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Tomorrow's Grill will be brought to you by Grace Ryan in Narrom0ine - so if you have anything to share email grace.ryan@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
Otherwise, head to our websites today to keep up-to-date with all your latest news: Dubbo | Narromine | Wellington | Lightning Ridge | Nyngan | Western Magazine
8.46am: A volunteer bell-ringer at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney rescued from the bell tower in a delicate rescue operation was Professor Alan Coates, a visiting specialist who Dubbo Hospital’s cancer unit was named after.
The 72-year-old had climbed more than 110 stairs to the Catholic cathedral’s central bell tower about 6.30pm on Thursday when he collapsed and stopped breathing.
Fellow volunteers performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived and revived him.
Emergency service workers then had to devise a way to lower him about 60 metres to the ground.
They loaded the patient onto a rescue stretcher, then opened the central tower’s trapdoor, which had not been opened in about 30 years, and paramedics abseiled from the roof with Professor Coates.
Professor Coates’ wife Marylon said Professor Coates may need surgery in the near future but was up and walking.
8.37am: As the weather gets cooler, don't forget to head to your GP to get your flu shot.
Free flu shots were available through GPs to:
- People aged 65 years and over
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders between six months to five years – and over 15
- Pregnant women
- People aged six months and over with medical conditions, including cardiac disease, chronic respiratory conditions including severe asthma, other chronic illnesses requiring regular medical follow up or hospitalisation in the previous year, including diabetes, and chronic renal failure, chronic neurological conditions that impact on respiratory function, including multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, and seizure disorders and impaired immunity, including HIV.
8.33am: Scheduled road works along the Mitchell Highway at the Southern end of Wellington.
8.24am: If you are concerned for a relative or friend in Nepal, call the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 24-hour consular emergency line on 1300 555 135.
More than 1800 people are estimated dead and an increasing number of Australians are missing following the disaster. Read more from regional Australia here.
8.13am: Weekend news from the South Dubbo Wanderers Football Club:
8.08am: Police have appealed for public assistance as they hunt a driver who led them on a short pursuit through Brewarrina in the early hours of Friday morning.
Officers spotted the white Holden ute with no tail gate or registration plates driving on Doyle Street about 2am Friday.
They tried to stop the vehicle and a pursuit followed when the driver kept going.
The chase was terminated shortly afterwards.
Anyone with information about the incident has been asked to contact Brewarrina Police Station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
7.55am: Taking a look at a few other news stories from around the region this morning:
► DUBBO: Government agencies have moved to address a spike in complaints about antisocial behaviour in a West Dubbo neighbourhood. Representatives conducted a doorknock of the area following recent media reports about gangs of children armed with slingshots vandalising property and firing at birds they then kicked and beat to death as wounded animals tried to escape.
► DUBBO: Investors have snapped up four dual-occupancy lots in Dubbo's Keswick Estate at an auction that yielded a combined sale total of $714,500. The largest of the blocks of land on offer sold for $192,000 - a new top price for a dual-occupancy lot in the residential subdivision.
► COONABARABRAN: A man has been charged after a large sum of cash was seized during a vehicle stop in the state’s west at the weekend.
► ORANGE: Mrs Williscroft and her son Patrick were the first family to make use of the new Ronald McDonald House Orange when they stayed overnight on Friday after a day of appointments at Orange hospital.
►BATHURST: Bathurst's water supply at Ben Chifley Dam is set to receive a boost following welcome rain over the past week. While the super storm which caused havoc in the greater Sydney metropolitan area did not have the same impact on the Central Tablelands, it did dump enough rain on the local area to give farmers a much-needed autumn break, as well as creating inflows into the local impoundment to the south of the city
7.43am: Congratulations to Warren couple Brea Williams and Tom Leeton who marked the Anzac Centenary a little different than most, with the birth of their first child.
7.40am: Something for those living in Dubbo ...
7.37am: Police are investigating an incident in which a renowned opera singer was hit with a bottle thrown from a car at Dubbo. Grace Bawden, a former Australia's Got Talent contestant, was attacked on Friday night while staying in the city as part of a tour with Adelaide-based Co-Opera.
7.20am: With Anzac Day over the weekend our journalists attended services around the region.
Take a look at a few of the galleries from the day.
► NARROMINE: Mega gallery, LIGHTNING RIDGE, NYNGAN, WELLINGTON: Mega gallery
7am: Good morning and welcome to Monday, April 27, 2015. You are here this morning with Lynn Pinkerton in Dubbo as we take you though the next two hours with local news, community highlights and notices.
If you have something you would like to share on today's Grill email me at lpinkerton@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
Taking a quick look at your weather today:
►CW Slopes and Plains: Partly cloudy. Winds S/SW 20 to 30 km/h becoming light in the evening. Daytime maximum temperatures between 16 and 19.
► Upper Western: Partly cloudy. Winds S 15 to 25 km/h. Daytime maximum temperatures between 18 and 21.
More than 300 Australians in Nepal are still unaccounted for after Saturday's earthquake.
Among them are a young family of four from Daylesford, a former Illawarra man and a 31-year-old Devonport man. Read our full regional wrap here.
If you missed our weekend coverage of Anzac Day around regional Australia, you can see the photos here.
Thousands have searched our national Anzac centenary commemoration, The Faces of Anzacs, which contains the names and photos of nearly 1000 Diggers.
The Faces of Anzacs tribute wall contains profiles contributed by hundreds of readers around the country and internationally and compiled by Fairfax’s regional, community and agricultural mastheads.
The wall, searchable by name and location, honours Diggers who served in the Great War; those who returned and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
► Bendigo police deployed a taser to subdue a man who stabbed his uncle twice in Maiden Gully. Sergeant Jason Bourke said the 35-year-old man had assaulted his uncle before the man's father broke the fight up at about 7.45pm on Saturday night.
► The most destructive storm to ever smash the Hunter region's vital electricity networks could see some residents remain in the dark for most of this week, as community leaders vow to introduce reforms to rid streets of troublesome trees.
►An officer was injured after police were showered in glass while trying to break up a party in the Illawarra on Saturday night. Police received numerous calls from members of the public concerned about a large party at a property on Rani Avenue in Shell Cove around 9.30pm.
► There are fears for four Tasmanians reported missing after Nepal's earthquake. Launceston’s Julien Tempone-Wiltshire, 24, has been reported missing, along with Devonport’s Adam Cleaver, 31, Hobart’s Jessica Farley, 46, and Jenny Davson-Galle, 29, also from Hobart. Bridport volunteer Amy Barnes is alive and well in Nepal.
► A Port Lincoln surfer was flown to hospital in Adelaide in a critical condition after being attacked by a shark Saturday morning at Right Point south of Port Lincoln. The man lost his leg in the attack.
► Did you pay your respects at a dawn service around Australia yesterday? Check out our national gallery of the best, here.
► Victoria's anti-corruption agency will on Monday outline explosive details of how millions of dollars meant to benefit students has been stolen or fraudulently misused by a ring of allegedly crooked senior public servants and school leaders.
►Acting Labor leader Tanya Plibersek is calling on her party to make all Labor MPs vote for same-sex marriage in a fresh bid to get federal parliament to legalise the reform. Ms Plibersek will argue the ALP should change its platform at the party's national conference in July.
► Cbus, which manages $27 billion on behalf of building and construction workers, is calling on the Abbott government to crack down on employers who duck the super guarantee contribution. Read more.
