Cassandra Power
Cassandra is a reporter with the ABC at Burnie in Tasmania. She has previously worked for the ABC in Central Victoria and New England. Follow her on Twitter @PowerCassandraP
Latest by Cassandra Power
Chocolate festival finds new ways to showcase town's best features
Residents of a north-west Tasmanian town have taken their celebration of all things chocolate well beyond taste testing as their wintery festival expands.
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Launceston monkey park moat coin thief warned they may now have herpes
By Cassandra Power and James Dunlevie
An intruder who broke into a snow monkey enclosure to scoop coins from a pond could have unwittingly exposed themselves to "potentially fatal" herpes, with authorities urging them to seek immediate medical attention.
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Popular rural Tassie food and music venue calls for council's support in neighbourly dispute
Popular venue Mount Gnomon Farm has been a gathering place for concerts and food for 13 years, so why is its local council trying to stop it?
Lawyers urge Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy eyewitnesses to come forward
The legal firm representing two families affected by the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy calls for eyewitnesses to establish what went so wrong.
Citizens want energy industry to listen to concerns about placement of wind turbines, transmission lines
As the fourth annual Tasmanian Energy Development Conference was held in Devonport this week, about 40 citizens stood outside in the rain with handheld signs to advocate for Tasmanian energy issues.
Council calls on government to sack Fairbrother as flashing councillor refuses to go
By Cassandra Power, Luke Radford, and Monte Bovill
The Waratah-Wynyard Council is calling on the Tasmanian government to intervene and sack convicted councillor Darren Fairbrother, who was sentenced this year for flashing a crown prosecutor and her son, because they are powerless to do so.
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Carnival is over: End of the road for Tasmanian cycling event
The 126-year-old Latrobe Carnival will not take place this year after AusCycling said the track in the state’s north-west was not fit for purpose.
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Tasmanians band together to tackle insecurity with community farm
A group of passionate Tasmanians have a bold plan for their humble community garden plot and it all starts with 60 fruit trees.
Launceston joins call for merging councils, says current model causing financial disadvantage
The City of Launceston says they are forced to provide regional-level infrastructure as residents of outer council areas use their services but do not help with the costs
Before the Anzac dawn service in Burnie, dozens of young people stood guard all night
About 30 scouts from Burnie, Somerset and Hellyer braved the cold and gave up their sleep to stand guard at the cenotaph in Burnie Park overnight.
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Tasmanian principal and ex-serviceman aims high at Invictus Games
This week's Invictus Games will see below-the-knee amputee Peter Brown compete across five seated sports.
From criminal beginnings, these grand estates look set to fetch big prices
By Isabella Podwinski and Cassandra Power
Are you sick of the mainland and fancy a change to the country life? Well, two of Australia's oldest mansions, both with a convict past, are up for sale — but the prices being asked are anything but a steal.
An amazing tale of survival in Main Arm as house slides away
A woman believed to be in her 70s and her son, thought to be in his 40s, were trapped inside a house on the NSW far north coast when it was swept from its foundations.
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'Significant and profound fall from grace' but no jail time for Gunnedah sex offender
Sixty-two-year-old Gunnedah man Wayne Griffith will be placed on a three-year good behaviour bond without community service for the indecent assault of a 17-year-old girl in November 2018.
Boggabilla breathes easy as town avoids flooding
Residents of the New South Wales town of Boggabilla are breathing a sigh of relief as the Macintyre River steadies and floodwaters stop short of the town, with no significant rainfall early Saturday morning.
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Faces of diversity on show in the woolshed as shearing evolves to meet its challenges
Women like Ash Smith are bringing a new depth of knowledge and experience to stations like Kentucky, where finding enough contractors to clip close to 12,000 sheep is a yearly challenge.
Supreme Court finds man not criminally responsible for house fire deaths
Tamworth man Richard George Sands has been found not criminally responsible for a 2019 house fire that killed an older woman and young boy.
Lifeline store's in-house counsellors to tackle high rural mental health toll
Armidale's long-awaited Lifeline charity store is finally open, a combination shopping experience and home to two counsellors who will hold free face-to-face appointments.
'We all have names': Nick's life is looking up, but he knows how it feels to be homeless
Nick has a job trial and is one step closer to having a permanent home thanks to a band of volunteers who see him and others experiencing homelessness, as people, not problems.
Makarrata: The coming together after a struggle
Newly appointed Yoo-rrook Commissioner Wayne Atkinson wants to hear from Indigenous Victorians about their experiences of social, political, and economic discrimination for truth telling and moving forward.
NDIS 'poster boy' dumped by care provider over 'hygiene issues'
By Cassandra Power, Andy Burns and Charlotte King for ABC Regional Investigations
Jamie Gibbings-Johns was able to live independently for the first time because of the NDIS, but that's under threat after his disability support provider withdrew its services.
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Meet the man behind Bendigo's emerging breakdancing scene
Karl Jacobs was training to get to Wimbledon when he lost his sight as a teenager. He's now teaching others to feel the freedom of breakdancing.
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Bendigo Ramadan celebration heals wounds of lockdown and community division
Bendigo's Muslim community hosts Victoria's Inter-faith Commission's annual dinner for the first time with a 'breaking of the fast' meal open to the wider community.
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'Surely it's one thing we can do for women': Vending machine delivers period dignity
A vending machine for free period products is installed at Echuca-Moama's women's health centre and expected to deliver 100 packs of pads and tampons each month.
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Buddhist community fights to save leader from deportation
Victoria's Buddhist community is continuing the legal battle to prevent its spiritual leader Geshe Rapten from being deported to Tibet.