Have you ever enjoyed a beer or a glass of wine? While for some religious groups it is banned, and I respect their choice, I also expect my choice to enjoy a glass of red to be respected.

While there will surely be an afterglow of good will towards local National Party MLC Ben Franklin for securing the Shire $25m in road and infrastructure funding, it should be pointed out where his government is taking us when it comes to the energy sector.

Ben Mallinson was paddling for a routine right-breaking wave at The Pass when the dark-haired surfer suddenly cut across in front of him from the outside.

This will be the year of the jab. And in from Byron Shire, that poses some interesting questions.

January 26. A conflicting date for many Australians. For some, this date reflects over 200 years of destruction and denigration of our traditional customs, values, languages, and cultural landscapes.

The judge’s gavel has fallen on one of the two DAs for a major housing development at West Byron, setting in stone the proposal from Tower Holdings to create 149 housing lots on the much fought-over site.

It’s 6am, the sun is only just nudging its way through the clouds. I am up early to write my Soapbox. I was going to write on something else, but this morning when I woke and stumbled to my desk I saw my open diary: 22 January, Michael’s birthday. He would have been 61 today.

‘With regret, I have decided to reverse my decision to accept my appointment as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia’.