Federal grant funding of up to $70,000 is available for local agricultural shows and field days. The grants are being made available to support local show societies and organising committees who had their events cancelled last year because of COVID-19. Small ag shows and field days who had up to 1999 attendees pre COVID can apply for grants up to $10,000, medium ag shows and field days with between 2000 to 4999 attendees can up for up to $15,000, and large ag shows and field days with 5000 attendees and up can apply for up to $70,000. Applications under round two of the Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days program are open to February 17, 2022. Federal Member for Lyne Dr David Gillespie said eligible applicants would be able to claim for expenditure incurred last year. "For events cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, there is funding available, depending on the size of your event," Dr Gillespie said. "I know we're all looking forward to attending local shows again, after so many were cancelled last year. "Not only are these events essential for supporting our small businesses, they're a platform for innovators and entrepreneurs, as well as a great day out for all of us," Dr Gillespie said. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: Did you know? Manning River Times online subscribers not only have 24/7 access to local and national news, sport, what's on and entertainment - they also have access to our print editions in digital format, with all the advertisements and classifieds at their fingertips.
Federal grant funding of up to $70,000 is available for local agricultural shows and field days.
The grants are being made available to support local show societies and organising committees who had their events cancelled last year because of COVID-19.
Small ag shows and field days who had up to 1999 attendees pre COVID can apply for grants up to $10,000, medium ag shows and field days with between 2000 to 4999 attendees can up for up to $15,000, and large ag shows and field days with 5000 attendees and up can apply for up to $70,000.
Applications under round two of the Supporting Agricultural Shows and Field Days program are open to February 17, 2022.
Federal Member for Lyne Dr David Gillespie said eligible applicants would be able to claim for expenditure incurred last year.
"For events cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, there is funding available, depending on the size of your event," Dr Gillespie said.
"I know we're all looking forward to attending local shows again, after so many were cancelled last year.
"Not only are these events essential for supporting our small businesses, they're a platform for innovators and entrepreneurs, as well as a great day out for all of us," Dr Gillespie said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
Did you know?Manning River Times online subscribersnot only have 24/7 access to local and national news, sport, what's on and entertainment - they also have access to our print editions in digital format, with all the advertisements and classifieds at their fingertips.
The Melbourne Recital Centre’s Local Artist Appeal has raised $1 million.
Announced in 2021, the fund is designed to fund performance and commission fees, and to enable MRC to offer payments to artists whose performances at the Centre were cancelled due to COVID.
Melbourne Recital Centre. Image supplied.
The fund also allows for engaging local artists to deliver education programs across Victoria, as well as creating employment and performance opportunities including recordings and digital broadcasts.
MRC said that more than 5,000 individual donors contributed to the fund, many of whom were making their first ever donation to the Centre.
Laila Engle of Syzygy Ensemble said in a statement, “This payment demonstrates that local artists are valued in the musical community and that has an enormous impact for us as an ensemble to continue our creative work. We look forward with hope and excitement to a time we may gather again and share in the joy of live performance.”
Alistaire Bowler, Head of Development at Melbourne Recital Centre said of reaching the ambitious target, “We have been impressed by the generous support of the music-loving community. The past two years has been an exceptionally challenging time for independent musicians, as the Centre faced hundreds of postponements and cancelations. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to our appeal, ensuring that our artists were supported throughout the pandemic and that live music returns to our stages in 2022. This result is a true amplification of our audience’s appreciation and applause.”
Next round of the McGowan Government's $20 million three-bin food organics and garden organics (FOGO) kerbside collection grants now open
Local governments eligible for up to $21 for each household
Expressions of interest are now open for local governments to access part of the $20 million Better Bins Plus: Go FOGO Program.
The Better Bins Plus: Go FOGO program supports local governments to provide a three-bin food organics and garden organics (FOGO) service consisting of a red-lidded bin for general waste, a yellow-lidded bin for co-mingled recycling and a green-lidded bin for food organics and garden organics.
The McGowan Government encourages local governments to apply for funding of up to $21 per household in the 2022-23 financial year.
The grant supports local governments with the infrastructure costs associated with moving to a three-bin FOGO system.
The additional funding builds on the success of a similar funding program delivered in 2020 and 2021.
Better Bins Plus supports Western Australia's Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030 including the rollout a of three-bin kerbside collection system by all local governments in the Perth and Peel region by 2025.
Local governments that have adopted FOGO systems include:
The cities of Melville, Fremantle, Vincent, Bayswater, Bunbury and Albany
The towns of Bassendean and East Fremantle
The shires of Collie, Capel, Donnybrook-Balingup, Harvey, Augusta-Margaret River and Dardanup.
Comments attributed to Environment Minister Reece Whitby:
"Uptake of the three-bin FOGO service can make a huge difference in reducing waste in Western Australia and can increase recovery rates to more than 65 per cent.
"I encourage local governments to apply for funding and get involved in the rollout of the FOGO program.
"The McGowan Government is committed to finding new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste and this is one of a number of measures we have implemented in order to stop waste ending up in landfill."
Comments attributed to Local Government Minister John Carey:
"The FOGO system delivers better outcomes for our community and environment, and there are many local governments already using this system to manage waste.
"This grants program is a fantastic opportunity for those local governments that are yet to implement a three-bin system, but may be considering a move, to get on board.
"The more local governments we have running three-bin systems, the greater opportunity we have to drive efficiencies in waste collection, so I encourage local governments to consider applying for these grants."
