North Coast Veterinarians are encouraging cattle producers to be on the lookout for the disease Yersiniosis. Cases of the fatal bacterial disease, also known as mud scours have been seen in the Lismore area in recent weeks. Phil Kemsley, North Coast Local Land Services District Veterinarian said the bacteria Yersinia multiplies in decaying plant material in cool, wet soil.This can occur in swampy area, dam edges and in depressions in pasture; often known as melon holes. It can occur seen when hay is fed out and becomes contaminated by mud. Outbreaks can also happen after floods in winter when flood mud sticks to pasture. "The bacteria Yersinia likes low temperatures and low oxygen levels typical in poorly drained paddocks and grows in dry grass material contaminated with mud," he said. Dr Kemsley explained that Yersiniosis often presents as an outbreak with several cattle in the herd affected, making it critical to identify the disease early. Adults are usually affected, and the disease can be seen in any breed, with Brahmans and Brahman crosses being more susceptible. “Signs of Yersinia can vary from fever to severe diarrhoea resulting in dramatic weight loss.” Dr Kemsley said. “In some cases, affected cattle can be found dead despite having good body condition. Others have diarrhoea for several days, which results in dramatic weight loss.” It is crucial to have suspicious cases investigated by a veterinarian as the infection responds well to treatment with an antibiotic. If cattle loose body condition from the disease, the period of convalescence can be long, with animals needing supplementary feed to regain the weight. To help prevent further Yersiniosis cases, cattle should be moved to another paddock, preferably one that is better drained. Yersiniosis usually stops once spring and warmer conditions arrive.  “Human Yersinia infection from cattle is rare. As long as people wash their hands after handling cattle affected by the disease, it is not a threat to human health.” Dr Kemsley said

A youth anthem tackling how Indigenous youth can keep their communities safe from Covid-19 has just been released.Recorded by Aboriginal artists Mi-Kaisha and hip hop artist Nooky, the song’s video clip, recorded in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Redfern, features choreography by Bundjalung, Yuin, Munanjali, Gamillaraay and Murray Island nations man, Darren Compton. Aboriginal people in New South Wales are at greater risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 and the track ‘One Point 5’ speaks to Aboriginal youth about their role in keeping their communities safe. This heightened risk makes it essential for frequent and reliable information to reach and circulate within Aboriginal communities. Darumbal, Murri and Tongan woman Mi-Kaisha said “I was motivated to be part of this project because I knew how important it was to amplify Indigenous voices and the message of keeping mob safe during the pandemic”.“I knew how greatly COVID-19 had impacted the wellbeing of Mob and wanted to create music with a message of encouragement,” she said.Key themes in the song include keeping a safe distance from others, keeping in contact with people during isolation, and drawing strength from the Aboriginal cultural sense of family and community connectedness.“I hope it reassures people and encourages Mob to continue to stay COVID safe. We encourage everyone to keep social distancing, washing hands, even wearing a mask in public spaces and doing what we can to stop the spread,” Mi-Kaisha said. Nooky said “I know our mob want to hang out with family but we’ve got to think of other people during this, especially our Elders, I know things are tough but we’ll get through it together”.You can see the music video here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=635622850689835The track and music video are part of NSW Health’s COVID-19 Aboriginal Communications Strategy, developed in partnership with First Nations agency, 33 Creative, and forms an important part of the multi-pronged approach the NSW Government is taking to communicating about COVID-19. If you need social and emotional wellbeing support, call the COVID-19 mental health line: 1800 512 348. For the latest information on COVID-19, visit http://www.nsw.gov.au. 

Arts Northern Rivers want to hear YOUR BIG IDEA. If you are passionate about the arts and have proposals for ambitious ideas ready to be developed into contemporary arts projects, send them to Arts Northern Rivers. The winning idea will receive $5,000 seed funding and a tailored project development package. The concept must be original and at the cutting edge of visual arts, experimental, performance, theatre, live art, music, sound, dance or interdisciplinary contemporary arts practice.The winning project will work closely with Arts Northern Rivers to hone their project ready for funding.YOUR BIG IDEA needs to have a public outcome at a site within the Northern Rivers and be led by a Northern Rivers based artist, team or company. Project partners are encouraged and can be sought locally, nationally and internationally.To be eligible you must be passionate about your big idea and committed to delivering the project if successful for funding. Applications will be assessed by a panel of highly regarded industry leaders. During the inaugural Your Big Idea project in 2018, the selection panel selected two winning ideas from Caroline Wales and NORPA. Caroline’s big idea for Ballina’s Pop Up Festival of The Arts, Ballinale, was to convert self-storage units in the Ballina Industrial Estate into immersive interdisciplinary spaces. Arts Northern Rivers Executive Director Peter Wood said Caroline’s Storage-Space Festival idea “was exactly the sort of innovative thinking we were looking for”.“This year it’s great to be encouraging artists to keep producing experimental work and support new creative developments, particularly during COVID-19 and its impacts on the arts and cultural sector,” he said.“We’re looking for a boundary pushing concept, something original and something at the cutting edge of contemporary arts practice.”Applications close on October 12. To apply, visit yourbigideanr.com

