9AM: That's all we've got time for folks! Tune in again tomorrow with Grace in Narromine for all your local, regional and national updates. In the meantime, you can catch up on the rest of today's news through our websites.
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8.53: In spot news:
THE Dubbo Rhinos have raised serious concerns about this season's Graincorp Cup competition after the Central West Rugby Union (CWRU) announced the club would be fielding two sides in two different competitions this season.
After two Rhinos sides played in the Graincorp Cup North competition last season the CWRU's recent release of the 2015 draw revealed the fact one Rhinos side would now be transferred to the South division.
Dubbo Rhinos president Ian Burns has announced he will be pushing for the draw to be changed to have both Rhinos sides return to the North competition while revealing he doubts the club would be able to handle the workload of two Rhinos sides in two locations as well as a women's team also in action.
8.48: Is today your birthday? HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You share it with One Direction singer Zayn Malik.
January 12 is also the birthday of Ella Henderson, Pixie Lott, Kirstie Alley and Rachael Harris.
8.35: Why you drink your tea, check out today's front pages from around the country.
8.20: IT'S a campaign trail with a difference.
Not with buses and banners, but with thumbs and backpacks. The Big Green Hitch will cut a swathe through Tassie, starting today in Devonport where participants began hitching straight off the Spirit of Tasmania.
The hitch, now in its third year, will raise money for Friends of the Earth.
"I've had in my life thousands of lifts and never really waited more than half an hour. We've met people who are professional fisherman, miners, people with young families - people you wouldn't meet normally and talk to them about the environment," organiser Sam Cossar-Gilbert said.
This will be the first hitch held in Tasmania. The first had the theme of 'water' and ran from Melbourne to the mouth of the Murray River. The second travelled Melbourne to Sydney through regions affected by coal seam gas.
The hitch is a race with four stages, with points awarded for the team which is first to reach the landmark.
8.07: Who else is feeling like this panda today?
8.02: An international darts tournament at Etihad Stadium erupted into chaos on Saturday evening when crowd members began throwing plastic chairs and tables.
One eyewitness said he travelled to Melbourne from Sydney especially to attend the Darts Invitational Challenge and was shocked and disgusted at the aggressive behaviour.
"It was an absolute mess, drunken idiots that were getting bored and looking for a bit of excitement."
7.47: Have a few minutes to spare? Why not grab your phone and take part in the Daily Liberal #MyDubbo photo-a-day challenge.
Your photos will then be published on the Daily Liberal website giving our readers a snapshot of Dubbo during the first month of 2015.
The challenge is a great chance for readers to have some fun and see their photos published online.
We have set up a photo topic each day during the month of January, and readers are encouraged to check out the topic each day and then submit their photo using social media.
7.38: It was a big weekend for Parkes with the 23rd Elvis Festival drawing around 18,000 people to the city.
7.33: In regional news:
*ORANGE: EMERGENCY services worked for about two hours yesterday to free a man who became trapped when a four-wheel-drive and trailer reversed into a garage, causing sections of it to collapse. The man, in his 50s, was trapped by the legs between the draw-bar of the trailer and the four-wheel-drive.
*ORANGE: A landowner is fighting to have his phone bill made void after he was charged $8357.40 for phone calls he allegedly made to Sierra Leone and Israel. The phone bill indicates 864 calls were made to Sierra Leone on December 23 between 3.03pm and 5.28pm, while a call was also made to Israel at 4.13pm the same day.
*BATHURST: FOUR of the seven fatalities on Chifley local area command roads last year were middle-aged motorbike riders, prompting a warning from police and authorities. The accidents, involving male riders aged 44, 48, 54 and 66, occurred at Hartley, Lyndhurst, Hill End and the O’Connell Road.
*BATHURST: THE confirmation from police that a reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Bathurst teenager Jessica Small’s killer was a double-edged sword for her family yesterday. Jessica’s mother, Ricki Small, said while she was pleased that a reward had finally been announced more than 17 years after her daughter went missing, the amount of $100,000 was disappointing.
*MUDGEE: Bylong Upper Public School has been placed into recess by the Department of Education and Communities following a formal decision made at the end of the 2014 school year. When a school is in recess it hasn’t been completely closed but the principal is withdrawn and its future and feasibility is investigated.
7.21: THE State Emergency Service (SES) has launched an investigation after a Dubbo volunteer was injured during a training mishap on Saturday.
The 30-year-old woman was airlifted to Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital after a rubber raft hit her on the head during a routine training exercise at the Penrith White Water Rafting Park.
It was feared the woman could have suffered spinal injuries, but thankfully medical scans cleared her of any ongoing health problems and she was expected to be released from hospital by weekend's end, according to SES spokesperson Phil Campbell.
The woman was with a group of SES volunteers from Dubbo who were undergoing the training exercise in fast-flowing floodwater scenarios.
7.15: Here are some of the items making local news today:
*SPLISH splash Dubbo residents were taking a bath long about Saturday morning. The official opening Big Splash Water World at the Dubbo Showground went off with a bang, thanks to Alicia and Jesse McDonald.
*DUBBO, Gilgandra and Coonamble had some of the biggest increases in land values in the past financial year, according to new figures from the NSW Valuer General Simon Gilkes. Gilgandra's median residential land value increased by a whopping 30 per cent in the year to July 1, 2014, to $19,500.
*It has been almost 60 years since Dubbo's great flood but Rod Brown can still recall the freak event. "I remember the flood, I was five years old. It was neat, that's all I remember. We weren't in it so we could go and have a look and go back home," Mr Brown said.
*ROBIN'S Nest Cafe owner Sally Hopkins decided she would bring in the New Year in a less traditional way with an "awesome board." "When you work in a coffee shop people tell you their stories," she said.
7am: Good morning and welcome to the Morning Grill! You're with Landy in Dubbo.
Anything you want included? Just email orlander.ruming@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