Have you ever thought of the impact your dollar could have for the local coffee shop on the corner, compared to the McDonald's a few doors down? Megan Humble, founder of Shop Local 6210 and Mandurah local, has contemplated this question for much of her life. As a small business owner for many years, Ms Humble is now shining a light on the impact that dollar and where someone chooses to spend it, can have for local businesses in Mandurah. "I came out of uni and wanted to start my own business. My family has always been in small business so I've always been exposed to the behind the scenes. Read more: "My dad opened a vacuum shop in Mandurah, he had no idea about vacuums and taught himself everything. I remember sitting in his shop for days with nobody coming in. Years after opening, it started to grow, he was employing more staff and had four shops at one point. "After 30 years in business, the rug was ripped out from under him. When the Mandurah Forum was being redeveloped, they said he had to get out," Ms Humble said, adding that his last day was only this past week. Witnessing the difficulties small business owners experience, from competing with franchises, to increasing rent, to online retailers, Ms Humble knew she wanted to do something about it. "I felt powerless to what was happening, I needed to start the conversation. How do we collectively make change to how we spend our money?" Ms Humble asked. Ms Humble began Shop Local 6210, a website, Facebook and Instagram page dedicated to promoting local businesses. "I started Shop Local because I realised we were stronger as a collective. Vote with your dollar if you want to enjoy our community and diversity. Spending in the community means most of it stays in the community," Ms Humble said. Read: Jan 26, a day to mourn or celebrate? Mandurah community weighs in So, how does that dollar impact the local cafe compared to a fast food chain? It's simple, "these businesses won't be here if we don't support them," Ms Humble said. The Shop Local 6210 Facebook Group, now with over 1,000 members and growing, began only one month before COVID-19 arrived in Western Australia. Ms Humble shared some examples of how local businesses have benefited from the platform she's created to promote their work and stories. "The lady who runs Country Rugs came to me, told me who she was, promoted her business through the Shop Local group, and got so much traffic and new customers. "People say they've found businesses through me that they never would have otherwise," Ms Humble said. Along with Shop Local 6210, Ms Humble collaborates with Teesh Turner, founder of Vindi Designs and co-founder with Ms Humble of The Little Network Group Mandurah, another Facebook group specifically for small business owners to connect. Read: Anti-vaxxers knock on parliament's door, but nobody's home Ms Humble said that Ms Turner and "the business community around her was the catalyst that opened my eyes to how unique the small business community in Mandurah is." As Ms Humble noted, small businesses in Mandurah need more help. "It's about educating the people who are spending. Start thinking about how you could support small businesses in your local area." To learn more about Shop Local 6210, click here: https://ift.tt/GtTaP5MSC
Have you ever thought of the impact your dollar could have for the local coffee shop on the corner, compared to the McDonald's a few doors down?
Megan Humble, founder of Shop Local 6210 and Mandurah local, has contemplated this question for much of her life. As a small business owner for many years, Ms Humble is now shining a light on the impact that dollar and where someone chooses to spend it, can have for local businesses in Mandurah.
"I came out of uni and wanted to start my own business. My family has always been in small business so I've always been exposed to the behind the scenes.
Read more:
"My dad opened a vacuum shop in Mandurah, he had no idea about vacuums and taught himself everything. I remember sitting in his shop for days with nobody coming in. Years after opening, it started to grow, he was employing more staff and had four shops at one point.
"After 30 years in business, the rug was ripped out from under him. When the Mandurah Forum was being redeveloped, they said he had to get out," Ms Humble said, adding that his last day was only this past week.
WORKING TOGETHER: Local business owner, Maria Sole from Happy Healthy Humans, at Mataya Eatery with Megan Humble. Photo: Supplied.
Witnessing the difficulties small business owners experience, from competing with franchises, to increasing rent, to online retailers, Ms Humble knew she wanted to do something about it.
"I felt powerless to what was happening, I needed to start the conversation. How do we collectively make change to how we spend our money?" Ms Humble asked.
I felt powerless to what was happening, I needed to start the conversation. How do we collectively make change to how we spend our money?
Megan Humble
Ms Humble began Shop Local 6210, a website, Facebook and Instagram page dedicated to promoting local businesses.
"I started Shop Local because I realised we were stronger as a collective. Vote with your dollar if you want to enjoy our community and diversity. Spending in the community means most of it stays in the community," Ms Humble said.
So, how does that dollar impact the local cafe compared to a fast food chain?
It's simple, "these businesses won't be here if we don't support them," Ms Humble said.
The Shop Local 6210 Facebook Group, now with over 1,000 members and growing, began only one month before COVID-19 arrived in Western Australia. Ms Humble shared some examples of how local businesses have benefited from the platform she's created to promote their work and stories.
COMMUNITY: Megan Humble enjoys being involved in the Mandurah community. Pictured here with the Peel Volunteer of the Year Awards winner. Photo: Supplied.
"The lady who runs Country Rugs came to me, told me who she was, promoted her business through the Shop Local group, and got so much traffic and new customers.
"People say they've found businesses through me that they never would have otherwise," Ms Humble said.
Along with Shop Local 6210, Ms Humble collaborates with Teesh Turner, founder of Vindi Designs and co-founder with Ms Humble of The Little Network Group Mandurah, another Facebook group specifically for small business owners to connect.
Ms Humble said that Ms Turner and "the business community around her was the catalyst that opened my eyes to how unique the small business community in Mandurah is."
As Ms Humble noted, small businesses in Mandurah need more help.
"It's about educating the people who are spending. Start thinking about how you could support small businesses in your local area."
To learn more about Shop Local 6210, click here: https://ift.tt/GtTaP5MSC
Former council general manager Leanne Barnes and well-respected GP Duncan MacKinnon are among four new appointees to the Southern NSW Local Health District board. SNSWLHD board chairman Allan Hawke AC, on Friday welcomed the four new members, which also included Lana Callaghan and Terry Clout. Ms Barnes OAM PSM was formerly the general manager of Bega Valley Shire Council, a position she held for the past eight years. Ms Barnes has worked in local government and state government agencies since 1978, including with the Canberra Regional Joint Organisation. She has held positions on a number of boards, where her focus has been on corporate governance, forward planning and culture. Dr MacKinnon has been a GP in Bega for more than 20 years. He works at the Bega Valley Medical Practice and provides anaesthetic services at South East Regional Hospital. He is the GP liaison officer for SERH. In 2020 Dr MacKinnon was named NSW/ACT GP of the Year and subsequently awarded the RACGP Australian GP of the Year 2020. He is also a senior lecturer with the Australian National University (ANU) Rural Clinical School, and he regularly participates in primary care research with both ANU and University of Wollongong. Ms Callaghan leads the Illawarra and Southern areas as regional manager of Aboriginal Affairs NSW. She has worked with Aboriginal communities across southern NSW, including Eurobodalla, Bega Valley, Queanbeyan and Goulburn for over 30 years, and has developed extensive knowledge and understanding of issues impacting on these communities. She has actively participated in a number of local and regional NSW government committees and forums where her expertise has added value to work of broader groups. Mr Clout was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to NSW Health in the 2021 Australian Day Honours list. He is an experienced board chair/director in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He is chairman of Mary MacKillop Place board, independent chair NSW SES Audit and Risk Committee, and chair of his local parish finance and audit committee. Mr Clout established Terry Clout Corporate Consulting in 2015 after a 30-year career leading major NSW public organisations. For 15 of those years he held CEO positions in area health services/local health districts. "I have no doubt that the new board members' skills and experience will add tremendous value to the board," Dr Hawke said. "As incoming board members, they all have the passion, experience and drive to successfully support the board's oversight of health services for our local communities now and into the future." The incoming board members will serve a 10-year term, or serve until 2031
Former council general manager Leanne Barnes and well-respected GP Duncan MacKinnon are among four new appointees to the Southern NSW Local Health District board.
