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Tune in to tomorrow's Grill with Grilling extraordinaire Laura McIntyre. if you want to contact her with an event or birthday please email laura.mcintyre@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
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DUBBO | NARROMINE | WELLINGTON | NYNGAN | THE RIDGE | WESTERN MAGAZINE
8.50: Here's what's making entertainment news
TELEVISION: After 50 or so years as a provocative television guest, Monday's night's Q&A was an unusual outing for Germaine Greer. With the program convening its first all-woman panel.
TELEVISION: Sam Simon, the co-creator of the iconic animated series The Simpsons, has died. Simon, 59, was one of television's most successful writers, with credits including some of TV's most loved comedies Taxi, Barney Miller and Cheers.
REALITY TELEVISION: My Kitchen Rules 2015 episode 22 recap: are Kat and Andre beyond redemption?
CELEBRITY: International woman of mystery Lara Bingle has opened up about her reported marriage to Sam Worthington. Sort of. In an interview with new beauty magazine Gritty Pretty the self-tanning entrepreneur says, "There's no mystery anymore ..." when pressed about her updated moniker on Instagram, Lara Bingle Worthington.
EUROVISION: Much has been written about Australia's Eurovision pick Guy Sebastian, a singer we know is richly-talented but suspect is lacking in dazzle. and razzle too, for that matter. It might be unfair to say so, but that doesn't augur well for the world's glitziest and kitschiest show.
BOOKS: More than five decades after To Kill A Mockingbird was published, the iconic novel is to get a sequel. Go Set A Watchman, which was written beforehand by author Harper Lee, was, until now, thought to have been lost. The 304-page book will be published by Harper Collins. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
8.42: Here's what's happening on the local roads.
CASTLEREAGH HIGHWAY – Mendooran Village. Road improvements including strengthening and widening. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm.
CASTLEREAGH HIGHWAY – Gulgong. Road surface improvements and widening. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm.
CHIFLEY ROAD- Between Lithgow and Bell. Routine maintenance work. intermittent lane closures. Delays up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm.
GOOLMA ROAD– 13km to 18km west of Gulgong. Shoulder widening. Intermittent lane closures. Delays up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm.
GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY – Between Bathurst and Lithgow. Routine maintenance work. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to five minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm.
GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY – Between Mount Victoria and Lithgow. Major road surface improvements. Intermittent lane closures. Delays up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm.
GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY – Frying Pan Creek Bridge, east of Bathurst. Bridge structure concrete paving. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to five minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm.
GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY – Between Mount Victoria and Forty Bends. Major improvements. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm. Night work Sunday to Friday from 9pm to 5am.
MITCHELL HIGHWAY- Orange. Road resurfacing. One lane closed during work hours. Delays of up to five minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Friday from 7pm to 6am.
MITCHELL HIGHWAY- Between Bathurst and Wellington. Routine maintance work. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working hours from 7am to 5pm.
ESCORT WAY – North of Eugowra. Shoulder widening. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to five minutes can be expected. Working days MOnday to Friday 7am to 6pm.
BARRIER HIGHWAY – 126km to 145km west of Cobar. Shoulder grading for edge repairs and vegetation removal. No delays expected. Working days Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm, Saturday 7am to 1pm.
BARRIER HIGHWAY – Nyngan. Spray sealing. One lane closed during work hours. Delays of up to 10 minutes can be expected due to traffice lights. Working days Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm, Saturday 7am to 1pm.
CASTLEREAGH HIGHWAY – 30km to 32km north of Coonamble. Road improvements, heavy patching. One lane closed during work hours. Delays up to 10 minutes can be expected due to traffic lanes. Working hours Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm, Saturday 7am to 1pm.
HENRY PARKES WAY - East of Parkes. Sealing work. One lane closed intermittently. Delays of up to 10 minutes can be expected. Working hours 7am to 6pm.
KIDMAN WAY – Cobar. Shoulder grading for edge repairs. Delays of up to five minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Saturday from 7am to 6pm.
