8.55am: The second stage of Maitland's CBD mall revamp has been shortlisted for a share of $89 million from the state's mining royalties.

8.45am: A man who planned to steal rolls of copper wire in raids on busi­nesses in the early hours of the morning and sell them will spend at least the next 12 months in jail.

8.35am: The Weston Bears are set to announce their first grade coach for next season after meeting with players tonight.

8.30am: Central ward councillor Loretta Baker has become Maitland’s new deputy mayor.

8.20am SINGLETON: Three boxes clothed 150 children; this time Singleton resident Colleen Blofield wants to send nine boxes to underprivileged students at KoK Krasaing International School in Cambodia.

8am: Maitland Gilbert & Sullivan and Musical Society’s latest production of the much-loved Beauty and the Beast is a family favourite on stage and off. 

7.45am: Nearly 40 tables, benches and chairs under shade and advanced street trees will be part of The Levee.

7.40am MUSWELLBROOK: If you’ve ever thought about picking up a paint brush or getting your hands dirty with some clay, then make sure you get along to the Muswellbrook Creative Arts Fair on Saturday, October 4.

7.30am: The NSW opposition says Newcastle City Council’s aim to increase public transport use by 400 per cent is only achievable if the government keeps the rail line open between Wickham and Newcastle beyond Boxing Day.

7.25am: Patchy fog is still hanging around this morning. The afternoon will be mostly sunny. Winds NW 15 to 20 km/h shifting E/NE 20 to 35 km/h along the coast in the afternoon. Daytime maximum temperatures in the low to mid 20s.

7.20am CESSNOCK: Cessnock’s Keegan Pickering is off to Spain and will be hoping to impress selectors ahead of tryouts for the prestigious Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. 

7.15am: Maitland City Council confirmed last night the plan to build a new 43-bed mental health ward at Maitland Private Hospital.

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

More movement in Australia on the counter-terrorism front over night - this time fatal. An 18-year-old man has been shot dead by counter-terrorism police and two policemen have been stabbed in Melbourne's outer south-east. Former PM Julia Gillard took the first steps on her way back to the media spotlight and on a more sombre note the Hunt family was laid to rest in NSW.

► To check out the front pages of Fairfax publications for today, click here

6.57am: A student at La Trobe University's Bendigo campus says she has suffered "institutional discrimination" because of inadequate support for her needs as a deaf person. Read more

6.52am: One of Tamworth’s most beloved performers has spoken of the terrifying moment she was struck down and robbed. Read more

6.47am: A father-of-four who allowed his kids to live with large mounds of rubbish and dirty clothing in every room, cockroaches throughout the house and human excrement on the bathroom floor has been fined for neglect. Read more

6.43am: THE elderly and the disabled are being disadvantaged at the busiest taxi ranks in on NSW coastal town. Read more 

6.40am: If you're a sausage roll connoisseur then you understand the weight the Great Aussie Sausage Roll prize carries. In that case, you need to get down to Sovereign Hill. Read more

6.30am: Non-metropolitan centres enjoy a visit from a Prime Minister - even a former one. Which one made his way to Margaret River? Find out

6.25am: An illegal immigrant who grew commercial quantities of cannabis inside an Victorian home with the help of a prostitute he was paying to service him, has been jailed for nine months. Read more

6.20am: A blind Vietnamese orphan who was five when she came to Australia, 11 when she was sexually abused by a Catholic nun, and 35 when she received $15,000 compensation for her ‘‘personal trauma’’, has spoken out. Read more 

6.15am: Alyce Jay Bell seemed like any other wife, partner or girlfriend paying their incarcerated loved one a visit at Goulburn jail one Sunday afternoon last month. But by the end of the day, Bell herself would be facing charges and a stint behind bars. Read more

6.12am: Parks and Wildlife Commission NT can't rule out that a large saltwater crocodile was responsible for killing for missing dog in Katherine. Read more

6.10am: Twenty established koala habitat trees could be mown down after Redland City Council voted unanimously to approve a development application in Ormiston. The site would be revegetated with young trees. Read more

6.06am: A draft masterplan for the 28-kilometre coastline between Princetown and Nirranda South proposes investment of about $174 million over 20 years to boost tourism and protect the environment. Read more

6.04am: In a community memorial service that saw thousands half-fill Lockhart Recreation Ground, emotional eulogies were delivered as family and friends remembered Boree Creek's  Hunt family. Read more

6am: Former Prime MInister Julia GIllard is back in the media spotlight. Putting aside any book promotion tours, here's a blast frpom the past.  What do you get when you take a former Australian prime minister's epic "Misogyny Speech" and set it to music? This:

WODONGA, VIC: Australian singer-cum-author Nick Cave has said the 'horrible', 'misery' of Wangaratta inspired his artistic vision. Read more

MELBOURNE, VIC: "I was not going to stand before the nation and cry for myself. ... I was not going to give any bastard the satisfaction. I was going to be resilient one more time." So wrote Julia Gillard about the afternoon of the long knives in Canberra. Read more

NEWCASTLE, NSW: Independent regional airline Rex will significantly reduce capacity on flights between Newcastle and Sydney as part of a wide-ranging network review triggered by a plummet in profits over the past two years. Read more

EDEN, NSW: Wyndham is a tiny village on the Far South Coast with a population of less than 400. Today every one of those residents is likely to be mourning the loss of an innocent child on Monday. Read more

WAGGA WAGGA, NSW:  It was a tragedy that rocked the Riverina - the lives of an entire Boree Creek family of five taken in the most heart-breaking circumstances. A private service was held for the Hunt family, before a public memorial. Read more

CANBERRA, ACT: A government MP has told outspoken Palmer United senator Jacqui Lambie that her mangled messages are damaging the anti-burqa movement in Australia, bluntly saying she should "shut up". Read more

SYDNEY, NSW: Iron ore, Australia's largest mineral export, has hit the price skids as Chinese demand slackens. Read more

► Longtime pillar of the Australian acting industry Jacki Weaver is to star in a new television series fromFamily Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. Read more

► The contrast could not be more stark. Even as he goes about building a coalition for war at this week's United Nations General Assembly, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry has thrown his weight behind Tuesday's Climate Summit. Read more

► Hackers have attempted to undermine Emma Watson's "game-changing"  UN speech on feminism. Read more

Watch Emma Watson's moving speech about gender equality and the "HeForShe" campaign:

► In a dramatic expansion of the US-led war on Islamist jihadis, manned and unmanned American and Arab fighter aircraft launched their first air strikes on Syria early on Tuesday, dumping cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs on Raqqa, the so-called Islamic State's headquarters, and on the Syria-Iraq border which cuts through the jihadis' turf. Read more

Meningie couple Mick and Ros O'Hara have been inducted into the Australian Trucking Hall of Fame after clocking up more than 30 years of service and making a huge impact on the transport industry. Read more

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