NSW

Geoff Helisma. Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan says he believes that the Clarence Valley Regional and Lismore airports are “still commercially viable”. The Independent emailed an enquiry to Mr Hogan’s office, asking for comment about Rex withdrawing from its Grafton and Lismore routes.

Geoff Helisma. Clarence Valley Council is hoping that Page MP Kevin Hogan can help fill the hole left by Rex regional airline’s announcement that it will cease operating its Sydney to Grafton and Lismore routes as of Friday March 26.

Emma Pritchard. A Melbourne bound freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed near Morrows Road at Nana Glen, roughly 50km south of Grafton last week, with one locomotive coming to rest on its side and several wagons scattered abruptly throughout nearby paddocks. The incident occurred shortly after 2am on February 25, following torrential rain and flash flooding throughout the region.

Rod Fuller. Camp Rifle has seen plenty of the countryside in recent times, with a narrow win at Coffs Harbour a fortnight ago providing plenty of ammunition for a forward showing in the Great Northern Super Crisp Handicap at Port Macquarie on Thursday.

... Regrettably, your ABC News story posted 2 February 2021 is fundamentally incorrect (undoubtedly, without your knowledge) ...

... 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.

At the Public Hall on 12, 13 and 14 March there will be an exhibition of our community portraits taken for the album Isolation open to everyone on the Island.

From humble beginnings working out of an old cow bail in 1971 to featuring at Tweed Regional Gallery, the Murwillumbah Potters have reason to celebrate their 50th year.

NSW Farmers has developed a five-point-plan to tackle an acute seasonal labour shortage in the agricultural sector and avoid an impending shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables. The plan focuses on lowering quarantine costs, a workable visa approval process, state control of arrival caps, increased incentives for Australian workers and labour mobility across state borders.

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.

Kirstin Nicholson. This week we introduce you to Mark Bishop and Clancy Graham from Sunbury who, along with their four children, Isabella, Connor, Henry and Beau, aged four to ten, now call Cohuna home. Mark and Clancy purchased a house on the edge of Cohuna and moved in last month.

Speak Up Campaign chair Lachlan Marshall said removing policy makers out of regional centres and locating them in city offices has resulted in isolated decision making, where local knowledge is disregarded. He described the Snowy Hydro Scheme as “a great example of the disconnect between the southern food bowl and the city decision-makers”, and is concerned that under the latest water strategy the NSW Murray would “miss out again”.

Mary took photos of the devastation and has collated the images into two books that are available at the Casino Library. The books are a chronicle of how the fire disrupted their lives. She photographed the twisted metal and remains of their home, the misshapen cutlery burned into a mass, the black sewing machine and the burnt-out cars Danny was fixing.

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. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic came close to stopping the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) from holding its competitions and, as a result, the Lower Clarence Magpies didn't field first grade, reserve grade and U18 teams in the shortened season. This year, head coach Carl Press says his "main aim is to get competitive teams on the park".

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."