Articles published in August 2026
Well, would you look at this
August 6, 2026 in Business  Congratulations to the finalists in the Outstanding Community Organisation category of the 2026 Oberon Local Business Awards.
- Black Springs Community Association Inc
- Columbia Aged Care
- Malachi Gilmore Hall
- Oberon Junior Hockey Association
- Oberon Matters
- Oberon Men's Shed Inc
Wishing them all "Good luck" would obviously be a step too far. | | |
It's here! It's finally here!
August 6, 2026 in Community and Sport  After more inexplicable delays than anyone could have imagined, the Oberon Leagues Club has finally moved to its new home at the new Sports Complex. It even has a new name - Club Oberon. There's still a lot of work to be done and electricians from HV Electrical are dragging wires all over the place, the NBN people are scratching their heads about internet access, there's no signal to the TV screens and the member sign in system is waiting on the NBN, but Vanessa Booth has got the important parts working. Oberon Matters can confirm that the beer is flowing and very nice it is too. The bistro is still a couple of weeks away from opening but it will be worth it when it arives.
Vanessa must be congratulated on the work she and others have done to get this far. Now all we need is for the football fields to be playable, but the season is almost over and there's time to get that right before the 2027 season. Keep up with what's happening at the club at their Facebook page. | | |
Photos of children on the Internet
August 6, 2026 in General News, Schools and Sport  It's a tragedy of our times that anything can be abused by perverts. The latest is that AI systems are being used to exploit photos of children by removing clothing or putting other heads on bodies. The world's largest pornography site, PornHub, recently banned one of their advertisers who was paying a million dollars a year to advertise AI-generated child porn. That company is Australian. Elon Musk is threatening to sue a US state because it has banned Musk's Grok AI for the ease with which it can be used to produce images of naked children. Musk claims this is an infringement of free speech, a statement that renders sane people speechless.
Legitimate search engines are blocked from indexing any images on this site but it is almost impossible to prevent web site content from being scavenged by AI robots and the only alternative is to not publish photos, so over the next few weeks I will be going through all the sports and school reports on the site and removing any photos in which kids can be identified. (This tiny and obscure site is continually trawled by AI bots, although all except ChatGPT try to remain anonymous. The papers published by Nine Entertainment are currently being hit 30,000,000 times a month by AI content thieves. It is work for several people just to try to keep up with the blocking.) The two articles below from The Conversation address the danger of putting your kids' photos online. | | |
A raffle for a very good cause
August 6, 2026 in Community  There's anther raffle running in Oberon. Rotary are raffling a trailer, but not just any old trailer - it's one you design yourself up to a value of $7,000 and will come with $5,000 worth of things inside it. So if you want something to tow a car or boat, haul wood or farm supplies or cause your relatives to ask for help moving house you will get what you want. Tickets are $100 each, with only 1,000 being sold so get in quick for this opportunity. Look for the ticket sellers outside the Council building each Saturday morning.
The money raised will be used in the campaign to reduce the level of domestic violence in the community. Despite the nonsense talked by a certain politician it is a serious problem, with 29 deaths so far in 2026 in NSW alone. And that's deaths, not nonfatal assaults. (See the stats here.) Whatever the number of assaults, it's too high if it's over zero. This is a very worthy cause indeed and is typical of Rotary's work in the community. See what they are up to at their Facebook page. | | |
Whole lotta learning going on
August 6, 2026 in Schools  In the chilly hours and minutes of an Oberon day, the schools keep on filling students' heads with facts and stories.
You can see what went on last week here
| | |
The sporting life
August 6, 2026 in Sport  The chilly weather didn't keep the sportspeople of Oberon at home in front of the fire. They were out there chasing results
And you can see the results here
| | |
Oberon Community Services Expo 2026
August 13, 2026 in Copmmunity  The annual Community Services Expo was held at the Community Centre on August 6, showcasing the wide range of services and community groups that make Oberon such a vibrant and helpful place to live. The Section 356 grants for 2026 were presented at the same event.
See what happened here
| | |
Another winter driving hazard to worry about
August 13, 2026 in General News  Now that winter is here, this is your annual reminder about freezing fog. This is a road hazard that rarely gets mentioned but which can be very serious (and frightening) when it happens.
See more about this here
| | |
Cars and coffee continues in the cold
August 13, 2026 in Community  Sunday, August 2, was a bit cold (but it is Oberon in winter) but that didn't stop the regular monthly Cars and Coffee gathering. This happens on the first Sunday of every month outside and across from Peter's Cafe.
