In a stunning repudiation of Donald Trump and the Republican Party he remade in his image, US voters have chosen alternative candidates across the country in midterm elections.

The NSW Environment Awards, hosted by the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, Nature Conservation Council NSW, was recently held at Customs House in Sydney.

Robin Harrison, aka Professor Cuddlebumps and Apprentice Earth Wizard, was a much-loved figure and friend to many in the Caldera and Byron Shire. He was a performer, an activist, a change maker and sustainability advocate extraordinaire.

Environmental protections and tighter housing controls are proposed for a disputed Hastings Point development site, following a court decision allowing its subdivision.

The arts are an essential industry. We need artists as much as we need accountants. We need dancers as much as we need doctors. We need comedians as much as we need civil engineers. We need filmmakers as much as we need financial planners. We need musicians as much as we need ministers.

Most of us would struggle to squeeze a lifetime into seven minutes. Seven local women are about to give it a go, with stories of what they have survived along the way.