Latest news with #Wollongong
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
You won't believe the incredible secret hiding inside this Aussie 'servo'
At first glance, it looks like just another old-school servo at the top of Port Kembla's main drag in Wollongong, NSW. But through the doors of this retro 1950s Mobil station is one of the Illawarra's best-kept secrets - The Servo Food Truck Bar, a thriving hub for food, music and art. The venue has quickly become a cult favourite among locals for its food offerings, drag shows, live gigs, fire pits, and fully BYO-friendly atmosphere, as well as open-air movie screenings. It has certainly been giving Sydney 's cool inner-west scene a run for its money -and the best part is that it's only 90 minutes from the city. Forget sticky pub carpets and cover bands though, because The Servo, according to their social media, is a welcoming space for humans of all identities and ages. Curated by local James Spink, the venue's ever-changing program features everything from punk rock, folk, queer cabaret, to experimental jazz and zine fairs, to spoken word poetry and candlelit sound baths. 'The Illawarra got way cooler the day the servo opened,' one fan commented on Instagram. 'Thank YOU for creating such a safe and wonderful space,' raved another. 'Love performing at this very special space,' said one of their regular soul musicians. 'Fuuuuuun!' another added in the comments. Every weekend (Thursday through Sunday), the forecourt transforms into a pop-up foodie mecca with a rotating lineup of food trucks. The list now includes a rotation of some of the areas favourite cuisine options: Papi's Birria Tacos, Roy's Restobar, 2 Smoking Barrels, Pho King Delicious and Messina, among others. Customers can enjoy deep-fried lasagne toasties one weekend, and slow-cooked pork cordon bleu bao the next. 'It's the best! So good for community, so good for music, so good for the soul!!' one customer wrote on their Facebook page. 'You guys have built a little piece of retro special space ~ thanks for supporting local artists and I wish all the best & big things ahead,' said another. There's also house beer on tap. PK (Port Kembla) Lager was crafted just down the road with Seeker Brewing and is 'best enjoyed chilled, outside, with music in your ears and charcoal in the air.' Set against the backdrop of the Port Kembla steelworks, the space also features mural-covered walls, fairy lights, reclaimed timber furniture, a mural-splashed performance space and crackling fire drums. Each week it opens its doors from 4pm untill late on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 2pm until late on Saturdays and Sundays. From queer comedy night, local punk sets, craft markets, or just a space to grab a drink and some dumplings with mates, The Servo has community at the helm.
News.com.au
15-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Back to square one': Problem with First Home Guarantee Scheme
Alexandra Prenc-Sadler moved back in with her parents and out of Sydney's eastern suburbs to save up to buy a home, and she's already faced a defeating setback. The 31-year-old is planning to take advantage of the First Home Guarantee Scheme, which allows first home buyers to buy with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent. She has also given up on the Sydney market, where the median apartment price is now over a staggering $1 million, and is planning to relocate to Wollongong to buy. Ms Prenc-Sadler, who works as a fundraising specialist for the Flying Doctors, has been actively looking for property, but she's already hit a significant snag that feels unfair. 'I am looking to buy with the five per cent deposit scheme, which is directly linked to your tax returns,' she told To qualify for the scheme, Ms Prenc-Sadler needs to show that she is earning at or below the $125,000 income cap. She also needs to produce her most recent notice of assessment (NOA), which is a statement issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that explains how your tax assessment is calculated. 'I was told I can't put through my tax return because of certain shares that I have. The estimate for when those statements would come through wasn't until September,' she said. Ms Prenc-Sadler is crushed; she's worried that rates will continue to trend down, properties will surge and, by the time she can get her notice and qualify for the scheme, she won't be able to afford anything. 