9am: That's all we've got time for here today, we hope you have enjoyed your Thursday Morning Grill.
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Tune in tomorrow with Nick Guthrie as he takes you out on your working week. You can contact him for Grill related information on nick.guthrie@fairfaxmedia.com.au
In the meant time keep up with our websites to see what's happening around the region:
DUBBO | NARROMINE | WELLINGTON | NYNGAN | THE RIDGE | WESTERN MAGAZINE
8.57: Is it your birthday today? If so, Happy Birthday! We hope you have a wonderful day!
You share your birthday with a horde of celebrities.
Actor Brad Pitt, 50, Singer Christina Aguilera, 33, TV Actress Ashley Benson, 24, singer Sia, 38, director Steven Spielberg, 62, actress Katie Holmes, 35, Guitarist Keith Richards and Aussie actress, Rachel Griffiths, 45.
8.52: Did you participate in yesterday’s Brennan’s Mitre 10’s 12 Days of Christmas? Did you get the answer correct? We were the Bull at the Aussie
Come back tomorrow for another chance to enter the 12 Days of Christmas!
VISIT THIS LINK to see what you could get if you win the voucher
8.46: I'm slowly starting to get into the spirit of Christmas Time! It's taken me a while.
To get you into the spirit of Christmas we have created Christmas Lights Maps. These Maps will guide you on the best places to go Christmas light hunting in Dubbo and Narromine.
Here's one of my favourite Christmas carols:
8.42: It's our favourite day of the week here on the Grill. It's THROWBACK THURSDAY! So take a walk down memory lane with some of these fantastic pictures:
Take a look at history through this gallery featuring photos from the pages of the Daily Liberal back in December 1992 - Part 1.
We found all the fantastic photos from the Narromine News pages in December 2008. Check out what was happening in the gallery!
And here's Nyngan's FLASHBACK from Monday!
8.35: Let's take a look at sport around the region:
RUGBY LEAGUE: Western Division's chances of returning to the pinnacle of country rugby league have received a boost, with the Rams potentially receiving home field advantage on multiple occasions throughout next season's Tier 2 competition.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Recently appointed Parkes Spacemen captain-coach Dennis Moran is busily chasing player signings as he prepares for the 2015 Group 11 competition which is set to kick off in March.
BOXING: A third title belt will be there for the taking for Dubbo boxer Ayla Barker when she steps between the ropes to take on Nyngan's Carol Smith at a fight night to be held at the Garden Hotel tomorrow evening.
RACING: Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing Club will look to finish a testing 2014 year on a big note this Friday with their final meeting for the year and judging by the final fields, there will be no lack of quality racing.
HOCKEY: A new committee and an inaugural Centre of Development (COD) training squad is set to help give Dubbo hockey players the very best chance of playing at the highest level.
8.27: :Let's take a look at today's front pages, to see all the Fairfax front pages click here.
8.16: An anxious wait will end this morning for 55,482 HSC students when they get their Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR), with nearly one-third to receive a mark of 80.00 or more. Students will be able to access their ATAR from 9am, after having learnt their HSC marks on Tuesday morning. The ATAR determines a student's entrance to a particular university course.
Two students from Narromine High School have had the stress of the ATAR taken off having received early offers to universities.
Tianna Collison and Rebecca Sinclair have been offered positions at regional universities in NSW.
Two Narromine students have had the stress of the ATAR lifted as they've been offered early entry. Read more here.
This local girl has a lot to celebrate after achieving six band 6s.
We want to know what you think:
8.10: Australia is still shaken by the terrifying events of Monday.
MAN HARON MONIS: Iranian police had requested the extradition of Man Haron Monis, the gunman who was shot dead in the Martin Place siege, 14 years ago but Australian authorities would not hand him over, Iran's police chief has claimed in comments to reporters. Monis had committed a number of "violent" and fraud-related offences before he fled the country "in disguise" in 1996, according to Iran's chief of police, General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam.
