Latest news with #Boese
Canberra Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Canberra Times
The country economy of flowers, focaccia and friendship
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Your exclusive preview of David Pope's latest cartoon. Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. Don't miss updates on news about the Public Service. As it happens Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. More from National A national directory of stalls can be found via The Roadside Stalls website , while more information about the Adelaide Hills community can be found on their Facebook page . "I really enjoy that - making other people happy." "It's really heartwarming. If you can give a bouquet to the customer and their eyes get happy and sparkly, that's really what makes my day." "She didn't have a mum here, but she has a lovely neighbour who is like her Australian mum. She wanted to say thank you with a bouquet," Ms Boese says. One customer, whose family lives overseas, asked her to create a bouquet ahead of Mother's Day. Though Ms Boese rarely gets to meet those who stop by the stall, she has made memorable connections through the blooms. Katja Boese named her protea and leucadendron stall Blumenfeld for her German heritage. (PR IMAGE PHOTO) "If you just get the stems, it's not a big effort for me and it makes people happy." "It's a good alternative to bouquets because they are quite dear, if you consider how much time and effort goes into it," Ms Boese says. Her customers are encouraged to buy single stems to create their own bunches. Among the 19 hectares was an established crop of proteas and leucadendron Ms Boese sells by the stem at her Blumenfeld stall, named for her German heritage. After spending years looking to escape the pressures of city life, engineer Katja Boese and her partner found a property at Lenswood, in the Adelaide Hills, teeming with native wildlife. "Stalls are popping up a lot more in these sort of places because people are trying to support the smaller people, not the big companies." "There's a lot more people trying to become more self-sufficient out here," she says. Ms Frankish likes to think the stall, adorned with bright yellow bunting and sunflower motifs, helps keep the caravanning community connected through items made with homely care. The Evenindee Homestead farm stall, which sits next to a street library, sells plants, soap, wire art, craft, bath salts and dried flowers. Daneve Frankish's stall at Captain Creek was inspired by a two-year trip around Australia. (PR IMAGE PHOTO) "It was nice to be able to stop and support these little communities we were driving through," Ms Frankish, a part-time teacher's aide, says. The family's most memorable moments on the road included buying sourdough from a vintage fridge in Tasmania and swapping their kids' books at street libraries in countless country towns. Two years travelling around Australia with her young family prompted Daneve Frankish to establish her stall in Captain Creek, in Queensland's Gladstone region. "It's bringing people to our community that have also stopped around at the wineries and the brewery and all the other roadside stalls," she says. Social media posts that capture idyllic days in her kitchen and fertile vegetable patch have even helped lure visitors to town. Googies and Greens, which has more than 1000 followers on Instagram, allows Ms Rothe to work at her own pace while raising her children at home. Baked treats like focaccia, brownies, pinwheel biscuits and banana bread are stocked in pastel hand-painted eskies alongside jars of homemade pesto, dried herbs and pickles. "It was supposed to be just a little hobby selling veggies on the side of the road and it quickly expanded." "I needed something else to focus on, so it gave me a project and something to distract myself with," she tells AAP as fresh loaves of bread bake in her oven while her young children nap. Ms Rothe set up the stall in Langhorne Creek, a picturesque wine-growing region 55km from Adelaide, as she recovered from post-natal depression. Mother-of-three Louise Rothe's stall Googies and Greens , which stocks an abundance of homemade food, is so successful she didn't have to return to a previous job in catering. "Fewer income earning opportunities in regional and rural locations see households operate in the informal sector," it wrote. The Tasmanian Women in Agriculture group told a 2023 parliamentary inquiry examining country bank closures that stalls help secure and diversify farming families' earnings. Nearly a century later, roadside stalls still play an important role in many rural households. Roadside stalls dot the Australian landscape, offering an array of flowers, crafts and produce. (PR IMAGE PHOTO) "Everything looks enticing and is good to taste, touch and smell." "Whatever direction you take a run in a motor car on Sundays you will find the road sides lined with stalls and the stallholders are the farmers and their families," Queensland's Western Champion newspaper reported in 1931. These kinds of stalls, which usually operate on an honesty payment system, have a long history of offering fresh, homegrown produce directly to communities. Roadside stalls dot the landscape across Australia, offering fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, eggs, honey, jam, plants, seeds, books, craft and even bags of horse