'Initially, I was excited about the scheme because it meant, as a solo first homebuyer, I finally had a chance at entering the property market, and you get your hopes up because you think it is possible,' she said. 'Then you hit this roadblock because of the tax, and you miss out on the property you wanted because of it, and that is disheartening.' She feels like she's 'back to square one' and even before this news she already felt like she was 'struggling' to get into the property market. 'I was born and raised in Sydney but can't afford there,' she said. 'I'm a solo buyer and I can't afford a house. I'm looking at units because that is going to be cheaper, but then you get the strata bills and fees, and strata alone is what my rent used to be.' She is also beyond frustrated with people telling her to spend an extra $100,000 and get something bigger. 'I need to service this loan by myself,' she said. Ultimately, Ms Prenc-Sadler will have to wait until she can get her tax return done before she can buy. She's worked hard to save $40,000 but that isn't more than a 5 per cent deposit, even for a small place in a regional area. 'If I had to go in at 20 per cent, there was no-way I could do it by myself. When you save, you're saving, but the property market is going up,' she said. 'Your saving rate can't keep up with the property rate. It is a vicious cycle.' Accountant Coco Hou said that first home buyers really need to complete their taxes before trying to take advantage of the scheme. 'To qualify for the First Home Guarantee Scheme, buyers must provide their latest Notice of Assessment from the ATO to confirm their income is below the threshold. $125,000 for singles, $200,000 for couples' she told 'While lenders can begin processing applications from July 1, they cannot finalise the guarantee until the tax return has been lodged and assessed.' Ms Hou said it can leave people stuck in a 'timing trap' where they can't buy even though they're ready to. 'Many buyers find a property in July or August, only to realise they can't complete their application until they receive the ATO paperwork,' she said. 'Lenders might progress the application to pre-approval, but the guarantee itself remains on hold until documentation is complete. 'This creates a conflict between securing the property and accessing the scheme, particularly for buyers trying to enter the market early in the financial year.' The accountant said it is forcing buyers to make tough and quick choices in an already hard market. 'Buyers are often forced to make a choice, either go ahead without the scheme and come up with a larger deposit or pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance, or wait for the tax return to process and risk losing the property,' she said. 'Some miss out entirely, either because the property goes off the market or because they can't afford to proceed without the support of the scheme.' Ultimately, the tax stipulation can end up 'disadvantaging buyers who are proactive and often in the lower to middle-income bracket' who rely on the scheme the most, Ms Hou said. Craig McDonald, director of CBM Mortgages, told that he is dealing with a lot of clients at the moment who want to use the scheme but can't until they finalise their tax returns. 'It is a bit catch-22,' he said. Mr McDonald said that, for some people, doing their tax return isn't simple; they might be waiting on shares, or be self-employed and waiting on invoices to come. The regulations around the scheme mean that once a new financial year starts, people need to provide their latest notice of assessments, and therefore, it can hold buyers up. 'I've got a client who lodged their tax return as soon as they could. Now they're waiting on their notice of assessment to arrive and that can take over 10 days,' he said. It can leave first home buyers waiting around and feeling fretful because everyone is keen to buy. 'People want to jump because they see property prices going up. They want to get in sooner rather later,' he said. 'It is that fear of missing out.' Mr McDonald argued that the scheme needs more 'leeway' because it is currently causing undue inconvenience. 'The scheme helps many first home buyers enter the property market without having to pay the mortgage insurance, but the process could be improved. 'An option could be to allow clients to use the previous year's notice of assessment up until October.'
