James Psaltis, a Greek Australian student from St Peter’s College in Adelaide, has received an inaugural South Australian Governor’s Award for his fantastic results in the International Baccalaureate (IB)

James received 44 out of a possible 45 score for his IB (the equivalent of the maximum possible 99.75 Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank) and was ranked first at his school, alongside Thomas Gaertner.

Speaking to The Advertiser at the time, James said he had applied to study medicine at Adelaide or Flinders University. He also aimed to bolster his volunteer work.

“I manage my own social enterprise operations, in partnership with United Way Australia,” James told the newspaper. “I aim to improve literacy rates in at-risk children.”

READ MORE: Greek Australian students in South Australia shine in the International Baccalaureate.

SA Governor’s awards for excellence have been presented annually since 2012 to high achievers in the SA Certificate of Education (SACE).

Last year, a graduate of Walford Anglican School for Girls, Jasmin Manetta, wrote to the Governor Hieu Van Le suggesting IB students should also be recognised.

The Governor agreed and said it was a pleasure to extend the awards to the top student from each IB diploma school. In fact, he was also particularly impressed the Year 12 alternative had a focus on intercultural respect.

“As a proud advocate for cultural diversity in our state and our nation, I am pleased to see that the IB considers these skills as essential for young citizens of the 21st century,” Governor Hieu Van Le said at the award ceremony.

The IB is an international school-leaving credential. It has fewer in-class assessments and about 80 percent of a student’s result is based on the final exam. 

In South Australia, there were among 222 students who sat the IB instead of the SA Certificate of Education this year.

A man who drove into pedestrians on Flinders Street in Melbourne, killing an elderly grandfather, has lost an appeal for an early release from jail, according to a 9News report.

Saeed Noori, 37, is serving a minimum 30 years prison for the murder of Antonios “Anton” Crocaris just days before Christmas in 2017. He appealed for an early release from prison which was today denied by a judge.

Noori drove down the busy street on December 21 of that year and injured 15 people, including a four-year-old boy, during the rampage. Antonios “Anton” Crocaris, 83, died from head injuries sustained during the attack. During his initial sentencing Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said it was fortunate the father-of-three did not hurt or kill more people during the incident.

Noori pleaded guilty to one count of murder, 11 counts of recklessly causing serious injury and five counts of conduct endangering life in 2019.Justice Hollingworth said Noori’s motivation for the incident was based on the belief he was being spied on by ASIO, telling police the Australian government was racist.

A proposed $6m city bikeway will endanger schoolchildren and other pedestrians, especially elderly churchgoers, The Advertiser reports.

Following a decision by Adelaide City Council to consult the public about the East-West Bikeway from Franklin Street to Hutt Street, The Greek Orthodox Community of SA and St Mary’s College commissioned the report to traffic consultant Melissa Mellen.

In her report, Ms Mellen said the two organisations had legitimate concerns about the impact of the bikeway on public safety and access to a school, two churches and a bingo hall.

The consultant said “a number of factors had not been addressed” with the proposed bikeway route, which featured a dog-leg between Flinders Street and Wakefield Street.

“Disappointedly, the safety of vulnerable road users other than cyclists is a key consideration that has been omitted from the assessment,” Ms Mellen said.

Other safety threats were posed to people attending church services, weddings, funerals and christenings at the Cathedral of Archangels Michael and Gabriel Creek Orthodox Church, along with hundreds of predominantly elderly people who played bingo in an adjacent hall.

Greek Orthodox Community president Bill Gonis said public safety near the bikeway had to become the paramount consideration for the council.

“During the so-called consultation period, Adelaide City Council have not been able to provide any solutions to the concerns which have been raised,” he said.

From her side, Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor mentioned that public consultation on the bikeway closed last month.

Source: The Advertiser

READ MORE: SA’s Greek community hoping to hold meeting with Adelaide City Council over new bikeway plan

Furious residents say their homes have been left “unsellable”, with one saying his property’s value plummeted from $11 million to only $1 because of proposed land zonings surrounding the new western Sydney airport, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Theo Koutsomihalis says under the latest zonings proposed, his entire 10 acre Luddenham property would be designated as green space – wiping millions from its value after it had previously been zoned as enterprise land.

He said planning firm Urbis had initially valued his land, then zoned as enterprise, at $11m.

However, proposed plans by the State government have designated his entire property as green space – with the firm updating him the property would now be “unsellable” with a value of $1.

“I’m stuck now with a property worth $1 for the next 20 or 30 years, if it ever sells,” he said.

“The other day I literally had to pull the car over and have a panic attack for 45 minutes.

“My kids’ future is gone.”

Mr Koutsomihalis drew the largest cheer at a public meeting of about 200 concerned locals at Luddenham Showground on Tuesday with state politicians and councillors from Liverpool and Penrith.

Full story: The Daily Telegraph

A woman has been charged over the brutal murder of 87-year-old Kon Kritikos.

Danielle Lee Birchall appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, just hours after she was arrested over Mr Kritikos’ horrific bashing death. The 45-year-old from Kurunjang is charged with one count of murder.

No details of the circumstances of her alleged offending, or if she knew Mr Kritikos were aired in court for the brief hearing.

Her arrest came after detectives revealed in February they were searching for a female suspect.

Mr Kritikos was allegedly set upon in his Reynard St, Coburg home on November 11 last year.

He died in hospital 13 days later.

Police said he was attacked while he was alone and vulnerable.

His sick wife was in hospital at the time and detectives suspected this was known by his alleged killer.

Following the alleged attack, Mr Kritikos lay dying and helpless in his home for up to eight hours.

Detective Inspector Tim Day, of the homicide squad, described his killing as an “incredibly violent attack on one of the most vulnerable members of our community”.

Ms Birchall was remanded in custody to reappear in court in July.