Year of ups and downs

THE year ended on a frightening note, with the brutal bashing of a Narre Warren South man in a home invasion.
Police arrested two men over the incident that saw a 36-year-old man left with head injuries.
Parents of ICA Casey College students had a year they will never forget when the private school went into voluntary liquidation. By the end of the year the school had closed its doors but there are plans to reopen it in 2012.
Many in Casey municipality were celebrating the Coalition win in the State poll. A promise to bankroll the clean-up of Brookland Greens was almost certainly a key factor in a big swing towards the Liberals in local seats.
The grieving family of a murdered Hallam toddler said they would forever miss her loving and cheeky nature. Yazmini D’Argent was stabbed to death in mid-November in a crime that horrified the nation.
Hopes were high during the year that a one-stop-shop for people in crisis could be built in Casey. Council bought the land but needed State Government support to fund the project.
Endeavour Hills man Reggie Oorloff was accidentally rammed by a World War II truck during the Anzac Day parade in the city. The truck was driven by Nar Nar Goon RSL affiliate Russell Hughes.
War veteran Scott May was slashed in the face with a box-cutter during an unprovoked attack in the CBD in June. The attack left the Berwick man, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, with an 8cm scar on his cheek.