INQUIRY: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ordered an urgent inquiry into the deadly Martin Place siege as authorities faced fierce scrutiny over why the gunman was free despite the raft of serious criminal charges against him. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione on Wednesday was adamant police did all they could to stop Monis being released on bail.
NEGOTIATOR: A formerTamworth man has spoken about the chilling minutes he spent talking with the armed gunman and hostages at the centre of this week’s fatal Sydney siege. Read more here
8am: It's the age old rivalry... Cats v Christmas Trees. To be honest, it's been a pretty one-sided affair to date and has all been going the cats' way so far. But the battle continues...
7.56: It's time again for the Brennan's Mitre 10's 12 Days of Christmas Clues! We have a great one for you today! Including today, there is only four more chances left to enter to win our fantastic prize of $200 voucher to Brennan's Mitre 10.
We want to go on a destination hunt with you!
We’ve picked a destination around the region and all you have to do is guess where we are by our clues!
Fill out the form below and at the end of the 12 days we randomly select a winner.
We’ll tell you the correct answer the next day. The more times you enter the more chance you have to win!
We’re in Narromine
- “We offer homemade food or a hot cuppa.”
- “We breed a rare kind of animal and make clothes out of their wool.”
- “People come from far and wide to eat in our caravan cafe!”
VISIT THIS LINK to see what you could get if you win the voucher
7.46: Taking a look at today's leading story:
A WOMAN accused of killing her long-time partner shed quiet tears in Dubbo Local Court yesterday when the man's mother gave evidence against her.
Sarah Renea Tarrant and co-accused Raymond Isaac Roff have not entered pleas to charges of murder. Roff is facing additional charges of possessing an unauthorised firearm and not keeping a firearm safely.
The co-accused were arrested after Alois Rez disappeared from a house in Alfred Street, West Dubbo in July last year.
"The violence came from Sarah. She threw things. She chased him up the hall and scratched him. Alois would try and walk away from her and put his hand up when she tried to punch him."
- Ms Rez said.
7.39: Narromine celebrated their Carols on Sunday night. While you're eating your breakfast why not check out all the beautiful pics in the link below:
7.33: Let's take a look at the news around the country and around the world:
CRIME: A man wearing a gas mask and shouting threats has been arrested on board a train heading into Sydney. The 44 year-old boarded the train at Newcastle and began yelling shortly before arriving at Central station. A spokesman for NSW Police said the man had been making general threats and had not targeted anyone on board.
AFL COVERAGE: The apparent decision by the AFL to postpone the auction of its television sporting rights until Network Ten's future is clearer is understandable – the football organisation wants as many bidders in the room as possible. Expectations of what the AFL's take might be have now risen to more than $1.5 billion. To put that into context, the value of this one sports contract is about three times the value of the Ten Network. This contrast is so stark that it should worry the owners of all the free-to-air networks in Australia.
ABC BUDGET CUTS: ABC journalists were in tears on Wednesday afternoon after being told their positions could become redundant. Close to a third of more than 300 ABC staff in pools with similarly skilled colleagues were expected to learn their possible fate by 5pm. The Fair Work Commission on Monday recommended that staff should be notified of their potential redundancy by the close of business on Wednesday.
PAKISTANI MASSACRE: Just hours after learning more than 130 school children had been murdered in a Peshawar classroom, Pakistan's High Commissioner was moved to tears when Canberran children brought her flowers. With the Pakistan flag lowered to half mast outside her office, Naela Chohan said this week's tragic events demonstrate the importance of coming together as a community.
CHILD SOLDIERS RECRUITMENT: The number of child soldiers recruited by armed groups in the Central African Republic have quadrupled since the outbreak of a bloody civil war two years ago, a report says. Up to 10,000 children, some as young as eight years old, are being forced to fight, carry supplies and perform other frontline roles compared to around 2500 at the beginning of the crisis in December 2012, the research by aid agency Save the Children has found.
