The Border Mail's biggest news stories for 2018

Ben Pascall, 28, and Lyndon Quinliven, 35, died from exposure to hydrogen sulphide during an annual maintenance shutdown and a third worker Tom Johnson recovered after being on life support.

They had been working on top of a 15m high tank checking valves when it’s believed they were overcome by fumes and went into cardiac arrest.

A further 15 workers were taken to hospital.

The factory effectively went into shutdown mode for three weeks after the first fatal accident at the site which opened nearly four decades ago.

General manager Milo Foster said it was “hard to describe how tragic this is for us”.

A NIGHT out for dinner had devastating consequences for a Bundalong family in early November.

Mum Amanda Kilmister and 12-year-old son Harrison were killed when their car was hit by an oncoming truck on the Murray Valley Highway at Brimin on November 2.

Husband Paul remains in hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the crash and two other sons, aged nine months and two, have survived.

Another son, 14-year-old Felix, was not in the car on the night.

A 31-year-old truck driver from Mooroopna was charged with 15 offences relating to the crash with police believing the truck he was driving was on the wrong side of the road at the time of impact.

Ryan Wayne Kenny is due to return to court in March.

WODONGA Council was in the firing line when Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass handed down a damning report which concluded ratepayers had over-charged ratepayers $18 million over a decade-long period from a waste management with surplus funds being used on other council services.

Ms Glass concluded: “The intent is clear. Our investigation found the council maintained the practice, among other things, to avoid ‘unnecessary negative public reaction which may result from shifting the charges to (general rates)’.”

Mayor Anna Speedie had a different take on the report when she fronted the media.

“I absolutely disagree,” she said. Asked whether council had done anything wrong, Cr Speedie said: “No”.

Damage control extended to council writing a letter to Premier Daniel Andrews claiming the claiming the council’s reputation had been “seriously damaged” due to the Ombudsman over-stating the issue.

In response, council later dropped the contentious levy by about $50 compared to 2017-18.

FORMER INDI MP Sophie Mirabella’s long-running defamation case against the Benalla Ensign newspaper for a story claiming she pushed her political rival, independent Cathy McGowan, during an event at a Benalla nursing home landed in her favour.

In a Melbourne courtroom in mid-May, Judge Michael Macnamara said the newspaper acted with “recklessness” in publishing the story without seeking a response from Mrs Mirabella and an apology published six months later came too late.

“This defamation has caused significant hurt to Mrs Mirabella’s reputation,” Judge Macnamara said in awarding Mrs Mirabella a $175,000 payout.

The event was held in the lead-up to the 2016 election in which Mrs Mirabella lost for a second time to Ms McGowan, who had to appear at the court hearing to finally give her version of events after refusing numerous times to answer exactly what happened on the day.

Ms McGowan told the court: “The push was true. It just wasn’t me who was pushed”, but it wasn’t her job to monitor the accuracy of media reports.

DOING A RUNNER

THE action quickly turned from on-field to off-field during the Hume league finals series when Henty player Jarrah Maksymow bolted from the match at half-time to avoid being taken arrested by waiting police for an incident in Albury earlier in the day.

In a pre-match deal agreed to by Maksymow and police, he was allowed to play in the semi-final on the proviso he handed himself in after the match.

But at half-time he did a runner, leaving his Henty team-mates one player short and questions being asked of of police why he was afforded leniency to play at all.

Maksymow was located at a Wodonga address two days later and the matter returns to court in January.

The star-studded Swampies lost the major semi-final to eventual premiers Brock-Burrum Saints and then exited the finals series in straight sets a week later.

AN icon of Albury-Wodonga, the Kinross Woolshed pub in Thurgoona, remain shut after a dispute between owners and lessees spilled into the public arena.

The venue which has played host to some of the biggest musical acts in the nation including Jimmy Barnes on multiple occasions when lessees of only a year, Paul Quinn and Norm Birse, were locked out in October.

Freehold owner Chris Moscher said in a statement: “The decision was made at 10.30am today to change the locks after the tenants confirmed they will not be paying the arrears owed”.

Mr Quinn and Mr Birse, who had signed up initially on a 25-year lease, disputed they owed money to Mr Moscher as claims and counter-claims between the parties continued to be made in the following days.

The pub remains shut.

FEW addresses in Albury were as well known as the Englehardt Street abortion clinic.

Pro-life campaigners made weekly pilgrimages to the central Albury location, sparking a long-running battle with clinic supporters.

But just three months after the NSW Government agreed to legislation banning certain behaviour within 150 metres of fertility control centres, the Albury clinic shut its doors.

Owner Dr Kathy Lewis described it as a “bitter-sweet” moment with her decision based partly on being unable to attract a successor to work at the clinic and the drain of regular long trips to Albury from her Melbourne base.

HE remains the member for Benambra following the Victorian election in late November, but Bill Tilley was given the fright of his 12-year political life.

In the final wash-up, Mr Tilley saw off a two-pronged independent challenge and a stronger Labor effort, to win by just over 2000 votes after preferences from independent Jacqui Hawkins with two North-East candidates Tim Quilty and Tania Maxwell were elected to the upper house for the first time.

Ovens Valley was retained by the National Party’s Tim McCurdy after a turbulent campaign involving a long-running court battle.

Attention swings to the NSW election in March with long-serving Liberal Greg Aplin announcing his retirement and Albury vet Justin Clancy being announced as the party’s candidate.

A federal election is also on in 2019 with Indi MP Cathy McGowan still to confirm she will be a definite starter.

THE North-East railway line’s Christmas-New Year meltdown when 30 train services were cancelled and replaced by buses raised serious questions whether an already committed $100 million to fix the trouble-plagued track would be enough to do the job.

The blame game began in earnest and the pressure intensified on the federal government to come up with more cash for the long overdue works.

In mid-March, newly minted Deputy Prime Minister and infrastructure minister Michael McCormack and Senator Bridget McKenzie came to Wodonga for the announcement an extra $135 million.

ARTC chief executive John Fullerton declared: “We want to do it as quick as we can, but we also want to do it right”.

AT the end of a year dominated by low rainfall, the heavens opened in parts of North-East Victoria in mid-December which led to remarkable scenes on the Hume Highway north of Wangaratta.

A police helicopter was called in to winch people from the tops of vehicles which became submerged as the result of dramatic flash-flooding in the area.

More than 100 vehicles went under with SES crews also called into help people to safety in boats.

Wire rope barriers also made rescues more challenging.

Everton and Tarrawingee experienced some of the heaviest falls of 180mm.

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