Since the Lismore Chamber of Commerce moved to its new office location last week, the organisation’s executive officer Emma Wallace has been smiling.It’s a fresh start for both Emma and the Chamber of Commerce - as the organisation begins its new lease on life in a new Molesworth Street location at MP’s The Meeting Place.Emma too has a new lease on life after a journey through cancer treatment.Read more news: Missing person: Danielle Lander“People were wondering what was happening with the Chamber for a while,” Emma said. “The Chamber’s activities slowed down during Covid, as the committee tried to keep their own businesses afloat.“I was also on a journey of healing and I took a step back as I went through chemotherapy and stem cell treatment for Myloma (a type of blood cancer). It was pretty hard.“The Chamber really supported me through it – but now I love having a workplace in a shared location with other offices in a central location.“I’m back in better health now and I want to bring 100% of my passion for the role of helping local businesses in this beautiful new location. It’s a fresh start to springboard from.”Not only is MP’s a secure space where anyone can rent a room to hold a meeting, or rent an office space when they need it, the building has an accessible ramp at the entrance.Emma said she often sits on the chairs in the shared space and had a meeting with Janelle Saffin on the front lounges last week.“This place is progressive for Lismore,” she said. “This type of space is quite typical in cities and it’s something Lismore needs to be up to date with and the Chamber wants to support that.“Businesses can send their representatives and consultants here too.“It’s a professional place to be in and representative of the level of work we do.“A lot of people ask me: what is the chamber? Now only do we network and hold business events, we also network, advocate and lobby for local businesses.”With the overheads like electricity and internet included in the rent, Emma said the move to the new space was “more effective for us because we work off members’ dues and we wanted to do what was best by them”.Emma is looking forward to MP’s café opening next week and she intends to hold meetings there too.So, what’s coming up in the future for the Chamber of Commerce?“We scaled back our After Hours Business Events because of Covid, but we are looking to hold a business event in October with take home tools for local businesses,” she said. “We also want to highlight the stories of local businesses.“Hopefully it can be a face to face event, it will depend what happens with Covid.”The Lismore Chamber of Commerce is now located at MP's Meeting Place, at 9/105 Molesworth Street (PO Box 1312) Inside MP's kitchen space.

A pilot was taken to hospital with minor injuries this afternoon following a light aircraft crash at the Lismore Regional Airport earlier today.Around lunchtime, a bi-plane landing at the airport was impacted by a cross wind, pushing it off the runway. This caused the aircraft to sink in soft soil and flip.Emergency services attended the scene and the pilot was immediately taken to hospital.The aircraft has been removed from the site and the Lismore Regional Airport has now reopened.

Making good decisions is an artform. A workshop to help rural women with holistic decision-making calls to women on the land in the local area. The workshop is part of a series designed to empower local women, and is run by North Coast Local Land Services in conjunction with Women on the Land.The next workshop takes place in Casino on August 25 and 26, but a prerequisite webinar for the workshop happens tomorrow – August 6 – so you still have time to register and take part.The registration fee is reduced to $44 Through a combination of online and face-to-face training, the two day workshop will introduce participants to the concepts of holistic decision making. You will learn how to apply a holistic framework to your decision-making process.Making good decisions is an artform - and doesn’t come naturally to all people. The process can leave you doubting your choices, feeling uncertain, or incapable of moving forward. Once you’ve made a decision, your choices can go on to impact your family, your farm and your community. So how do you know which decision is the right one for you? Through a combination of online and face-to-face training this 2-day workshop will introduce you to the concepts of holistic decision making. You will learn how to apply a holistic framework to your decision-making process. Empower yourself to make grounded, sound decisions that consider all the influences in your life, leaving little room for ‘decision paralysis’ and resulting in a more confident, capable you. To enrol, visit: https://www.trybooking.com/BKKYG For more information email mindy.greenwood@lls.nsw.gov.au or phone 0405352320

