9AM: And that's it from us folks, join us from 7am tomorrow for your Friday edition of the blog.
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8.50am:
8.40am:
WATER levels in Malpas Dam could drop to below 35 per cent within a year if dry conditions continue.
8.30am:
A COMPANY accused of turning its back on Australian workers in favour of foreign visa holders has emphatically denied the claims.
8.20am:
A MOREE couple have had their property returned to them after an historic Supreme Court ruling.
Shirley and Terrence Goater had their home and business repossessed by the Commonwealth Bank on May 13.
8.10am: MEDICAL marijuana reform will today take another historic step forward when a special bill is tabled in the federal Senate.
8AM:
7.50am: BAIADA Poultry must prove its Tamworth abattoir does not pose an “undue risk” to the environment and residents. The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has ordered an independent audit of the contentious Out St operation.
7.40am: AUTHORITIES have put landholders and contractors on notice, warning they will prosecute them if they fail to obey laws, after two fires sparked by hot works spiralled out of control near Tamworth.
7.30am:
7.20am: INNOVATIVE regional opera company, Opera North West, has proven yet again why it is the leading organisation of its kind, securing international superstar Teddy Tahu Rhodes to perform at its headlining event Opera in the Paddock. The event will return to ‘Mimosa’ at Delungra on March 21 next year.
7.10am:
SMOKING could be banned in public places under harsh new measures to be considered by Tamworth Regional Council.
Councillors are building a case for the radical move with a view to putting the policy change to a vote in the new year.
7AM: YOUR WEATHER
NORTH WEST SLOPES AND PLAINS: Mostly sunny. Medium (50%) chance of showers on the slopes, slight (20%) chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm in the east. Light winds becoming southeast to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then tending east to southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the afternoon and evening. Daytime maximum temperatures 27 to 35.
NORTHERN TABELANDS: Partly cloudy. High (80%) chance of showers, most likely during the morning and afternoon. The chance of a thunderstorm during the morning and afternoon. Light winds becoming east to southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the afternoon. Daytime maximum temperatures between 19 and 27.
Good morning. Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
It was all about the ARIAs last night as hip young, and not so young, things from the music industry celebrated 2014 in Sydney. Chet Faker and Sia were the big winners. Find out who won what here.
► Helmets could soon be compulsory in Ballarat cricket in the wake of the tragic Phillip Hughes incident.
► A $1 million zipline course is taking shape on the Illawarra escarpment as tourism behemoth Merlin Entertainments Group takes off on a dramatic expansion of the Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures site.
► Farrer MP Sussan Ley has responded cautiously to Albury Council’s support for same-sex marriage, saying she was waiting for legislation to come before Parliament before spelling out her views on the issue.
► Deakin University’s Warrnambool campus is worth $53 million a year to the region’s economy plus another $6m to the rest of the nation, according to a commissioned economics report.
► When Debra Tropea's little boy Cruz became severely dehydrated during a traffic jam on Friday, she never expected the kindness of even one person - let alone 30,000 of them. Read more about the search for the kind-hearted truckie.
► Struggling graziers have been dealt another blow with the Water Reform and Other Legislation Bill passed in Queensland Parliament.
► Qantas's new fleet of larger, faster planes will mean 10,000 more passengers can complete the trip from Wagga to Sydney each year.
MOUNT ISA: A cattle station worker has been flown to Brisbane after she was trapped under more than 1000 kilograms of hay bales while working on Taldora Station near Julia Creek.
LAUNCESTON: The state government has chosen a Singapore-based company as its preferred operator for a direct international shipping link. Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding told State Parliament the government expected to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with shipping company Swire ''in the near future''.
GOULBURN: Clive Palmer has vowed his party will extend its influence beyond Canberra’s Parliament House. However, they won’t be in a position to stand a single candidate at the NSW election next March.
WAGGA WAGGA: Plastic is not always fantastic, especially when it comes to Christmas trees. This is the message Dennis Blackett is promoting as he urges the community to embrace the festive spirit and buy real pine trees.
VICTOR HARBOR: The Middleton businessman who slaughtered six miniature horses at Clayton Bay in December 2013 may be out of jail in 18 months.
REDLANDS: Brisbane's G20 meeting of world leaders, designed to promote economic growth and peace, has fuelled the Redlands koala wars.
WARRNAMBOOL: A long-time Warrnambool drug dealer who was so desperate to make money he substituted rock salt for ice has been jailed for six months.
BENDIGO: With the conclusion of the international exhibition The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece from the British Museum, staff at Bendigo Art Gallery have been busy working behind the scenes to install works from the permanent collection.
► As protests spread around the United States on Wednesday night, reinforced National Guard and police engaged in a tense stand-off in Ferguson, sparing the township much of the violence that tore through its streets on Monday.
► Daryl Davies, a retired commercial pilot, paid the equivalent of about $500,000 in Thai baht for his dream three-bedroom home in Chom Tawan, one of the most prestigious residential developments on Phuket. But a Thai court has authorised an auction of the homes of Mr Davies and more than 40 other buyers to the highest bidder if millions of dollars owed to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China by the project developer are not repaid by a December 17 deadline.
► Hong Kong police have arrested high-profile student protest leaders Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, as authorities moved to clear a key protest camp at the heart of a pro-democracy civil disobedience movement that has swept the financial hub for two months
Life is looking pretty peachy for Gracetown surfer Jacob Willcox. The 18-year-old just celebrated the end of his high school years, as well as his success in being named this year's hottest surfing talent by Surfing Life magazine.