APPLICATIONS are now open for the $200,000 NSW Seniors Festival Grant Program 2026, with funding of up to $5,000 and $10,000 available for events taking place during next year’s festival taking place from 2-15 March. The festival theme for 2026 is ‘Live life in colour’, to encourage seniors to celebrate new adventures and embrace creativity, […]
The first astronomers: Australia’s Indigenous stargazers
LONG before observatories dotted the land and satellites blinked overhead, the First Peoples of Australia were reading the stars. For over 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have looked to the sky – not for abstraction, but for connection, direction, and survival. Theirs is the oldest continuous astronomical tradition on Earth. To these […]
National Parks firefighter Tony Prior honoured for ‘distinguished service’
Tony Prior is the NPWS Team Leader Fire for the North Coast: Photo: NPWS. The helicopter coordinator, air attack supervisor and large air tanker specialist in the air. Photo: NPWS. ANTHONY Prior has been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) in the King’s Birthday 2025 Honours. Mr Prior, who is currently Team Leader Fire […]

Lifeguards update skills in the off-season
PROFESSIONAL and volunteer lifeguards from the Mid North Coast are undertaking maintenance and upgrading of qualifications in the off-season. At South West Rocks, a class of 16 professional lifeguards have undertaken a new and compulsory two-day Beach Operations and Management (BOM) course under the guidance of the Australian Lifeguard Service’s James Turnham (Mid NSW Lifeguard […]

Council defers decision on new Land Disposal Policy
A DECISION on a new policy which deals with the selling of Council-owned land was deferred by Nambucca Valley councillors at Council’s 16 April meeting. According to Kristian Enevoldson, Manager of Risk and Governance, Nambucca Valley Council does not have a current policy to guide the disposal of land it owns. A recently-produced draft policy, […]