Two patients with Covid-19 are now being cared for at Lismore Base Hospital. Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) director of clinical operations Lynne Weir reported today that one patient, a man in his 60s, is ventilated in Intensive Care, while the other patient, a woman in her 60s, is in a stable condition on the ward. Read more news: Light plane crashes at Lismore Airport“If there are any locations which a confirmed case may have visited that pose a risk of transmission for the community, we will alert the public,” Ms Weir said.The total number of cases in residents of Northern NSW Local Health District remains at 58, with 53 known to have recovered. Of these, only the two cases in hospital are still requiring isolation. All earlier-reported cases are no longer infectious and have been released from isolation. Of the reported cases, 53 acquired the virus overseas or interstate, four from contact with a confirmed case or in a known cluster, and one is unknown. Read more Covid-19 news: Covid patient in Lismore ICU and strict rules for Victorian flightsQueensland closes border to NSWThe news comes on the same day that the Queensland Premier has announced Queensland will shut the border to NSW to control the spread of coronavirus, as of August 8.Exceptions allowed to still cross the border include essential workers such as truck drivers, and those who live in border towns like Tweed Heads. Ms Palaszczuk said exemptions on compassionate grounds would be limited. Queenslanders returning home will be forced into a two-week hotel quarantine and they must return by plane.Stop the spread, wear a mask Ms Weir advised people to wear a mask in situations where it is difficult to stay 1.5 metres away from other people. The advice from NSW Health specifically recommends: The use of face masks in indoor settings where physical distancing is hard to maintain, such as on public transport or in supermarkets; The use of face masks (where practical) in indoor settings with a higher risk of transmission, such as for the staff of hospitality and customer-facing venues i.e. cafes, restaurants, pubs and clubs; and During attendance at places of worship. "Wearing a mask in any of these settings is not mandatory but is highly recommended, especially in areas where there has been community transmission," Ms Weir said."Visitors to hospitals and other public health facilities will be asked to wear a mask upon entering. Masks help us protect ourselves and each other."NSW Health staff are required to wear masks if they are within 1.5 metres of patients to protect the patients. "A mask is not a substitute for physical distancing, and should be used in conjunction with other measures."For more information on mask wearing visit: https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/face- masks Get tested if you have symptoms Ms Weir said more than 40,000 Covid tests have now been done in the NNSWLHD since the pandemic began. “We thank everyone who has already come forward for testing and also those who are taking their personal responsibility seriously by keeping a safe distance from others to help minimise any transmission of the virus,” she said. “We’re reminding the community that anyone with even the mildest of symptoms, such as a runny nose or scratchy throat, should come forward for testing. “You must self-isolate until you receive your test result. Stay at home, and do not go to work or catch public transport until you are cleared of Covid-19.”The Covid-19 testing clinic at Lismore Base Hospital has new opening hours of 9am to 5.30pm daily.There are also GP and pop up clinics in the region. A full list of testing clinics can be found at: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/clinics.aspx CoronavirusSelf-isolationMs Weir said anyone directed to undertake a 14-day self-isolation period must stay in isolation for the full period, even if they test negative. This is because early testing may not detect an early infection, and release from self- isolation based on a negative test could allow an infectious person to infect others in the community. The self-isolation period is 14 days as most people who are infected and develop symptoms will develop symptoms within 14 days of infection. Restricted visiting hours at Lismore Base HospitalMs Weir said while the NNSWLHD has seen relatively low case numbers, “restricted visiting hours remain in place across our facilities to help keep the community and vulnerable patients safe”. “There is currently a limit of one (1) visitor per patient in all our hospitals,” she said. “This person is to be identified by the patient in consultation with their family or carer.”The visiting hours are restricted to between 1pm – 6pm daily. Visits occur in the patient’s room, and are limited to one (1) hour only, once per day. Upon entering a facility, as a precautionary measure, visitors are asked some basic screening questions to make sure they have not been to at-risk areas or in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19. “We appreciate that these measures may cause inconvenience for some hospital patients and visitors, but we thank you in advance for your cooperation,” Ms Weir said.

There’s free fruit, vegetables and bread and the shelves are stocked with groceries at Lismore Food Pantry. The local service which provides food at a low cost to people on Centrelink benefits has now reopened after months of closure months due to Covid restrictions.Every Tuesday, when the Pantry’s food delivery truck arrives loaded up with goodies, it’s up to volunteer coordinators Brian and Diane Perry to make sure the groceries get stacked onto shelves and trestle tables, creating a pop-up mini mart for members to come to once a week.Brian Perry.The Food Pantry operates out the back of the Red Dove Café on Keen Street from 9.30am to 12pm every Thursday. It’s one of 500 similar organisations in NSW and was started by the local Uniting Church as part of its the outreach into the Lismore community.Brian and Diane have been involved since its inception eight years ago.Brian said some produce is donated by local producers, with most of the Food Pantry grocery items purchased at a low price from Food Bank NSW.“Food is donated to the Food Bank by major retailers like Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and Sanitarium under a donor agreement,” Brian said.“We then pass the groceries on to Lismore and the wider community at a very low cost to help the disadvantaged and families in need.“Most of our members are holders of Centrelink and when they join up to the Food Pantry, they get a membership number and card. When they arrive, they get a shopping list and can purchase cheap groceries – at least half the price of the supermarkets.“We put a small mark up on goods to cover costs - we are not allowed to make huge profits and we want to pass the benefits onto the disadvantaged.“We also accept St Vincent De Paul food vouchers as payment.”So how does the Food Pantry work?Many of the grocery items donated to Food Bank have a ‘best before’ date that is nearly expired, or within one month past that date. Brian said he doesn’t keep packaged or canned goods that are more than a month past this date.“I also collect off Aldi every Tuesday,” Brian said. “That’s when I get the frozen or chilled meat that Aldi freezes before the ‘best before’ date has expired. “The bread from Food Bank is also not yet out of date and I tell people to freeze it when they get it home to keep it fresh.“Sometimes donated products may just have incorrect labelling, or an expired promotion on the label – and some have use-by dates that are next year.“Someone at Clunes recently donated custard apples and limes – We are always looking for donations and sourcing things.”What can you get?Brian said the pantry groceries change every week, depending on what has arrived. There’s an assortment of items, from cereal, cow and soy milk, noodles, conditioner, shampoo, toothpaste, pet food, soups, pasta sauce, spreads, jams, muesli bars, sweets, Darrel Lea chocolates, puddings, tea and coffee.“Most people spend about $10-30 when they come and get up to $80 worth of groceries – it’s good value,” he said.“We don’t put individual piece on every line. If someone only has $10, that’s ok.”Brian said a large box of Weetbix cereal only costs $1.35 and a jar of leggos pasta sauce costs $1.46.SchoolsBrian said the Food pantry also supplies some local schools like Kadina and Richmond River High Schools with breakfast items for the kids like fruit, bread, muesli bars, fruit cups and juices.“I also order for our welfare agency upstairs,” he said. “We have people come in every day looking for food items.”Volunteers and demandBrian said since the Lismore Food pantry started, demand for the service grew across the region, and now, there are similar facilities in Mullumbimby, Byron, Casino, Kyogle and Evans Head.“When the Food pantry closed down in March, people were upset because they couldn’t afford to go to supermarkets,” he said.“We do things cheaper than a lot of the others. We have no overheads like electricity – that’s absorbed by the church we are part of here.”Who comes?Brian said the Food Pantry had regular customers, but a lot of the people who come are single mums, pensioners and people out of work.“They come here because it gets them over hump,” he said. “A lot of people who come in are in dire straits. They are sometimes embarrassed about coming in, but they are ok once they get here.“We might get a single mum whose car has blown up and she needs to spend her money on it – so shopping here will keep food in their pantry for the second week of the fortnight.“We are here to help and that’s the main thing.“We’d like to open it up to the general public, but we’d never keep up with demand and the costs would go through the roof.”

