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Top Students The Bee’s Knees For NSW Spelling Finals

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Top Students The Bee’s Knees For NSW Spelling Finals

 

Two North Coast public school students have been named the State’s top spellers, beating almost 200,000 of their peers to make it to the NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee finals.

Year 5 students Aleea Thompson from Mullumbimby Public School and Willow Allen from Yamba Public School will take to the Q Theatre Penrith mic on Friday 1 November and compete for Spelling Bee senior state champion.

The State final will be contested by 30 students in Years 3 and 4 (junior) and 30 students in Years 5 and 6 (senior).

More than 1800 students competed in 60 regional finals over a 10-day period to reach the 2024 State finals. Of these, 303 students (200 juniors and 103 seniors) speak a language other than English at home, and 95 students (46 juniors and 49 seniors) identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

Students spelled their way into the finals with words such as ‘fascinate’, ‘anemometer’, ‘allegory’ and ‘sovereign’.

Arts Unit Premier’s Spelling Bee Support Officer Desiree Lane said the 2024 Spelling Bee’s enrolment increased by almost 10 percent on last year with nearly two-thirds of NSW public primary schools competing.

“This year we’ve had a noticeably lower number of withdrawals from the Bee, which suggests the new Zoom format we’ve implemented is making it easier for schools to participate, especially in rural and remote areas,” Ms Lane said.

“We had a starting pool of just under 200,000 participating students with the most remote student from Broken Hill.

“In November we’ll have finalists travelling into Sydney from as far away as Temora, Dungowan, Griffith and Mullumbimby, so the state is well represented.”

Yamba Public School in northern NSW has had students compete in the finals five times in the past eight years.

“Yamba has a history of strong spellers, and Year 5 finalist Willow Allen is no exception,” Ms Lane said.

This year’s competition will also see the return of 2023 junior finalists, Year 4 student Bobby (Bogdan) Ivaneza from Annandale Public School and Year 5 Coonabarabran Public School student, William Weatherall, who both qualified for this year’s senior final.

The Spelling Bee encourages students to improve their vocabulary and spelling and to promote literacy skills in combination with the English K-6 Syllabus.

To compete at the regional final a student must have won their school spelling bee.

The 2024 NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee is proudly supported by Major Sponsor Grok Academy, Supporters, Primary English Teaching Association Australia, ABC Radio Sydney and ACCO Brands Australia, and Word List Partner Macquarie Dictionary.  

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“Australian lightweight champion from lil ol’ Swan Bay”

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Sunny McLean with his coach, Scott Smith. Boxing Northern Rivers News
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“Australian lightweight champion from lil ol’ Swan Bay”

 

By Samantha Elley

Maddog boxing’s Sunny McLean has been going from strength to strength this past year, grabbing titles from each of the events he has been fighting in.

Sunny McLean and his coach, Scott Smith, who runs Maddox Boxing, were recently picked to represent Queensland as the fighter and coach team to compete in the national titles in Gosford.

Sunny won all his elimination bouts and beat the NSW champion in the gold medal fight, to become the newly crowned Australian champion in the lightweight division.

They were surprised with a visit from Jason and Andrew Moloney, world champion professional boxers.

“Every state in Australia was there with all the best fighters and the (Moloney brothers) came to support us, so we felt so special,” said Scott.

“They came to help me prepare Sunny for his last two fights in this event.”

Sunny was competing for Queensland as he already holds the title of QLD/NSW interstate champion.

“His first opponent, the referee stopped the fight in the 3rd round,” said Scott.

“His second opponent was the favourite from Tasmania and Sunny won that fight to go through for the gold medal against the NSW champion.

“Andy (co-trainer) and I worked out a plan to beat him and Sunny did exactly what he was asked and never last control of the situation.

“He is now the Australian lightweight champion from lil ol Swan Bay.”

 

For more local news, click here.

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LISMORE MAYOR ELECTED NEW CHAIR OF REGIONAL CITIES NSW

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LISMORE MAYOR ELECTED NEW CHAIR OF REGIONAL CITIES NSW
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LISMORE MAYOR ELECTED NEW CHAIR OF REGIONAL CITIES NSW

Regional Cities New South Wales (RCNSW) has elected a new Chair and Deputy Chair for a two-year term.

Lismore City Council Mayor, Cr Steve Krieg was elected as Chair and Cr Russell Webb, Mayor of Tamworth Regional Council, was re-elected Deputy Chair at a board meeting in Sydney yesterday.

