MAITLAND: NSW Premier Mike Baird will visit Newcastle on Thursday to discuss the city’s future with stakeholders. But a spokesman for the Premier told the Mercury that he would not visit Maitland during the trip.
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SCONE: Hunter Valley Quality Meats is advertising for 100 permanent full-time workers, including four new apprentices, for their current Primo beef operations in Scone.
MUSWELLBROOK: Waves of grief are engulfing the cricket-loving world as Phillip Hughes is remembered. Leave your tribute here.
MAITLAND: The cricket community is in shock today following the death of Phil Hughes after he was struck in the head by a bouncer playing a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG on Tuesday afternoon. Read the thoughts of Maitland's cricketers here.
SINGLETON: Pauline McLoughlin says it’s always a little harder around Christmas time and it doesn’t matter how long ago it happened or how old they were. She is referring to parents who are trying to cope with the loss of a child.
Good morning. Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
► To check out the front pages of Fairfax publications for today, click here
It was the darkest of days for the baggy green and, quite naturally, the aftermath of Phillip Hughes' death dominates today. As it seems the nation tries to make sense of the incomprehensible, the waves of grief are being felt all across the cricket-loving globe.
And in other news across regional Australia...
►It came with plenty of warning, but the sheer ferocity of Thursday's storm caught most of Brisbane by surprise. The storm, which had been forecast earlier in the day, rolled into the heart of Brisbane about 4.30pm.
►Ballarat foodies will get a taste of the region – and the world – on Friday night. Pizza, pastries and pies will feed hundreds of hungry mouths at The Courier’s Good Food Ballarat Family Hawkers Market.
►This year, for the first time, January 1 will be welcomed not with a bang but a whimper, as Nelson Bay joins the rest of the Hunter’s main population spots in doing away with the traditional 12am light show.
►The nation’s medical marijuana laws sit on the cusp of an historic change after a cross-party bill was tabled in the federal Senate yesterday.
►Whether they’re true blue or real red, supporters from the Liberal and Labor parties are confident their leader can get across the line on Saturday night.
► A man and girl escaped from the campervan in which they were travelling just moments before it caught fire in Albury on Thursday.
National news
WAGGA WAGGA: A cormer Christian Brother who pleaded guilty to abusing four boys in Wagga, Albury and Strathfield between 1972 and 1982 has been jailed for a minimum two years.
BALLARAT: North Ballarat Rebels and St Patrick's College players figured prominently in the AFL national draft on the Gold Coast on Thursday night.
WAGGA WAGGA: Days when world champion boxer Joe Williams is not fighting an opponent, he is battling his own struggle with depression that almost ended his life. The former National Rugby League player from Wagga was on the Border last night for the Albury launch of short film — The Enemy Within — describing his demons and how he copes.
DUBBO: It is exactly 11 weeks today since Kibibi was born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo and the hippo calf is growing in both confidence and size.
WARRNAMBOOL: The battle against wind farms continues to be a lonely road for Moyne Shire councillor Jim Doukas. At the council’s meeting this week, Cr Doukas failed to gain support for his stance on wind farms in the shire.
KATHERINE: The enthusiastic students and staff at Mataranka Primary School are aiming to make next year’s Never Never Festival and rodeo an event to remember, but they need your help.
BATHURST: Just $100,000 will be offered as a reward for information about Jessica Small’s abduction and murder – despite the state’s deputy coroner recommending at least five times that amount be made available.
BURNIE: The Tasmanian government has been condemned by the opposition for ''ignoring calls to immediately fund improved drug rehabilitation services in Tasmania''. Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White said the government had ignored recommendations made by a government commissioned review of drug use and service responses in the North-West region.
REDLANDS: A Mount Cotton man was among 75 people arrested and charged in anti-bikie raids across Queensland this week. The 26-year-old was charged with 16 offences, including drug trafficking and recruiting people to a criminal organisation.
WHYALLA: Increased productivity targets by BHP Billiton will see the company revisit the expansion of its Olympic Dam mine.
BUNBURY: A six-year-old fighting an aggressive brain tumour is set to receive a helping hand from the now well-known fundraising festival, Project Kate.
Weather
The faces of Australia: Stuart Little
► Imagine having a seizure, being taken to hospital, sent home and then the next thing you know you are waking up in John Hunter Hospital diagnosed with cancer. Gunnedah man Stuart Little doesn’t have to imagine – this is his life, but the 20-year-old remains positive.
