committee apologised for the behaviour of the fans involved. Gloucestershire Police said the incident was dealt with by stadium stewards and only reported when it was over, so there was no need for officers to attend. More news stories for Gloucestershire Listen to the latest news for Gloucestershire In an official statement, Mr Bayliss said: "What should have been a great family day out celebrating local rugby was ruined by a few supporters from both sides. "We will be meeting as a club to discuss this matter and decide what action we need to take, following review of footage and statements. "We would like to reiterate that as a club Matson RFC do not condone this behaviour and take such matters very seriously. "We would like to congratulate Longlevens RFC on a well-deserved win in the senior cup and are isappointed for them that they were robbed of a moment to lift the cup at Kingsholm in a joyous celebration." Longlevens Rugby Committee said in its statement it was "disappointed" the events led to "the premature end of what should have been a celebration of grassroots rugby". "This behaviour falls far short of the values we uphold as a club - respect, sportsmanship, and community," they added. "Rugby is a game that brings people together, and there is no place for violence, intimidation, or disruption, whether on or off the pitch." Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Thousands raised in memory of rugby campaigner 'Grassroots rugby needs to feel valued by the RFU' Longlevens RFC Matson RFC
Indianapolis Star
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
'A diamond in the rough:' How the town of Speedway embraces culture outside the Indy 500
When Arlon Bayliss began to plan a sculpture for a blighted Speedway trailhead park in 2016, he sought residents' help. What are you proud of in your community? he asked. Many said they wanted to celebrate the town's character beyond the Indianapolis 500, the annual race in the venue from which the town takes its name. Some mentioned Motegi, Japan and Varano de' Melegari, Italy, two sister cities where high school students have long traveled for educational exchange programs. The sculpture born from those conversations reflects the city's international ties, Hoosier identity and the community's closeness. Absent from the artwork are the cars and checkered flags most often associated with the town. Situated just steps from the track, the sculpture is shaped like a cow parsnip, a flowering plant native to Indiana. Its form symbolizes the three cities' connection, and the seeds that Speedway students carry with them wherever they land. Nine years ago, in a vacant building a few blocks from the trailhead, Bayliss and dozens of volunteers and Speedway High School seniors worked together to assemble the florets that would be affixed to the sculpture and glow at night. "It seemed to be in the DNA of the town of Speedway to work together towards a project," said Bayliss, who is based in Anderson. "Seeds of Light," which sits just steps southwest of the towering Indianapolis Motor Speedway track, is a microcosm of the town's tight-knit community, a symbol of its non-racing related culture that's growing increasingly visible thanks to burgeoning public art, restaurants and pedestrian trails. These factors combine to attract younger residents and showcase the town's identity inside and outside of that world-famous Sunday in May. "If you look at the grander scheme, we're just part of Indianapolis when you look at a map," said Bruce Levy, a sculpture volunteer and Speedway Arts Council member, who has lived in the area since 2000. "But there is a small-town camaraderie and a small-town feel to Speedway. It's hard to describe." Established in 1926, 17 years after the track opened, Speedway originally housed mostly automotive workers and their families. The decades after World War II saw the town's population soar, according to the Polis Center at Indiana University Indianapolis. The town numbered almost 5,500 people in 1950 and by 1970 the population had grown to more than 15,000. Twenty years ago, however, Speedway had an identity crisis. The town was aging and struggling to lure younger families with kids. As ideas abounded on how to improve quality of life in the town, Beverly Katterhenry, whose family has run a business in Speedway since 1950, resisted changes that could draw in younger families and push Speedway into a new era. Specifically, Katterhenry worried about talks of a trail project right next her family's business, worrying it would encroach on her ability to sell parking spots during the Indy 500 — a not-insignificant side hustle for many property owners in Speedway during the month of May. But as Katterhenry, now 75, learned more about the trail and walked the abandoned railroad path herself, she envisioned a community asset that could change how people travel around Speedway every day. The trail "was a diamond in the rough," said Katterhenry, who grew up on the west side of Indianapolis while attending Speedway Christian Church and moved to the town in 2009. "We just didn't know it was there yet." She would later become the unofficial face of Speedway Trails, the nonprofit that oversees the sprawling trail system that will soon span a total of 15 miles on the west side. The trail network includes the B&O Trail, the P&E Trail and the Main Street Trail. Speedway Trails' origins date back to 2007, after the Speedway Redevelopment Commission started talking about revamping Main Street as a way to breathe new life into the town. The momentum from the Main Street redevelopment trickled into the efforts to build a