Lloyd Polkinghorne, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

Kirstin Nicholson. “I’d like to say I was elated, but the reality is, with everything that’s been going on, even after we had booked them, I still wasn’t necessarily sure that we would end up on a flight. You try not to get your hopes up because in this whole thing there is no guarantee,” says Kate Slater.

In just a few short years, a small, simple event, designed to celebrate the powerful role sport can have in the lives of indigenous people – and to educate the non-indigenous about Barapa Barapa culture – has blossomed into something much, much more. Last weekend, the Golden Rivers Football Netball League celebrated indigenous round, which has its roots at the small, pioneering club of Macorna.

The winning jockey of the 2020 Melbourne Cup, Jye McNeil, is getting behind the fundraiser, ‘We’re Here for Langy,’ to assist hometown boy James Lang and his family. James was left paralysed from the waist down as a result of a motorbike accident earlier this year. Jye is donating all proceeds from the auction of a limited edition 2020 Melbourne Cup – Twilight Payment framed display to the fund.

Maryanne Slattery. At long last, the big lakes at Menindee are more than cracked dirt and emu prints. Flows into Menindee have subsided after the March rains in the north this year. The reflection of blue skies and thousands of ducks on the Lakes are a welcome sight for locals and all of us watching from afar.

This article may trigger strong emotions. To clarify, COVID-19 as an infection does pose serious health risks to vulnerable people. That being said, I believe we must still discuss the issues affecting our nation and communities in an open and transparent manner ... We now see state-wide restrictions and lockdowns as a result of low case numbers. At the time of printing, there is one person in ICU in Australia with COVID-19 and a total of 54 in hospital, from a nation of 25,360,000 people. Yes, COVID-19 is a risk, but so are lockdowns. The trigger for these lockdowns is the numbers of positive PCR tests. What if a PCR test didn’t accurately reflect live virus but instead Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) of dead virus?

Kirstin Nicholson. A Cohuna vet has taken out the Agricultural Student of the Year award. Amy Munro received the award at a ceremony held at Parliament House in Canberra on June 17. Amy, who grew up on her family farm at Cumnock in New South Wales, is an associate veterinary surgeon at Clavin Rogers and Associates. She moved here in August last year after graduating from university.

Kirstin Nicholson. It was a moment of mayham that had people looking on in disbelief – a pig waltzing down King George Street, Cohuna. Well, it wasn’t quite that glamourous, but it was definitely a pig.