March 5, 2026
North Arm Cove local walks for suicide prevention Biljana with friend and supporter Tammy on the long road into North Arm Cove. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe.
Health

North Arm Cove local walks for suicide prevention

Biljana with friend and supporter Tammy on the long road into North Arm Cove. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. Biljana’s late daughter Iskra also volunteered for Lifeline. Photo: B. Soleil. BILJANA Soleil has supported Lifeline’s suicide prevention program by undertaking the “Out Of The Shadows’ trek in North Arm Cove. The Walk was first conceived as a […]

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Hunter researcher develops breakthrough IVF technology Newcastle Permanent’s Paul Juergens, Honeysuckle Health CEO and Dr Swegen’s Program Coach Rhod McKensey, Dr Aleona Swegen, HMRI CEO and Institute Director Professor Frances Kay. Photo: supplied.
Health

Hunter researcher develops breakthrough IVF technology

UNIVERSITY of Newcastle researcher Dr Aleona Swegen, a member of the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Infertility and Reproduction Research Program, is driving a breakthrough in fertility treatment. Dr Sewgan has secured $200,000 from the inaugural Newcastle Permanent Innovation Accelerator Program for her technology, SpermSafe. Dr Swegen created SpermSafe as a storage medium that improves survival […]

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Drainage reserve smothered by thick azolla bloom
Health

Drainage reserve smothered by thick azolla bloom

The azolla mat moves in the wind, giving stark contrast to the areas it covers. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. Waterbirds like this local black swan seem to eat the azolla, but it may carry pollutants harmful to them. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. The most affected area is a drainage reserve designed to capture run-off from the nearby […]

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Hunter hospitals rolling-out safe staffing in EDs Recruitment for more nurses is underway. File photo.
Community, Health

Hunter hospitals rolling-out safe staffing in EDs

TWENTY-SEVEN more hospitals across NSW are rolling-out safe staffing levels in their emergency departments. In the broader Hunter region these include Manning Base Hospital, Maitland Hospital and John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. This brings to 40 the number of hospitals across the state that have started operating with safe staffing levels as a result of […]

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Appeal to find missing man Scott Hayden
Community, Health, Police

Appeal to find missing man Scott Hayden

THE family of Tinonee resident Scott Hayden is pleading for the public’s help to help locate the missing 46-year-old. Scott was last seen on the evening of 30 May in his car on Thunderbolts Way, Tibbuc. The vehicle was found abandoned the following day, parked on the side of the road near Tibbuc Road. The […]

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Progress Association cleans up public facilities in Tea Gardens
Community, Health

Progress Association cleans up public facilities in Tea Gardens

Unseemly graffiti was painstakingly removed from inside the public toilets. This mural was defaced and has since been rejuvenated. The men’s room door is solid and impenetrable again. MEMBERS of the Hawks Nest Tea Gardens Progress Association (HNTGPA) have dug in to keep their area beautiful and liveable, attacking several projects of late in collaboration […]

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Increased rate of NSW adults getting sunburnt The report found more than 80 percent of respondents used at least one form of sun protection.
Health

Increased rate of NSW adults getting sunburnt

ALMOST one million adults across the state were sunburnt at least once over a four-week period, according to a new report from the Cancer Institute NSW. The “Sun Protection Behaviours Report”, released last week, shows 15 percent of people surveyed reported being sunburnt, up from 12 percent in the previous report. The research analyses data […]

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Probus members aiming to live long with healthy eating and exercise President Barb with 10-year pin recipients: Sue and Grant Hickey, and Margaret and Noel Jones.
Community, Health

Probus members aiming to live long with healthy eating and exercise

Probus President Barb Smith with new member Lynne Bradbury. President Barb with 10-year pin recipients: Sue and Grant Hickey, and Margaret and Noel Jones. Guest speaker and mobile physiotherapist Alan Johns from Myall Physiotherapy. MEMBERS and visitors of the Hawks Nest and District Probus club braved capricious winter weather on 4 July to hear some […]

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Thursday Walkers group continue to explore across the Hunter Feed time at the wetlands centre at Shortland on 5 June. Photo: Bea Watkins.
Community, Health

Thursday Walkers group continue to explore across the Hunter

Feed time at the wetlands centre at Shortland on 5 June. Photo: Bea Watkins. Across Tilligery Creek on 12 June. Photo: Robyn Thompson. Puddle Jumping at North Arm Cove on 19 June. Photo: Bea Watkins. The long ‘up’ along the Trolley Trail on Alum Mountain on 26 June. Photo: Rebecca Jacobs. THE inexorable Thursday Walkers […]

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Progress Association to map defibrillator locations The AED outside Hawks Nest IGA is available 24/7.
Community, Health

Progress Association to map defibrillator locations

Kelly Pietsch instructing local tennis club members how to use their new device. The AED in Tea Gardens Coles is only available during business hours. The AED outside Hawks Nest IGA is available 24/7. An external AED between the new and old buildings at Hawks Nest Community Centre is also available 24/7. PROGRESS is being […]

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