trail on the old railroad tracks that cuts through the town. The original concept for the trail was a five-mile loop around Speedway. That later evolved into a 15-mile path that connects Hendricks County to the White River at Michigan Street by cutting directly through Speedway. Katterhenry calls herself the "squeaky wheel" who helped lure "Seeds of Light" to the P&E trailhead. The town partnered with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and the Indy Arts Council for the project, which Levy helped build. The self-described "de facto maintenance guy," whose day job is as a design engineer at Allison Transmission, still checks on the sculpture at night and fixes lights that have gone out. The public art momentum has continued. Over the past few years, murals have gone up along Main Street. One artwork by Barbecue & Bourbon shows an old-fashioned car at the center of a starburst pattern. Another by Charlie Brown's Pancake and Steak House depicts a vintage scene of cars parked in front of a diner. Outside Speedway's municipal center is a mosaic composed of photos submitted by residents. Vintage Indy Sports in Speedway: Steps from IMS, a vintage memorabilia store sells pieces of Indiana sports history Katterhenry said she would like to see more public art along the trail — especially murals for a B&O Trail tunnel near High School Road. Julia Muney Moore, the Indy Arts Council's public art director, stands ready to help whatever efforts will help Speedway expand its charm to those who are not necessarily race fans. "The idea that the trail is what's bringing people in, and it's a whole different crowd of people. It's bikers, it's pedestrians, it's exercise people, it's people walking dogs," Muney Moore said. "That trail is a connection, and they would be well placed to think about how they want to position themselves to these people who come literally any other day of the year except for (race day)." Good quality-of-life assets, such as usable trails and strong schools, drew Logan Posson and his family, who moved to Speedway from Kansas in 2019. "On any nice day, if you get out on the trail, you'll notice how many young families are out there. It's more than the older crowd that people think of when they think of Speedway," said Posson, now president of Speedway Trails. The Possons were told by their realtor that houses in Speedway sell fast for the very reasons they looked at the town. Sold signs scattered throughout the town suggest more new residents are on the way. To town manager Grant Kleinhenz — Speedway, though an excluded city, does not have a mayor — today's progress all goes back to that decision 20 years ago to take a risk on redeveloping the historic town. "We are reaping the reward of all of that work," Kleinhenz said. "The town councilors would say that was a challenging process, no one likes the unknown, but we forged ahead to build a source of pride." 'A lot happens on Main Street': Speedway makeover nears finish line, but 'eyesore' remains Over the past few weeks, Katterhenry has watched crews pour concrete and put the finishing touches on the three-mile Hendricks County expansion. On May 25, more than 800 people are expected to travel by bicycle to the race. "My whole goal has been to make it a safe community place for people to meet on and go on and kids can meet and go up and down," Katterhenry said. "It's just so gratifying now. You can give me all the awards but the most important thing for me is seeing people on the trail." Although Jeff Shields, 60, has only lived in the town for about a decade, he said he feels as though its culture is stitched into the fabric of his being. Shields' father, Norm, worked for the United States Auto Club, the sanctioning body of open-wheel racing in the 1980s, and as a technical director for multiple Indy 500 races. The ceiling of Jeff's boyhood bedroom in Knightstown was painted like a checkered flag and scribbled with the signatures of drivers such as Gary Bettenhausen and Steve Chassey who would swing by the Shields' home for dinner. But Shields' ties to motorsports are not why he moved his family to the world's racing capital from their home in Danville about a half hour away. That would be his two daughters, who in 2015 were enrolled at Covenant Christian High School just west of Speedway. Shields and his wife Krista liked the town's parks, its walkability and its up-and-coming small businesses, he said. Ten years later, Shields runs one such business, The Spark, a coffee shop on Main Street. Shields previously served a pastor at a church in Avon, often meeting congregants at a Panera or Starbucks rather than in his office. 'I feel like coffee shop tables are almost sacred places where people are just sharing stories and sharing life,' he said. So in June 2021, reemerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, Shields and a member of his church created a gathering place of their own with The Spark. Compared to longtime Speedway institutions like Charlie Brown's Pancake and Steak House or the Famous Tomato, Shields' distinctly modern coffee shop can feel somewhat iconoclastic. While Shields admires Speedway's old soul, he's proud to help nurture Speedway's growing younger population. The Spark now operates a second shop in Mooresville and a trailer that slings cups of joe outside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pagoda during May. As Shields sat in the mid-morning shade of the Pagoda during last week's Indy 500 practices, he acknowledged Speedway is inextricable from the sporting venue for which it was named. But the lifelong racing fan is just as enamored with the cozy side streets around the IMS as the iconic oval within it, he said. 'I love racing,' he said. 'I grew up in racing with my dad. But I would still love this town even if the track weren't here.' Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or Sign up here for the newsletter she curates about things to do and ways to explore Indianapolis. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports. Alysa Guffey covers business and development for IndyStar. Contact her at amguffey@
