A new look for our website - coming Tuesday

The boffins - or designers as they should be know - tell us the new website will be faster to load and easier to read on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. The changes are being rolled out across the ACM network and once this is complete, there will be further tweaks to improve its look and performance.

With the changes comes a new subscription offering for online readers with unlimited access to the North Coast's No. 1 news source, the Newcastle Herald. The Manning River Times joins other sites on the North Coast, namely the Great Lakes Advocate, Gloucester Advocate, Port Macquarie News, Macleay Argus and Camden Haven Courier in this "package deal". Full details will be available from next Tuesday morning but basically it means you will be able to flip through every pages of those newspapers online.

Importantly, for those of us who enjoy some brain-training, subscribers get daily access to interactive puzzles, including crosswords, Sudoku and the trivia quiz.

The Manning River Times is part of ACM, Australia's largest independent media company. The ACM network of 140 news websites and newspapers stretches into every state and territory, reaching 6.4 million regional, rural and suburban Australians a month.

Footnote: Today's accompanying photograph of Crowdy beach has been chosen for two reasons. Firstly, while sports journo Mick McDonald was on leave and enjoying a day (or two) at the races, I had the pleasure of speaking with our fishing correspondent Ian Pereira who informed me Crowdy beach is one long gutter and if you're looking for fish, look for the birds feeding. Secondly, Crowdy welcomes the visually spectacular Rattetrap drag racing event held on the sand this coming Saturday, May 14.

Toni Bell

Editor