Volume 24

... and four people plus an event were chosen to be Centralian achievers for 2018.

A supposedly transparent town council, under pressure from the Department of Local Government, drops a proposal to let rate payers have a say on how $528,000 a year, no longer needed for paying off the civic centre, could be spent for the community. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. PHOTO: Cr Paterson (left) and Cr Melky.

Are we being distracted from the real issues by the LGBT thing, the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and maybe the next taxi off the block is going to be a recycling of the monarchy or republic debate, asks HAL DUELL (pictured).

The candid response from the Chief Minister's Department yesterday to questions from the Alice Springs News Online has made two things crystal clear. COMMENT by ERWIN CHLANDA. 

See the cartoon!

In the row over fracking, what does “social licence to operate” mean? A Social Impact Assessment doesn't make it clear, says NT FrackFree. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. VIDEO: Consultation with a surprise in Alice Springs last year: Anti fracking campaigner Jimmy Cocking moved an unscheduled motion during a meting called by Judge Pepper.  

UPDATE 4:45 pm: Replies from the Hydraulic Fracturing Taskforce, Department of the Chief Minister: The social licence is symbolic and has no legal power.

 
Leah Bateman, a 17-year-old Saint Philip’s College student, is one of four young Australian singers who have just spent a week at the Sydney Opera House, after winning a highly sought after Opera Australia Regional Student Scholarship.

Remember the architecture students who came through Alice in July on their coast-to-coast cycling trip across the country? Well, they made it. OWEN KELLY and BOBBIE BAYLEY give us an overview of the lessons learned on this odyssey.

The Chief Minister has "compromised the safety of Territorians yet again" by covering up another escape, this time from December 2017. "This is a major public safety concern," writes Gary Higgins (pictured), Leader of the Opposition.

UPDATE January 22:

Alcohol related crime in Alice Springs has sky-rocketed: The Banned Drinkers Register is useless and cops at bottle shops need to be brought back, writes Robyn Lambley, Independent Member for Araluen.

Sweet Country, Alice Springs film maker Warwick Thornton’s second feature shot in Arrernte country, is both beautiful and disturbing, taking a resolute stance around the significance of “witness”, writes PIP McMANUS who was at the Alice Springs preview. Pictured is actor Hamilton Morris.

TED EGAN is writing a book about him and looking for photos.