Perth Now
30-04-2025
- Perth Now
'Low act': rural artist admits defrauding dead friend
The day rural artist Mirree Bayliss's close friend died, she used his debit card to withdraw $180 from the bank. Her friend, Robert Randall, died in Orange hospital, in central western NSW, on August 17, 2024, which is when a small but "despicable" spending spree began. When the hospital told her of Mr Randall's death, she didn't inform his family, but instead used his card to make purchases and withdraw money totalling more than $5000 over two months. She withdrew large sums from an ATM at her local shopping centre, as well as making trips to McDonald's and supermarkets. One week after police issued a public appeal for information about Mr Randall's whereabouts on October 2, Bayliss withdrew $1000. Bayliss, 47, faced Orange Local Court on Wednesday, where she pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. Prosecutors withdrew six further charges, to which she had previously pleaded not guilty. Aboriginal Legal Service solicitor Laura Horton said Bayliss called the ambulance for Mr Randall when he became unwell at her house and the hospital informed her of his death. "This caused a significant toll on her, she just lost someone she'd known and been in a relationship with for 10 years," Ms Horton told the court. Police prosecutor Carl Smith said the court could hold doubts about Bayliss's claim she was in a relationship with the 65-year-old. Court documents described Mr Randall as a "recluse", who lived with his mother until her death in 2017 and was mostly estranged from his family. "Unfortunately Mr Randall is not here today to tell us his side of the relationship," Sergeant Smith said. Magistrate Gary Wilson imposed a three-year conditional release order and did not record a conviction. While the financial offending was on the low end of the scale, Bayliss took advantage of someone close to her, Mr Wilson said. "There's no doubt, Ms Bayliss, that this ... was an extremely low act," he said. "To take advantage of your partner, who was a long-time friend, in the manner in which you did is just despicable." On her website, Bayliss describes herself as a contemporary Indigenous painter who hopes to build a sense of belonging through art. Her Instagram page, which is followed by nearly 38,000 people, describes her as an entrepreneur, an award-winning artist and author. Outside court, Mr Randall's brother - who asked not to be named - also raised doubts about the relationship with Ms Bayliss. "We spoke to him at the beginning of (August 2024) ... it was the best we'd ever heard Robert," the brother said. Bayliss left the court with a supporter and declined to comment on the case. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Chilling figure amid horror flu season
Peak flu season is about to hit Australia and cases are already 30 per cent higher compared to the same time last year. A record number of cases have been reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, and the rates were higher than what authorities saw during Covid. CSL Seqirus medical director Jules Bayliss said more than 58,000 cases of influenza had been recorded this year across all age groups, but the greatest number were in children. She said despite vaccinations being free for children aged under five through the National Immunisation Program, vaccination rates in recent years had been lower than what they would like in children. 'We're seeing rates of flu notifications that are higher than what we saw for Covid across nearly every age group,' Dr Bayliss said. 'Typically, children come into contact and are more likely to transmit than other age groups. 'Things we do as adults to reduce the risk of flu, like getting a vaccination, washing hands, staying home when you're unwell, can be more challenging with children.' Dr Bayliss said people often underestimated how serious the flu could be, which was different to a cold. 'It's a disease that can leave you in bed for a number of days feeling really unwell with fever, muscle aches, and a more severe full body infection than a simple cold,' she said. 'Most people have a number of days off then they return to work or school. 'Other people can end up with really serious disease that leaves them ending up in hospital. 'But we are also seeing that people are not getting vaccinated against influenza.' Dr Bayliss said while the flu vaccine was more available and accessible than ever before, it had been challenging to re-engage with people to get vaccinated following the pandemic. She said CSL had manufactured and released more than seven million vaccine doses to pharmacies and GPs across the nation ahead of flu season. They use a process led by the World Health Organisation to annually update the strains that are in the vaccines, which gives them the best chance of protection against strains that are circulating. 'Typically, the peak of the flu season occurs in late winter or early spring, but every year is a little bit different,' she said. 'It's different depending on the viruses themselves that are circulating, how readily they transmit between individuals, which populations they're circulating in, and which of the individual viruses is dominating in any particular year. 