News members of the LHD board Dr Duncan MacKinnon and Leanne Barnes
SNSWLHD board chairman Allan Hawke AC, on Friday welcomed the four new members, which also included Lana Callaghan and Terry Clout.
Ms Barnes OAM PSM was formerly the general manager of Bega Valley Shire Council, a position she held for the past eight years.
Ms Barnes has worked in local government and state government agencies since 1978, including with the Canberra Regional Joint Organisation. She has held positions on a number of boards, where her focus has been on corporate governance, forward planning and culture.
Dr MacKinnon has been a GP in Bega for more than 20 years. He works at the Bega Valley Medical Practice and provides anaesthetic services at South East Regional Hospital. He is the GP liaison officer for SERH.
In 2020 Dr MacKinnon was named NSW/ACT GP of the Year and subsequently awarded the RACGP Australian GP of the Year 2020.
He is also a senior lecturer with the Australian National University (ANU) Rural Clinical School, and he regularly participates in primary care research with both ANU and University of Wollongong.
Ms Callaghan leads the Illawarra and Southern areas as regional manager of Aboriginal Affairs NSW. She has worked with Aboriginal communities across southern NSW, including Eurobodalla, Bega Valley, Queanbeyan and Goulburn for over 30 years, and has developed extensive knowledge and understanding of issues impacting on these communities.
She has actively participated in a number of local and regional NSW government committees and forums where her expertise has added value to work of broader groups.
Mr Clout was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to NSW Health in the 2021 Australian Day Honours list. He is an experienced board chair/director in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
He is chairman of Mary MacKillop Place board, independent chair NSW SES Audit and Risk Committee, and chair of his local parish finance and audit committee.
Mr Clout established Terry Clout Corporate Consulting in 2015 after a 30-year career leading major NSW public organisations. For 15 of those years he held CEO positions in area health services/local health districts.
"I have no doubt that the new board members' skills and experience will add tremendous value to the board," Dr Hawke said.
"As incoming board members, they all have the passion, experience and drive to successfully support the board's oversight of health services for our local communities now and into the future."
The incoming board members will serve a 10-year term, or serve until 2031
A systematic review of 116 papers looking at how solar panels affect the surrounding environment has found that they can significantly warm cities during the day. This heating can also affect the performance of the photovoltaic (PV) systems, the study found. The researchers suggest future work should focus on increasing the reflectance of wavelengths of sunlight not converted to electricity. Lead author of the review, David Sailor of Arizona State University, explains why.
Why was there a need for a systematic review like this?
I was frustrated that there have been a handful of publications that have introduced inaccurate representations of the energy balance of photovoltaics in the urban environment and have, as a result, made claims about the potential for photovoltaics, for example, to cool the urban environment when, in fact, the energy balance is much more complex and the implications for the urban environment are correspondingly complex.
What research did you include in your study?
We felt that it would be useful to provide a more holistic viewpoint of photovoltaics in the environment. We wanted to understand not just how putting PV systems in the urban environment affects buildings and urban air temperatures and so forth but also – the other end of that equation – how the urban environment affects the performance of photovoltaic systems.
What did you find?
We arrived at several key conclusions. One had to do with photovoltaics and their relationship with the urban energy balance. Specifically, we found that photovoltaics can significantly warm the urban environment during the day, but typically cool the urban environment at night.
The second key finding was that for a number of reasons when you put photovoltaics in an urban setting, they don’t perform as well as they might in some other settings, rural and suburban, for example.
Why do solar panels have this heat effect on the urban environment?
It’s important to put all of my discussion on this topic in the context that it depends on what you’re comparing a particular application to. So, the example would be if you put photovoltaics on an existing black roof, you’re not having as much of an adverse effect on the urban thermal environment as if you put those photovoltaics on a white roof, because a white roof would normally be a relatively cool surface.
When you put photovoltaics on that white roof, the PV panels typically absorb in the order of 90% of the energy of the sun. And the photovoltaic panels then do convert some of that energy to electricity, but typical panels today are only maybe 16–20% efficient. These panels are absorbing a tremendous amount of energy from the sun, converting some of it into electricity, but then warming up because they’re not able to use all of the energy.
So, these photovoltaic panels tend to be rather hot surfaces in the environment. They’re almost always installed in an elevated format – above a roof surface or above ground level in a field. And as a result, you end up having two hot surfaces, the top surface of the panels and the underside surface of the panels. And so, as air flows over these panels, it readily picks up that heat essentially twice as effectively as it would if you had the same temperature on a building surface or a ground surface.
What effect does this heating have on the local urban environment?
There are several studies out there that have looked at panels from a modelling perspective and others have looked at observational data.
I’ve been involved in one project where we went out into the field and did measurements in and around a photovoltaic array in the desert, and then in an area not too far away that was a similar desert environment [the reference site]. What we found in that observational study was that the average air temperature at 1.5 m in the PV array site was about 1.3 °C warmer than the reference site, which is the non-PV site. At night we found almost no effect. And so, our observational studies lead us to conclude that PVs do, in fact, have this warming effect during the day, whereas at night the effect can either be very small or negligible and difficult to measure.
Other studies, particularly modelling studies, had previously suggested a daytime cooling effect of photovoltaics. But those had a flawed representation of the PV panels, where they ignored the fact that photovoltaics are able to convect heat from both the top and bottom surfaces.
