That is it for BathurstAM for Monday, July 28.

If you have a few minutes today check out our Sports Out West gallery featuring some of the action from across the weekend - hockey, netball and rugby league.

8.50AM

Police are investigating an armed robbery in Main Street Lithgow around 11.40pm on Sunday.

A 4WD pulled up next to a male and several men demanded his wallet and phone, before driving off.

Police were called and the vehicle was later sighted in the Lithgow area before disappearing. If anyone has any information please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Lithgow Detectives.

8.45AM

DICK Johnson Racing yesterday announced they will have a special retro livery for the 2014 Bathurst 1000 to celebrate one of the team's milestones.

In 1994, Dick Johnson and great mate John Bowe steered the EB Shell - FAI Racing Falcon to a faultless win at Mount Panorama. The battle in the closing stages between Bowe and a young lad named Craig Lowndes has gone down in Bathurst history as one of the truly great battles.

Check out the 20-year anniversary livery.

8.40AM

LOOKING for something to do today? Why not check out one of these social events?

Richard Clapton is coming to town to launch his upcoming autobiography 'The Best Years Of Our Lives'. Don't miss the chance to hear this great Aussie musician in conversation. Tickets are on sale from BooksPlus.

Bathurst '75 Football Club will be staging a bingo and social night. Tickets are $30 and include bingo, cocktail food, live music. Lucky door and giveaways on the night. Silent auction. From 6.30pm. For more information call: 6331 1881. 

8.30AM

ONE million consumers have been warned they risk being ''stranded at the checkout'' when signatures for debit and credit cards are replaced by personal identification numbers from Friday.

PINs will become the main form of authorisation for cardholders as banks and card companies move to increase security and crack down on fraud. According to the Australian Payments Clearing Association, card fraud cost local banks $262 million between 2010 and 2012.

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, consumer spokeswoman for the payment industry's PINwise campaign, said 80 per cent of cardholders used PINs but the rest were habitually signing for purchases as the August 1 deadline approached.

8.20AM

THERE will be a number of new exhibitions opening at the Bathurst Regional Art Gallery this week.

They include Kathryn Orton's Hill End Panorama.

Orton's residency at Murray's Cottage, Hill End, in 2012 led to the creation of a series of drawing, drypoints and installations that reflect scenes around the villlage, including a three dimensional panorama of the artist's view of Hill End.

This exhibition will open on Friday.

8.15AM

A reminder to motorists that there are scheduled road works on the Great Western Highway between Gilmour Street and Stockland Drive tonight from 7pm.

There will alternating (stop/slow) traffic conditions in place and traffic controllers will be on site. Motorists are advised to expect delays of up to five minutes.

Also note at Mount Victoria eastbound traffic could be affected today due to footpath and drainage construction.

Motorists are advised to exercise caution between 7am-5pm

8.10AM

WHILE the NRL fixture at Carrington Park was the highlight of the sporting weekend in Bathurst, there were other teams from our city doing battle with the best in the Central West. Here is a brief wrap.

HOCKEY: IT was not the most clinical display St Pat's had produced this men's Premier League Hockey season, yet the depth of talent in their squad was still evident on Saturday as they crushed Lithgow Zig Zag 11-2.

However, their fellow Bathurst side did it tougher. A week after Souths produced arguably their best period of attacking hockey for the season, their hunger in front of goal faded as they failed to capitalise on their chances in Saturday's 3-1 loss to Parkes.

RUGBY UNION: It was cold, slippery and scrappy, but at the end of the 80 minutes it was still mission accomplished for the Bathurst Bulldogs as they beat Central West Rugby Union strugglers Mudgee 36-0 at Ashwood Park on Saturday.

Meanwhile a second half blitz from the Dubbo handed CSU a 33-5 loss after a brave first half effort against competition heavyweights the Kangaroos, ending any chance of the students scraping into the finals.

RUGBY LEAGUE: It was worth two points. That was about all anyone could take from the Group 10 premier league Bathurst derby, taken out by St Pat's 52-32 in a wretched spectacle of a match. There were a couple of moments of brilliance with ball in hand from the Saints, and a few customary Brent Seager bellringers, but those aside, there wasn't much to take out of the contest for either team.

8AM

BATHURST residents turned out in force to Carrington Park on Saturday to watch the first of five annual NRL fixtures.

They might not have a lot left to play for this season, but the Cronulla Sharks caused their third NRL upset in five weeks on Saturday when defeating Penrith 18-16 in thriller.

Check out Western Advocate photographer Chris Seabrook's gallery of the main match and some of the action from the curtain raisers captured by Phil Murray.

7.50AM

WITH nominations for the Crowe Horwath Carillon Business Awards 2014 now closed, Bathurst is gearing up to celebrate the achievements of some of our best local businesses with public voting now open.

The introduction of new categories to align with the NSW Business Chamber's Regional and State Awards has made it more applicable to business rather than being industry specific: an improvement which has seen a significant increase in nomination numbers this year. 

7.45AM

A MAN will appear in Bathurst Local Court next month charged with driving and weapons offences following the search of a car in Kelso.