NEWELL HIGHWAY – North of Parkes. Building new overtaking lane. Intermittent lane closures. Delays of up to five minutes can be expected. Working days Monday to Saturday from 7am to 6pm.
Please travel with care and obey all road signs.
8.14: It's birthday time! We want to wish Em Mastronardi a happy 25th birthday! From Katie Hall and the Grill team!
Em and any one else celebrating their birthday today shares their special day with country singer Carrie Underwood, 31, actor Chuck Norris, 74, singer Robin Thicke, 37, actress Olivia Wilde, 30 and Criminal Minds actress Paget Brewster who turns 45.
8.09: Taking a look at local news
HOCKEY: Dubbo's bid to make the finals of the 2015 Women's Premier League Hockey competition got off to the best possible start on Saturday, with the Blue Jays scoring a goal in each half to land a 2-0 win over Orange Confederates at Pioneer Park.
BASKETBALL: If Lithgow came to the Wool Shed expecting an easy time against the Dubbo Rams, they certainly got a rude shock.
CRICKET: A man-of-the-match effort from Steve Skinner led Newtown to victory on Friday night as the Tigers claimed the 2014/15 McDonald's Megahit. Skinner batted for close to the full 20 overs and made 71 in his side's total of 8-145 before taking 3-21 with the ball to help dismiss the Cricketer's Arms Journeymen for 115.
RACING: Dubbo trainer Clint Lundholm will launch a three-pronged attack on today's Country Championship Preview (1300m) at Coonamble as he attempts to stake a claim on this month's $100,000 heat at Dubbo and potentially the $300,000 final at Royal Randwick on April 4.
RUGBY LEAGUE: The Group 11 rugby league season will kick-off this weekend with an inaugural Nines competition at Pioneer Oval at Parkes. The Nines concept has taken off in recent years, largely in part to the NRL's Auckland Nines initiative, and Group 11 looks set to benefit as well with under-18s and first grade both taking part on Sunday.
8am: Are you excited about the new Frozen movie? Check out the trailer here
7.57: Here's all the front pages from around the region
7.50: Taking a look at today's front page
The state's police fear an increase in crystal methamphetamine use will cause crime rates in the region to skyrocket, as drug rehabilitation organisations say the use of the drug continues to rise.
Darling Local Area Command (LAC) takes in Nyngan, Cobar and Bourke, and crime manager Detective Inspector Mark Gorton said, while it was hard to find data linking ice use and crime, anecdotally the two were connected.
He said in terms of crimes such as break-and-enter and theft, ice was no worse than any other addictive substance.
"All drug-related crime sees an increase in break-and-enters. It's the addiction to the drug that drives it, and the need to fund the habit. Anecdotally the use of ice increases the incidences of violent crimes [such as assaults and domestic violence]."
- Detective Inspector Mark Gorton
7.35: Taking a look what's happening nationally and globally
SUPERANNUATION: Treasurer Joe Hockey's idea that Australians dip into their superannuation to buy a first home has come under attack from a range of interested parties, led most vehemently by the father of the system, former prime minister Paul Keating.
ISLAMIC STATE: The young Melbourne man at the centre of the latest case of Islamic State recruitment, was not on the radar of authorities before he turned up in the Middle East.
SYDNEY SIEGE VICTIM: Since Marcia Mikhael was carried out of the Lindt cafe in Martin Place on December 15, she has suffered cyber bullying and fought suicidal thoughts. Being held under duress by gunman Man Horan Monis with 15 other hostages for 17 hours left the mother of three with physical and psychological injuries, she says.
BALI NINE: Indonesia is waiting on the outcome of a review of just the case of a Filipino migrant on death row - expected as early as this week - before proceeding with the executions of drug felons, including the Bali nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
TERRORIST ACCUSATIONS: An Australian man has been arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of having links to terrorist organisations, local media reported.
MH370: An air traffic control supervisor was asleep on duty four hours after MH370 disappeared amid confusion and misleading reports on the whereabouts of the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people.
