News

Since late 2020 Lismore City Council has been trialling a program to recycle mattresses and keep them out of landfill. Historically mattresses were sent to landfill, however, under the new program mattresses are sent to a dedicated resource recovery facility where the mattresses are processed into separate commodities for which there are end markets.

With Forestry Corporation gearing up to replant nearly 3,000 hectares of Bathurst State forests this year, Silviculture Supervisor Bill Klower is looking forward to seeing the start of another forestry cycle. Since 1988 Bill has worked as a planting supervisor, overseeing around three million seedlings hand-planted each year since in the Oberon and Bathurst areas.

A record four million seedling dispatch has kicked off from Forestry Corporation of NSW’s Grafton nursery, which following the site’s $1 million expansion in 2020 ... The work has meant the nursery will have the largest dispatch on record this year, said Forestry Corporation’s Nursery Manager, Kath French.

Moreton Bay Regional Council has been recognised for pushing the boundaries of urban design at one of Queensland’s most prestigious awards. The Caboolture to Wamuran Rail Trail project received commendation for the highest quality at the Minister’s Award for Urban Design, in a competition that featured the likes of Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville.

Jim McFayden. Lord Howe Island Marine Rescue is the first off-shore marine rescue unit in NSW and the 45th overall. We have been very well resourced with world class assets and training and a solid commitment to spend funds locally as a priority. The back-up and support from the Marine Rescue NSW organisation during the establishment of our unit has been nothing short of outstanding.

David Waterhouse. The diverse landscape of mountains, valleys, hills, lowlands and sea cliffs of the LHI provide an array of habitat types supporting many distinctive flora. Research Scientists Dr Andrew Denholm and Dr John Porter have been coming to Lord Howe island for many years to study its unique natural values. While it is early days yet, they see promising signs that the removal of rodents is having positive effects for the Islands plants.

CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, will spearhead a $1.7 million project to identify new treatments for COVID-19, including 'long-COVID'. Scientists will develop a faster, smarter way of rapidly screening existing drugs and advancing those that can be used to treat COVID-19 and aim to have identified the suitable TGA- or FDA-approved drug candidates to progress to phase 2-3 human clinical trials within a year.

Catherine Grimley. Everyone is aware of how much of a disadvantage low literacy can be in everyday life, and how those with literacy problems can be reluctant to ask for help for a variety of reasons. This issue is set to be less of a problem in Tennant Creek with the Literacy for Life program setting up to start classes at premises in Noble Street.

The Chief Minister announced Territory Day celebrations across the NT are deferred due to the unfolding COVID situation in Darwin ... Territory Day will go ahead at a later date so we can all celebrate together ... The Alice Springs Show which was due to happen today was cancelled due to the lockdown.

Pam Dillon. Students from the Barkly demonstrated their prowess and love for the round-ball game at the recent NT Under 12 Soccer Championships and Development camp in Darwin.

With the benefit of recent placings under her belt, Vaporetto is poised for a successful return to the winner’s circle in the Caroma Class 1 Handicap at Port Macquarie on Saturday.

South East Queensland’s Shamrock Vale Station and its world-class Wagyu operation has been sold to a Brisbane-based buyer for $27 million. Spanning 1,857 hectares in the Kerry Valley area of south east Queensland’s Scenic Rim on the Albert River, the property has fertile alluvial cultivated river flats running to undulating ridges and gullies, with plateaus of sheltered grazing.

New York-based investment firm The Rohatyn Group is hoping for more than $55 million from the sale of the 28,000-hectare Kaiuroo Aggregation in Central Queensland’s Mackenzie River district.

Eliza Berlage. Mothers in Kingston and Edenhope have channelled their frustration about the local childcare shortage into action by working with councils and government to find solutions. With existing services at or close to capacity and waiting lists up to 12 months, many parents have been unable to work or study, and some have considered leaving altogether.

Sheryl Lowe. What is the Day of the Dackel you may say? It’s when lovers of the long bodied, short legged bundles of love celebrate all things Dachshund. Approximately 100 Dachshunds converged on Edenhope for the inaugural Day of the Dackel this weekend.

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.