Does this have an impact on people’s energy use for cooling of buildings?
It does. And again, that impact we found to be very complex. There are a number of studies out there that have demonstrated that if you put photovoltaics on a rooftop of a building, you reduce the annual air conditioning energy consumption of that building. And that makes sense in that these photovoltaic panels and provide shading from the direct sunlight. So, the building doesn’t get nearly the solar load it would normally have penetrating through the roof surface. And so that’s a mechanism whereby we would expect to have an air conditioning benefit.
Likewise, you could have a heating penalty in the winter where you desire to have that solar radiation reaching the building surface, but PV panels are actually shading the building.
We found that in particularly warm climates such as Phoenix [Arizona, USA] for residential building stock, that the PV panels actually have a rather complicated set of trade-offs. They do give us a benefit of shading our buildings directly from the Sun during the day. But at night, where the building roof surface would normally radiate its energy out into space and help to cool that roof surface rapidly, the PV panels actually obstruct the view of the building to the sky slowing that heat loss at night-time. As a result, you actually increase the air conditioning load of a residential building at night.
You mentioned that this heating can affect the solar panels, how does that work?
Traditional silicon based PV have what’s known as a temperature coefficient, that is, their efficiency is a function of surface temperature of the solar cells themselves. And so, if you are in a hotter environment, if the photovoltaic surface is hotter, then it will be less efficient. The temperature coefficient is typically on the order of about 4% per degree Celsius for the cell temperature. What this means is while photovoltaics are typically tested at a standard test condition of 25 °C, if you’re operating in an urban environment – we’ve had plenty of measurements of PV in installations here in Phoenix – where the PV surface temperature easily gets to 60–65 °C or even hotter, you reduce the efficiency by something on the order of 10–15% overall.
What can be done to mitigate these effects?
I don’t want to be interpreted as suggesting that photovoltaics are not good things. Photovoltaics are a very important component of our future energy mix as we try to save the planet from global warming. That said, I think there’s an opportunity to design panels that are more effective at rejecting the heat that they don’t turn into electricity.
For the portion of the spectrum that [the panel] is not able to convert into electricity, perhaps we can design coatings on our PV systems that are essentially highly reflective of these wavelengths or more highly emissive of their own energy. You can look to some of the recent advances in material science that are known as passive radiative cooling technologies. If you can imagine a surface that is extremely efficient at radiating its energy in, say, the eight to 13 micron range, then you can essentially radiate the heat away from the surface through the atmospheric window.
I can imagine combining some of these innovations in material science with our conventional developments of photovoltaics and creating a next generation of maybe what we might call “cool photovoltaics”. So, PV panels that are perhaps only as efficient as our current generation of PV but are thermally much more efficient so that they run much cooler. Also, because of the temperature coefficient, they would likely receive an additional benefit in terms of efficiency – running at cooler temperatures and provide less warming to the urban environment.
AUSTRALIA'S Local Hero for 2022 is, in fact, a local, with Maules Creek's Shanna Whan taking out the award for her work with Sober in the Country. Ms Whan founded the organisation which helps people deal with drinking problems in regional areas where it is often difficult to get help and break bad cycles in 2019, after almost losing her life to alcohol addiction in 2015. While she is thrilled to have gained recognition for her efforts, she told the Leader the real work starts now. "We're going to do exactly what we have always done, which is to drive powerful and essential conversations," she said. "But now we're going to be doing it with a serious and more recognised and credible national voice. "Nothing will change in our messaging, we will be who we have always been and we will advocate and speak about what we have been advocating and speaking about for seven years." Her newfound profile will also help her communicate with those in power, which is something Ms Whan is very keen to do. READ ALSO: She said winning the award has already provided her with opportunity to meet with officials, and she's hoping to make them sweat. "Now very important people are listening, we have literally met with some of the most important and influential people in the entire nation over these past few days," she said. "We will be using all of those opportunities to represent rural and remote Australia. "We will continue to ask where some of our NSW state leadership is on this - and why they continue to remain silent in the face of ongoing invitations to meet and discuss Sober in the Country's impact and work. "While we are a national voice, we're based here in NSW, and a disproportionate percentage of our peer group is also based here, too. "So, as NSW residents we are going to challenge some NSW leaders directly now on their own pervasive ongoing silence, because it's simply not good enough.'' She believes addressing the root of the problem is the only way to make significant progress. Ms Whan said she abides by the famous quote of the late South African bishop and human rights champion Desmond Tutu, which is that: "There comes a time when we need to stop pulling people out of the river when they've already drowned - and go upstream and find out why they're falling in.'' Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
AUSTRALIA'S Local Hero for 2022 is, in fact, a local, with Maules Creek's Shanna Whan taking out the award for her work with Sober in the Country.
Ms Whan founded the organisation which helps people deal with drinking problems in regional areas where it is often difficult to get help and break bad cycles in 2019, after almost losing her life to alcohol addiction in 2015.
While she is thrilled to have gained recognition for her efforts, she told the Leader the real work starts now.
"We're going to do exactly what we have always done, which is to drive powerful and essential conversations," she said.
"But now we're going to be doing it with a serious and more recognised and credible national voice.
"Nothing will change in our messaging, we will be who we have always been and we will advocate and speak about what we have been advocating and speaking about for seven years."
Her newfound profile will also help her communicate with those in power, which is something Ms Whan is very keen to do.
READ ALSO:
She said winning the award has already provided her with opportunity to meet with officials, and she's hoping to make them sweat.
"Now very important people are listening, we have literally met with some of the most important and influential people in the entire nation over these past few days," she said.
"We will be using all of those opportunities to represent rural and remote Australia.
"We will continue to ask where some of our NSW state leadership is on this - and why they continue to remain silent in the face of ongoing invitations to meet and discuss Sober in the Country's impact and work.
"While we are a national voice, we're based here in NSW, and a disproportionate percentage of our peer group is also based here, too.
"So, as NSW residents we are going to challenge some NSW leaders directly now on their own pervasive ongoing silence, because it's simply not good enough.''
She believes addressing the root of the problem is the only way to make significant progress.
Ms Whan said she abides by the famous quote of the late South African bishop and human rights champion Desmond Tutu, which is that: "There comes a time when we need to stop pulling people out of the river when they've already drowned - and go upstream and find out why they're falling in.''