DAILY POLL:
7.27: Let's check out some news from regional Australia:
MISSING MAN: The wife of a Canberra man who has been missing since Saturday has made an emotional appeal for public help to locate her husband. Stuart Heddle, 39, left his Chisholm home on foot to go to water polo at Tuggeranong Aquatic Centre about 7.30am Saturday but never showed up. He has not been seen or heard from since.
RECYCLING: Golden Plains Shire residents are shocked by a council decision to collect garbage bins fortnightly. In a major change for the region, councillors voted on Tuesday to replace the weekly pick-ups. The change, which will start in July, will see 240-litre garbage bins picked up fortnightly and recycling bins picked up weekly. Currently, the 240-litre garbage bins are picked up weekly, while the 240-litre recycling bins are collected fortnightly.
JAIL ESCAPEES: Police are again on the hunt for an escapee from a minimum security jail at Shooters Hill, south of Bathurst. Jake Skaines, 23, was last seen at the Oberon Correctional Facility about 3pm on Wednesday. He was reported missing to officers at Chifley Local Area Command who have conducted searches in the area. Skaines is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 162cm tall, medium build and was last seen wearing prison greens.
UNDER AGE SEX: A Wagga woman has faced court on eight allegations of having sexual intercourse with a boy aged under 16. Few details of the case can be made public for legal reasons. The 22-year-old appeared in Wagga Local Court on Wednesday for the first time on eight counts of having sexual intercourse with a person aged between 14 and 16.
7.15: Taking a look at today's local stories:
COURT: A man arrested after police witnessed a drug deal has been fined $500 in Dubbo Local Court. Joshua William Allan Mealey pleaded guilty to supplying MDMA (ecstasy) when he appeared before Magistrate Andrew Eckhold.
COMMUNITY: Andrew McKay's commitment to the personal training industry and the Australian Institute of Personal Trainers (AIPT) was recognised at the AIPT Campus Excellence Awards recently.Mr McKay was awarded the Director's Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Program at the AIPT awards in Surfers Paradise last Friday.
CRIME: A Crime Protection Officer spoke to members and friends of the Narromine RSL Sub-Branch on Sunday. Senior Constable Ian Burns from the Orana Local Area Command talked to the older members of the shire about safety in their homes.
EDUCATION: Educators and potential students will be among those hardest hit by changes to TAFE Western in 2015, according to Country Labor candidate for Dubbo Stephen Lawrence.
CHRISTMAS LUNCH: West Dubbo Rotary Club held its annual Christmas lunch. See pics here.
COURT: A BIG day out at the Mendooran Turf Club has resulted in a $400 fine and six-month licence disqualification for Benjamin Thomas Korff. Dubbo Local Court heard the 21-year-old intended the spend the night at the picnic races on September 6.
SCHOOL FAREWELLS PRINCIPAL: On Friday December 12 a special farewell assembly was held at St Augustine's School in honour of Jan Colmer who is retiring after 11 years as principal of the school.
PAKISTANI SHOOTING: Pakistani migrants and Dubbo Indian takeaway workers Muhammod Salim and Naeem Tabasum said following the shooting in a Pakistani school they have grave fears for their family in Pakistan.
SCAMERS: NSW Fair Trading is warning consumers about scammers and training marketers posing as government officials to get residents to hand over their personal information. Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said NSW Fair Trading had received reports from consumers in Yeoval following an approach from two men offering free computers when the consumer signed up to free computer lessons.
7am: Welcome to your Thursday Morning Grill everyone!
For many it is the first day of holidays, for some holidays are insight, for those who work over Christmas, at least it's a jolly time!
You're grilling with Grace from Narromine this morning. I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything; holidays, Christmas season, events, ideas, birthdays! Email me by clicking here.
We're also up to day nine of our Brennan's Mitre 10's 12 days of Christmas. Just four many chances to enter our competition to win a $200 voucher to Brennan's Mitre 10! Keep an eye out for the clues.
DUBBO / TRANGIE / NYNGAN: are all mostly sunny and 34 degrees. There's 10 per cent chance of less than one ml.
COBAR / BOURKE: are also mostly sunny and reaching a top of 35 degrees.