About 12:30am on Saturday, police from Chifley Local Area Command stopped a blue Holden Commodore on Bonner Street, Kelso.

They spoke to a 33-year-old man with checks revealing he was disqualified from driving.

During a search of the car police allegedly locating a .22 calibre rifle, ammunition, a sling shot with marbles, knives and a Samurai sword.

The man was arrested and taken to Bathurst police station where he was charged with possessing an unregistered firearm, possessing a prohibited weapon, possessing ammunition and driving while disqualified.

7.40AM

BATHURST professional cyclist has finished his 2014 Tour de France campaign with a fifth placing behind Marcel Kittel in Paris in the early hours of this morning.

That effort made it five top-five placings in the 101st edition of the Tour de France for the Omega Pharma Quick-Step sprinter.

Renshaw will now turn his attention towards the Glasgow Commonwealth Games where he will contest the men's road race for Australia.

7.35AM

Making national news headlines:

DATA retrieved from the ill-fated MH17 flight black box shows the plane was hit multiple times by shrapnel from a missile explosion.

As the clean-up of the wreckage site continues in Grabovo, Ukraine, European officials have described the finding as “massive explosive decompression”, CBS News reports.

On Saturday, a European air safety official told the news organisation that the missile “did what it was designed to do - bring down airplanes”.

A WEIGHTLIFTER from Papua New Guinea has denied an allegation of sexual assult that led to him being detained by police in Glasgow but still allowed to compete in the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.

Toua Udia, 22, who lifted in the men's 77kg category at the Clyde Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, reportedly spent the night in a cell after being charged over an incident involving another man in a toilet at a Tesco store near the athletes' village.

A YOUNG mum who was found dead in a station wagon in Cardigan will be remembered for her selflessness.

Shannon Knowles, a bubbly 24-year-old, could put a smile on anyone's face.

Ms Knowles and a 27-year-old Ballarat man were found dead in a Holden Commodore on Friday night on Smarts Hill Road.

Police believe a butane gas heater the pair were using to keep warm may have contributed to their deaths. 

7.30AM

And making regional news:

MUDGEE won both categories it contested at Saturday's night's Inland NSW Tourism Awards, with Gooree Park and Fairview ArtSpace each taking home trophies.

The victories continue Mudgee's dominance in the awards over recent years - Gooree's win was the third time in three years a local has led the Tourism Wineries, Distilleries and Breweries category, following victories for Lowe Wines and Mudgee Brewing Company, while Fairview ArtSpace retains the trophy it won last year for Specialised Tourism Services.

"It was fantastic - we had such a good night," said Gooree's Jackie Conroy. "For Mudgee it was really good - Mudgee had a 100 per cent strike rate."

ANY working mother will tell you juggling work and a young family is a big task.

But add to that a home office environment where you are trying to grow your business while you manage the different sleep times of your young children under five, and the challenge seems enormous.

But not so for newcomer to Orange Banika Smee, who uses her home office to source product, take deliveries and organise dispatches for her online and wholesale clothing business.

Mrs Smee has been recognised for her business acumen with nominations in the AusMumpreneur awards for working mothers and the Telstra business woman of the year for 2014.

A FORMER radio announcer at Dubbo's ZOO FM-turned-conman has gone to ground a few days shy of his 21st birthday, after his latest scam left small businesses and young DJs thousands of dollars out of pocket.

"Dirty Harry" O'Connor, whose real name is believed to be Dene Broadbelt, has incurred debts of more than $120,000 in the past 18 months across Australia by smooth-talking victims then obtaining goods and services with faked credit references and payment receipts.

A Dene Broadbelt Support Group has even been set up on Facebook, where its 104 members discuss his scams. 

7.15AM

In local news today:

AFTER the success of Saturday's NRL game between the Penrith Panthers and Cronulla Sharks, it could be time for council to start thinking about building a stadium, Bathurst mayor Gary Rush said.

The event is being hailed as a great success after close to 9000 people poured into Carrington Park to see a closely fought match.

Cronulla ended up defeating the Panthers in a gripping 18-16 finish. Despite rain falling at intervals throughout the day, an official 8824 people turned out to cheer on their favourite team.

MAKING the most of the public transport network just got a whole lot easier for Bathurst residents with the launch of a pocket-sized trip planner.The easy-to-read guide shows people how to access Orange, Lithgow and Sydney for health and general-purpose visits.

It has been developed by Bathurst Community Transport in consultation with Bathurst Health Council.

THE region's vignerons have been seeing red since it was announced they will be hit with a $500 charge to help reduce alcohol-related harm.

Producer or wholesaler licences have been included in the risk-based annual licence fees scheme, which will be phased in this financial year. Cellar door operators will have to pay $500 a year, which is the same base rate as pubs, clubs and some bottle shops.

7AM

Welcome to BathurstAM. It should be a sunny day to start the week, but if you look out the window this morning expect to see some patchy fog and areas of frost. We're heading to a top of 14 degrees.

If you have a news tip, community announcement or photo you would like to share email it to anya.whitelaw@fairfaxmedia.com.au

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