7.29: Taking a look at regional news around Australia
CRIME: A senseless home invasion murder, a suspicious death and a drive-by shooting: three gun-related crimes in three days in Newcastle and, so far, police are dealing with three mysteries.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH: Police are asking for the public's help to piece together the movements of a 50-year-old man who was found dead on Sunday morning.The man, whose body was discover by someone jogging in the area at around 6am, had a small laceration to the side of his head.
FERRY REFURBISHMENT: A $31.5 million refurbishment of the Spirit of Tasmania ferries will be managed in Devonport, with much of the work to be done on the Coast."We are confident that at least 50 per cent of the refurbishment will be undertaken by Tasmanian businesses," Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding told The Advocate.
7.24: Making local news this morning
STATE ELECTION: Today the four candidates for the Dubbo electorate have their say on renewable energy. The Daily Liberal asked the candidates if Dubbo is doing enough to capitalise on opportunities for renewable energy and what they would do to ensure Dubbo leads the way in the use of renewable energy.
DANCING: DUBBO Ballet Studio students tossed aside their pointed shoes on Saturday for an Urban Grooves dance workshop. Sydney instructors Melanie Hitchcock and Darrio 'Manifest' Phillips treated more than 50 students to a hip-hop style workshop. Dubbo Ballet Studio principal, Anna Bloomfield, said the workshop would offer the students a completely different approach to dancing.
BEGA CHEESE IN DUBBO: Dubbo Chamber of Commerce and Industry is set to host executive chairman of Bega Cheese, Barry Irvin, at its breakfast on March 18. The breakfast will be held at the Savannah function room at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, starting at 7am. After a period of time in the banking industry Mr Irvin returned to his dairy farming roots in the Bega Valley in the early 1990s.
CANCER FREE CELEBRATION: Seven women gathered at the Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC) on Monday to celebrate being free of breast cancer for a decade. The women all met at the Jean Colvin Cancer Centre, a Sydney hostel for rural women undergoing breast cancer treatment
HEALTH: Indigenous health organisations in western NSW would benefit from a $58 million funding boost as part of the federal government's closing the gap strategy, according to Parkes MP Mark Coulton. Mr Coulton said Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) at Bourke, Condobolin, Coonamble, Moree, Walgett and Wellington would have their funding extended for another three years.
SYDNEY WELSH CHOIR: The Sydney Welsh Choir will tour the central west next month to raise funds for the Red Cross and Wellington Men's Shed. The concerts will be held on Saturday, April 4 at the Wellington Civic Centre and on Sunday, April 5 at the Dubbo Christian School Hall. This is not the first time the choir has been to the area. It has performed in 2002 in Wellington and Mudgee and again in 2007 in Dubbo.
RDA ORANA: Dubbo is hosting two South Korean delegates this week who are touring the city to discuss a business relationship aimed at benefitting the Orana region and South Korea. Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana chief executive officer Felicity Taylor-Edwards, said the visit by Professor Jae-Hoon Jung and Jamie Park followed a consular visit last year that signalled South Korea had its sights focused on Orana in what she described as a "mutually beneficial business relationship".
CLEAN WATER: Mumbil, Stuart Town and Yeoval will have clean, hygienic drinking water as part of a $1.25 billion regional water supply proposal by the Liberal-National Coalition, Dubbo MP Troy Grant announced Friday.
7am: Good morning everyone, happy Tuesday.
Congratulations you made it through Monday.
You're here with Grace Ryan in Narromine this morning, please let me know if you have any birthdays, news, events or comments by emailing me: grace.ryan@fairfaxmedia.com.au I look forward to hearing from you!
Although the calendar might say Autumn, Mother Nature is behaving a little more like summer this week!
DUBBO / TRANGIE / NYNGAN: will all feel mostly sunny days with Dubbo reaching 25 and Nyngan and Trangie getting to 37.
BOURKE / COBAR: Bourke will also have a mostly sunny day getting to a top of 39 and Cobar will be sunny with a top of 34.