ABC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Harry Froling signs with NBL team Illawarra Hawks after near-fatal one-punch attack
Harry Froling says he lived life in the fast lane "the first time around". It is a telling choice of words. For the 27-year-old, life is now divided between before and after the night of January 22, 2023, when he suffered a one-punch attack outside a Wollongong nightclub that left him with a major brain injury and little chance to return to professional basketball. But after more than two years of intense rehabilitation, he has been signed by the Illawarra Hawks as an injury replacement player for his brother Sam. Froling says he returns to the court a changed man. "I was always inconsistent and that was also with my off-court stuff — my training habits, what I was eating and how I was looking after myself," he told ABC Illawarra Breakfast. "I'd have a bunch of 20-point games but then I'd have a bunch of five-point games. After the attack, doctors told Froling he had a slim chance of returning to work of any kind, let alone professional basketball. Over the last two years he has not only had to physically rehabilitate himself, but also dig himself out of a deep depression. Part of Froling's recovery has involved changing his attitude towards life. "I'm a basketball player, but it's not who I am," he said. "I used to heavily rely on basketball as my identity, whereas I think now it's more like I don't take basketball for granted. Froling, who is 210 centimetres tall, will play a crucial role in bolstering the Hawks' front court this season. His brother Sam has an Achilles injury and Lachlan Olbrich has gone to the NBA. Froling's return to the court has been measured, quiet and humble. He first trained with the Hawks towards the end of last season to try to lose weight and regain confidence. He then played in the New Zealand NBL and the Australian NBL1 competitions, which saw his vast skill set on display again. "Teams just wanted to see me string together a few months of it and I think I was pretty consistent and was putting up good numbers and getting good feedback from people," Froling said. "It's easy to say you're going to do something, but this is how I act and how I behave now. "I'm not going to tell everyone what I'm going do and what I plan on doing. "I'm just going to go and do it and whatever comes with it comes with it." Froling says playing for the Hawks allows him to not only compete and train alongside his brother Sam, but also offers an opportunity to give back to the team that welcomed him last season. He said several of Hawks staff and players had contacted him during his rehabilitation to offer support. "Obviously what happened with Sam's injury sucks, but now I can step in and help the club that's done so much for me," Froling said. "It was a cool feeling when I got told [they wanted me] and I pretty much signed as soon as they told me it was all official and the contract was through.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious Blobs Deep Inside Earth May Fuel Deadly Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic eruptions can destroy essential infrastructure, ground air traffic for days, wipe out entire cities, disrupt the climate for years, and even wipe out life on Earth, so it's important to know what causes them to blow. New research has revealed that specific features deep within Earth can be linked directly to such cataclysmic eruptions. Thousands of kilometers below Earth's surface, there is a solid layer of hot rock called the lower mantle. Textbook diagrams would have you believe this is a smooth layer, but the lower mantle actually contains a mountainous topography, with two continent-sized structures, possibly made of different materials than their surrounds. Related: These hidden structures feature craggy ranges that shift and buckle much like the tectonic plates far above them. Volcanologist Annalise Cucchiaro from the University of Wollongong in Australia and her colleagues have found these big lower-mantle basal structures – termed 'BLOBS' by the research team – have a direct influence on volcanic activity at Earth's surface. When scorching columns of rock, known as deep mantle plumes, first rise from depths of nearly 3,000 kilometers (almost 2,000 miles), we get the kinds of Earth-shattering volcanoes that wiped out most of life on Earth, and had a hand in the extinction of the dinosaurs. The BLOBS seemed a likely source of these subterranean plumes, and Cucchiaro's team has now confirmed this connection using three different datasets that provide extensive detail on large volcanic eruptions that happened around 300 million years ago. "This work highlights the importance of mantle plumes in acting as 'magma highways' to the surface, creating these giant eruptions," Cucchiaro says. "It also shows that these plumes move along with their source, the BLOBS." There are two BLOBS within the lower mantle. One is below the African hemisphere, and the other, under the Pacific. We still don't know if the BLOBS are ever fixed in place, or if they're always moving around via convection, but the new research suggests it's a dynamic system with