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
Engaging your local community is essential if you want to get it off the ground and work toward success. Thanks to my years of marketing experience building and nurturing local relationships, I have a good idea of what does and doesn't work. Any local marketing effort aims to nurture lasting relationships that will help increase brand awareness and revenue. To do this, you must form genuine connections with people in your community, develop an effective strategy and remain patient.
Here, consider some of my top tips to build your local marketing strategy.
Participate in Community Involvement
Giving back, when and if you can, is highly recommended. You can volunteer to assist at local events, help clean up or do garden work at nearby parks, or sponsor a local school's charity event. Community involvement allows you to meet amazing people in your neighborhood who may become clients or refer you to others who become clients. Volunteering is a win-win situation. You have the chance to help those in need, all while expanding your network and increasing business visibility.
Work with Other Local Businesses
Another way to effectively market your business is to reach out to other local businesses. It may be surprising to find out how many are willing to partner with you in some way.
For example, another business may have a lot of foot traffic but a limited email list. In this case, you could offer to mention their business in your online newsletter for some type of physical advertising on their premises. You can create the partnership that works best for you.
Offer Local Discounts
Giving out coupon codes and free shipping to your local area will help encourage more people to order from you. Word of mouth is powerful, and this is a great way to leverage this marketing technique. It will also help increase loyalty within the local area.
Use Personalized Messaging
Take time to personalize your branding to your local community. For example, if you sell physical products, give more attention to the local area by designing them with local sports teams' colors, mascots, and more. Consumers want to feel close to the purchases they make, and there's no better way to create this feeling than by providing something unique. You can also offer a "special edition" of your product that's available to your community, creating the mindset there's even more value behind this product.
When engaging with and marketing to the local community, be sure to keep the tips and information here in mind, which will help ensure you reach people locally and provide them with information, resources, and products they want and need. With the right local advertising strategy, it will be easier to help get your business off the ground or establish a new customer base, both of which are essential to your long-term success.
Vegan eatery Lucky Ducks has opened its doors among Aldinga’s growing food precinct - and locals are taking to the plant-based fare.
For the location of new vegan restaurant and bar Lucky Ducks, Aldinga seemed to tick all the right boxes.
The busy intersection of Old Coach and Port roads was close to the sea and already populated with popular restaurants and cafés, including Kick Back Brewing, Little Rickshaw and Maxwell Grocery.
It also had a long-empty café. Rosey’s By The Sea served up all-day breakfast for five years before it shut its doors three years ago. The site sat empty, until recently.
After the installation of a new kitchen and shipping container bar, former Rosey’s head chef Jac Lovat, his fiancé Stacey Smith, and Maxwell Grocery owners Richard and Lisa Maxwell have opened Lucky Ducks.
The business partners knew they were onto a winner two years ago when Jac ran a vegan pop-up at Maxwells Grocery during an early COVID lockdown. Locals flocked to it, showing a demand for more local plant-based restaurants.
Lucky Ducks then opened with little fanfare on 21 January this year, and is already proving popular with locals. Within a few days of word getting out about the new vegan restaurant, bookings started stacking up.
The restaurant’s first two weekends of trade were fully booked, filling the 44 outdoor seat capacity, despite little advertising or social media.
“Aldinga is booming right now, and the old Rosey’s was just sitting dormant for a long time, and I knew the guys in the area were really wanting to put something there because of its success,” Stacey says.
“Jac had done a late-night vegan pop-up for Maxwells and so there really was a demand for this sort of thing, and the restaurants around it were just building in popularity.
“The space on our side was a little dead, and Maxwell’s close at 4pm, so it was just a sitting duck – no pun intended.
“The demand has been really overwhelming for us, but in a really good way.”
Hoping to take the stereotype and judgement out of eating plant-based food, the restaurant is pitching itself to meat-eaters as a place which “all sorts of people can enjoy”.
Dishes on the menu include karaage cauliflower, a Japanese-inspired dish of cauliflower wings served with scooped out potato salad, za’atar pulled mushrooms served with hummus, pine nuts, chickpeas and pickles, salt and pepper eggplant and a tasty pâté.
Jac’s basil cheesecake has been so popular, customers book in just to eat it after dinner.
Lucky Ducks’ basil cheesecake
“If the food is delicious and it’s yummy, it doesn’t matter if it’s vegan or not,” Stacey says.
“We want meat-eaters and all sorts of people to enjoy it. We just want people to know that you can cook food in different ways. Vegan doesn’t need a stereotype or something lame or judgy or anything.”
The wine list acts as a love letter to the Fleurieu, offering a modest selection of drops from local makers, such as Camwell, Brash Higgins and Geddes.
“We just want people to know that there are a lot of different ways to prepare food, and we just want to make delicious food from the heart that every one can enjoy,” Stacey says.
“It’s all about getting everyone together, enjoying a meal together, and then hopefully coming back.”
Lucky Ducks is located at 206 Port Road in Aldinga and operates from 5pm ’til late Thursday through Sunday.
A group of local environmental activists met with Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, in Umina last week to discuss the impacts of climate change at a local level.
The roundtable was hosted by Labor Candidate for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid, at Work Collective on January 20.
Local representatives shared concerns about gas and fracking, coastal erosion, land clearing, bush regeneration and the importance of establishing a federal Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
Member of Community Environment Network (CEN) and volunteer with Climate Future, Justine Smillie, said residents want stronger action to be taken by governments to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
“The Central Coast is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful areas in the country, with a magnificent coastline, coastal lakes and national parks. However, these features also render the Coast particularly vulnerable to the impacts of a hotter climate,” Smillie said.
“Coastal erosion from storm surges and increased bushfire frequency and intensity are clearly major issues here.
“Coastal environments are also under significant pressure from population growth.
“The clearing of native vegetation has accelerated, and the current regulatory framework is clearly failing to stop illegal clearing on private property.
“Whilst land clearing falls within State and Local Government jurisdiction, we need the next Federal Government to take a more active role in the protection of biodiversity and regulation of land clearing.
“The Central Coast is in real danger of losing its diverse flora and fauna, largely due to land clearing.”
