Traffic: A truck breakdown at Sandgate about 7.20am was hindering northbound traffic. 

Trains: Good service on the Newcastle and Hunter lines.

Beachwatch: It’ll be a bit cloudy but it should be a good start to the day with north to north-west winds however there is a strong wind warning in place for later as the wind heads north to north-east… The swell is from the east around half to one metre with the northern ends providing the cleaner waves. Around town try the Cowrie Hole on high tide, Newcastle, Bar Reef, The Cliff, North Dudley and Redhead. Further south try Hams, North Catho and Soldiers. At Port Stephens try Samurai and Birubi. There will be a few sweeps to the south but overall it’ll be quite good for a swim although some beaches are being affected by seaweed. The water temperature is 16 degrees.

THE state government is stepping up plans to fill or “grout” the honeycomb of old mine workings under Newcastle that are one of the biggest brakes on development in the city. Read more.

A DEATH adder bite is so rare in the Upper Hunter that not even Muswellbrook District Hospital was equipped to deal with an incident at the weekend. Read more.

Luke Styles, 22, lives in a tent on the Hunter River at Raymond Terrace with his partner. He’s brought their 10-week-old pup, Soxxy, down with them for breakfast. Read more.

Glencore has reached agreement with Genesee & Wyoming Australia (GWA) to sell its Glencore Rail (GRail) coal haulage business in the Hunter Valley for A$1.14 billion. Read more.

Health workers’ unions want the Hunter community to vocally oppose a plan that would see the private sector build and run the new Maitland hospital. Read more.

Remember Fat As Butter? We do. Read more.

Vandals have targeted the home of Maitland Greyhounds in a middle-of-the-night attack. Read more.

ABOUT the quickest way to catch mosquito-borne Ross River virus, experts say, is to be uncovered near the Hunter River in the morning or at dusk. Read more.

SCONE junior rugby league has wrapped up its season with an annual presentation day. Read more.

A stoush is brewing between businesses over plans for a medical waste incinerator at Kurri Kurri. Read more.

Construction of a new bridge on Frame Drive, Abermain will start next week. Read more.

A Raymond Terrace traffic stop has landed a man in court after he allegedly returned a breath analysis reading of 0.087 while behind the wheel with his son, 7, as a passenger. Read more.

EDGEWORTH tyro Keanu Moore was on a family holiday on the Gold Coast when the call he moved to Newcastle from Tamworth for in 2014 finally came. Read more.

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

► WODONGA: Jack McLean once bragged that he could kill someone and get away with it, because police in the region didn’t speak to each other. Little did he know his Wodonga home, where he and other family members organised break-ins and thefts, was bugged and his conversations recorded. More here.

► MAITLAND: Few embody courage, bravery and selflessness quite like firefighters. But when East Maitland Rural Fire Service’s Ian Turnbull puts on his gear this weekend, he’ll tuck a faded photograph of his mother into his jacket pocket and draw strength from the courage she showed in her final fight against a terrible disease. More here.

► NEWCASTLE: About the quickest way to catch mosquito-borne Ross River virus, experts say, is to be uncovered near the Hunter River in the morning or at dusk. Especially now. More here.

► WARRNAMBOOL: South-west farmers have expressed mixed feelings following suspension of Murray Goulburn’s cash clawback and the lowering of the forecast farmgate milk price. More here.

► COOLUP: Armoured vehicles, authentic military uniforms and cannons from Vietnam and World Wars I and II form just part of an impressive military memorabilia exhibit on display in Coolup. More here.

► WAGGA: Tess was a placid and friendly Staffy cross when she and her owner began boarding with Jacob Menz in his central Wagga house in February. But within weeks, the seven-year-old dog’s demeanour changed from happy and confident to withdrawn and nervous, particularly around Menz. More here.

► TASMANIA: A move to delay decisions on the lowering of the school starting age has been met with mixed reactions from the education sector. An amendment to the proposed Education Act’s clause that dealt with lowering the school starting age will now face further consultation with stakeholders. More here.

► WOLLONGONG: A three-metre tall, $7 million microscope which will help fight superbugs, Alzheimer’s and heart disease at a molecular level will be at the core of a futuristic medical research hub at the University of Wollongong. More here.

► As many as 600,000 illegal guns could be circulating in the Australian underworld, but national efforts to control the spread is being hampered by inconsistencies between states, a firearms intelligence report has found. More here.

► The federal government has slashed the hours of thousands of its casual public servants and now it will not have to pay them for meal or tea breaks. Workers who have spoke to Fairfax say the cut, to a maximum shift of five hours and as little as three, will see their families' incomes slashed by thousands of dollars each year. More here.

► Former Coalition minister Philip Ruddock has been "double dipping" by receiving a parliamentary pension of more than $200,000 a year on top of full pay for his new role as Australia's human rights representative. More here.

► Malcolm Turnbull has publicly contradicted his predecessor, Tony Abbott, suggesting the former prime minister lied by claiming his office was unaware of a 2015 deal to trade a Senate vote for a change in gun laws. More here.

► BANGKOK: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has declared it is "time to say goodbye" to the United States as he steered his country towards Beijing's sphere of influence during a red-carpet state visit to China. More here.

► LONDON: President of the European Council Donald Tusk has warned Europe may never sign another free trade agreement – a big blow to Australia, which is about to start trying to negotiate one. It is also a shot across the bows of Britain, where Brexiteers have proposed an FTA as a replacement for the single market. More here.

► SHANGHAI: Communications documenting the movement of millions of dollars offshore by Chinese high rollers are now in the hands of mainland authorities following the police seizure of computers, laptops and mobile phones belonging to Crown Resorts' 18 detained employees, Fairfax Media can reveal. More here.

In 1999, Abraham Mamootil retired from his dental career of nearly 50 years, planning to take a rest.

“Rest was not good enough, so I started the creative part,” he said on Tuesday with a smile.

His East Albury home includes some results of the 91-year-old’s efforts - paintings, a world globe made out of coconut shells, a wooden chess table.

But Dr Mamootil’s latest achievement, a book published this month, is available to a wider audience.

Read more here.