source : the age
Chinese New Year celebrations are ending tonight, and they will be seen out by a “blood moon” – otherwise known as a total lunar eclipse.
Those in WA will be able to see the moon change to a red colour best between 7.04pm and 8.02pm, providing there is no cloud cover.
The last blood moon in September occurred in the middle of the night, meaning many people in Australia missed the phenomenon.
The Perth Observatory has said this blood moon will be special because it is also a “worm moon” – named by Native American and early colonial communities in North America.
“As the ground begins to warm at the end of winter, earthworms start reappearing in the soil, signalling that spring is on the way. Birds return. The land softens. Life starts wriggling again,” they posted on their Facebook page.
“In Australia, of course, we’re heading into autumn rather than spring. But the name still sticks, and it’s a lovely reminder that the seasons are always turning somewhere on earth.
“This year, the worm moon is doing something extra special … We’re getting a total lunar eclipse.
“That means the moon will pass completely into earth’s shadow and turn that deep coppery red we lovingly call a blood moon. It’s one of the most beautiful and easiest astronomical events to watch, no telescope required.”
The next total lunar eclipse won’t occur in Australia until 2029.
Premier Roger Cook has just wrapped up a press conference at Osborne Park Hospital where he was asked about how alleged aspiring terrorist Jayson Joseph Michaels, 20, was a legal firearms owner.
Michaels was arrested on Friday and charged with planning a terrorist attack after WA and federal police uncovered an alleged manifesto, motived by a white supremacist ideology, detailing plans to attack Perth mosques, WA Parliament and the WA Police headquarters.
Guns and ammunition were seized during the search of his Bindoon home, which were owned legally.
Cook confirmed Michaels’ gun licence was going through the transition to the new licensing system which would eventually require him to get a medical examination as part of new fit and proper person tests.
When asked whether there was anything that could have been done to pick up Michaels’ alleged ideology sooner and get his guns off him quicker Cook said it was a challenge.
“Obviously, the fact that someone who has these thoughts and expresses these thoughts, has also access to deadly weapons, and of course, he had a cache of knives and other paraphernalia and was trying to purchase explosives. That’s obviously a very disturbing trend,” he said.
“We know that in relation to that online radicalism, that it doesn’t take years, sometimes it doesn’t even take a year, a matter of months, where people can have their thoughts escalated, particularly when they’re isolated and receiving a lot of influence online.
“So we need to continue to look at what the challenges are overall and ensure that our laws assist the police to meet those challenges.”
A former commissioner of the City of Perth has been appointed as a local government inspector monitor to the Town of Port Hedland ahead of its election on March 28.
Andrew Hammond was a commissioner at the City of Perth from 2018 to 2020 and will now cast his eye over the troubled Port Hedland council which was dissolved in September last year following the resignation of the former mayor, Peter Carter.
At the time, Carter said he was quitting after years of dysfunction including the mass resignation of four councillors in October 2024.
Carter’s resignation meant the council did not have a quorum and was dissolved with three commissioners appointed to run the local government until the next election.
Hammond has been tasked with providing guidance to the commissioners and eventually the new council on strategic, financial and governance issues as well as helping develop a council action plan.
His appointment will last 24 weeks.
Since the local government inspector office was created in January the state government has appointed four monitors to troubled councils across the state including South Perth, Perth and Nedlands.
Parts of Western Australia are tipped to reach 45 degrees this week as a heatwave impacts the Gascoyne region.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe heatwave warning for the area, with maximum temperatures forecast to range from the high 30s to high 40s throughout the week and into the weekend.
Minimum temperatures will dip to the mid to high 20s.
In Perth, temperatures will linger in the mid-30s through to the weekend.
The BOM said heatwaves can be dangerous for vulnerable people, including the elderly, pregnant women and babies.
“Seek a place to keep cool, such as your home, a library, community centre or shopping centre,” it said.
“Close your windows and draw blinds, curtains or awnings early in the day to keep the heat out of your home.”
Two men will face court today, charged over a house fire in December which injured a woman and three children.
The men, aged 28 and 36, are due to appear in Armadale Magistrates Court today and next week.
They have been charged with criminal damage by fire and endangering the life, health or safety of a person.
It comes after emergency services were called to a house fire on Westfield Street in Maddington around 4.30am on December 10.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which caused extensive damage to the house.
CCTV captured a person igniting the fire with accelerant in the carport area.
Three children and a woman were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation.
Here’s what’s making news across the nation and around the world:
- Former Coalition leader Peter Dutton has described the Liberal Party’s suppressed election review as a “gratuitous and personal” hit job after the full report was leaked.
- President Trump’s embrace of military action in Iran was spurred by an Israeli leader determined to end diplomatic negotiations. Few of the president’s advisers voiced opposition.
Good morning and welcome to our live blog for Tuesday, March 3.
In case you missed it over the long weekend, new ambulance ramping figures have poured cold water over the Cook Government’s newfound confidence it was prepared for this year’s upcoming flu season.
Ramping figures released today for last month show it was the worst February on record, with ambulances parked outside public hospitals for nearly 4893 hours while waiting to transfer their patient.
Meanwhile, iconic Midland pub The Bellevue Hotel is closed temporarily after a fire ripped through the venue on Sunday evening.
Firefighters received multiple triple-zero calls at 7.33pm reporting flames coming from the second story of the 123-year-old building.
Stay with us as we bring you the news of the day, as it happens.
