9:00am:
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That's it from me here this morning. Make sure you check back in tomorrow with Grill Guru Grace Ryan.
In the meantime, keep an eye on our regional sites for news updates throughout the day:
| DUBBO | NARROMINE | WELLINGTON | NYNGAN | THE RIDGE | WESTERN MAGAZINE |
Is it your birthday today?
If it is, then we wish you all the best from the team at The Grill.
Did you know you share your glory day with Winona Ryder and the voice of Homer Simpson Dan Castellaneta?
Let's face it, I don't think I'm ever going to understand how Winona could cut off ties with the beautiful Johnny Depp, so let's take a moment to appreciate the wonder that is Homer J Simpson.
8:50am:
James Packer has cemented his position as a Hollywood player after securing almost a quarter of a billion dollars in backing for his Los Angeles-based production partnership, RatPac Entertainment.
The company, which Packer created a year ago in partnership with filmmaker Brett Ratner, has closed a deal with Bank of America Merrill Lynch for a credit facility worth $US150 million ($169.54 million).
Social media goes into overdrive over Paul Rudd lookalike:
He's played the funny guy in numerous romantic comedies, but Paul Rudd is being praised for a different kind of role on social media, after a heroic cameo where he appeared to tackle a man on a homophobic rant at a Dallas airport.
It turns out the man in a checkered shirt and brown blazer wasn't actually Rudd, but that did not stop social media from going into a frenzy over the man who bears a striking similarity to the Anchorman star. Check it out here.
8:40am:
RUGBY UNION: Paul Hennock believes he's left the Dubbo Kangaroos in a healthy position after announcing he won't be coaching the Blowes Clothing Cup champions in 2015.
Hennock led the Roos to their first title since 2008 this year after a season in which the Dubbo side led the competition for majority of the season. Read more here.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Group 11 officials are confident the sacking of Manly chief executive David Perry won't impact their push for an NRL premiership match to be brought to Dubbo in 2015.
Perry left his post on Monday, just a couple of days after the multimillionaire Penn family bought a controlling interest in the club. He was replaced yesterday by highly-rated former South Sydney and Chelsea FC administrator Joe Kelly. Read more here.
SPEEDWAY: After the Dubbo City Speedway Club kicked off its racing season earlier this month, the club has now set its sights on even bigger events, culminating in the Australian Production Sedan title in April, the biggest event of the season.
With the track now being run by the Dubbo club momentum is building and it looks set to continue with club president Ian Boland, vice-president Wayne Alchin and Terri Alchin-Spears putting in plenty of hard work to make sure all events are well supported by the local community.
8:30am:
CALLING ALL CHOCOLATE ADDICTS!!!!
Finally something we've all been waiting for, a dress good enough to eat.
Caroline McCall, the costume designer behind Downton Abbey, and Lindt chocolatier Stefan Bruderer created this delicious frock with food artist Paul Wayne.
This dress definitely puts any of Willy Wonka's work to shame! The 5.4kg chocolate dress took three months to make! Read more here.
8:25am:
The Mailbox Shopper dropped in to class 3B at St Mary's last week to ask the question:
"If you could meet a celebrity, who would it be?"
Check out the answers here - there were some interesting responses!
8:20am:
Dubbo Macquarie Regional Library is holding its annual book sale this Saturday with thousands of books on offer.
Books that are old or no longer required for collection will be on sale, with starting prices of just 25 cents.
There will also be second-hand computers for sale, at just $120, as well as audio books and DVDs. Read more here.
8:15am:
Call me crazy, but sometimes a muscular male isn't exactly what the doctor ordered.
A new study has found that uber masculine-looking men with buff Hollywood bodies are not the epitome of attractive in some countries.
In some cultures, softer, less masculine-looking men are more appealing to women, said the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The average Australian man stands at 175.6 centimetres tall and weighs in at 85.9 kilograms. This leaves him with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 putting him squarely in the middle of the overweight category and a few kgs shy of the medically defined obesity range. Read more here.
8:10am:
Senator and Olympic athlete Nova Peris says she "categorically rejects any wrongdoing" over allegations that she used taxpayers' money to bring Ato Boldon to Australia to help her carry out an extra-marital affair with the Olympic sprinter. Read more here.
8:05am: Quest Dubbo has been named the Serviced Apartments Australian Franchise of the Year.
