IN March, Kaleen parents Annette Healy and Bryce Gray approached “CityNews” worried the ACT government had forgotten the safety of children at Maribyrnong Primary in Alberga Street, which had no school crossing.

They said they had witnessed their 10-year-old son narrowly avoiding being hit by a car as he was trying to cross the street outside school.

“It seems somewhat risible that the ACT government expresses repeated concern over the rates of childhood obesity and urges us all to ‘Live Lighter’, but then fails to act in support of children being able to safely walk or ride to and from school,” they fumed.

Happy ending alert: “A school crossing has now been installed… the flags went up on the last day of term 2, Friday, July 1,” writes Annette, blowing kisses to RoadsACT.

Blushmakingly, she also wrote: “I would like to sincerely thank ‘CityNews’ for your help, as I’m sure we never would have come this far without you.”

We’re happy to share the love though, they also spoke to TAMS and gave Andrew Barr a nudge on the ABC’s “Chief Minister Talkback” segment… “but it was your story that got the ball rolling.” Aw, shucks, Annette.

White side of the law

BUILD it and they will come… the builder’s pristine white boards around the Vernon Circle side of the law courts’ redevelopment in Civic have been, as predicted, despoiled by a stretch of graffiti. It took the vulgarians a few weeks, mind, since CC tipped the prospect of mindless taggers on June 16. And what a wonderful welcome to the city it is.

Tipping by press release

A FORMER journo wanting to share a news tip tried calling “The Canberra Times” to give them first bite to be told by a receptionist that if he wanted a journalist to cover something he should email a media release.

She refused to put the call through to the editorial department.

“Since when do journalists not take news tips via the phone?” our snout opined.

“Back in my day nothing made a journalist madder than being told to email questions through. And now they’re doing just that! How will they ever get any decent stories if they don’t talk to people?” We’ll leave it there.

Dr Who What When

ARTS editor Helen Musa reports that Canberra teacher and devout “Whovian” Timothy Kirsopp is displaying his entire “Dr Who” collection – everything from Daleks and the Tardis to images of the Doctors and their companions – in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Dr Who-related memorabilia.

“Bigger on the inside: Collecting Dr Who” is at CMAG, Civic Square, July 16-November 20.

A kiss is just a…

JUST in, the news that kissing is the key to a happy partnership, with those in a relationship (37 per cent), de facto (30 per cent) or married (29 per cent) all revealing they need at least one proper kiss a day to feel satisfied.

However, those in the throes of new lurve need three to four smackeroos a day to feel satisfied.

We missed International Kissing Day last week, but couldn’t resist sharing the latest pash stats.

And there’s this from kissing expert Katia Loisel: “Numerous studies have shown that women place more importance on kissing than men and use kissing as a form of mate selection, and a way to initiate, maintain and evaluate the health of their relationship.”

Needless to say, bad breath is the number one “kiss-breaker” according to 68 per cent of the population, followed by too much saliva (24 per cent), and sloppy or noisy kissing (14 per cent).

Movement at the stations

SISTER stations 2CC and 2CA have cheerfully stepped in as radio sponsors of the Cancer Support Group’s annual Convoy for Cancer Families, replacing a seemingly ill-fitting FM104.7.

In a carefully worded explanation, Cancer Support Group CEO Melissa Gardiner says being without a radio sponsor had been a worrying time.

“It seems 104.7 and our group were no longer a good fit given the changes the station had made,” she says, seemingly unable to explain what the changes were that had forced the FM station’s U-turn.

But upwards and onwards.

“We did some online research with our truck drivers and motorbike riders and the overwhelming response we received from our survey was that they listened to 2CC and 2CA when on the road,” she says.

So, off they went to see Michael Jones and Peter Davidson from Capital Radio’s 2CC and 2CA.

“I was nervous going in because I know how much radio support means to the Convoy,” she says.

“It couldn’t have been easier, Michael and Peter were very excited to be a part of the event and wanted to work on ways to maximise exposure for the Cancer Support Group.”

The group helps more than 900 families in the region.

The other news is that the event is moving to April and next year will be on Sunday, April 2, with the carnival again at Exhibition Park.

Nature is good for you

IT’S official: Tree hugging is good for your health. Ahead of its National Tree Day on Sunday, July 31, Planet Ark has published its “Adding Trees – A Prescription for Health, Happiness and Fulfilment” report that says nature has “overwhelmingly” been shown to reduce stress, with just 10 minutes’ spent outside in a natural environment resulting in a significant reduction in blood pressure and an improvement in mental health and wellbeing.

The report revealed that people who engage in daily outdoor activities report higher levels of wellbeing, with the research showing time in nature reduces a person’s chance of developing a range of diseases, including diabetes by 43 per cent, cardiovascular disease and stroke by 37 per cent and depression by 25 per cent.