and sheep manure for garden fertiliser. "It's more of a wholesome life." "It's the environment of living rurally, you make your own fun," she says. With beginnings in a sweet gesture of friendship, The Blue Bee Market has become a way for Ms Smitheman to connect with her neighbourhood, teach local kids about nature and earn some money while raising two daughters. "I finally had my own flowers to give her," Ms Smitheman tells AAP. She gifted her friend a bouquet on the first anniversary of her grandmother's passing. Tiarna Smitheman sells flowers by the bunch from her Blue Bee Market stall southeast of Adelaide. (PR IMAGE PHOTO) In her first season, the stall sparked conversations around town, was a popular choice for Mother's Day presents and captured the imaginations of tourists staying at the motel next door. Ms Smitheman sells bunches of her home-grown blooms from the welcoming wall-papered stall, giving the community of 1400 an alternative to supermarket or servo bouquets. The women's connection through flowers is the inspiration for her little roadside stall, The Blue Bee Market in Keith, a farming hub 230km southeast of Adelaide. A sunny spot in her backyard brims with cosmos, sunflowers, dahlias, billy buttons and zinnias in spring and summer, a reminder of her friend's late grandmother. All other regional websites in your area The digital version of Today's Paper All articles from our website & app Login or signup to continue reading Subscribe now for unlimited access. When Tiarna Smitheman couldn't find fresh flowers to comfort a bereaved friend, she grew her own. Louise Rothe's roadside goodies have sold so well she hasn't had to return to a previous job. Photo: PR IMAGE PHOTO Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper. 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Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State legislators in Waukesha County push for more district attorney positions in budget
The Waukesha County District Attorney's Office, struggling through what it considers a critical staffing shortage, has at least caught the ears of eight state legislative leaders. Wisconsin State Assembly representatives whose districts include Waukesha County submitted a budget amendment motion on May 20 that proposes funding for the addition of 10 more Waukesha County assistant district attorney positions — a measure they say addresses a core Republican concern about public safety. The effort at least targets a concern county officials have recently addressed about the lack of funding for state-mandated services. In April, Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese focused on her own 16-attorney department. In a loosely orchestrated public campaign, including media interviews, she spelled out the difficulties her staff has faced as caseloads have grown and the number of prosecutors to work on them has not. "It's just become a crisis," Boese said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in April. "I've got prosecutors who I think are kind of getting burned out by the hours. At some point, you can't do more with less." Individually, the eight legislators — State Reps. Scott Allen, Barbara Dittrich, Cindi Duchow, Dan Knodl, Dave Maxey, Adam Neylon, Jim Piwowarczyk and Chuck Wichgers — essentially concurred in statements issued May 20. In a news release, they noted that the budget proposal addresses rising caseloads and criminal justice efficiency. "Public safety is the primary function of government," Allen, of District 82, said in a statement. "We cannot keep our community safe if our justice system does not have enough staff to do the work." Neylon, whose District 15 office issued the news release, noted the caseload backlog threatens a fundamental right to "timely justice" for victims and defendants alike. "The justice system in Waukesha County is under immense strain, with a growing backlog of unresolved cases," Neylon, of Pewaukee, said. "Without immediate investment in staffing, our courts cannot ensure a fair and swift judicial process. It's time to give Waukesha County's justice system the tools it needs to serve our community." District 97 Rep. Duchow, R-Town of Delafield, echoed earlier data called out by Boese, who noted that Waukesha County had the second fewest prosecutors per capita in the state, based on 2024 figures. (Using two different metrics, Boese said her office is short between 10.6 to 24.7 attorneys.) "The Waukesha County's DA office has been and continues to be understaffed and overwhelmed," Duchow said. "We're not talking about a few vacant positions, or having a few extra cases to manage." Legislators also echoed concerns by county officials about the impact of residents from outside the county on the local criminal caseload. You can read the statements from all eight legislative leaders here. Strictly speaking, the proposal for more district attorney funding isn't tied to existing legislation. Rather, it's part of a collection of ideas, in the form of budget motions, that will take shape in the coming weeks as the state fully forms its budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. In a brief phone interview, Allen noted that the Assembly's Joint Finance Committee "has only taken a couple of actions so far," meaning the process is barely underway to create a 2025-2027 budget. Whether the district attorney staffing issue will gain the support