Latest News
Celebrating the life of Uncle Gordon Johnson 31/8/1950 – 26/1/2023
Pastor Uncle Gordon Johnson died peacefully on January 26. A celebration of his life will take place this Saturday, 11 February at the Mullumbimby Showground.
Other News
Interview with Steve Earle
Steve Earle is not a fluffball of peace, light and unicorns, though he wears his heart on his sleeve – and his jacket and his jeans. It can get messy. And at 68 his work isn’t getting any fluffier. Husband to six wives (one twice-married) and with three sons (his firstborn, Justin Towns Earle, died tragically in 2020), telling it like it is, both personally and professionally makes his work some of the most important in modern music history – Seven recently spoke to Steve at home in New York about life and his preparations for Bluesfest.
The Banshees of Inisherin
At the tail end of the Irish Civil War in 1923, on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, folk musician Colm Doherty abruptly begins ignoring his lifelong friend and drinking buddy Pádraic Súilleabháin
Flood rebuilds hampered by ‘like-for-like’ insurance clause
Attempts by flood-affected homeowners to retrofit their homes with flood-resilient materials are being cruelled by insurance companies and builders, a local resident says.
Tamara Smith promises CCTV for Ballina CBD
Greens Ballina MP Tamara Smith says that if re-elected next month she is committed to funding CCTV cameras to help police combat a worsening crime situation in Ballina's CBD.
Cartoon of the week – 8 February 2023
The Echo loves your letters and is proud to provide a community forum on the issues that matter most to our readers and the people of the NSW north coast. So don’t be a passive reader, send us your epistles.
Ballina hosts Far North Coast swimming carnival
The Ballina RSL Swimming Club combined with Grafton and hosted the Far North Coast Zone Carnival at the Ballina...
Stories about "Facebook debate":
The darker side of community and social media
It was Sunday night in Byron Shire and, as usual, a Facebook debate was raging. An opinion piece by Echo columnist Mandy Nolan about a sexualised image on a children’s carnival ride had become the subject of a series of vitriolic posts.
Local News
Helicopters, dogs and the police four day cannabis raid
While we get the hemp industry going on the Northern Rivers and the plant is legal in many countries across the world the police have once again headed out with their choppers and dogs to curb the cannabis cultivation that the region is known for.
Local News
$945 or $45,500 – what is the value of a tree In Kingscliff?
Aslan Shand - 1
Dr Firth questions arborists' valuation of a paperbark tree to be removed for Kingscliff development and says the council needs to 'establish a reasonable standard of tree valuation'.
Political Comment
Remembering the latest victim of domestic violence, killed by a man on bail
I granted bail to men who then killed. I refused bail to several who did not last 24 hours behind bars – shot, stabbed, hanged or drowned in their own vomit.
Byron Echo
Bruns fig tree slated for the chop gets reprieve
Paul Bibby - 5
A much-loved fig tree next to the Brunswick Heads boat harbour has been saved from destruction – for now – by the quick thinking of a local activist.