"It seems that every generation needs to be told why Black Lives Matter. Here we are again." Professor Marcia Langton Byron Writers' Festival is going online for the first time this year from August 6-8, and this week features a powerful keynote address from Indigenous academic Professor Marcia Langton.Prof Langton, will deliver the Byron Writers Festival 2020 Thea Astley Address, which will be made available by podcast tomorrow, August 5. Professor Langton said "I hope Thea Astley in the other world has watched the last few weeks of the Black Lives Movement and pondered on the history of Palm Island"."When she wrote The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, published in 1996, she could not have imagined that the injustices meted out to the Palm Islanders from 1918 when the settlement was established, to 1957 when the Palm Island strike was savagely put down, and which she fictionalised in her second last novel, would result in a telling instance of how Black Lives Matter in history, in the present and for our future," Prof Langdon said. "She passed on in 2004, the same year as Mulrunji (or Cameron) Doomadgee who died in a police cell on Friday 19 November in an encounter with Sergeant Chris Hurley. Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man, published in 2009, is an account of the events that followed."It seems that every generation needs to be told why Black Lives Matter. Here we are again."Prof Langton’s Thea Astley Address will be released together with a series of free podcasts and video presentations to mark what would have been the 24th annual Festival, regrettably cancelled due to Covid restrictions.Festival Director Edwina Johnson said "ordinarily at this time, we would all be gathering on Bundjalung Country in beautiful Byron Bay for three days of storytelling, conversation and ideas," said . "But of course these are not ordinary times and sadly we will not be able to gather together until August 2021.” Byron Writers Festival's free digital program also includes new Conversations from Byron podcasts to add to those already released over the past couple of months, featuring interviews with writers who would have attended the 2020 Festival.Writer, director and performer Maeve Marsden has curated a special compilation of Queerstories, a national LGBTQI+ storytelling project she has been curating for nearly five years. The Byron edition features tales from local writer Hayley Katzen, activist and Executive Director of change.org Sally Rugg, journalist and Junkee cultural editor Michael Sun, and award-winning author, playwright and poet Ellen van Neerven.   Also in Conversations from Byron, guest curator Sunil Badami talks with playwright S. Shakthidharan about his acclaimed play Counting and Cracking, which swept the prestigious Helpmann Awards in 2019, as well as winning the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.He also talks with political correspondent Annika Smethurst about her book On Secrets, which details her terrifying ordeal of being raided by the AFP and charged under obscure national security laws, and what this might mean for all of us.The digital program also features comedians and writers Jean Kittson and Mandy Nolan discussing Kittson's latest book: We Need To Talk About Mum And Dad. These podcasts are available along with previously released Conversations from Byron podcasts featuring authors Evie Wyld (The Bass Rock), Chris Flynn (Mammoth), Yumna Kassab (The House of Youssef) and Christos Tsiolkas (Damascus) amongst many others. The Festival, in partnership with Southern Cross University is making its popular Secondary and Primary Schools Programs publicly available for the first time. In a series of entertaining sessions filmed for the Festival, audiences can explore talks with Clare Bowditch, Craig Foster, Matt Okine, Vivian Pham, Sally Rugg, Christos Tsiolkas and Ellen van Neerven. The Byron Writers Festival 2020 Thea Astley address by Professor Langton is supported by The Conversation and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. It will be available via podcast on http://wwwbyronwritersfestival.com/digital and the full transcript will be published by The Conversation at theconversation.com.  The new Conversations from Byron podcasts will be available from Wednesday 5 August. The Schools Programs content is available to the public on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August only. Visit http://wwwbyronwritersfestival.com/digital to access the full program.

