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Jeff ’s tops with Uncle Of The Year

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The Uncle Project’s aim is provide support to families who are experiencing distress due to the emotional and developmental needs of their sons. The one-on-one mentoring relationships are nourished by ‘uncles’ who give their time to interact, work, learn and play with the boys. Jeff Herman has been with the project for only 18 months and was last week honoured with the ‘The Rick Newman Trophy’, the most prestigious of the Uncle awards given to a member who exceeds expectations as a positive male role model. This award was given to Jeff for his overall participation and positive role-modelling in the past year. He has helped build the fanciest cart at the an-

Uncle of the Year Jeff Herman with project ‘nephew’ Falilou

nual Billy Cart Derby, showed kids how to fish and turned many a frown upside down. Jeff is very humble about his win; he just likes to hang out with the kids. ‘I don’t think I really deserve Uncle Of the Year because it’s a

King-pin dope grower jailed over massive haul continued from page 1

south of Uki, where he tried in vain to establish a daredevil flying-fox cable ride for tourists, but was thwarted by state agencies. Gardner, 58, told the Supreme Court in Brisbane last week that he wished he had The New MacBook Airs- 11” & 13”: Now with grown at least another 15 acres of the drug before he was New Intel i5 CPU’s, Solid State Drives, USB3, caught in mid-2008. and New Graphics Chip.• The 1 kilo weight won’t The court heard Gardner break your back; the price won’t break your budget. was the kingpin of a massive 11 Air prices start at $1089. In Stock Now cannabis production scheme 13 Air prices start at $1339. In Stock Now he ran from his property at Waroo near Inglewood, in NEW MD313X/A’s - ON SALE: MB Pro 13" Previous Gen. – NOW $1199! southeast Queensland, between 2004 and 2008. Authorised Reseller Authorised Service Provider When police raided the propAuthorised iPad Reseller erty, they found 6.5 tonnes of harvested marijuana and 22,000 plants worth $69 million, loaded Where We Beat Apple’s Everyday Prices...Everyday ! weapons, a stockpile of 10,000 3/84 Centennial Circuit in the Arts & Industry Estate rounds of ammunition, lookout Byron Bay 02 6 6 8 5 8 7 9 6 • See Website for easy Directions camps and extensive infrastruchrs: m-fri 9-5 • sat 9-1 www.lightforce.com.au * Apple Beating prices are for cash/EFT - excludes CC Service Fees, Apple sales, refurbs, etc. ture on the property.

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Other members of his family very apt practice because I am in have already been sentenced daily lamentation for the people that are being killed,’ he said. for their involvement. The court was told the dried ‘Jail me more’ cannabis was packed into Gardner took the unusual drums that Gardner would load step of urging the judge to jail on to his ute and cover for the him for the maximum of 20 trips to Nimbin under the guise years for the charge of traffick- of being a firewood delivery ing, to which he pleaded guilty, man, complete with a dreadlock saying his crime was ‘the top wig for his hippie persona. Gardner must serve 80 per level of offending’. However, Justice Roslyn cent of his jail term before he Atkinson, who described the is eligible for parole. He has aloffending as ‘evil’, agreed with ready served almost four years the prosecution that Gardner in pre-sentence custody. should be sentenced to 13 years’ jail. Gardner called Justice Son jailed Atkinson a ‘tyrant’ after she APN News reported two handed down her sentence. years ago that Gardner’s Gardner told the court he was 34-year-old son Kristen, a forin a unique position to argue mer manager at the Winsome against abortion as he could re- Hotel and who was raised in member his time in the womb. Murwillumbah, was jailed In a bizarre but softly spoken for four-and-a-half years by a address, he compared abortion Lismore District Court judge to the mass genocide of Jews after pleading guilty to growin Nazi Germany and quoted ing 900 cannabis plants at a comments about judges’ moral property west of Baryulgil and responsibilities made by a fic- possession of a commercial tional character in a book. He quantity of cannabis leaf for appeared in court wearing an the purpose of supply. old shirt that was missing the Kristen Gardner, a former back panel, saying it was an an- photographer, told the court cient Jewish custom for grieving at the time that he intended people to tear their clothes. to raise funds to pay for legal ’I’m not a Jew, but I find it a fees needed by his family in

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2 June 19, 2012 The Byron Shire Echo

Queensland after their arrest on drug offences involving several tonnes of cannabis. The court was told he had 132kg of cannabis bagged and ready for market after harvesting his crop when police raided the remote plot.

GPS needed He told the Lismore court he grew the plants to cover his family’s extensive legal costs and revealed his father taught him how to grow cannabis on the family’s former banana farm at Doon Doon many years ago. He said one of his stepmothers had suggested it to his father. APN News reported that the crops were so remote Kristen Gardner used GPS co-ordinates to find his way to the site. But the GPS co-ordinates also helped police find him and his well-hidden crop harvest when they raided the site after first searching his home at South Gundurimba and finding the geographic co-ordinate details downloaded on his computer. Gardner said he learnt about growing cannabis while working as a photographer in Canada where growing the crop for medicinal purposes was legal.

Ministers back plans to replace doctor with video-conferencing continued from page 1

CREATIVE

group thing,’ says Jeff. ‘All the guys with Uncle are awesome and I’ve met some really great mates. ‘It would be really hard to draw a line with the Uncle group because there are some really great men out there.’

Jeff says he likes passing along blokey stuff to the future generation of men. ‘I enjoy teaching kids new skills. I get so much out of that. I am a more of the outdoorsy, hiking, camping and fishing sort of Uncle.’ Mother of project ‘nephew’, Naomi Schuelein, says that it has been helpful to her to be involved in the project. ‘It’s good for my son Falilou to have really positive male role models in his life. There is a real consistency there. ‘When he comes home he has such a happy good energy going on and it’s just great for his self-esteem and team building and so many other skills that’s he’s learning and just to be around really good men.’ For more information on how you can become involved with the Uncle Project, visit their website: www.uncle.org.au.

emergency care for the region’. The report came after the death of a man who suffered a stroke while waiting for a doctor at the hospital last year. Instead, Ms Skinner spruiked ‘the $18.3 billion NSW health budget,’ claiming ‘a total of $1.2 billion will be spent on expanding and renovating hospitals around the state this year.’ ‘This investment in public health will provide for an extra <echowebsection=Local News>

50,000 emergency department presentations, 30,000 additional acute inpatient services including 2,000 more elective surgery procedures, and improved intensive care services. ‘In the 2012/13 budget the NSW government has committed to a capital works program of $4.7 billion over four years.’ She claims northern NSW will ‘benefit from the… $80 million in Commonwealth and NSW government funding for

a major upgrade to Lismore Base Hospital… and $3.9 million to continue the planning process for the Northern NSW Regional Plan including Lismore and Byron Bay hospitals.’ She says details of specific funding allocations for local health districts will be released in the coming weeks. Q Editorial page 10

Also see an update of Monday’s public meeting at www.echonetdaily.net.au.