It hit me like a lightning strike. It was the latex gloves that did it. Those pale blue five fingered clinical sheaths made me want to vomit. Last Tuesday, having just been repatriated from my time on the Global Sumud Flotilla, I was at Tweed Valley Hospital getting a forensic medical examination for my sexual assault at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces.

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.

Nurses working at emergency departments (ED) across the state are continuing to feel the effects of increased presentations and very unwell people coming through their doors, with the latest health snapshot painting a worrying picture of NSW public hospitals.

Without an inch or even a centimetre to spare, the Byron Bowling club was dressed up to the nines and packed with funsters on Saturday evening for The Echo's 40th Anniversary & Awards Celebration.

Eclectic Selection: What’s on this week is a taste of some of the events that can be found in the Byron Shire and beyond this coming week.

Tweed Shire Council is appealing for community help after a spate of deliberate destruction of trees on public land across the Tweed, including the poisoning of mature Norfolk pines at Cabarita Beach and damage to established trees at a local cemetery.