Check in tomorrow with Grace Ryan and Stephanie Konatar for all your Thursday highlights. 

In the meantime, make sure you keep a tab on the regional pages:

DUBBO | NARROMINE | WELLINGTON | NYNGAN | THE RIDGE | WESTERN MAGAZINE | 

8:50am: BIRTHDAY SHOUT-OUT! 

If today is your glory day, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Did you know that you share this day with the one and only  "boy who lived", Daniel Radcliffe? 

Also many happy returns to Bec Hewitt - we hope Lleyton's treated you well today!

8:40am: Dubbo City Council would capture more than $9.9 million from a mining company in a 20-year period to protect its asset base under a proposed agreement between the two parties.

8:35am: THE Hear our Heart ear bus project has been nominated in the 2014 Regional Achievement and Community Awards.

The volunteer mobile health clinic is up for the Population Over 15,000 category in NSW and the Australian Capital Territory.

8:30am: Australia's Michael Rogers has won stage 16 of the Tour de France with a dramatic descent outpacing second-placed Frenchman Thomas Voeckler and Belarus' Vasili Kiryienka.

Rogers claimed his first ever Tour stage win in his tenth Tour while his Tinkoff-Saxo team won their second stage win this year by powering away from a breakaway group in the final stages of the descent.

8:25am: 

8:20am: Narromine News

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Cenotaph

There have been a lot of comments and opinions printed in your paper and I would like to explain to you why nine out nine councillors were of the view that the Cenotaph should be repaired and moved.

8:15am: Kyle Sandilands has copped a spray from his radio co-host Jackie O after his offensive comments ‘‘ruined’’ an interview with Cameron Diaz.

8:11am: A DUBBO teacher made an appearance on national television this week as a contestant on Millionaire Hotseat. Vonnie Gilpin, who teaches religion and art at St John's College, said her daughter Louise entered her online.

8:10am: Short stumps have taken the place of a memorial avenue of leafy giants at Dubbo after the start of a $3.1 million revitalisation project. Dubbo City Council crews moved into Darling Street with 17 London plane trees in their sights at the weekend.

8:05am: Did anyone else just squeal at this news?

8:00am: Narromine was treated to a spectacular sight yesterday as a colourful, eye-catching tractor made its way down Dandaloo Street as Ken Tuckey and his wife Joyce drove into town.

The pair is renowned in the Central West for its charity fundraising efforts over the years.

7:50am: Were you sporting hero back in the day? Check out our weekly gallery to see if you can spot yourself or anyone you know: 

7:45am: The tragedy of flight MH17 is only just unfolding:

Remembering Australia's flight MH17 victims 

If you would like to leave a tribute to those we have lost click here

7:30am: And now for the national headlines:

A University of Wollongong student jailed for secretly filming female students naked has been released on bail pending an appeal. 

Patrick the Wombat, who lives at Ballarat Wildlife Park, is back in his famous wheelbarrow to represent the city after a post about his habit went viral at the weekend. 

A powerful right-wing union currently under investigation by the royal commission into union corruption has had its formal influence in the Labor Party slashed after it was caught grossly inflating its membership numbers

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dismissed a Productivity Commission suggestion that funds be redirected away from his signature paid parental leave scheme and into childcare services, arguing the two are ''very separate issues''.

If the thought of your child being bullied at school breaks your heart, then consider this - you might not even notice. Analysis of a study of more than 4000 children has found parents and teachers often do not realise children are being bullied

The colleague and friend of a Sydney paramedic who fell to his death during a dangerous canyon rescue mission says he has been haunted by the tragedy every night for the past 2½ years.

7:20am: Let's have a squiz at what's making headlines around the region:

DUBBO: CHILDCARE providers in Dubbo have welcomed proposals to change funding methods for the industry, expand services to include nannies and grandparents and give more money to disadvantaged children.

DUBBO: Dubbo College year 10 student Chayan Deb Nath is enrolled in full-time study at three different schools.The 16-year-old gifted Delroy Campus student has been part of the Xsel Virtual Selective High School Provision, studying maths, science and English via web-conferencing since year 7.

DUBBO: Dubbo's neighbours are projected to have hundreds fewer people living within their boundaries by 2031.The NSW Department of Planning and Environment delivered the grim outlook for the Orana region in its most recent release of projection figures

DUBBO: COUNCILS in the state's west have written to state and federal agriculture ministers calling for more help to get through drought conditions described as "the worst in living memory". Walgett, Brewarrina and Bourke councils, collectively known as the Outback Shires Alliance, sent letters to local MPs and state and federal agriculture ministers.

7am: Good morning Dubbo you are here with Laura McIntyre in Dubbo.

Happy Hump Day!

Stick with me this morning and I'll take you through the top stories gracing us with their presence. 

Here's this morning's weather.

Dubbo / Trangie / Nyngan: Look out for a bit of morning frost, with the top temperature hitting 17 degrees in Dubbo, 17 in Trangie and 18 in Nyngan. 

Cobar and Bourke: Cobar is expecting a late shower, reaching 18 degrees for the day. Bourke will hit a roaring 19 degrees.