Year in Review August 2020: Wagga heroes honoured for brave actions

Three of Wagga's own heroes were recognised for their bravery involved in assisting with a fatal crash in 2016.

David Joyce, Robert Hayden and Michael Hoogvelt each played a role in an emergency situation along Gregadoo Road where an Australia Day tragedy left the community shaken.

At about 12.40pm on January 26, 2016, two vehicles - a Holden Commodore sedan and a Ford SUV - collided head-on leaving two dead and one trapped.

The three men were commended for their quick-thinking to rescue the man trapped.

In tragic news, the community mourned the loss of Sarkis Daoud who died after he was hit by a vehicle on Pearson Street.

Riverina Police District Inspector John Aichinger said at the same time he tried to cross, a white Isuzu D-MAX utility driven by a 27-year-old male was pulling out of a driveway.

"The vehicle did collide with that pedestrian as he was crossing the road, and he was rushed to Wagga Base Hospital, but unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries and passed away," he told media.

Just a few weeks later, two people died following a crash involving a truck and a car on the Sturt Highway east of Wagga.

Emergency services were called to the accident near the intersection of the highway and Tumbarumba Road at Alfredtown, where an elderly man and woman, had to be freed from the wreckage by rescue crews.

They were taken to Wagga Base Hospital but police later told media, the man and woman died.

As the pandemic continued to grip the world, police fined a woman after she failed to isolate when returning from Victoria to her family in Wagga.

The woman, in her late 20s, was directed to isolate for 14 days but officers discovered a week later that the woman had left her home. She was slapped with a $1000 fine.

A new pop up testing clinic also opened at Wagga Showgrounds to allow for more testing of residents.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District disaster manager Denise Garner said the clinic had been established to cater for the seasonal increase of cold and flu symptoms - which can also be symptoms of COVID-19.

She said the new clinic had a much larger capacity than the earlier clinic at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Wagga restaurant and pub owners were left exasperated as diners tried to exploit a loophole in the 10-people-per-booking rule.

Robert Balivia, who owns Thaigga and Tammy's Thai, said people would try to make several separate bookings and then sit together in an attempt to flout the rules.

He said it was a headache for his business, which was already struggling to keep up with all the government's coronavirus regulations.

Turning what was making news in property, a central Wagga property listed for $1 million dollars was a sign of the time according to one agent.

The central property, listed for $1.1 million, sits on just over 600 square metres of land and features four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a rear-access double garage.

Fitzpatricks real estate agent Paul Gooden said it was now "not uncommon" to see a property like this reach a price of over a million as demand for certain styles and locations pushes prices up.

When it came to development, the Wagga's councillors unanimously gave a green light for concept designs to be drawn up for specific elements of the Bolton Park masterplan that was endorsed by the council in June last year.

The designs will include the proposed sports hub, the tennis centre, Robertson Oval, Oasis Regional Aquatic Centre and relocating the croquet facility.

THE family of a woman who died in a car crash spoke about their heartache following the sentencing of the man behind the wheel.

Casey Mallia was just 19 when the car she was travelling in, driven by her boyfriend, crashed on the Sturt Highway at Galore in 2018.

A Sydney court heard Matthew Luke Agius decided to overtake another car reaching 120km/h.

He overcorrected the vehicle as the tyres hit the dirt by the side of the road, causing the car to turn on a 90-degree angle, hitting a waterway on the opposite side of the road, flip and travel at least 100 metres before coming to a stop.

Casey suffered a heart attack when pulled from the vehicle and died in hospital the following day.

Her mother, Mrs Greenfield said she felt as though her entire family were given a life sentence.

"The grief will never go away for me, her father, her step parents, brother, sisters and her niece, it will never stop," she said.

Mrs Greenfield and Casey's stepfather Paul, her father Patrick Mallia and stepmother Suzy Mallia, her siblings Ashley, Tim, Autumn and Vicki Mallia, and niece Bella Peters, all continue to grieve her loss.