HAVE you ever wondered why we decorate cone-bearing trees, eat turkey and ham, light candles, pull bonbons, hang Christmas stockings, decorate homes, make wreaths and credit Santa with delivering presents via flying reindeer? Most of us know that many Christmas traditions from the Northern Hemisphere sailed south with immigrants. But many so-called Christmas traditions originated […]

Santa’s Link-Dasher 8 delivered cheer to children from Coopernook Public School. Red Cross volunteers with Port Macquarie MP Robert Dwyer. The Red Cross Bear with children from Coopernook. The children’s faces were filled with joy. Red Cross volunteers with Port Macquarie Airport staff. QANTAS team members and Australian Red Cross volunteers delivered hundreds of presents […]

CATTLE and dairy farmers have welcomed the government’s decision to legalise virtual stock fencing, which involves using GPS collars to control the animals through audio cues and electric shocks. The move is expected to reduce physical fencing costs, improve rotational grazing systems, and provide remote access to data on the welfare of herds. Minister for […]

Scarlet Monk with her haul of medals from the School Sport Australia (SAA) Track and Field Championships. Photo: Kim Ambrose/SaltyFoxFotography. Scarlet Monk with her haul of medals from the School Sport Australia (SAA) Track and Field Championships. Photo: Kim Ambrose/SaltyFoxFotography. Scarlet Monk with Laurieton Public School Principal Mr Grant Timmins. Photo: Kim Ambrose/SaltyFoxFotography. LAURIETON sprinter […]

THREE surfers and shark attack survivors are leading the call for the roll out of life-saving emergency response kits on beaches across Australia. One year after creating Community Shark Bite Kits, founder and Hastings local Danny Schouten has deployed more than 150 kits on beaches across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. “We’re not […]

Lions Club members Dee Watkinson and Karen Carrick selling Lions’ Christmas cakes at Bunnings. Photo: supplied. Birdon’s Island Trader on the Hastings River. Photo: supplied. LORD Howe Island resident Neil de Rusett has again issued the call for the Tacking Point Lions Club to send him their famous Christmas cakes. So on Monday morning, 1 […]

LAND values across coastal NSW have climbed two percent to a record $582 billion. The latest figures come from the NSW Valuer General following an analysis of almost 23,000 property sales. Valuer General Sally Dale said, “The coastal market has shown a slight overall increase over the last year across the residential, commercial and industrial […]

WAUCHOPE Country Women’s Association (CWA) is holding its Christmas Market on Saturday 6 December from 9am to 1pm. There will be more than 30 stalls in both the CWA rooms and Senior Citizens Hall behind the clock tower in High Street. Wauchope CWA Branch President Doreen Burns said, “We will be providing Devonshire Teas all […]

The chargers will be high-powered at between 22kW and 100kW, which can fully charge a standard EV SUV in about an hour. A map of Round 3 locations for Destination Charging Grants. ROAD-TRIPPERS will be able to charge their electric vehicles at tourism destinations, in what one state hopes will be a win for the […]

FARMERS in the North Coast Local Land Services (LLS) region are participating in a three-year project that is set to build farm productivity and resilience while protecting the region’s natural and cultural assets. The North LLS region extends from Tweed Shire Council in the north to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council in the south. The North Coast […]