8.55am: A national campaign designed to improve mental health literacy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be launched in Maitland in a bid to help those battling with anxiety and depression.

8.45am: After guiding Maitland the the minor premiership/grand final double and top-flight promotion, outgoing coach Graham Law had one final gift at the club’s presentation ceremony on Friday night.

8.25am CESSNOCK: Karen Lucas of Weston and Noelene Vitnell of Aberdare will take part in the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers in Sydney in November.

8.15am: Merena McLaren has shared the joy of music with children for more than 30 years. 

8.05am SINGLETON: Meet the seven young women will vie for the 2014 Singleton Showgirl crown.

8am: Rutherford and Maitland will have to wait for CCTV security cameras if the federal government is to foot the bill.

7.45am: First Fleet descendant Roma Loretta Whybin of East Maitland took a trip into her family's past during a horse and carriage ride around Morpeth for her 80th birthday.

7.30am: The valley can expect patchy fog early this morning. Sunny afternoon. Light winds becoming E/NE 15 to 20 km/h in the afternoon. Daytime maximum temperatures in the low to mid 20s.

7.26am SCONE: Cleve Olsen of Dubbo knows a thing or two about axes and the art of wood chopping. 

7.25am: It's sitting at about 9 degrees in Maitland at the moment. 

7.22am: The sexual health of Maitland's young people has come into focus with a new free clinic designed to combat the rate in transmitted infections.

7.15am: Grahme Jenkins said he was driving with Poochie over the levee at Lorn on Saturday morning when he saw a giant snake sunning itself.

Good morning. Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.

Sad news on the NSW south coast where a 10-year-old boy died after a sand dune collapsed on him, the latest developments involving the Islamic State, all the wash up from Monday night's surprise Brownlow Medal result, and, by way of light relief, a TV reporter dropping the F-bomb and quitting live on air.

MANDURAH, WA: It was the result none of the experts predicted; West Coast Eagle Matt Priddis claimed the 2014 Brownlow Medal. Read more + check out the red carpet photos

BALLARAT, VIC: Your cheap bread comes at a cost. Woolworths' decision to slash its home brand white loaf price to 85 cents could “wipe out” local businesses, a Victorian baker says. Read more

NEWCASTLE, NSW:  A Hunter Valley winery has been fined more than $200,000 over the explosion that claimed the lives of winemaker Trevor Drayton and welder Eddie Orgo. Read more

NATIONAL, QLD: For 80 minutes in November, the most powerful man in the world will be able to add Brisbane airspace to the list of things under his control. Read more

NATIONAL: Wow. Half of the men and one third of women in Australia will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85. Read more

WOLLONGONG, NSW: When you think of Wollongong, a one-time steel city on the east coast of Australia, does downtown Manhattan come to mind? Perhaps it should, says Wollongong's mayor. Read more

BATHURST, NSW: A central western NSW diocese is currently involved in legal action over failure to repay a $24 million debt. Read more

WODONGA, VIC: Life without the internet for more than a year is starting to take a toll on school, work and family life, say two Victorian mothers. Read more

BENDIGO, VIC: How would you feel if your council spent $28,370 on a seat. The City of Greater Bendigo has - and it's defended its decision. Read more

MAITLAND, NSW: A man will be sentenced in November after pleading guilty to spitting on a taxi ­driver as he unleased an alcohol-fuelled, racial tirade ­on him outside Maitland train station. Read more

EDEN, NSW: A 10-year-old Wyndham boy has died after school holiday fun went tragically wrong near Eden on Monday. Read more and watch the video

6am: Morning all, we'll get the coffees in - short black?

CANBERRA: Islamic State's rallying call for its followers to kill all non-believers in the West is designed – as always – to terrorise, but the diatribe from its chief spokesman released on Monday is also revealing in betraying the weakness and fears of the terrorist group itself. Read more

BALLARAT: Incidents of sexual assaults, bullying and threats have been reported as impacting students and teachers in Ballarat’s public school system during the past four years. Read more

ORANGE: A councillor is appalled and embarrassed a hospital the size of Orange’s has no designated palliative care unit. Read more

MELBOURNE: Check out the greatest ever AFL moments and vote for your favourite in our poll too. Click here 

CANBERRA: Australians have been warned that their freedoms might have to be restricted for the sake of national security, as the government prepares to introduce counter-terrorism laws to crack down on Australians fighting for militant or terrorist groups. Read more

SYDNEY: Banks and credit unions are in close talks with Visa to work out whether they will have to give up some of their estimated $9 billion in payments revenue to Apple. Read more

NEW YORK: Australia has restated its commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020, at a meeting of the top 17 economies in New York hosted by United States Secretary of State John Kerry. Read more

LONDON: If you've ever caught the Tube, you just might have wondered ... can I run between one stop and the next on the Circle Line and pick up the Tube again? It's a game called #RaceTheTube. Watch until the end for the commuters' reactions!

UNITED STATES: Another day, another nude celebrity photo hacking experience. This time 28-year-old Texan Amber Heard is among the victims. She is, of course, the fiance of Johnny Depp.

Caley McPherson, an Eden Marine High School HSC student, is a writer in the making. She entered a short story competition and finished up carrying off first prize. The title of her award-winning piece? "The Escape". Read more