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That's all from me here this morning, make sure you check back in with us on Monday morning with Mark Rayner.
In the meantime, keep an eye on our regional pages
DUBBO | NARROMINE | NYNGAN | THE RIDGE | WELLINTGON | WESTERN MAGAZINE |
8:50am:
Is January 2 your day of days?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Did you know, you share this wonderful date with Kate Bosworth and and Cuba Gooding Jr?
8:45am:
Did you watch the ABC New Years Eve coverage?
Set to a spectacular backdrop of fireworks and New Year revellers on Sydney harbour, the ABC last night farewelled a long, gruelling year with what was, at times, a long, gruelling telecast.
Even the show's co-host, the comedian Julia Zemiro, was heard over the closing credits to say, "Oh, thank God" when it was over.
However, there was no repeat of the controversy surrounding last year's New Year's Eve broadcast.
Critics turned out in force on social media and elsewhere to pan last year's four-hour show, anchored by Lawrence Mooney and Stephanie Brantz, as amateurish, cringeworthy and, at times offensive. Read more here.
8:30am:
Duboo trainer Clint Lundholm started 2015 in perfect fashion yesterday when his talented but erratic gelding Zizousa was able to win the 3D’s Butchery Maiden Plate (1000m) at Gilgandra.
The four-year-old had been placed second three times in eight starts prior to yesterday, with those performances enough to convince Lundholm to keep going with son of former top two-year-old Zizou.
The patience he has shown was rewarded yesterday when Zizousa ($2.40, Kody Nestor) scored an effortless three-and-a-half-length victory. Read more here.
Woodstock trainer Stephen Cleary has had a great new year period with his dog Myalla Monaro, which scored its second win in just four days yesterday.
The Swift Fancy x Playing FMyalla Monaro leads his rivals home at Dawson Park yesterday. Photo: HOLLY GRIFFITHSair dog took out the Unibet Stakes (400m) at Dawson Park, a race which he was lucky to get a start in after originally being a reserve runner. Read more here.
Dubbo Mountain Bike Club members and married couple Lynton Auld and Liza Twohill will compete in five rounds of the 2015 Evocities Fairfax Media MTB series but Dubbo won't be one of them.
The pair will be too busy with the organisation of the event to take part but they still expect it to be one of the best of the seven races.
As long time mountain biking enthusiasts, they have been delighted by the announcement of the Evocities series and what it could mean for the sport. Read more here.
8:20am:
Dubbo will soon be a beacon in the night when Essential Energy takes on the massive task of renewing every single globe in the city's street lights and cleaning them.
About 5000 street lights maintained by the electricity company in the Dubbo City Council boundary will undergo an annual check to try and ensure all are working correctly.
The job is a time consuming one and once it gets under way later this month, is expected to take at least three weeks.
Essential Energy has been forced to defend its maintenance standards in Dubbo this year after coming under fire from Dubbo City Council. In August councillor Allan Smith voiced his concern about the number of lights that were faulty and in October it was claimed one in six lights were not working properly. Read more here.
8:15am:
While many were out partying for New Year's there were a few that were resting in the Dubbo Hospital maternity unit after the birth of their first child.
Jaxson Paul Stanley Gordon was a little later than the New Year's countdown, but made it into the world at 2:16am to be among the first children born in 2015.
The 3.780 kilogram, 53 centimetre newborn is the first child of Kelsey Meineke and Tyson Gordon.
Jaxson was born on his due date- a rare occurrence, Mr Gordon said.
The significant birthday should mean a fantastic party when he is old enough, Jaxson's dad added. Click here to see the two other New Years bubs.
8:05am:
Something to give send you into shockwaves on this wonderful Friday...
7:55am:
The first fireworks in Dubbo for more than 30 years have gone off with a bang, with the organisers saying they've had nothing but praise from the community.
Dubbo Fireworks Inc chairman Peter Judd said about 5000 people attended the event and the crowd was extremely well behaved.
The 'Dubbo Fireworks' Facebook page has been filled with compliments, with one lady writing she would love for the fireworks to become an annual event.
"Congratulations to all on such a successful, stress-free event. I thought numbers were fantastic! Volunteers were all pleasant and the fireworks display magical!" the post read. Read more here.
7:45am:
A key plank of the Abbott government's employment strategy is on the cusp of failure, with just over 500 job seekers so far joining a scheme meant to benefit 32,000.
