By JOHN HALL

CHRISTINE Gimblett, a Bridgewater mother of three, has achieved a personal milestone - and now her story has been broadcast across Australia and beyond.

Amid the ‘hoo-haa’ of the final week of the Federal election, a five-minute radio interview with 31-year-old Christine was broadcast on ABC radio’s PM program through 60 stations around Australia.  Radio Australia took the interview further afield to untold thousands of listeners in Asia and the Pacific.

Helen Manser, left, shares some happy memories with mother of three, Christine Gimblett of Bridgewater.

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BRIGHTON Girl Guides and Old Beach Scouts have decided to sleep rough to raise awareness of the plight of Australia’s 100,000 homeless people.

Girl Guide Leader Fiona Hardman of Gagebrook said a winter sleepout was planned for Saturday, August 7 at Pontville as part of National Homeless Persons’ Week and just as Brighton Community News was being distributed.

• Girl Guide Leader Fiona Hardman and her nine-year-old daughter Emily prepare to sleep out during National Homeless Persons’ Week.

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By JOHN HALL

INSPECTOR Lee Renshaw, the new boss of Bridgewater Police, is bunkered down in his concrete-block windowless office just off Green Point Road.

He arrived in April during a tumultuous time, with promotions and transfers underway.

Inspector Lee Renshaw, Brighton’s new top cop.

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IT’S not often that a not-for-profit community group becomes a centenarian but that is exactly what the Girl Guides Association has accomplished in 2010.

Shanae Splann, 10, from the Brighton Sunflowers Girl Guide Unit tries her hand at archery.

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BRIGHTON ratepayers are continuing to enjoy the benefits of the municipality’s revolutionary flat-rating system with a minimal rate increase set for next financial year.

The rate increase of $20 per residential property for 2010-11 is the result of Council’s efficiency and the fact that it has been recognised as having the second lowest general rate per capita in Tasmania yet continues to have the highest operating margin (surplus) in the State. …more

By ANDY BENNETT*

A MAJOR focus of the Learning Federation is to increase and enhance the range of quality early years education and care for very young children and their families.

We are doing so because there is a lot of evidence that the first few years of life are vital to helping children to achieve their potential

Our main strategies are to develop our three primary schools as birth to grade four education centres, to build a children and family centre locally, and work collaboratively with other early childhood service providers to develop a broader and more cohesive model for supporting the families of young children. We have made a lot of progress in that area in recent weeks.

A major emphasis for the new Learning Federation is on early years education.

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TO make shopping a little easier, we have  compiled some handy tips for parents when shopping on a budget. …more

MORE than to 80 parents and children came together as guests of children’s charity The Smith Family to experience an interactive educational theatre performance at the Brighton Civic Centre in April.

Initially the event was planned to take place at the Riverside Community Garden and Nursery, but due to bad weather, was transferred to the Civic Centre which was transformed into a beautiful make-believe garden setting using garden materials.

The Grow and Learn program encourages parents and children to play together, to learn how to grow fruit and vegetables as well as prepare healthy meals.

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CAMPBELL Gunn, who died last month, was one of the senior statesmen of the Brighton community - a former municipal councillor, Rotarian, bowls enthusiast and farmer.

Mr Gunn was, as he would have said with a whimsical smile, “in active retirement”.  The patriarch of Tea Tree’s well-known family of farmers passed away suddenly on Friday March 12.  The funeral was held one week later, on what would have been Mr Gunn’s 82^nd birthday. …more

By ANDY BENNETT*

MOST often my columns are about progress with the building program at our schools and I have included a quick update at the end of this piece. However this time I wanted to write about why we are undertaking such a major building construction program in light of what we are aiming to achieve. …more