DEAR Jasminda, EVERY time I go to the beach there is a sea of bums. Everyone under the age of about 20 (and some well over) are jiggling around in g-strings. Is this acceptable? Francis P. Dear Francis, Acceptable is a strange word in these times. It also depends on who you are talking to. There

OSCAR season is upon us, and that means a deluge of dramas built around powerhouse performances, all hoping for a chance at a golden statue or two. A top contender for “Best Foreign” in a few categories is I’m Still Here, a historical biopic of Eunice Paiva, a political activist whose

DEAR News Of The Area, A RESPONSE to ‘The great shark debate’ article in the 14 February edition. Recently an Eden-based professional fisherman long lining for gummy sharks (flake) caught seven boxes i.e. 224kg and 60, yes 60, great whites… all 6-8 ft. This did considerable damage to the 10-plus km of

DEAR News Of The Area, THE week before Christmas, my husband David and I were shopping at Woolworths in Lake Cathie when a young lady gently tapped my hand and said, “Please, let me pay.” In all my years, I have never experienced such an act of kindness. I was so overwhelmed that

DEAR News Of The Area, I’D just like to offer a correction to Louise Cranny’s recent letter on the growth rates of trees and their potential carbon storage. As approximately half of the dry weight of a tree is carbon, its capacity to draw in carbon via photosynthesis is indeed important

DEAR News Of The Area, EMINENT scientists have estimated $25 billion of Australian coastal property is under threat from erosion caused by climate change fueled storm surges and they are advocating a staged retreat from development in coastal hazard zones. Professor David Kennedy has been quoted saying that Australians will

DEAR News Of The Area, THE Commonwealth Bank may have promised it won't close any regional branches before July 2027. This followed Treasurer Jim Chalmers making a pre-election promise with Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh, who like him was a Labor Party politician from Queensland. But how much confidence can we

MY first trip by air was with Butler Airways on a Douglas DC3 from Mascot to Burren Junction. A tail dragger aircraft of WW2 vintage to a bush, gravel surfaced airstrip. I loved it. Many years later I obtained a private pilot’s license at Tamworth after doing the bookwork part

DEAR News Of The Area, NED Cowie's piece on the problem of free campers (14/2/25) is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to this continual annoyance. The free camping community already knows that the Nambucca area is not policed in any way, hence why this is now a problem, and

DEAR News Of The Area, RECENTLY I was bushwalking along Tuckers Rock Road in Bongil Bongil National Park, south of Coffs Harbour, with my bushwalking group when an SUV with Queensland number plates pulled up beside us with all its windows down and its four occupants looking out. I thought, “That’s