The Blacks Drain crossing on Tweed Valley Way at South Murwillumbah has fully reopened after a $2.56 million rebuild designed to reduce the risk of another washout.

Repeated acts of graffiti vandalism at Norries Head and throughout Cabarita Beach, are drawing interest from the police and Tweed Shire Council.

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.

In Michelle Anderson’s Kanpala, circles of red, orange and yellow bring a place in Western Australia’s Spinifex Country into view. It’s a place she returns to often in paint: Kanpa, the Country where her grandmother was born.

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.

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.