NSW

Three St Francis De Sales Regional College students were presented with NSWCCC Blue Awards for excellence in school sport at the annual CSNSW Sports Awards ceremony in Sydney. Evie Henley (Australian Rules), Darcy Mimmo (Australian Rules) and Timeeka Coleman (Basketball) were recognised for excelling in their chosen school sport pathway in 2024.

Narrandera is said to be losing patients to adjoining towns for medical services due to a problem in recruiting doctors to the town. The Narrandera Shire Council has now stepped in to help overcome the problem by endorsing the actions of its Mayor Neville Kschenka in offering a recruitment incentive of $35,000 to the Medical Centre to cover the cost of subsidised rental of a suitable dwelling and enrolment fee for the next phase of doctor training.

Healthcare workers in the Murrumbidgee region are set to benefit from key worker accommodation, with new units at two hospital sites now complete. The modern accommodation units in Narrandera (pictured) and Finley have been installed on-site, with final touches being made to ensure the units are ready for the first residents to move in early next year.

Three years after double bypass surgery Greg from Swan Hill is hitting the road in his rebuilt Fergie tractor and homebuilt caravan. “I’ve been on the road for three days, I went from Swan Hill to Fish Point, then to Murrabit, and last night stopped about six kilometres out of Koondrook.” said Greg.

Growing feral deer populations across NSW have prompted Local Land Services (LLS) to highlight the safety and environmental risks to the community. Five introduced species of feral deer have established populations throughout the state including in urban areas where they can be harder to control and have even greater human health and social impacts.

Around 900 people attended the 143rd Moulamein Races on Saturday, December 14. The friendly and joyful crowd made the most of the six-race meet in the warm summer sun. This year marked the loss of the historic bar after the structure was removed due to safety concerns.

You have been up since 5 am, you have slaved in the kitchen since the sun came up, you have handed out presents and broken up squabbles between the kids, you have eaten enough to feed a small village, twice, you have smiled and entertained more than Hugh Jackman and now you have come to your favourite part of Christmas Day – bedtime!

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Allan Japp is the first, and possible the only recipient in Hay to receive the Honorary Bearer Medal, some 47 years after he completed his last trip behind the wheel of an ambulance. Allan become an Honorary Ambulance Officer (Honorary Bearer as they were known then) in August 1963. His first case was taking a patient from Hay Hospital to the Royal Melbourne Hospital – a round trip of 917 kilometres which took just under 12 hours to complete.

Dr Fleur Stelling. Riverina communities have been successful in recovering the Southern bell frog from the brink of extinction ... Last week, the monitoring team from Charles Sturt University working on the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s science program in the Murrumbidgee, were thrilled to hear the unmistakable calls of the frogs and observe large numbers of tadpoles in the Lowbidgee wetlands – a clear sign that their population is recovering well.

Have a heart and be a volunteer. "A community without volunteers, is a community without a heart." Those were the words of NSW Governor, The Honourable Margaret Beazley when she visited Yamba earlier this year. Ms Beazley expressed her serious concern about the decline in volunteers in communities across NSW and organisations across the Clarence Valley are feeling the pressure from the lack of people stepping up to help their communities.

Six swimmers from the Clarence Valley represented the Maclean Manta Rays Swimming Club at the 2024-25 Speedo NSW Senior State Age Championships earlier this month. Held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre between December 6-12, the event attracted some of the best athletes from across the state.

We all know that water is the most essential commodity for human life to exist on the planet, and how much we enjoy a glass of clean, cold water on a hot day – but we could soon be drinking recycled water under the NSW Government’s Recycled Water Roadmap – and you have until January 10 to have your say.

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Peter Rutherford. On the 24 November 1939, the Coffs Harbour Advocate reported, among other things, that “now there are only 200 known koalas in the whole of New South Wales, including those in captivity.” NSW Environment Minister Sharpe’s media release of 3 December 2024 stated, “that our grandchildren will never get the chance to see koalas in the wild”. I thought she may have been a little behind in reading her ministerial briefings. But then the penny dropped!

Work on the Mallanganee observatory project is expected to start within the first three months of next year. At the Kyogle Council meeting on Monday, December 9, the meeting went into confidential to discuss the tender for the construction of the Mallanganee observatory at the Mallanganee Lookout.

Chibo Mertineit ... The protestival was longer, bigger and better and there was a large contingent of Northern Rivers residents who joined, organised and facilitated ... Overall, there were 7000 people over eight days, 33 volunteer teams with over 1000 volunteers doing 4500 shifts, cooking 20,000 meals and having 130 spokespersons (delegate of your group) representing 2000 people and meeting twice a day for decision making. It was just huge, and there was such a positive and friendly atmosphere at this drug-free event.

Victoria Mathew reckons her name should be Mrs Christmas. She really loves Christmas – the mother of six children and grandmother to six started making Christmas decorations when she had her first child. “Christmas is my passion,” Victoria said. “I love everything about Christmas. It’s when I shine brightest.”

No more precarious and lengthy travel for residents and travellers on Pooncarie Road ... “Central Darling Shire Council appreciates the funding support from the Australian and NSW governments because the road desperately needed to be sealed for road safety reasons,” said Central Darling Shire General Manager Greg Hill. “Now we can keep the road open during wet conditions, benefiting both residents and tourists.