The $10,000 Restart incentive was unveiled in Treasurer Joe Hockey's May 2014 budget, the latest bid to tackle a policy area that has long vexed both sides of politics: how to encourage employers to hire mature-age Australians. Read more here.
A $35 trip home from the Sydney CBD to Coogee cost Jade Wilkes $213 with an Uber car service on New Year's Eve.
The app told her that a surge price of 3.1 times the normal rate was in effect at 2am when she put in her starting point and accepted the fare multiple by re-typing the figure when prompted by the app.
Ms Wilkes booked her trip home with Uber Black - a chaffeur-driven luxury vehicle typically more expensive than a taxi or UberX. Read more here.
Julie Bishop has called on Australians to better value people aged over 60, saying they "still have a great deal to offer" the economy and society.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, who turns 59 this year and frequently works 20-hour days, said she would judge "very quickly" if she felt she was no longer capable of maintaining her pace. Read more here.
"I think it would be good for there to be an acknowledgement that experience and the wisdom that comes from experience actually should count for more than it does."
- Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop
7:30am:
There were fears a man at the centre of a three-hour siege at Unanderra on Thursday may have been holding a hostage, according to police.
Authorities, including police negotiators and heavily armed officers, swooped on the Lowanna Place address after a number of triple-0 calls about 11.30am from a man saying he was armed with a gun in Port Kembla.
Inspector Brian Pedersen said officers from Lake Illawarra and Wollongong commands saturated Port Kembla, but no-one was located. Read more here.
"Further phone calls on the triple-o line were received and as a result of inquiries police attended an address in the Unanderra area where they sighted a male person enter a house."
- Inspector Brian Pedersen
Hospital patients overflowing from emergency departments are clogging up beds in maternity wards, while pregnant women are being transferred to distant hospitals to deliver their babies because of a lack of resources.
Maternity units at NSW hospitals were so overstretched in the run-up to Christmas that seven women were transferred from Sydney to Newcastle on a single day.
Some neonatologists say the high number of transfers is symptomatic of a system that has no ‘‘surge capacity’’, and also means women are being hurried out of hospital before they are ready to make room for new arrivals. Read more here.
Two boats went up in flames at Jacobs Well, about 35km south of Redland Bay, after lunch guests at Calypso Bay's Drift Inn heard two explosions.
Dozens of boats rushed to the scene but could not get close because of the heat.
The Marine Rescue helicopter was called in to douse the flames from the sky but was kept at bay due to smoke haze. Read more here.
7:15am
Emergency services have reported good behaviour and a safe and "no drama" New Year's in Dubbo. Orana Police Acting Inspector Justin Falkiner said the night was no different to any other.
"The fireworks at Apex Oval went off without a hitch, it was a good family night," he said.
"Everyone was fairly well behaved and there were only minor incidences."
NSW Fire and Rescue Station Officer John Poulos said there was no sign of pyromaniacs to dampen the New Year's mood. Read more here.
Unwanted gifts, broken toys and dirty clothing are among the items being given to op shops in the region, but Dubbo Salvation Army Lieutenant Mark Townsend said he's had no reports of a significant increase in unusable goods in Dubbo.
Lieutenant Townsend said there was always a small number of donated items which were thrown away. Read more here.
"We're very grateful to the people who donate. The vast majority of items are very much appreciated and are able to be used."
- Dubbo Salvation Army Lieutenant Mark Townsend
Recent university graduates in regional areas were more likely to be in full-time employment than their capital city counterparts, new figures show.
The latest annual survey by Graduate Careers Australia shows 72.9 per cent of bachelor degree graduates were in full-time employment, compared with 66.5 per cent of capital city residents. Read more here.
Roadside littering has increased in country NSW, according to a report recently released by Keep Australia Beautiful.
Figures released from the Keep Australia Beautiful Rural Highway Litter Index 2013-14 showed NSW had dropped from third to fourth when it came to ranking Australian states on littering on country roads. Read more here.
7am: GOOD MORNING DUBBO AND HAPPY FRIDAY!
You are here with Laura McIntyre in Dubbo and I'm looking forward to walking your way to the weekend!
Dubbo, make sure you pack your brolly, it's going to be a toasty 37 degrees with a possible thunderstorm, Trangie 38 and Nyngan 39. (seems to be getting warmer the further west we go!)
Cobar will hit a lovely 40 degrees, as will our pals in Bourke. Stay cool my friends, stay cool.
