Life

Blake Lee. Local sporting clubs provide an opportunity to bring people together, increase participation in sport, promote social connection and create a sense of belonging.   In recent weeks, the Birchip-Watchem football and netball clubs have been fostering this opportunity by hosting buddy programs to build and strengthen bonds between senior and junior players.

There were shocked and angry reactions from the public gallery when the City of Wanneroo approved a glamping tent proposal for the old Quinns Rocks caravan park site last Tuesday evening ... When the Mayor Linda Aitken called for councillors to record their vote the result was tied 7-7 so Mrs Aitken used her casting vote to get the controversial proposal over the line.

After saving hundreds of lives in our district, and throughout South Australia, leading cardiologist Dr Phil Tideman OA, has died as a result of bowel cancer, aged 64. It was at Naracoorte and Robe that in 1999 Dr Tideman first teamed up with the Kincraig and Robe Medical Clinics, setting a blueprint for the rest of the nation to follow.

Pet lovers in the Barkly can soon take up the offer to have their dogs or cats desexed for free as part of a blitz to curb roaming animals in the town. Running from 14-18 August, the desexing blitz will be free for residents who are on Centrelink benefits and find it hard to come up with the money for the procedure.

Maldon local Melody Goldsmith woke up one morning and informed her husband that she needed to walk the Camino Trail - alone ... Already a member of the Nordic pole walking group in Castlemaine, to further prepare herself physically, Melody began walking up Mt Tarrengower.

Stefan Dannhausen, the owner of dkom IT support, is not just known for his technical prowess in Maldon ... In a bid to support Maldon Primary School, Stefan’s business, dkom IT support, has launched a two-week sale of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2021.

Queenslanders will have access to more health data with the launch of the new-look and easier-to-navigate Hospital Performance website. The redesigned site includes information and data that enables consumers to compare the performances of hospitals and health jurisdictions across the state.

Have you ever noticed it is always the same people who volunteer and involve themselves in all aspects of the community? Regional and rural Australia would not be the same without our army of volunteers, community leaders, and people who put their hands up to lend a hand for the betterment of the community.

Australian Rural & Regional News finds out first hand from Sarah Watson what it was like to compete at international level in the triathlon championships in Hamburg and learns how she made it to this standard, and with a smile too.

The Australian Government has funded the installation of digital advance warning flood signs at three sites in our Local Government Area to improve safety for motorists during future weather events ... The installations include automatic electric warning signs, as well as a separate camera mounted on a high pole at each site where the stream gauge/sensor is located.

Home to two rescue helicopters, Toowoomba is yet again LifeFlight’s busiest base with the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue and LifeFlight Surat Gas Aeromedical Service (SGAS) chopper crews coming to the aid of a record 725 people last financial year.

Matt Lawson is a lone figure dressed in a high vis jacket and with a timber walking stick as he walks along the busy highway north of Tocumwal ... A small group had gathered in Finley to welcome Matt as he entered town. The group had erected a ‘Forest of the Fallen’, which is a national campaign displaying the names and stories of vaccinated Australians who died or were injured post-vaccine.

Pittsworth and District Men’s Shed members called at Narrandera this week as part of their adventure down the mighty Murray River. For the past year they have been building a raft, affectionately known as "Shed down the Murray," and have been towing it 1,100 kilometres down the Newell Highway to Narrandera.

Gemma Purcell. Western Riverina Arts Artist of the Month Leila Constable, of Narrandera, has been drawing, making, painting and creating literally all her life, fitting her art in and around the demands of family, work and the general business of life. "Even as a tiny kid, I’d be somewhere with my pencils looking for the horizon line, adding in the trees, the sun. That was my go-to": Leila Constable.

Last Friday Senator Malarndirri McCarthy made a not well publicised visit to Wilcannia. Word soon went round town and a number of locals were able to tell her of their health and other concerns. The Senator toured the hospital where she met some staff, the new Maari Ma health building, and met with representatives of the Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Nadia. Last term 17 students and six staff participated in a major excursion to Uluru and the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the Far North of South Australia ... The group was lucky to experience some rarely seen events; waterfalls on Uluru and it shrouded in cloud and mist.

A fundraiser organised by a loving daughter, Lara, aims to ease the financial strain of her mum's fight against breast cancer ... Lara's campaign has a personal and heartfelt touch, as she isn’t just raising funds but is also sacrificing her hair to provide her mother with a natural wig during the tough times ahead.

Purple Starfish Kaniva re-launched its website this week ... The new website features makers, volunteers and customers. It builds on the Visit Victoria campaign of supporting local artisans and makers with the ‘Meet the Maker’ stories of the creators behind the products.

In the next two episodes, [Lord Howe Island] Signal readers are privileged to look inside the life of Islander, Rosemary Sinclair (nee Fenton), "Miss Australia" in 1960. Rosie’s description of her early life on Lord Howe from the 1940s takes us back to World War II, which cast a dark shadow over her early life on the Island. Her later success as "Miss Australia" was symptomatic of the post-war optimism which pervaded the Island in the 1950s and 60’s, making her an important Island voice from "the flying boat days" up to the present.

Portable air purifiers fitted with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can substantially improve indoor air quality during bushfire events, according to new research from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.  Published in Public Health Research & Practice, researchers found that HEPA filters have potential, when used appropriately, to substantially improve indoor air quality by 30–74 per cent during smoke episodes caused by prescribed burns.