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... Little Penguins are the smallest penguin species, breeding along the coastlines of southern mainland Australia and New Zealand. The penguin that arrived on the shores of Lord Howe Island was, therefore, a long way from home and was most likely helped along by strong ocean currents. This time of year, Little Penguins shed and replace their feathers before the next breeding season, and this particular penguin was a young bird going through its first moult. While moulting, their new feathers are not waterproof and they are especially vulnerable, so it is incredibly lucky that this penguin survived the long ocean voyage to Lord Howe Island.

Racing NSW today announced prizemoney increases of some $20 million annually and the creation of a new $100,000 Midway Race to be added to metropolitan Saturday race meetings. This announcement is highlighted by almost $9 million of increases in prizemoney for country race meetings to be applied across all sectors of country racing including non-TAB and Picnic races.

The Casino Food Co-op is expanding its operations with a new $5 million retail facility on the Summerland Way that has been approved by Richmond Valley Council. The development application for a building to replace a smaller facility means the co-op can increase its output of meat products for Coles, Woolworths and Aldi.

About 100 people were stranded for five days last week at Green Pigeon by the floodwaters of Fawcetts Creek. The usual wooden bridge access was gone. Matthews Bridge, known as Burgess Bridge by locals, was pulled down because Kyogle Council was building a new one in its place.

Geoff Helisma. It was a particularly sad day for Brooms Head resident Steve Otton when he discovered an emu he had been following and photographing had been killed crossing Brooms Head Road at about 6pm on February 19 near Tailem Drive ... "On top of this, not one but three NPWS Emu warning signs have been yet again ripped from their stakes overnight ... After finding the signs down late Saturday I then spotted, with delight and horror, a pair of emus about to cross the road. I waved down this red car as to the action ahead as the pair of emus tip-toed across the road at the 'Emu Crossing' half way along the horror 100km overtaking straight."

Geoff Helisma. “Sama-Sama (Together) is a small event to convey to our community that during COVID-19, Sama-Sama we are strong and Sama-Sama we can see this difficult time through,” says Lower Clarence Multicultural Committee (LCMC) member Bobby McCaughey.

The Scenic Rim region is reaping the rewards of Queenslanders exploring their own backyard according to the most recent Tourism Research Australia data. Mayor Greg Christensen said that after a year of international and state border closures, the September 2020 year-end data shows that, while visitor numbers were down in the Scenic Rim, we fared much better than in other parts of South East Queensland.

Expecting mothers from Weipa and the Western Cape will be able to give birth locally this time next year as work begins on the upgrade of Weipa Hospital. Around $8.86 million worth of upgrades are under way, or about to start, at the Weipa Hospital and scheduled for completion in the coming months.

Kirstin Nicholson. Former Cohuna Consolidated School pupil, Kathryn Wilson, has returned to the school she attended as a child, but this time in a teaching capacity.

The impending cut to Jobseeker isn’t only about the hardship those on $40 a day will endure. More than a million dollars a week will be pulled out of our local economy if Jobseeker returns to pre-covid levels.

“Clarence Health Service have recruited medical registrars this year who are completing specialty training, rural generalist, advanced skills and a vocationally registered GP who is updating their skills in emergency medicine through GP proceduralist training program”

Emma Pritchard. After the unfortunate cancellation of the 2020 Grafton Show, only weeks prior to the event, Federal Member for Page, Kevin Hogan visited the iconic T. J. Ford Pavilion at the showground last week and announced a grant of just under $18,000 through the Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days Program to reimburse costs for the cancellation of the popular attraction last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.