Lismore Base Hospital staff in the Intensive Care Unit are now caring for one patient who has been confirmed to have COVID-19. A Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) spokesperson said the person in care is one of the couple (both in their 60s) who returned home from Sydney recently – and likely caught the virus after being associated with a series of funeral gatherings and a church service attended by a woman in her 40s from Fairfield in western Sydney.Read more news: UPDATE: Two new COVID-19 cases in the Northern RiversThe couple drove between Sydney and their home before presenting themselves for testing in Byron Bay.The spokesperson said this brings the total number of cases to 58 in the local health district, with only two currently active cases. Strict procedures for Victorian flightsWith concerns escalating about the spread of Covid-19 and the introduction of mandatory mask wearing in Victoria, today NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced new strict procedures for all flights from Victoria. Mr Hazzard announced that a strict permit system is in place for all flights arriving in NSW from Victoria and passengers undergo comprehensive police and health checks upon arrival.“All flights are met by NSW Health staff and police officers to ensure anyone entering NSW complies with the current health orders,” Mr Hazzard said.“There are only limited reasons anyone from Victoria should be entering NSW and people have been turned back despite being allowed on the plane in Melbourne.“Victorian residents are not permitted into NSW at all unless they are needed for specific purposes and even then have to apply for and get a permit.“We are constantly reviewing the situation in Victoria and will adjust the health orders as necessary to protect the people of NSW.”What are the new rules?Anyone who flies into NSW from Victoria must either be a NSW resident or have a relevant permit that allows entry into NSW – that can include: defence officials, doctors and nurses, critical workers in energy, mining and construction, child protection workers and disability workers.All travellers will be provided with a pack of two masks and hand sanitiser by the airlines.Upon arrival into NSW all passengers from Victoria are given masks if they left them on the plane; have their temperature checked; asked relevant questions about their health; and their permit is checked to ensure it complies with the strict permit system.Anyone without a valid permit is referred to NSW Police and taken to the Special Health Accommodation to complete 14 days of quarantine.Home isolationStrict instructions and rules are in place for those going into ‘Home Isolation’ including:Recommended they be collected in a private car by family or friends;Not to use public transport to get home;To only sit in the back seat of a car with the windows open and air conditioning not on recirculation;Told to wear their face masks and observe hand hygiene recommendations ; andCalled to make sure they arrive home.NSW Health is provided the contact details of everyone who enters NSW from Victoria.Police checksNSW Police is conducting regular compliance checks for people told to go into ‘Home Isolation’ as well as responding to reports from the community in relation to suspected breaches.  Over the weekend, NSW Police visited almost 600 homes to check that those that were meant to be self-isolating were doing so.In addition to that, over the same period NSW Police received 374 calls to Crime Stoppers reporting suspected breaches of the health orders, the majority of which were for people suspected of not following self-isolation rules.Personal Infringement Notices - MullumbimbyLast weekend, local police issued a Covid-19 related Personal Infringement in the Mullumbimby area.About 2.45am on Saturday (1 August 2020), officers from Tweed/Byron Police District were called to a house party on Melaleuca Drive, Mullumbimby Creek. Police saw a large number of people inside and outside the house, none of whom were appropriately physically distanced. The 53-year-old male resident told police he was aware there were too many attendees but wasn’t worried because he believes Coronavirus is just a flu.The group was dispersed, and he was subsequently issued a $1000 PIN.

Meeting rugby league great Brad 'Freddy' Fittler at the Lismore PCYC this morning was the highlight for over 50 young people at the newly re-started Fit For Life program.Youth case manager Senior Constable Clare Beek said the NSW Blues State of origin coach was one of the PCYC’s ambassador and they were lucky he could drop by for the pre-school activities.The Fit For Life program has been on hold for a few months due to Covid restrictions, but today, the weekly morning program designed to get disengaged kids back at school, kicked off again.Snr Cons Beek said the program runs every Tuesday, from 7-8am for young people aged 10 to 17 who are at risk of making poor choices, and anti-social behaviour.Activities include basketball, boxing and general fitness workouts - and the young people get breakfast afterwards before they go to school.“Through physical fitness, nutrition and social engagement, Fit For Life aims to improve overall wellbeing as well as prevent and divert youth from offending behaviours and school truancy,” she said.“We have a great boxing coach and we get involved in the boxing too.“It helps to break down the barriers, and build good relationships between the police and young people when they see us join in with them in police uniform.”Brad Fittler, the NSW Blues State of Origin coach, and the former captain of Australia and New South Wales. Snr Cons Beek said if parents or caregivers were interested in having a young person join the program, they should call the PCYC or drop in to fill out the necessary paperwork beforehand.“We need to sign participants up as PCYC members first,” she said. “So it’s important that they come in and let us know they are interested before Tuesday mornings.“We encourage caregivers to drop off the young people at the PCYC by 7am then if they are able to, to pick them up and take them to school afterwards.“We do have limited transport available to take the children to school, but if parents can do it, it is a preferred option – especially if we have lots of participants.“We rely on volunteers helping us out, so it is crucial that people come and talk to us about their needs beforehand."If you are interested in the program, call Lismore PCYC on 02 6621 6276.