Labor’s ‘Powering Australia Plan’, which details the Opposition’s strategy in tackling climate change impacts, was discussed at the Roundtable, with participants largely onboard with the targets.
Smillie said Labor’s plan was “politically ambitious”, however lacked ambitious on a scientific level.
“Whilst the policy might be considered politically ambitious given the woeful treatment of the issue over the last 10 years, Labor’s targets are not sufficient to maintain a safe climate,” she said.
“The evidence is clear, to have any chance of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees we must reduce emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2030 and achieve zero net emissions by 2045.
“The Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBA), the key piece of Federal environmental protection legislation, is not fit for purpose and is failing to protect the Coast’s natural heritage.
“Labor must commit to establishing a Federal EPA and the expansion of the EPBC Act triggers for national oversight to include of land clearing, biodiversity and ecosystems of national importance, water resources, climate change, air pollution and protected areas.”
This was a view shared by a number of representatives, including David Legge from The Killcare Wagstaffe Trust, who said it was imperative for the next Federal Government to develop a set of national environmental standards.
Bowen said it was a “very constructive discussion” and spoke about the importance of hearing from local environmental representatives.
“Local environment groups bring about change -they lobby for change, they protect existing environmental assets, they are hands on in caring for those assets – our environment would be a lot worse without them,” Bowen said.
“Our climate change policy applies to everywhere, but it is particularly important to coastal areas which are in the forefront of dealing with climate change.
“The ultimate thing we can do for an area like the Central Coast is to reduce our emissions … 43 per cent by 2030, 100 per cent by 2050.
“Coal will be part of our energy generation for the foreseeable future but there will be no new coal fire power stations under a Labor Government because that’s not what the economy is delivering so we need to ensure that workers in the coal industry have choices going forward.”
Bowen couldn’t be pressed on what a Labor Government would do to help clean up the impacts left by coal such as ash dams, ongoing air pollution and an inability to fish in certain marine areas.
The Shadow Minister for Environment and Water, Terri Butler, is expected to provide an announcement “in the coming period” about Labor’s plans to deliver a federal EPA.
Gordon Reid said many local businesses rely on the coastline and bushland characteristics for their survival.
“[The] event [is] an opportunity for community and environmental groups such as Save Our Sand, Surfrider Association and local Landcare groups to meet Chris Bowen to …. discuss how we can create new opportunities as we transition to a cleaner energy future on the Coast,” Reid said.
“Climate change and biodiversity loss are major threats to our way of life. Sea level rise, energy costs and supply, flooding and concerns about potential offshore drilling are issues of direct importance to our local Central Coast region.”
How will the sale of Missouri’s biggest locally owned distributor affect local businesses – and you?
By Iain Shaw // January 28, 2022
The acquisition of St. Louis-based Major Brands, Missouri’s largest wholesale alcohol distributor, by Breakthru Beverage Group was announced in early January, with the deal expected to close sometime this spring. The sale of one of the biggest players in the Missouri drinks business is obviously big news for the local alcohol industry, but what does it mean for consumers and the businesses that work with Major Brands?
If you’ve ever purchased alcohol in retail stores, bars or restaurants in Missouri, you’ve almost certainly bought a product that’s part of the Major Brands portfolio. As a consumer, the big question is whether the company’s acquisition will have an effect on the range of products available to you in stores and venues around St. Louis. Major Brands CEO Sue McCollum said she doesn’t anticipate that any brands will be lost to the local market – if anything, the consumer will have more choice. “People want to be in Missouri, and we try to bring new brands into our portfolio,” she said. “You're always trying to bring in brands that you think your consumers want in the market. That's what we always do and continue to do.”
Local venue operators have also been responding to news of the acquisition. Ted Kilgore, co-owner of Planter’s House and Small Change, said Breakthru Beverage Group brings a good reputation to the Missouri market. “I am confident that Major Brands would vet any company buying them,” Kilgore said. A Major Brands client of 24 years standing, Kilgore said his bars buy more stock from the distributor than from any other vendor. “I hope that nothing much will change as far as their loyalty to us, as well as ours to them,” he said.
Local venues and suppliers will be eager to see how the transition plays out, but McCollum said clients can expect continuity and consistency. “They're going to have the same sales rep. Their products are going to come out of the same warehouse, the same people are going to be touching it along the way, they're going to have the same driver,” McCollum said. “All those touch points that are personal and local don't change.”
Local laws regulating alcohol distribution differ greatly from one state to another, as do market conditions. In an acquisition like the Breakthru-Major Brands deal, that incentivizes the acquiring company to lean into local experience. “Breakthru doesn't have an operation in Missouri,” McCollum said. “So it's not like you're combining two companies and all of a sudden you don't need X, Y or Z there. They want to assume the operations of the company in Missouri.”
Kevin Lemp, founder and owner of 4 Hands Brewing Co. and 1220 Artisan Spirits, said he sees “a lot of upside” in the acquisition. “I feel like it's going to be business as usual, with some pretty tremendous outside resources that Breakthru has from the top down,” Lemp said. “Being a multistate operator could potentially shed new light on opportunities in our current market.”
He said 4 Hands had forged a “wonderful relationship” with Major Brands over the past decade, but that the brewer also enjoys a good working relationship with Breakthru, which sold 4 Hands in the Chicago market for several years until Breakthru got out of the beer business in Illinois.
Breakthru’s network includes 14 U.S. markets, as well as Canada. That’s a potential pathway for Missouri’s homegrown beer, wine and liquor brands to extend into new territories.“There may be opportunities through their network,” McCollum said. “I think that's an interesting piece to this. People always think about, 'What am I going to lose?' with a change – not, 'What am I going to gain?'”
Lemp is cautiously optimistic about the prospect of expanding his products into new markets. “There's a lot of pieces to that puzzle,” he said. For one thing, Lemp said the 4 Hands brand is “hyper-focused” on Missouri and Illinois. On the other hand, Lemp believes that there are potential breakout stars among the broader 4 Hands and 1220 portfolio – for example, 1220’s line of canned cocktails. Securing that opportunity will require patience, relationship-building and a lot of due diligence. “It's not as easy as Breakthru just coming in and flipping on a switch,” Lemp said.