'It becomes really difficult to predict what next year's flu season will look like based on this years.' She said with the Easter holiday period and an increase in flu circulating, it was expected more cases would occur and now was the time to get vaccinated. 'There are cohorts that are covered under the National Immunisation Program that applies across the country to under fives,, over 65s and people that have an underlying medical condition,' she said. 'Free vaccines are only provided in some states, but for everybody else, they can access flu vaccines through their GP or pharmacy.' Australian chief medical officer Anthony Lawler said influenza was the most common vaccine-preventable disease in Australia. The professor said while they could not predict this year's flu season, they could learn from data collected last year which showed children aged under nine had the highest notification rates, but had a low vaccine uptake. 'In 2024, there were more deaths involving influenza and RSV than in 2023,' he said. 'This is an important reminder that influenza, RSV and Covid are not the common cold. 'These are very serious viruses that can cause severe illness, hospitalisation and even death among otherwise healthy children and adults.' Professor Lawler said so far in 2025, there had been a higher proportion of influenza B cases than seen at this time in recent years, particularly in school-aged children and young adults. 'Influenza B is often more common in children, and can result in more severe infections in children,' he said. 'The good news is that all the influenza vaccines available in Australia cover both influenza A and B, making the seasonal influenza vaccine very effective at protecting people from needing to go to hospital or visit their GP due to complications from influenza.' He recommended everyone from the age of six months get vaccinated against influenza every year, and encouraged pregnant women to get vaccinated against RSV and whooping cough and people over 65 years to get regular Covid vaccinations.
Telegraph
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Rare Bram Stoker letter reveals what he really thought about Dracula
Bram Stoker's Dracula was not the immediate success one might have expected for such a haunting gothic horror. While critics gave the novel positive reviews at the time, it was not until after Stoker's death in 1912 that it became a bestseller, and has never been out of print since. The discovery of a rare letter has revealed Stoker himself was confident his novel would grab the public's attention and go on to stand the test of time. The letter was recently discovered by a rare books dealer among a private collection acquired from a buyer in the United States. It was written by Stoker to a friend weeks after its initial publication in 1897. In it, he describes his confidence that Dracula will be regarded as 'high' literature and not just a piece of pulp horror. Writing to the friend, referred to only as Mr Williams, Stoker states: 'I send you Dracula & have honoured myself by writing your name in it.' He adds: 'How is enclosed for high? Lord forgive me. I am quite shameless. Yours ever, Bram Stoker.' Letters by Stoker are rare and, according to experts, those in which he mentions his novel Dracula by name are virtually unheard of. Fewer than a handful are known to exist, and those are typically formal acknowledgements. By contrast, this letter is informal and prescient, making it one of the earliest and most candid authorial commentaries on the novel, according to Oliver Bayliss, the rare book dealer who acquired it. 'This letter gives us something we've never really had before: Stoker's own voice, responding to Dracula around the moment it entered the world, not as an icon of horror but as a new, uncertain work,' he said. 'Stoker clearly, and with just cause, felt it was a high watermark in his writing. However, early reviews were mixed and Dracula didn't become the legend it is for many, many years thereafter.' Stoker's letter is expected to fetch thousands when it goes on sale in the next few weeks. In the world of literary collecting, letters by authors commenting on their most significant works, especially so close to publication, are among the most sought-after artefacts. When those letters contain the title itself, in the author's own hand, and offer some flavour of personality or insight, they are considered exceptionally rare, says Mr Bayliss. 'Stoker's humorous aside – 'Lord forgive me. I am quite shameless' – has the ring of an artist knowingly pushing the boundaries of the gothic and enjoying it. It's theatrical, cheeky, and utterly authentic. That tone simply doesn't appear in his other known correspondence on the subject,' he adds. Mr Bayliss said Mr Williams was probably a friend or colleague in the London theatre world, where Dublin-born Stoker worked at the time. 'It's rather special for me to bring the letter back to London, the city where Dracula was first published and where the letter was, in all likelihood, written while Stoker was managing the Lyceum Theatre,' Mr Bayliss said. Dracula was published while Stoker worked at The Daily Telegraph in London as one of this newspaper's literary staff. In 1890, he had travelled to Whitby, where the North Yorkshire coastal town provided him with the setting for Count Dracula's arrival in England. After coming ashore at Whitby, the Count, transmogrified into the shape of a black dog, runs up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary's Church in the shadow of Whitby Abbey's ruins.