Steve Krieg

Steve Krieg the new Chair of NSW Regional Cities

The new leadership will lead the organisation post-NSW local government elections, which took place in September.

Cr Krieg said he was proud to lead Regional Cities New South Wales as it advocated for a fair share of investment and population growth to ensure regional cities continued to thrive.

“Regional Cities New South Wales is an important advocate for its members and has a proven track record as a valuable partner for the State Government,” Cr Krieg said.

“I am passionate about the work of Regional Cities NSW. Our members are a similar size and are facing similar issues. Together, we are stronger.

“We have much work to do as we are on the frontline of change in New South Wales. This includes growing populations, energy transition and climate impacts.

“Our cities are also highly liveable and we know regional living is on the minds of many Sydneysiders. We want our cities to retain their liveability as new residents continue to make the move.

“As chair, I will be a strong voice for our member cities as we meet these opportunities.”

Cr Webb retained his position as Deputy Chair.

“I’m very happy to be reappointed as Deputy Chair,” Cr Webb said. “It has been fantastic working with Mayors, General Managers and CEOs of Regional Cities New South Wales.”

“Cr Krieg will lead us in the right direction and I am looking forward to working in partnership as we continue to build our strong network of relationships in Macquarie Street,” Cr Webb said.

Cr Krieg also noted the work of Cr Mathew Dickerson, who stepped down as Chair after the New South Wales local government elections.

“Cr Dickerson has left a great legacy as I take the reins of Regional Cities NSW,” Cr Krieg said.

“Cr Dickerson has led us through the many challenges we have encountered over the past few years, particularly as our members faced natural disasters, housing availability and growing skills shortages.

“Regional cities have received key support in these areas due to his leadership and advocacy. There is still much to do, but the impacts in these areas have been meaningful for our communities,” Cr Krieg concluded.

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Detectives release CCTV appeal following ram raids and arsons of Northern NSW tobacconists

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Detectives release CCTV appeal following ram raids and arsons of Northern NSW tobacconists

PLEASE NOTE: CCTV vision of the ram raids vehicle of interest is available via Hightail – https://spaces.hightail.com/receive/RhBnymtkWg

© State of NSW (NSW Police Force). For editorial use only. No sublicensing of any NSW Police Force supplied image or footage allowed on a standalone basis without the express written consent of NSW Police Force. NSW Police Force attribution notice and logo to be retained on all copies of supplied images or footage with the moral rights to no false attribution and of integrity in all its images and footage asserted.

Financial Crime Squad detectives have released CCTV as they appeal for information following the ram raid and arson of two tobacconists in Northern NSW.

About 4.30am on Sunday 22 September 2024, police were called to a tobacconist on Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads South, following reports of a crash.

Officers attached to Tweed/Byron Police District arrived to find a Toyota Corolla sedan, believed to have been stolen from Queensland, driven into a tobacconist, before two unknown males entered the business destroying several displays and stealing large amounts of cigarettes.

A crime scene was established, and police commenced an investigation into the incident.

A month later, about 2.40am on Tuesday 22 October, police were called to the same tobacconist, following reports a car had driven into a neighbouring business.

Police arrived to find a MG SUV had driven into the store – as bollards had been placed in front of the tobacconist – before two unknown men poured fuel inside the business and fled without setting it alight.

A crime scene was established, and police commenced an investigation into the incident.

About 3.30am the next day (Wednesday 23 October 2024), emergency services were called to River Street in Ballina, following reports of a building fire.

On arrival, officers attached to Richmond Police District located a silver Mercedes sedan inside the shopfront of a tobacconist, well alight.

Police were told the sedan drove into the business before the vehicle caught fire, with the occupants of the vehicle leaving the scene prior to police arrival.

Fire and Rescue NSW attended and extinguished the blaze; however, the building was extensively damaged.

Surrounding units were evacuated and two other vehicles were damaged by the blaze.

No injuries have been reported as a result of the incident.

A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the incident has commenced.

Following initial investigations linking all three incidents, detectives attached to State Crime Command’s Financial Crime Squad’s Arson Unit commenced Strike Force Albany to investigate the incidents.

As part of investigations, strike force detectives have released CCTV of the two ram raids at the Tweed Heads South tobacconist.

Detectives are also hoping to speak to the driver and passengers of a dark coloured sedan seen leaving the scene of the second ram raid.

Anyone with information about any of the incidents are urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.

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