When the deal is concluded, one thing that may change is the Major Brands name. If it does, it would likely be Breakthru Beverage Missouri; however, that has not been confirmed. But McCollum is adamant that the company’s future will be guided by the same principles that have been its underpinning for almost nine decades.“We've been in business for [88] years,”she said. “And it's because every brand we take on, we care about. It matters to us.”
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District will no longer report local case numbers by LGA and postcode on weekends. The change was announced yesterday, January 28 by the local health district. Read more: Meet the Wollongong doctor launching her career in her hometown The change comes as the region records 782 positive cases in the last 24 hours, with 511 from PCR tests and 271 from Rapid Antigen Tests. The total number is an increase on yesterday's figure of 602. There were no deaths recorded in the Illawarra Shoalhaven in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. Local case numbers will still be included in the daily NSW Health update, however the breakdown by postcode will only be available on weekdays. The next detailed district update will be released on Monday, January 31. The Illawarra Mercury newsroom is funded by our readers. You can subscribe to support our journalism here. Sign up for breaking news emails below ...
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District will no longer report local case numbers by LGA and postcode on weekends.
The change was announced yesterday, January 28 by the local health district.
The change comes as the region records 782 positive cases in the last 24 hours, with 511 from PCR tests and 271 from Rapid Antigen Tests.
The total number is an increase on yesterday's figure of 602.
There were no deaths recorded in the Illawarra Shoalhaven in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Local case numbers will still be included in the daily NSW Health update, however the breakdown by postcode will only be available on weekdays.
The next detailed district update will be released on Monday, January 31.
The Illawarra Mercury newsroom is funded by our readers. You can subscribe to support our journalism here.
Sheridan man sentenced in Johnson County child pornography case
BUFFALO — After pleading guilty to 13 counts of delivery and possession of child pornography, Curtis Sorenson, a former Sheridan resident, was sentenced to between 16 and 24 years in prison by 4th Judicial District Court Judge William Edelman last month.
An inquiry by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force found Sorenson possessed and distributed child pornography on a Twitter account associated with his email and phone number, court documents indicate. Sorenson possessed and disseminated the illicit content in Johnson County and deleted it prior to returning to his home in Sheridan County.
During a July 2021 interview with DCI investigators, Sorenson admitted to viewing, downloading and sharing child pornography featuring children as young as 1 year old, court documents state.
As a result of the investigation, Sorenson was originally charged with 12 counts of manufacturing, distributing or possessing with intent to deliver child pornography, which is a felony punishable by five to 12 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both, and 12 counts of possession of child pornography, which is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of $10,000 or both.
At his September 2021 arraignment, Sorenson pleaded guilty to 13 of the 24 charges, including 12 counts of manufacturing, distributing or possessing with intent to deliver child pornography and one counts of possessing child pornography. Johnson County and Prosecuting Attorney Tucker Ruby dropped the remaining 11 charges in exchange for Sorenson’s guilty plea.
During Sorenson’s Dec. 8, 2021, sentencing hearing, Edelman sentenced the defendant to five to seven years in prison for each of 12 counts of manufacturing, distributing or possessing with intent to deliver child pornography as well as 1½ to 3 years for the possession charge.
Three of Sorenson’s manufacturing or distributing charges will be served consecutively while the other nine will be served concurrently. Sorenson’s possession sentence will also be served consecutive to other prison time. All told, Sorenson was sentenced to serve between 16½ and 24 years in prison.
Court documents indicate Sorenson has been transported to prison to begin serving his term.
Man sentenced to probation in strangulation case
SHERIDAN — Jordan Wathen was sentenced to four to six years in prison, suspended for time served and three years supervised probation before 4th Judicial District Court Judge William Edelman Tuesday.
According to court documents, Wathen pleaded no contest to strangulation of a household member, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
Before Edelman, Deputy Sheridan County and Prosecuting Attorney White and defense attorney Anna Malmberg asked the court to accept the terms of Wathen’s plea agreement, in which the state would recommend a four to six year sentence, suspended for 145 days in jail and three years supervised probation. The plea deal also required Wathen enroll in inpatient rehabilitation for alcohol abuse.
White said Wathen admitted to probation and parole investigators his drinking was a major factor in the strangulation. Wathen is now enrolled in treatment elsewhere in the state and appeared before Edelman virtually to continue his treatment.
“I needed treatment. I needed help,” Wathen said.
Edelman found probation was appropriate for Wathen and required the defendant continue with intensive outpatient treatment after leaving his current treatment facility.
“Good luck at the treatment facility, sir,” Edelman said.
Western Australia will no longer require casual contacts to be tested when it moves to an as-yet-undefined "high caseload" of COVID-19 cases, under changes announced as the state recorded 14 new local infections.
Key points:
The new cases, linked to the Omicron outbreak, include two in the Wheatbelt
Contact changes mean not eveyone at an exposure site will have to get tested
The number of days positive cases must isolate will halve to seven says
Five of the new cases, which are linked to an event at Perth nightclub The Library, were announced late on Friday afternoon and will be officially recorded in Saturday's case numbers.
Premier Mark McGowan announced the future rule changes following a meeting of the State Disaster Council.
He said the new casual contact definition would mean that if someone was at an exposure site at the same time as a positive case, it would not be a reason for forced testing and isolation.
"That being said, it is important to keep checking in at venues in the future," Mr McGowan said.
"Because if you have been to an exposure site, it is important to monitor for symptoms and in the event you develop them, go and get tested."
Twelve of WA's 14 new local COVID-19 cases have been linked to the existing Omicron outbreak, and they include two in the Wheatbelt — one in Cunderdin and one in Goomalling.
One case is a close contact of the Willagee IGA sub-cluster in Perth.
Another new case is a close contact of the Coolbellup cluster.
Eight are linked to a nightclub cluster — seven from The Library club in Northbridge and one from the Hip-E club in Leederville.
WA Health said late on Friday afternoon that transmission had occurred at The Library nightclub, with five positive cases confirmed after the day's COVID figures were released.
Anyone who attended the "Club Bootylicious" event at The Library from 9:30pm on Saturday, January 22, until 5am on Sunday, January 23, is urged to get tested immediately and isolate until receiving a negative result.
