The latest developments are that the job of the General Manager has now been advertised and the suspension period for the council has been extended by three months.

With the announced departure of Big W from Armidale fresh in our minds, more uncertainty was cast over the retail scene this week with news that Mosaic, who operates stores including Katies, Rockmans and Noni-B, is set to close 500 stores nationwide.

We must wait to see the potential impact on local stores.

For the Chatfield family, closure of sorts came this week as the findings of an inquest into the death in custody of Armidale's Tane Chatfield were handed down.

Hopefully lessons will be learned from this long and painful search for answers.

On the COVID front, NSW seems to be holding the line; Kmart is now recommending staff and customers in some areas where masks, while the government is warning against complacency, reminding us all to treat any symptoms, no matter how mild, seriously.

In a worrying development, it seems the pandemic is also causing some Armidale residents to spend more on the pokies, while stories of the heartbreak being felt to our north at the QLD border are growing by the day.

Locally, a company has shown practical care in providing skin care packs to health workers whose skin is chafed from long hours of wearing masks and constant hand washing and sanitising.

While testing rates remain strong, a word of warning - swearing at the robot inside the automatic COVID result text service could be a bad idea.

So before you say, "where are my @*%*!$%! results", it's come to light that expletives will trigger a response that could see you kicked off the service. Not great if you really want those results.

Finally, in case you missed this one, a little step back in time to meet a record breaking character of 1950s Walcha; Big Ben.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great week.

Laurie Bullock

Editor