Police are seeking community assistance in locating 48 year old David Kassis, wanted by virtue of a conviction warrant. David is known to frequent the Lismore area.Anyone with information regarding David's current whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

Member for Page Kevin Hogan was handing out the love and the dollars to the people of Dunoon today when two significant grants were announced to the Dunoon United Football Club and the Dunoon Mens Shed.Mr Hogan announced a $32,200 grant to build new female change rooms for players and referees.“I am very pleased to be able to support the Club with this funding,” Mr Hogan said. “It will be used to construct a referee room for female match officials and will also provide sun protection.” “Currently there are no facilities and this is a real barrier for female participation.” “I congratulate Dunoon United on this project, it will benefit the club and the whole community.” Dunoon United Football Club Secretary Rob Gatt said the project was very important for the future of the club.  “Giving women their own space will increase female participation for both players and officials,” Mr Gatt said.  "At the moment the referees are sharing a store room which in no way encourages referees which is one of the shortfalls we have""Football Far North Coast wants to encourage female participation and the specific rooms we will be building mean that the women will have a dedicated facility to use for changing" At present there are two change rooms which are shared and have caused awkward moments when there are mens and women's games kicking off at the same time.The new change rooms are being built by local builder Luke Sullivan and is expected to be completed before the end of the year and hopefully by the end of this season.The second grant today was a $9,400 grant for the Dunoon Mens Shed was be used to purchase new tools and build an extension to the existing building.“Men’s Sheds are a vital community assets and play an important role in the lives of many", Mr Hogan said. “This funding has allowed them to purchase new safety equipment, including new safety glasses, earmuffs, welding helmets, gloves and a wall-mounted First Aid Kit.” “They also purchased a new planer, a folding table with clamps, a new grinder and a pedestal drill.”“It is great to see the extension of the shed now complete and being fitted with the new tools.”“The growth of the group is testament to the work they’re doing in our community.”Dunoon Mens Shed President Ross McDougall said the extension allows up to 16 men to utilise the facility at one time, this was from a starting point of 6 people when it opened in 2011."It's main function is for men from the district to come and meet and socialise which is good for mental health plus produce some products for the community", Ross said.Next item on the agenda is a new kitchen for the Dunoon Mens Shed.

As we start our working week under clear blue skies I would like to outline Melbourne's Stage 4 restrictions that serve as a reminder for us all to be aware of how quickly our somewhat normal life can change very quickly.From 6pm last Night Melburnian residents were under a State of Disaster and a State of Emergency. This means that the Victorian Government has introduced their strictest restrictions yet, including;A daily curfew from 8pm to 5am preventing people from leaving their home.All Victorian students have returned to on-line learning.All Melbourne childcare centres will be closed by Thursday.The warning from the Premier was, if Victoria did not take these strict measures now then Stage 3 Restrictions would be in place until the end of the year.That would result in the likely closure of many small businesses.Businesses in Melbourne will operate largely the same for supermarkets, butchers, green grocers, take away food outlets and pharmacies. These businesses may be asked to reduce output which would lead to less shifts to reduce contact between workers. Other businesses will be asked to work from home and if they cannot the business will be asked to close.With Victorian coronavirus cases still at very high levels 671, 397 and 723 plus over 20 deaths this should serve as a reminder that we are not out of the woods in Northern NSW.It is easy to become complacent with the social distancing rules and not being tested if you start to experience COVID like symptoms like a sore throat, cough or runny nose.We don't want to see our local businesses threatened any more than has already happened this year let alone experience more restrictions to our life.