of that committee depends on numerous factors as funding prospects are debated. The district attorney proposal will fall under the state Department of Justice budget, Allen said. Ideally, the budget process would conclude prior to the start of the new fiscal year, he said. Otherwise, under Wisconsin law, the government would continue to operate under funding established in the current fiscal year. As such, additional funding for the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office would have to come from the new fiscal year budget. The funding proposal is tied to a broader effort by the county officials to gain additional financial assistance from the state for mandated services. Those services include law enforcement and prosecutorial positions that county officials say are threatened by their own budget. County officials, whose own budget crisis was publicized in 2024 as they considered a local sales tax to raise new revenue, had indicated in recent months that they hoped to gain legislative support for more state funding. That push became more pronounced after the county abandoned an ordinance proposal that would have put a county sales tax in place on July 1, 2025. But the district attorney proposal represented a more focused effort, citing what officials called an unworkable situation that threatens public safety. In a May 21 statement, Boese thanked area legislators for hearing her message, noting that funding for county attorney positions doesn't only fall short in Waukesha County. "The lack of funding for prosecutors in Wisconsin has hit a crises level," she said. Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Legislators seek funding for Waukesha County District Attorney jobs
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Waukesha County DA's office funding 'crisis,' prosecutors needed
The Brief The Waukesha County DA said her office is facing a staffing "crisis." Grant money to cover two prosecutors ran out in December, and additional funding to cover positions runs out in July. She said it means her office will have to pick and choose who to take to court. WAUKESHA, Wis. - Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese, just three months into the job, is facing a "crisis" – not in the courtroom, but in staffing her own office. The backstory On July 1, grant money that covered two-and-a-half Waukesha County prosecutor positions will run out. Grant funding for two other positions ended in December. Boese said it will bring total staffing down to 16 prosecutors. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android "This is a crisis – I don't say that lightly," she said. "I simply don't know what we're going to do." Boese said Waukesha County was understaffed to begin with. She pointed to a Department of Administration recommendation for counties to have one prosecutor per 10,000 citizens. By that metric, Waukesha County would need 24 more prosecutors. Boese said she needs at least 10, and the current state budget will only allow her one part-time hire. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News "What do I tell to the people who voted for me when I said I want to hold criminals accountable – that's my number one priority – if the state, legislature, governor doesn't give me the resources to do that," said Boese. Why you should care Boese said it means her office will have to pick and choose which criminals to take to court. "This directly impacts the safety of each and every county in Wisconsin," she said. "There will be the people who commit the retail thefts, and if it doesn't get charged, they become emboldened." Big picture view The positions are funded by the state. Just last week, during a hearing on the state budget, Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern spoke about the need for more hires in his office, too. "Additional funding for (assistant district attorneys) will help us attract and retain the talent we need," he said. A spokesperson for Gov. Tony Evers' office said his 2025-2027 biennial budget proposed hiring dozens of new prosecutors throughout the state. Republican State Rep. Scott Allen said he is in favor of making "speedy justice" a reality. The Source FOX6 News interviewed Boese and referenced prior coverage for information in this report.
Axios
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
A refugee welcome center will open in Des Moines despite federal actions
Polk County is continuing with a $3.7 million immigrant welcome center despite the federal government's suspended refugee program, Sarah Boese, the county's deputy administrator, tells Axios. Driving the news: Lutheran Services in Iowa will lay off about 30 staff members and cease immigrant and refugee resettlement services next month, we exclusively reported yesterday. State of play: Supervisors approved the Global Neighbors immigrant and refugee welcome center project in December. It will include a computer lab, classrooms, and office space for nonprofits that assist people in employment, housing, and education. What they're saying: The center was always intended to help people after their initial 90-day services ended at resettlement agencies like LSI, Boese said. "We know that there are thousands of individuals and families that are already here legally and will continue to have unmet needs," Boese said. What's next: The center is expected to open late this year.