See the photos supplied by the organisers here.
| | |
Local Government Week colouring competition
August 13, 2026 in Community  Local Government Week in Oberon included a colouring competition, with the entries on display at the Community Services Expo.
See the winners here
| | |
What did you learn today?
August 13, 2026 in Schools  Lots! Including caves and cranes. Another educational week (and it was Education Week) for the schools around Oberon.
Check out the stories here
| | |
A whole world of sport
August 13, 2026 in Sport  Well, not really the whole world but the bit of it that matters to Oberon. The sportsfolk were at it again, winning some and just missing out in others.
The results are here as usual
| | |
Science Week comes to Oberon
August 20, 2026 in Community  In 2026 it touched down in Oberon with a display and talks at the Malachi Gilmore Hall organised by the Oberon Citizen Science Network (OCSN).
Follow the day's action here
| | |
Book review: "Ensh*ttification" by Cory Doctorow
August 20, 2026 in Reviews  Remember how good some things used to be and how they have decayed into sometimes unrecognisable piles of garbage? This book address the problem, identifies some culprits and suggests what we might do about it. If we can do anything al all.
Read the review here
| | |
Older people's media literacy can be boosted in just 60 minutes - new study
August 20, 2026 in General News  I know I keep harping on about the sewer pipe of mis- and disinformation that floods us every day from social media (and real media, too). Some new research published in The Conversation indicates that older people might be more susceptible to this while some (but not all or enough) young people are taught something about critical thinking at school. The research went on to look for ways to correct this deficiency, and the good news is that there is some evidence that the problem can be averted with a quite small amount of education and training, although this needs constant reinforcement.
Read the good news here
| | |
Oberon Council Mayor's Column
July 30, 2026 in Community This fortnight's column from Oberon Mayor Andrew McKibbin can be seen here. Hey, teacher, teach those kids some more
August 20, 2026 in Schools  Despite what you might hear in some popular songs, the students at the schools around Oberon aren't just bricks in the wall. They are too busy learning things and doing educational activities. There's music, there's sport, there's zoos to visit. And more.
See this week's action here
| | |
There's sport, and then there's SPORT!
August 20, 2026 in Sport  Golfers golfing, netballers netballing, footballers chasing footballs (of various shapes), polocrossers doing whatever they do, school kids rushing around. A full week of activity across the sporting spectrum.
See what happened here
| | |
Black Springs finally gets some mobile phone coverage
August 27, 2026 in Community  It's finally happened. After years of waiting and a lot of work by the Black Springs community, there is finally reliable mobile phone coverage in Black Springs. It's limited right now to areas around the Community Hall and the tennis courts at the Recreation Ground, but it's a start.
Read the good news here
| | |
A look around the Tarana Markets
August 27, 2026 in Community  When the weather's fine, it's the fourth Sunday of the month and you have some time to fill in before you need to be somewhere, there's nowhere much better to be than the Tarana Markets. It was Sunday, the weather was lovely and Oberon Matters was on the way to somewhere, so it was a good opportunity to wander around pointing the camera at things.
See the photos here
| | |
The bistro has arrived
August 27, 2026 in Community   There's another place to eat in Oberon. Yes, the bistro at Club Oberon is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week at the new Sports Complex and it was worth the wait. Oberon Matters put on the restaurant reviewer hat and had lunch there. It was only the second day of trading but no allowances needed to be made. The chosen dish was the Hawaiian Chicken Burger with cheese, pineapple, bacon and aioli dressing and a piece of chicken that was so big that it overlapped the bun in two directions. And the chips were delicious. Add a nicely chilled beer from the bar next door, look out over one of the nicest views from a dining table anywhere in town and only someone impossible to please could have any complaint.
There's no need to quote Arnie in Terminator 2. You know how it goes. | | |
Editorial: Be careful what you wish for
August 27, 2026 in Opinion Someone has come up with a very silly idea. What is even sillier is thinking that it might work.
See the editorial here Don't be a dropout
August 27, 2026 in Schools  Very good advice there from the great James Brown, but nobody's dropping out of the schools around Oberon. There's too much to do and learn there.
Catch up on the school news here
| | |
Winners and losers - that's the way sport goes
August 27, 2026 in Sport  You can't win every time. That's why they make silver medals. But that doesn't take away the fun and the reason for playing sport.
Some of last week's results are here.
| | |
|