NSW Police has confirmed the skeletal remains found on the state’s far north coast two weeks ago belong to missing Nimbin woman, Thea Liddle, who has not been seen since October last year.Thea Liddle, a 42-year-old microbiology graduate, was last seen in the Mooball area, north of Byron Bay, in northern NSW on October 31. On November 4, Liddle left her ex-partner's property on Tweed Valley Way in Mooball.The former partner had recently been released from hospital, according to police, and Liddle "being the big hearted person she was", went to check in on him from a campsite near Nimbin.Her family, who live in Queensland, reported her missing in January, prompting a large scale investigation into her disappearance.Thea Liddle was known to live a nomadic lifestyle, camping at various locations in the Northern Rivers, which made it difficult for authorities to know where to start their investigation.The Daily Telegraph reported that the breakthrough came in June when Thea Liddle's smartphone data was analysed. From the phone tower her phone activity last "pinged" from, police created a search arc.Combined with local insight, police started a two-day search for campsites in the scrub and sand dunes skirting the Byron Bay coastline. Officers from the Tweed/Byron Police District, the Public Order and Riot Squad and the Dog Unit joined forces for an extensive two-day search of bushland near Tallow Beach Road, Byron Bay, on July 14.On November 15 at 1.20pm, near Tallow Beach and in the shadows of the lighthouse, officers stumbled across a tent. There also was luggage, women's clothing, a library card, mail and a milk carton with the use by date November 7, 2019. Police officers also discovered female human remains. The human remains were identified as Thea Liddle last week.NSW Police said Thea Liddle’s relatives had been informed of the developments and her remains would be returned to her family.State Crime Commander Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said investigators from the Tweed and Byron Police District had been reviewing their initial investigation into Thea Liddle's disappearance under the unsolved homicide framework when they identified information about the Byron Bay bushland where she may have been residing."As a result, a coordinated search was conducted of the area and human remains were located, which were then analysed by forensic experts at NSW Health Pathology," he said."It is this coordinated approach – both within the (police force) and with our partner agencies – that is seeing answers provided to more families and, in many cases, far quicker than we ever have before."The discovery comes ahead of Missing Persons Week, an annual national campaign beginning on Sunday that raises awareness about the issues and impact surrounding missing people.Tweed and Byron Police District Commander Superintendent Dave Roptell said the circumstances of Thea Liddle's death remained under investigation."While the positive identification of these remains is a good result for (detectives) it is also devastating news to Thea’s family and friends," he said."We are urging anyone in the community who may have seen or spoken to Thea in late October or early November last year, in and around the Far North Coast, to please come forward."When Thea Liddle's remains were found last month, Superintendent Roptell said the woman had lived a "very transient lifestyle"."Shifting from place to place, changing campsites often and would opt for places in remote bushland away from the public," he said."It wasn’t uncommon for Thea to travel throughout the Far North Coast."

When COVID tightened its grip in March life as we knew it completely changed including all sport which regional communities like ours thrive on most weekends of the year.July 18 saw the re-birth of local sport then last weekend Far North Coast Football and NRRRL kicked off their shortened seasons.The Lismore App is pleased to announce that Matthew Barlow has joined our team to bring you all the latest sport results over the weekend.(Matt with his sons Jye and Toby)Matthew or Matt is no stranger to local sport having been involved in the North Coast sports industry for 25 years. He has played AFL, Basketball as well as coaching the Lismore Rugby Club.Matt moved to Lismore to complete a Bachelor of Human Movement degree at SCU. He finished his degree, fell in love, got married, had two children and hasn't left like many before him.Currently Matt is employed as the Manager of College Sport at Trinity Catholic College which as Matt says "allows me to enjoy witnessing the positive impact that sport has on young people in our community."He is also a Board Member of the North Coast Academy of Sport and the Lismore Turf Club, Chairman of the Lismore Masters Games, Patron of Lismore and District Netball Association and Tournament Director of the Byron Bay 7's.If that doesn't make you think Matt is adequately qualified to report on local sport, he has previously had the privilege of working on events such as the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the FINA World Swimming Championships in 2007."I love the fact that sport teaches so many things, resilience, teamwork, discipline and leadership and I love giving back to the industry that has brought me so much enjoyment, friendship and fun over many years," Matt said."I look forward to assisting with expanding the coverage of sport in the region."If you would like your sport covered on the Lismore App, get in touch with Matt via email matt@lismoreapp.com.au

