Life

Early in the new year, Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT announced its intention to close Harden's St Lawrence Residential Aged Care Facility. Following the expression of strong concerns and disappointment by the aged care residents, their families and the local Harden community, as well as extensive media coverage, a meeting was convened in Harden on Friday 5 February which included the Hon Michael McCormack MP, ...

On 8th February 2021 the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council launched the Voluntary Industry Code of Practice. The Code is based on seven guiding principles for quality care and is intended to be a transformative tool for Australia’s aged care sector.

Are you a team player? Like helping your community? Want to increase your income? Then maybe you should join Fire Rescue NSW in Barham. From fires to road accidents, the team of dedicated retained fire rescue employees serve our community when people are at their most vulnerable. I recently spent an evening with the crew at Barham as they performed a simulated road accident.

Nathan Dawes is the new energetic publican at the Top Pub in Kyogle. Having lived between Coorabell and Sydney for two decades working in the corporate world, he has changed his lifestyle and taken on the Commercial Hotel. He lives upstairs at the pub.

A proposal to build a large battery to store excess energy from the grid prompted 80 residents to attend an information session at McKees Hill Hall on Wednesday evening. The mood in the hall was tense as Maoneng’s director for Australia Allison Hawke faced a torrent of questions from residents who said they had been kept in the dark about the proposal.

... By bringing Mr Priest to Townsend, they believe it will help raise the profile of the gym and hopefully showcase the long list of professional bodybuilders and athletes that have been raised through Bodyrock. “We’ve had one world champion out of our Townsend gym, we’ve had two ladies that have made it into the top five in the world. We’ve crowdfunded two athletes to Vegas, one who won the world title and one who came fifth in the world…not too bad for a little gym out of Townsend”, the proud gym owner says ...

... “Even foods you wouldn’t put in a home compost bin could go in because the processing of the waste occurs in a controlled environment. Cr Dickson said our region’s organic waste could be turned into high quality compost which could be put to good use in parks, gardens and farms, instead of rotting in a landfill and producing methane ...

... Mr Adidi said he was thankful that his partner Shawntaye Manantan and cousin were with him when the attack happened. “We literally couldn’t do anything but watch what was happening and it happened so fast,” Ms Manantan said. “We ran and dragged him up (the bank) and the croc was coming with its mouth open.” ...

The Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has welcomed Australia’s longest-established plant-based health-food manufacturer, Sanitarium Health Food Company™, into its consortium. Australia’s iconic health-food brand is set to work with UNSW food-technology specialists in CRC projects to improve the functional properties of innovative plant-based protein products, starting with its Barista dairy-free milk range.

The scarcity of seasonal workers continues to impact growers as crop losses climb to over $45 million this week. The labour shortage is a result of Federal and state government decisions to restrict the movement of people through the Australian border in order to manage the human health impacts of COVID-19. Sixty-five separate crop losses from five states and territories have now reported on the National Crop Lost Crop Register.

Explore close to home and be blown away. I am close to the sky. The breeze in the thick canopy that covers the hillsides makes the mountains look like they're moving. The landscape is more ocean than forest – even though I stand 110km from the sea. This is Pinnacle Lookout in the Border Ranges where the peak of Wollumbin-Mt Warning shouts its presence by protruding from the waves of green.

Kyogle's newest vet Simon Wake lives in an idyllic setting. He shares his 80ha property near the Border Ranges with his schoolteacher wife Sally, daughter Lucy, dogs Arthur and Millie, 10 chickens and 18 Speckled Park cattle. Sitting by a huge dam where koalas hide in the trees, Simon's Land Rover is parked under the gums nearby, ready for the next callout.

Ticks carrying the disease Ehrlichiosis have been detected in northern South Australia for the first time. Ehrlichiosis is a disease of dogs that causes fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, abnormal bleeding, pain and weight loss. If not treated properly, it can result in death.

... Crossings at the Wenlock, Archer and Laura rivers are impassable, while the Myall Creek near Weipa is also in full flood. Sections of the PDR have also been damaged, with sections of bitumen near the Hann River Roadhouse ripped to shreds by floodwater ...

A lack of rental properties and adequate child care is the biggest issue facing Weipa in 2021. The town is capable of growth and there are a number of vacant job positions, but nowhere to accommodate new arrivals.

The Hayman family must leave their Colches St home in Casino because the landlord is moving his brother in. They have rented the property for three years. With four children living at home and two elderly dogs, finding a new rental is proving difficult.

Lynne Mowbray. Lawrence cane and cattle farmer, Bruce Green, was a skilled horseman and was deeply entrenched in both the Grafton and Maclean Show Societies, campdrafts and the Lawrence Rodeo which has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to community groups within the Clarence Valley, since its inception ...

Renu Ayyappan will proudly take the pledge of allegiance and become an Australian citizen tomorrow She will be one of nine new Australians to be granted citizenship at Weipa Town Authority's Australia Day festivities. Renu moved to Australia from India in 2015 with husband Saravanan Asaithambi and has lived in Weipa for more than two years. "I love it here. This is home for me," she said ahead of her pending citizenship ceremony. "I want to be part of the Australian culture and want our kids to grow up here."

Coffs Harbour Health Campus has welcomed 10 new doctors who are among a record 1,041 interns starting work in NSW public hospitals this year. Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh said the junior medical officers had joined NSW Health at a remarkable time. “Starting your career as a doctor amid a global health pandemic provides a unique opportunity to play a vital role in our extraordinary health system,” Mr Singh said. “These new interns will be a fantastic asset to our local frontline health staff.

The Finch family are thrilled the Australian War Memorial has accepted their father's medals for display. The medals of Kyogle's Frederick Bradley Finch OAM, known...