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

So it looks like Australia could be competing in the Eurovision Song Contest.

A retired principal at Dubbo says he is frustrated special needs school Fairview Heights was closed only to have the current government commit to a new purpose-built facility just 20 years later. Glenn Morrison said a "lack of bureaucratic and political foresight" in the 1990s and the subsequent sale of the land in South Dubbo had been a blow to the students and parents of the school.

Emergency services are at the scene of a serious crash on a Newell Highway property north of Parkes.

Something a bit lighter to kick-start your day ... it's easy to feel sorry for this frog, but watch until the end and see him get his revenge.

We visited class 4M at Orana Heights Public School to ask the students a pressing question: 

"What would you do if you were the richest person in the world?"

Check out their responses here.

Two of the state's top police officers will work alongside each other in open warfare for at least a fortnight after bloodletting at the final day of a parliamentary inquiry into a long running bugging scandal. The feud between deputy commissioners Nick Kaldas and Catherine Burn boiled over on Tuesday after Mr Kaldas accused Ms Burn of raising his name with an informant later used to bug him more than a decade ago.

Police tried for 10 minutes to talk to a young woman holding a knife outside a fast-food restaurant before shooting her dead. Police used capsicum spray and then attempted to use a Taser before an officer fired one shot. The confrontation took place in the car park of a Hungry Jack's fast food at Hoxton Park yesterday morning.

Australian households are paying far more than people in comparable countries in electricity network charges, with huge discrepancies across different states, a new report has found. Electricity network service providers in Queensland have the highest charges in Australia, while Victoria is the lowest cost jurisdiction in the National Energy Market.

Malcolm Turnbull was sounded out by colleagues, before December's ministerial reshuffle, as to whether he would accept the Treasury portfolio, as senior figures searched for ways to revive the government's flagging performance and sharpen its economic arguments. The news comes after a day in which confusion gripped the government on several fronts, potentially mocking Mr Abbott's post-spill promise that "good government starts today".Malco

You can check out a selection of today's front pages from across the Fairfax network here.

A middle-aged woman and her flying instructor were lucky to escape serious injury when the dual-control helicopter they were flying crashed at Orange yesterday. The 53-year-old Mudgee woman was attempting a hovering manoeuvre about 11.44am when she lost control of the small Robinson 22 and its rotors hit the ground, throwing the craft onto its side.

Two teachers bitten, allegations of a sexual assault, drug smoking and violent threats – welcome to term two, 2014 at Bathurst’s public schools.

Landholders in the Narromine district are being urged to report any locust activity on their farms. Swarm activity is now being reported across several areas within the Central West Local Land Services region including Narromine.

Local Trundle man Gerry Capell has embarked on a round the world motorcycle trip which he feels will be the experience of a lifetime.

Dubbo residents have been asked to keep an eye out for up to 50 goats still on the loose after the truck they were travelling in overturned on Monday night.

Dubbo students were treated to a visit by two prominent members of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation on Tuesday morning.

Daniel's parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, arrived at St Pius X Catholic Primary School in their signature red tour bus to chat with students, staff and parents on the importance of "keeping our kids safe"

THE Australian Medical Association (AMA) NSW has used a visit to Dubbo to call on the government to do more to attract doctors to the rural and regional areas and to keep them there.

A former Dubbo tennis star is in court on child sex charges.

And in sport - nothing has been ruled out - that's the message for Dubbo from both the Manly Sea Eagles and Group 11 despite reports yesterday that Caltex Park would not be hosting an NRL match this season.

Good morning western NSW. You're here with Angela for The Morning Grill. 

Dubbo is in for a mostly sunny day and an expected top of 34 degrees. In Trangie and Nyngan it'll be 36.

Cobar and Bourke will be mostly sunny with a chance of a thunderstorm. It should reach 36 degrees in Cobar and 38 degrees in Bourke.