With the Lismore Car Boot Market moving to a new location this month, how will the market experience change for stall holders and market goers? What if you want to hold a stall and what do the new covid regulations mean for you? And importantly, what happens if it rains?Creating a market in a new location is like putting together a jigsaw, according to Lismore Car Boot Market manager Marny Bonner.She has taken on the challenge of bringing the popular market back to life after a covid-induced break and said the move from underneath Lismore Shopping Square to Lismore Showgrounds is a massive challenge.“We only made the decision this week to move once we got clarity that it would be too hard to keep holding it under the Square,” she said. “We put in a proposal to Lismore Council and the new location has been approved in principal for three months.”Read more news: Lismore Car Boot Market moves to new locationMarny said one of the major factors in making the move to the Showground was the difficulty of having to fence in the undercover area of Lismore Shopping Square to adhere Covid safety regulations and control the numbers and flow of people entering and exiting the market.Undercover or outdoors?While the new location at the North Lismore Showground has an easier to manage entrance and some large undercover sheds, Marny said not all stall holders will be able to get a space undercover.“There are two sheds and we will give priority to stall holders with products that won’t be good in the sun – like cakes, vinyl records or people who can’t manage putting up a gazebo,” she said.“I will be sending out a survey soon to ascertain people’s needs. Many stall holders prefer to be in the sunshine and they set up in gazebos and do other markets.Survey“The survey will give me the jigsaw pieces I need to create the markets and then I will work to best prioritise and place everyone.“It will take a great deal of work to reengineer the market into a new footprint.”Marny said about 80% of Car Boot Market stall holders have permanent bookings and are used to the stability of arriving at the market knowing they have a pre-booked site, with no queueing at the gate.In order to keep the first market flowing as smoothly as possibly while organisers iron out any kinks in the way it runs, Marny said she will be limiting the number of new stall holders until they work it out.“We already have our staff working as parking marshals managing the off-street parking in a new setting – we can’t be trying to manage casuals on the morning too,” she said.ContactIf you want to be a hold a stall or be part of the stall holder survey, make sure you contact the team soon by email lismorecarboot@gmail.com or phone 0437 995 859.Social distancingMarny and her team have also taken on the challenge of creating spaces for stall holders that follow Covid regulations of distance, as well as allowing for customer traffic flow.“We need to allow more space between stalls for social distancing,” she said. “So, when we create a four by four metre stall space, if a marquee is three metres wide, there will be a half metre either side of it.“Covid requirements also say the side walls of a marquee must be down.”Marny said the sheds in the showground also present challenges because they have poles that she has to navigate when laying out stall spaces.UnpredictableThe outdoor nature of the new market also means what the weather is doing could potentially change whether the market will be on or not.“Now we’ve gone from being one of the most predictable markets on the North Coast to being just as affected by the rain and weather as all the other markets,” Marny said.Stall holders“All stall holders will be given an information sheet on how they need to comply with covid regulations and they will be sold a bottle of hand sanitiser if they haven’t brought one for their stall,” Marny said.“Stall holders must also be mindful of maintain 1.5 metres between customers. They are encouraged to mark the ground in front of them at 1.5 metre distances.“Stalls with queues need to be placed in a way that the serving side of stall is not projecting out too.Community“It’s a huge mission to get traders up and running and pull our community back together again – the hardest thing is not being able to hug each other.“People who had neighbouring stalls for years are missing seeing each other.”Manry said Robyn Kelly, the organiser of the Channon Craft Market, was the first to identify how huge the changes to markets were going to be.“She called all the other market organisers up to form a collective and make sure we are on the same page,” she said. “It’s such a blessing and a wonderful aspect of our North Coast community.“It’s one of the positives coming out of this. We’ve all already had three zoom meetings and a meeting, where public health officers from Byron and Lismore Councils attended to help guide us.The futureThis Sunday, August 2, Byron Bay Market is the first cab off the rank as our regional markets open up again.Marny said if there are any Covid regulation or weather changes in the lead up to the Lismore Car Boot Market on August 16, she will update the Lismore Car Boot Market Facebook page. The market phone (0437 995 859) will also have a recorded message with information.

As we head into August we also head into more weekend activity with some of the major markets back in operation.You may have read that the Lismore Car Boot Markets are moving temporarily to the Lismore Showgrounds with their first market since March on Sunday August 16. The Channon Markets will be the first to open their gates next Sunday August 9 while the Nimbin Markets have not confirmed a date yet.(Lismore Car Boot Markets pre-COVID)Tomorrow morning the Lismore Farmers Markets are are on at the showground from 8am to 11am with loads of fresh fruit and Veg while the Blue Knob Markets are on from 8:30am to 11.The weather for the weekend will be fine unlike last weekends heavy rain. The mornings will be cool with 3-4 as minimums and the maximums a comfortable 19 to 21 degrees Weather.This information will please those that are running the various sporting bodies in the region.The Lismore app welcomes Matthew (Matt) Barlow on board as our new Sports Editor from this weekend. You can read more about Matt tomorrow morning in News.The Marist Brothers Rams will tackle last years Premiers on Sunday at Crozier Field at 3pm in what will be a litmus test for coach Mark Sivewright's boys after their last minute win over Casino last week. Northern United also have a tough contest as they travel to Cudgen on Sunday.Richmond Rovers and Lismore Thistles do battle at Nielsen park tomorrow at 3pm while Goonellabah take on South Lismore at Western Park, Goonellabah on Sunday with kick-off at 2:30pm.After a bit of a touch up last weekend Lismore City play Bangalow at home tomorrow with kick off at 3:15. All lower grades are at home as well.See Sport for a full roundup of your sport on Sunday afternoon or Monday Sport.Petrol prices have not moved in weeks with the cheapest E10 Unleaded at United on Ballina Road with 112.9 while diesel has three locations including United, Liberty on Ballina Road and the Shell station on Wilson Street, South Lismore.Let's end the week with a few funnies, as usual;

A new play area at Clunes Public School has brought a new world to students in wheelchairs.Not only is the play area accessible to students in wheelchairs, it is sheltered from the weather, has soft fall rubber on the ground and includes low level climbing and play equipment for the students. The play area project was funded with $15,000 from the Federal Government Local Schools Community Fund. This week, Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan joined school students to officially open the play area. “This is a fantastic new facility that will be used by the whole community,” Mr Hogan said.  “These upgrades mean the playground is now safe, durable and suitable for all students at the school.”  Clunes Public School Principal Michelle Slee was excited to see the playground opened today.  “This is an inclusive playground that all students of age and ability can use together,” Mrs Slee said.  The Local Schools Community Fund was open to all schools. For future rounds, visit https://schools.education.gov.au/ to apply.