Well i will start with the sad one. On January 29th 2009, little Darcy Freeman was thrown off Melbournes westgate bridge and fell 190ft. She was thrown by her own father. This has deeply upset me and others throughout Australia. In my opinion he should be killed. There is no other punishment for this. He got out of the car, grabbed her and just dropped her. How can he get anything less than his life. My guess is that he will plead insanity which usually brings a lighter sentance, and some sort of excuse for your actions. IMO there is no excuse.
POLICE have arrested a man at gunpoint on a street in Melbourne's CBD after a four-year-old girl was allegedly thrown off the city's West Gate Bridge this morning.
The 35-year-old man from Hawthorn, understood to be the girl's father, was arrested by police outside the Commonwealth Law Courts building.
The man reportedly arrived at the court on the corner of Latrobe St and William St with two other children aged 6 and 8, believed to be his sons.
Witnesses told The Australian the man went to the building with the children.
One witness said the man was in a distressed state and asked a security officer: "Can you take my kids for me, mate?''
Shortly afterwards, a woman, reportedly the mother of the children, arrived at the building and took them away. The man was arrested and led away in handcuffs.
A White Toyota Landcruiser seen by witnesses on the bridge was nearby, and court staff had "put two and two together", Homicide Squad leader Detective Inspector Stephen Clark alleged.
The four-year-old girl was rushed to hospital in a critical condition about 9.30am today after being resuscitated at the scene by paramedics.
Witnesses said a driver, believed to be a man, stopped his car, pulled the child from the car and tossed her over a guard railing before speeding off.
The two other children were believed to be in the car at the time, police said. They are now with their mother and police at the Homicide Squad headquarters in St Kilda Road.
A number of witnesses to the girl being thrown off the bridge had come forward, and there had been a number of 000 calls at the time of the incident, Detective Inspector Clark said.
In a media conference, he alleged the man had "got straight out of the car, taken the young girl and walked to the edge of the bridge... and dropped her over the side of the bridge".
It is believed the girl fell about 50m to the ground. Water police were on the scene 10 minutes later.
Acting Sergeant Wendy Willingham from Victoria Police said a police marine unit found the girl about 9.30am near the Spotswood pumping station after witnesses raised the alarm.
Paramedics spent about 45 minutes working on the girl before she was flown by helicopter to the Royal Children's Hospital.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE:
Okay so in Australia we are having a bit of a heat wave. Mainly in Victoria and Adelaide. and i came across this news story of a koala suffering from the heat. the pics are so cute! you probably cant view them on tv.com so her is my movietome link
http://www.movietome.com/users/free_the_WM3/post_blog_entry
and here is the link to the story
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/737051/summer-heatwave-damages-produce-farmers
The citizens of an small country town hit hard by Victoria's record heatwave now know how intense the temperatures really are - even the native animals are seeking respite.
A family was sheltering in their home in Maude, between Melbourne and Geelong, when a koala walked onto their back porch and into the laundry.
Assuming it was distressed by the heat, the girl in the photos filled a bucket with water and - after a prod and a quick drink - the marsupial climbed in for a refreshing dip.
The episode was a rare bright spot in a nightmare summer for people on the land, with farmers in southeastern Australia appealing for shoppers not to ignore heat-damaged fruit and vegetables.
The blisteringly hot January in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, blemished a variety of produce that could turn off some consumers, the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) says.
VFF horticulture president Peter Cochrane said it was too early to know how much the heatwave would undermine prices.
"If there is still a reasonable amount of supply there and the consumers back-off buying because the product might have burnt leaves, the price won't go up," Mr Cochrane said.
"We have had up until now really good growing conditions and people have been able to buy perfect bunches of spring onions or radishes and lettuces, but with the heat, the quality just won't be there," he said.
"We are just asking people to be patient and not critical of us."
Besides the potentially ruinous temperatures, Victoria recorded a mere 0.8mm of rain in January.
Although leafy vegetables, stone fruit and apples were affected, Mr Cochrane said farmers needed people to buy local produce to help minimise their losses.
"A lot of us have taken a big hit on our income," he said.
He said grape growers had also been hard hit and the affect on wine production had yet toe be assessed.
"The grape growers have taken a very bad hit. The grapes are just withering on the vines and shrivelling up," he said.
"They were at one stage talking about another over-supply, but I have heard reports that they are actually going in now and harvesting the grapes to try and salvage what they can."