The Parkes Bridge Club has been in recess for months during these difficult times. Some members have been playing privately to hone their skills, but no beginner classes could be offered.

The Australian Bridge Federation has come to the rescue and initiated free online lessons for all prospective bridge players. The first of the four lessons will start at 2pm on Tuesday, 25th August and continue every Tuesday on 1st, 8th and 15th September.

The course is conducted by Paul Marston, who has taught more than 10,000 people to play bridge and his books have sold over 500,000 copies.

The course will run over four lessons:
• Each lesson will be a little over an hour.
• Each lesson will include a play component on BBO so you actually play hands.
• The lessons will be held on Zoom which is really simple and you do not have to join.
• Information will be provided in advance on how to use BBO and Zoom.
• Everyone who joins the online course will have their own webpage.
• Five short tutorials to help understand taking tricks being fundamental to bridge.
• Every player will receive copies of the lessons and the notes.
• Videos from the teacher will be available.

If anyone has an interest in cards whether you played canasta as a child, watched your parents play euchre, played 500 in your teens or solo in later years, you would love bridge.

The link to register is https://bridgelounge.online/learn-bridge-registration/abf/

The Parkes Elvis Festival date for next year is moving from January to 10 – 14 March!

The final decision to proceed or to cancel will still be made by 28th September with the festival team continuing to monitor the situation with the safety and well-being of the community, artists, fans, staff and businesses first and foremost.

In the announcement made on Wednesday, Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith said: “The date change will give us seven months until the start of the festival. We are hopeful that it will be able to proceed however the health and safety of the community will come first in the final decision of the festival proceeding.”

Festival Director Cathy Treasure said: “We chose to announce the date change now to allow our stakeholders to make alternate plans for January, to allow us time to reschedule artists and all the support services. We would love the festival to proceed but are being cautiously optimistic.”

The festival team have contacted the accommodation providers in the Parkes Shire and Forbes and have been assured that all January 2021 bookings will be carried over to the new dates in March or alternatively to the 2022 festival.

“There is no need to make contact now. The accommodation providers have reserved the March dates for existing bookings and will be in contact once the final decision on the festival proceeding has been made at the end of September,” Cathy said.

Chamber of Commerce President Geoff Rice said the chamber and business community supported the change of date. “Many businesses rely on the festival to get them through the off-peak summer period and this is especially relevant for 2021 after the challenges in business due to bushfires and drought.”

The ticket launch date will be moved to 16 November in line with the new festival dates.

Young people in the Parkes Shire have less than a month left to enter ‘The Art of Resilience’ competition using music, poetry, photography and art to express their emotions.

The competition is open for students aged 6 to 18 to create works using the theme resilience in the face of drought, and also the bushfires and COVID-19.

David Bicket CPA is your local go to business for all taxation, accounting, financial and business issues. The firm also specialises in succession, retirement and estate planning matters.

Since 2002, David and his staff have been servicing the needs of a diverse client base with their knowledge and expertise well recognised. With an understanding that no two businesses are the same and requires different levels of support, the firm can be relied upon for prompt, proactive and accurate advice delivered in a friendly and personal manner.

The staff members include Toni Hall, Lisa Bicket and Michael Reilly. Toni has been with the firm for over 13 years and specialises in all small business accounting software packages. Since 2002 Lisa has been the backbone of the business as office administrator/allrounder. Michael brings a wealth of professional, practical and commercial experience to the practice. Michael, a born and bred Parkes local, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and spent time in Sydney before returning where he was part of a major Forbes-based accounting practice in the 1990s.

Call today and make an appointment for your financial and taxation needs.

What is a crime? There are many crimes or offences. A lot are contained in the Crimes Act but many more are contained in other statutes both of the State and Federal Parliaments. The range of offences vary from murder down to parking.

Most criminal matters are commenced by the Police or the Director of Public Prosecutions by way of court attendance notices (formerly known as Police charges/summonses). Those charged with an offence will appear firstly before a magistrate in a local court. In some cases, issues of bail may need to be considered.

Magistrates deal with over 90% of criminal matters summarily, but the more serious offences are committed to the district court or supreme court for trial before a judge and/ or jury.

Unlike civil matters, criminal matters must be proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ having regard to the elements of the offence. This is when a solicitor’s professional knowledge becomes essential for the client (ie the person charged with an offence).

It should be noted that in civil matters the standard of proof is much less in that the plaintiff usually has to prove their case ‘on the balance of probabilities’.

Police will have a fact sheet (which is not evidence but outlines the Police case) on the first appearance before the court. The fact sheet and instructions from the client will help the solicitor in deciding whether to advise the client to plead guilty or not guilty. Sometimes an adjournment is necessary to obtain further information.

Once a plea is entered, the magistrate may adjourn the matter for hearing, sentence the client, commit the client for trial in a higher court or other options, depending on the seriousness of the offence, and the previous criminal history of the client. For further information contact us.

An enduring power of attorney authorises another person chosen by you to make decisions for you on legal and financial matters. You give that person full authority to act on your behalf. An enduring power of attorney is that it remains valid even if you become mentally incompetent.

You can limit the powers that you give to your attorney in the document. You can also limit it in time, and it can be revoked at any time, provided that you are mentally competent to do so.

You can appoint one or more persons. If you choose more than one attorney, you must decide whether they can act ‘jointly’ or ‘severally’. Jointly means that they must act together. Severally means that each attorney can make decisions by themselves and bind all other appointed attorneys. There are no set rules on whom you can appoint.

Unlike a general power of attorney, an enduring power must be witnessed by a solicitor, barrister or the registrar of the local court. In each case the witness must not work for, or have any close connection with, the person appointed as the attorney.

The power of attorney lasts until:
• You die
• You cancel it (and you have to be mentally competent to do this) by tearing it up and notifying the attorney that it is cancelled
• You become bankrupt
• A court cancels it

This is a complex legal field. If we at Matthews Williams can help you on any legal matter, feel free to call us.

By Mark Olson