Mr McGowan said there were two more cases that were linked to the Omicron outbreak but it was not clear which cluster they were from.Several of the new infections were infectious in the community.
Close contact definition reworked
Mr McGowan said close contact rules would also change for WA in a future high caseload scenario.
A close contact will be defined in WA as "a household member or intimate partner of a person with COVID-19 that has had contact with them during the infectious period, or someone who has had close personal interaction with a person with COVID-19 during the infectious period".
Different rules will govern who needs to get tested when WA reaches a "high caseload".(AAP: Richard Wainwright)
A "close personal interaction" is defined as having had 15 minutes of face-to-face contact where a mask was not worn by either person, or having spent more than 2 hours in a small room with a case during the infectious period where masks have been removed for that period.
It could also apply if someone had been notified by WA Health that they were a close contact based on "specific circumstances", Mr McGowan said.
Isolation period to be slashed
WA will also halve the number of days positive cases are required to isolate, from 14 to seven.
If cases continue to be symptomatic they must remain isolated until they recover, but they can leave isolation after day seven if they are symptom-free.
After the seven-day mark, no further test will be required.
A close contact who is symptomatic must isolate for seven days from the point of exposure to a positive case.
They must take a PCR or rapid antigen test as soon as possible and if the test is positive, they must follow the positive case protocols.
If the result is negative, the person must take another RAT 24 hours later, and if that test is negative they must take a final RAT on day seven.
Close contacts who are not symptomatic only need to take a test on day seven, before leaving isolation.
Critical staff to stay in 'last resort' measure
Mr McGowan said in a "very high caseload environment", WA would also designate critical staff who could continue to work if they were close contacts but were asymptomatic.
He said this was not a measure designed to keep normal business operations going, but was rather a measure of "last resort" to ensure critical services continued.
Police are among the critical staff who'll be able to keep working if they're close contacts but asymptomatic.(ABC News: James Carmody)
He said these rules would only apply to roles that were critical to the COVID-19 response, in services that prevented significant harm or roles that ensured continued access to essential goods and services.
Those industries included:
Transport
Food and beverages
Pharmaceutical supplies
Agriculture
Critical resources
Power utilities and waste management services
Corrective and judicial services
Police and emergency services
Schools and childcare
Healthcare services
Social assistance in residential care
Veterinary services
Funeral services
Crematorium and cemetery services
Defence and defence-related industries.
These workers must return a negative RAT daily, wear a surgical mask outside the home, travel alone if possible and isolate when outside of work.
If symptoms develop, they must stop working and follow the close contact symptomatic rules.
Unclear when new rules will kick in
When asked whether he could give a "ballpark" figure on when case numbers would trigger the new definitions and rules, Mr McGowan said it was difficult.
“What we will do is analyse the case numbers, analyse the extent to which they are linked, the extent to which the source of infection is known … and the total amount of time cases are infectious in the community before putting in place our new rules," he said.
“It would basically be irresponsible and reckless to put in place a hard rule, because there are so many variables we can take into account."
A face mask mandate is set to be expanded in WA as the Omicron outbreak grows.(ABC News: Cason Ho)
The Premier said the 14-day isolation period remained in place in WA for now, describing the situation as a "balancing act".
"If we put in place these new close contact rules … they are for a higher caseload environment when you need people who are perhaps more risky [of being COVID-positive] to be at work and doing their jobs," he said.
"At this point in time that is not the situation in Western Australia."
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief economist Aaron Morey welcomed the reduction in the isolation period and dropping the casual contact category.
"It seems to me that they've tried to define close contact in a way that means that if there is a COVID-positive person on a factory floor or in an office, it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone in that setting closes," he said.
"They clearly understand we need to keep the economy moving and ticking along in the face of that eventual rising outbreak.
"We'd like to move away from the 14-day period — WA is a bit of an outlier in that."
New definitions don't impact border
WA had been due to remove its hard border with other states on February 5, but last week that decision was revoked and the border remains in place.
Mr McGowan said even if WA reached high community numbers, that would "not necessarily" make the border redundant.
"Border arrangements are crucial whilst the eastern states is peaking to keeping caseloads and case numbers here down," he said.
He defended his decision to maintain the border in the face of conditions in the east.
"I foreshadowed that back in December to you all standing in this room, that if there was an emergency or a catastrophe, and I think it is over there, over east, then we would change position," he said.
“Obviously it’s had some blowback and pushback, but I didn’t want to deliberately bring in something whilst we had low third dose rates that would kill large numbers, in particular, of older West Australians.”
School rules aim to keep classrooms open
WA Education Minister Sue Ellery said close contact rules for school staff and students were aimed at keeping schools open amid high case numbers in the community.
"It does recognise that schools and early-year services are critical, providing face-to-face learning to students for their social development and mental health, and supporting the economy so parents can work," she said.
Education Minister Sue Ellery says the school contact rules are stricter than national rules.(ABC News: James Carmody)
Under the rules, which Ms Ellery stressed did not apply on the first day of school next week, there were three categories of contact, with a positive case determined by a RAT or PCR test:
Classroom contact — Staff and students who share a classroom for a minimum of one period
One-on-one contact — Student and staff who have worked one-on-one, and facemasks were not "consistently worn"
Workplace contact — Staff or other workers who spend more than 15 minutes indoors without a mask
The rules for each category, described by Ms Ellery as stricter than national rules, will differ according to levels of exposure to a positive case.
A staff member who is asymptomatic after a one-on-one or workplace contact must isolate and take a RAT on day six. If the test is clear, they can leave isolation on day seven.
But asymptomatic staff who are exposed via a classroom or workplace contact can continue to work.
However, they must take a RAT daily for seven days and quarantine when not at work.
They must also wear a surgical mask and travel alone to work if possible.
Meanwhile, students who are asymptomatic after exposure are encouraged to keep attending school.
"They [students] should avoid, if possible, out-of-hours child care, extracurricular activities or public transport for seven days," Ms Ellery said.
She said the state would provide necessary RATs to all schools.
Ms Ellery said while she was aware of programs in Victoria and New South Wales where students were being routinely tested to monitor for any potential outbreak, this was not the current policy for WA.
"We will give further consideration to the further use of RATs based on the CHO's advice and how the pilots in NSW and Victoria work," she said.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
