WA

Serena Kirby. Renowned surfboard shaper, big wave rider and local identity, Warren (Wazza) Thompson was farewelled with a heartfelt tribute at Ocean Beach last month ... Organised by long time friend and fellow board shaper, Patrick McCarthy, the tribute included a paddle-out and the forming of a circle of surfers in the water.

The Kwoorabup Nature School has for the past 10 years explored options to expand and believes the best is to use the neighbouring Denmark Lions Club lease area. The school is WA’s first Nature School and has experienced a 70 per cent growth in 18 months.

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Central Regional TAFE has welcomed the first group of international students to Geraldton following their success in the inaugural round of the McGowan Government's regional bursaries for TAFE international students ... Interest in the program has been strong with a total of 22 international students already receiving bursaries to study at TAFE campuses in Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Bunbury and Broome in Semester 1, 2023.

Claire Stuchbery. If Government is serious about supporting media diversity and public interest journalism to address the news deserts that have emerged across Australia, it needs to clear a path for locally produced news to build sustainability.

Two buildings – a transportable home and a shed containing machinery – have been lost in the Neergabby bushfire, which the Department of Fire and Emergency Services downgraded to an advice this afternoon ... “It burnt over 500ha in the first six hours, with a total area burnt of 995ha": Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) incident controller Shaun Champ.

Three thousand general admission tickets are now on sale for the prime viewing location of the 2023 Total Solar Eclipse. The viewing site will be one of the best places on Earth to experience the 2023 Total Solar Eclipse when it is plunged into darkness on 20 April.

Australian grain leaders are calling on other growers and farm businesses to show generosity and donate a tonne of grain or more, to help support Ukraine farmers and rural communities. The #AUSSIEGRAIN4UKRAINE initiative was established last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to give Australian grain producers a way of supporting their farming colleagues and communities facing the continuing challenges and horrors of war.

The Shire of Gingin and the Department of Health are warning people to avoid swimming and other full-body water immersion activities in Moore River at Guilderton after recent sampling results detected amoeba and high bacteria levels at several sampling locations.

About 650 breakfasts – cooked and served by volunteers – were consumed at the 2023 Australia Day event in Two Rocks ... Yanchep resident Sharon Conley, who is a member of the Yanchep Netball Club, received the YTRCRA citizen award.

Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, has joined forces with the Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association (KPCA) to create a fundraising drive for flood-affected graziers in Western Australia’s Kimberley region ... Ex-tropical cyclone Ellie brought unfathomable volumes of rain to Fitzroy River catchments – up to 800 millimetres in a week for some locations - resulting in a flood that exceeded previous water levels by more than two metres. Properties such as Yeeda Station, just outside of Derby, were battling up to 40 kilometres of flood frontage.

Patricia Gill. An overdue public toilet block will be built at Prawn Rock Channel ... The toilets will be a welcome facility in the peak holiday times for many families of picnickers when the nearest public facility is at Ocean Beach. Walkers in the area have complained about the state of the PRC water and surrounds due to there being no toilets.

A group of Denmark Senior High School students took a long walk from Greens Pool back to the school as part of Duke of Edinburgh International awards camp ... Along the way of their walk, the group collected rubbish littering the trails ... Lightning weed was the target species over the morning in what had felt like a gym work out.

Serena Kirby. A school holiday program involving Indigenous games of mock warfare and dispute settling was hosted at the Denmark Recreation Centre. Jayden Caldwell, a Noongar man from Perth, organised the Institute of Indigenous Wellbeing and Sport-run games.

There’s something very special about country doctors; they rarely work in the places they were born and raised and often bring with them a wealth of knowledge and life experience. Alex Sleeman is one country GP who had a big life before he became a small town GP.

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Sections of the highway around Fitzroy Crossing were completely washed away in the recent one-in-100-year flood event, while the Fitzroy Crossing Bridge sustained significant damage and will need to be fully replaced. The plan will involve the implementation of a barge system across the river, which will initially be operated by tugs, with a cable system to be operationalised shortly after.

Giving the gift of variety all while supporting local has come out on top over the festive season with thousands of dollars being injected into the community thanks to the Buy Local Greater Geraldton Gift Cards. Reaching impressive new heights, nearly 900 Gift Cards were purchased in the month of December last year, totalling over $107,000 for the month alone.

In WA Covid-19 cases are continuing to fall but ... WA Health said one case of the Omicron XBB.1.5 variant has been confirmed in the state. The Omicron XBB.1.5 variant is a sublineage of XBB, which emerged when a person was infected with two BA.2 sublineages.

A public environmental review has been set for a mineral sands project proposed for about 21km east of Ledge Point and 800m south of the Moore River due to the extent of further information required, the number of preliminary key environmental factors identified and the moderate level of public interest in the project. When the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) published its decision to assess the Bidaminna project proposal it said out of the 156 submissions received 153 had called for public environmental review.

Taj's Small Fries presented by Board.Store concluded in emphatic fashion yesterday in Yallingup, with eight champions crowned in classic summer conditions in Yallingup marking the end of three days of amazing surfing at WA's biggest, best and most prestigious junior surfing tournament.

A magistrate has suspended the rock lobster fishing licence of a Yanchep man and prohibited him from being on any vessel used for rock lobster fishing for six months. In Joondalup Court on January 6 the 33-year-old man was also issued with fines, penalties and court costs totalling $11,014.30 for unlawfully interfering with fishing gear and selling recreationally caught lobster.