Announced on Saturday at the annual gala dinner in Melbourne Town Hall, the Australian Franchise of the Year Award recognises superior guest service standards, business performance along with the franchise's excellent demonstration of company values across the Quest network.
7:50am: Make sure your vote counts!
7:45am:
Australian companies are drowning in their own red tape, wasting valuable hours of employee time and costing the economy billions of dollars. In what it believes is the first assessment of red tape in both Australia's public and private sectors Deloitte Access says government regulations cost about $27 billion a year to administer and cost businesses $67 billion a year to comply with. Read more here.
Pyrmont Bridge robbery: Five teens arrested as man suffers fractured eye socket . Five teenagers, including a 15-year-old boy, were chased by police and arrested shortly after the attack on the bridge about 1.30am on Wednesday. Police said the two friends, aged 20 and 24, had been walking across the bridge when they were confronted by a group of teenagers near the middle of the bridge. Read more here.
Terrorism recruiters are increasingly looking to sway Australian youths as the supply of older would-be foreign fighters dries up, the federal police's counterterrorism chief has said.
In a what amounts to a stark warning to parents and communities, Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan told Fairfax Media that older, often charismatic jihadist recruiters would increasingly target young and impressionable people including teens such as Bankstown 17-year-old Abdullah Elmir. Read more here.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told colleagues that Tanya Plibersek has "taken a leaf out of Julia Gillard's playbook" and is engaged in a "campaign" to undermine her leader Bill Shorten.
In an extraordinary address to the Coalition joint parties meeting on Tuesday, Ms Bishop linked Labor's internal ructions over the party's policy on turn-backs of asylum seeker boats with the ALP leadership.
7:30am:
MAITLAND: Police have arrested one man after raids on the Portland Street clubhouse of the Gladiator Motorcycle Club in Horseshoe Bend on Tuesday morning.
Police from Strike Force Raptor, the State Crime Command Gangs Squad and Central Hunter police were part of the group that executed search warrants around 9.30am. Read more here.
BALLARAT: A pilot, aged in his 60s, has suffered serious chest and head injuries after being forced to make an emergency crash landing in a paddock at Putty on Monday night.
An Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokesman told theNewcastle Herald a major search operation had been launched about 5pm after a Cessna travelling between Mudgee and Luskintyre Airfield was discovered to be overdue by more than 40 minutes.
HOBART: AFL powerhouse Collingwood will visit Aurora Stadium for the first time when it faces reigning premier Hawthorn in the NAB Challenge match in February.
The match will be played on Thursday, February 26, at 7.10pm to kick-off the preseason series.It will be the first time Collingwood has played at Aurora Stadium in any capacity. Read more here.
7:15am: Here's what's cracking local headlines this morning -
DUBBO: Councillor Ben Shields has thrown his support behind Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson, who he claims was "cut down at the knees" after raising law and order issues.
Speaking in the council chamber Cr Shields said petty crime was "a great concern" to much of the community and offered his encouragement to the mayor. Read more here.
DUBBO: Yesterday saw the launch of the You just don't smoke around hospitals campaign at Dubbo Hospital.
Western NSW Local Health District (LHD) chief executive Scott McLachlan said hospital staff are having to shoo people away from smoking on a daily basis. Read more here.
DUBBO: Dubbo City Council is considering new ways of collecting waste that will maximise the potential of recycling.
Across NSW, people are creating less waste, particularly landfill, but Dubbo residents are looking for further ways to increase the amount of that waste that can be recycled.
DUBBO: The Free Cuppa for the Driver scheme has won the Local Government Excellence in Road Safety Award with their driver survivor campaign.
The awards were announced earlier in the month at the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) NSW State Conference in Coffs Harbour. Read more here.
7am: Good morning Dubbo and welcome to the Grill! You are here with Laura McIntyre in Dubbo for this wonderful Wednesday.
If you have something you would like me to include, feel free to shoot me an email to laura.mcintyre@fairfaxmedia.com.au
DUBBO / TRANGIE / NYNGAN: Dubbo is shaping up to be a mostly sunny day with a top of 29 degrees. Trangie can expect sunny weather sitting at 30 degrees and Nyngan will hit a toasty 31 degrees.
BOURKE / COBAR: Out the Back o' Bourke will reach 33 degrees and sunny Cobar will have a sunny day with 31 degrees.