direct repercussions for us surface dwellers. By simulating the movements of BLOBS 1 billion years ago, the team showed that they produced mantle plumes that were sometimes slightly tilted as they rose. This meant eruptions occurred either directly above the BLOBS, or close to it – and these locations matched that of known eruptions. "We used statistics to show that the locations of past giant volcanic eruptions are significantly related to the mantle plumes predicted by our models," Cucchiaro and her colleague, geoscientist Nicholas Flament, explained in The Conversation. "This is encouraging, as it suggests that the simulations predict mantle plumes in places and at times generally consistent with the geologic record." As much as they destroy, large eruptions also have the power to create, and knowing where they may occur – either historically or in the future – could also help us to find magmatic treasures like kimberlite and diamonds, and minerals that could be used in harnessing renewable energy. "This research cracks open one of the questions that has long plagued scientists – are the BLOBS stationary or mobile and how do they relate to giant volcanic explosions – so it is a thrill to finally [be able] to unravel these mysteries," says Flament. This research was published in Communications Earth & Environment. Atlantic Ocean's Nanoplastic Problem Revealed in Shocking New Study Scientists Discovered This Amazing Practical Use For Leftover Coffee Grounds Antarctica's Ocean Is Mysteriously Getting Saltier, Spelling End to Sea Ice
ABC News
14-07-2025
- ABC News
Milenko Snjegota on trial accused of murdering father in Wollongong backyard
An Illawarra man fatally struck his father over the head, leaving him for dead in the family backyard for up to two days, a Supreme Court trial has heard. Milenko Snjegota, 49, also known as Gobesan, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 74-year-old father, Vitomir Snjegota, at their Farmborough Heights home west of Wollongong in February last year. Mr G Snjegota, who lives with diagnosed schizophrenia, wore earbuds as Justice Stephen Campbell opened the judge-only Supreme Court trial in Wollongong on Monday. Crown prosecutor Nerissa Keay told the court the victim was a divorced father of two, retired steel worker and Foxtel cable installer who lived in the downstairs portion of a two-storey home he built 50 years ago. Ms Keay said the accused had lived upstairs in the same property since his mental health began deteriorating in the late 1990s and was known to be "rude to his father". "He expressed hostility about being forced to receive mental health treatment," Ms Keay told the court. The court heard Mr V Snjegota was found face down in his backyard covered in a white sheet, with "significant" blunt-force trauma to his head. Ms Keay said it was the Crown's case that Mr V Snjegota's son struck him over the head "at least seven times" with an object "like a crowbar or hammer". "It's the Crown case the accused killed Mr [V] Snjegota while mowing [the lawn] on February 3, and that the violence was more than necessary to kill him," Ms Keay told the court. "The victim may have been dead 16 to 48 hours before being taken to the mortuary." The court heard Mr G Snjegota was due to receive an injection for his mental condition the day after his father's body was found. Ms Keay told the court the victim's neighbour made the grim discovery on February 4 after noticing waterlogging and leakage from the property. "The Crown will allege the accused tried to clean the scene with water," Ms Keay said. The court was also shown police body-worn camera vision and photos of brown leather shoes owned by the accused, which Ms Keay said contained traces of the victim's blood. "DNA of the accused was also found on the white sheet covering the victim's body," she told the court. However, the court heard no DNA evidence was found on two crowbars located in the family garage. In his brief opening, defence lawyer Scott Fraser told the court there was "only circumstantial evidence" linking his client to the alleged murder. He said the defence agreed with forensic information provided by the Crown and that the "cause of death is not an issue". In regards to the crowbars being cleaned with bleach, Mr Fraser said cleaning had been a "significant matter" in his client's life, not just in "this circumstance". The court heard the accused believed he had been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and that the judge may have to consider the Cognitive Impairment Provisions Act in this case. As the Crown's first witness, the victim's daughter Silvana Gnjegota held back tears as she detailed her brother's long history of mental decline. She told the court during cross-examination, in the years before the alleged murder, Mr G Snjegota was "emotionally abusive" to her and sent her threatening emails because he disagreed with the methods used to treat his condition. Neighbour Stephen Peck later gave evidence and said the accused would "speak to Jesus … play music from his parked car every day … and was always pretty nasty to his father, which is a shame". The trial is expected to run for two weeks.
