Almost a quarter of the Northern Rivers can’t access the places most people take for granted, like our beaches, parks, and public toilets. That’s a significant chunk of the population.
This week we sadly publish the last of Mungo MacCallum’s puzzles. Before he died in 2020 Mungo compiled a large archive of crosswords for The Echo.
There is something strange going on with youth crime in rural and regional Australia. Normally, I treat hysterical rising delinquency claims with a pinch of salt – explicable by an increase in police numbers, or a headline-chasing tabloid, or a right-wing politician.
A very proactive Minns Labor government will celebrate one year in government with a massive investment of $1.8 billion in renewable energy to get it back on track. Another great initiative with the establishment of the Energy Security Corporation...
For those that do not know, RSL stands for Returned and Services League Australia. An independent support organisation for people who have served in, or are serving in, the Australian Defence Force. Its legal status – charity. It advocates for...
According to David Shoebridge of the Greens in a recent sitting in the senate, the UN has named Australia as one of a number of countries supplying weapons to Israel, albeit a minor supplier. He stated that some government...
It takes the death of an Aussie, Zomi Frankcom, to remind Prime Minister Albanese that murdering aid workers is not kosher. After all, in Australia’s calculus one Aussie death outweighs the 33,037 Gazans killed, 454 killed in the West...
Mandy Nolan might be surprised to discover how many women of all political persuasions, feminists or not, are alarmed at what we see as the erosion of very hard-won women’s rights. Even our language is being changed to accommodate a...
The wall supporting the western end of Deacon Street has failed – opposite the Roman Catholic Church. Fortunately, this type of wall usually collapses slowly. Byron Shire Council have discounted my concern (I am a retired L.G. engineer) ignoring the...
Living in Byron Shire the majority of people continue to ask why is this organisation continuously letting this community down as far as representing their best interest. The main reason is the committees that are formed to represent the best...
I along with the Israeli and Jewish community in general mourn with the rest of the world for the tragic loss of the seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen when the Israeli Defence Force mistakenly targeted the...
The ABC news and Guardian recently published reports of the potential return of La Niña in 2024 bringing similar rain to 2022. We just experienced 100mm of rain and had streets and local roads blocked. We have seen no significant clearing...
Elimination by people-power voting is necessary to remove dictators from Russia, Israel, China, Iran, wannabe (again!) North Korea, to avoid what is heading toward WWIII. It is getting scary and at my age, I don’t want to go through...
A new flea market will launch this Saturday, April 13 from 8am until 2pm at the Mullum Community College campus.
Bad weather on the weekend only served to highlight an ongoing drainage problem in New Brighton, with residents incredulous at Council’s plan to create dozens of new car parking spaces, yet they can’t, or won’t, fix the drainage problem.
A new group in Mullumbimby has formed to help settle a Syrian refugee family in the area within the next few months.
I’m surprised to see that when you drive from Bangalow to Lismore via Clunes and Bexhill the speed limit goes from 80km/h up to 100km/h on these windy roads. But Hinterland Way, which was the Pacific Highway when I...
While reading Michal Schiff’s letter (Echo 3 Apr) I am reminded of the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart’s request for truth telling as a fundamental step toward historical healing. As a descendant of white colonial rule in Australia we also...
Byron Council will cease providing out of school hours care (OSHC) in the shire after deciding that the cost and regulatory burden is too great to bear.
The Byron Arts & Industry Estate would expand onto the other side of Ewingsdale Road under a new project before Byron Council which is currently on public exhibition.
I’ve hesitated to weigh in on the ongoing debate about Gaza and Israel, but Michal Schiff’s pain over the apparent tenor of the recent ‘Politics in the Pub’ in Mullum’s RSL (Echo 3 Apr)pushes me into it. How many...
Surya McEwen has volunteered on Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s voyage to take 5,500 tonnes of food and medicine to the Palestinian people, in one of the most dangerous war-torn parts of the planet.
Construction work on the Shire’s first permanent group home for women and children in housing stress could begin within months, after the project was formally approved by Byron Council.
An update on closed-door deals around the controversial Wallum development by Mayor Michael Lyon has been criticised as not providing any commitment, trading one endangered species for another, while also ignoring the input from the Save Wallum group.
It is difficult in the current situation to see Israel as anything but a malignant force in the world. Yes Israel has the right to defend itself but that does not give it the licence to commit genocide which...
