IT’S taken slightly less than 200 years, but Derwent Distillery has finally readied a new batch of malt spirit.

IT’S beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and saying that, this is the last report for 2023 and I’d like to wish everyone a fantastic festive season and a safe and happy New Year.

Thieves have ripped out seven brass plaques installed along Pioneer Avenue in New Norfolk, leaving the roadside bare and the council struggling to replace them.

DERWENT Valley Mayor Michelle Dracoulis plunged back into the day-to-day business of local government this past week, after her surprise withdrawal as a Labor candidate for the next state election.

KEY elements of the $750m Bridgewater Bridge project surged forward this past week, with a major change to traffic flow systems at the tail end of the Brooker Highway in Granton.

DERWENT Valley residents have been given stark warnings about personal and home security this week as a spate of thefts and burglaries continued to plague the region.

AS we push towards the Christmas holiday period it’s a good time to be planning a trip away and there are lots of opportunities for us on offer in fresh and saltwater.

LARRY McCallum started work with Hydro on December 5, 1966, as a strapping 16 year old from a tiny country town, soon to become a valued maintenance technician.

There’s a significance to this, the first day of picking a special fruit at Westerway.

JUST so you know, that warm, spicy scent around Thomas Friend is actually a chemical called methyl eugenol.