9AM
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That's all for this Friday's edition of BathurstAM.
We'll end today with well wishes for the HSC students sitting their exams. The Western Advocate has discovered recently that this mornings economics exam has been a major worry for many Year 12 students.
Good luck everyone and remember to relax!
8:50AM
DISADVANTAGED children will receive some much-needed help after a generous donation from Books In Homes, Parade hears.
More than 290 children will be able to develop a passion for reading thanks to a donation of age-appropriate books from the organisation.
The organisation is able to provide this assistance thanks to the $23,000 in funding it has received from the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation.
Kids at Kelso Public School and Early Intervention Centre in Bathurst will be able to enjoy these new books very soon.
Parade thinks this is a wonderful example of big charities shedding light on those in need.
8:40AM
This Sunday is Grandparents Day in Queensland.
The day is celebrated annually in Queensland on the last Sunday in October.
It is a time to celebrate the contibutuions grandparents make to the lives of children and within the community.
Why not get involved with the day and do something special?
Find out more here.
8:30AM
Here's something fascinating... and a little bit scary.
The latest print edition of the Collins English dictionary has added 50,000 new words.
Some of the startling new inclusions are selfie, onesie, photobomb and adorkable - which was voted in by Twitter users from a shortlist of emerging words.
Collins, which has been publishing dictionaries since 1819, can now take the title of largest single volume dictionary in print with their latest edition containing 722,000 words and phrases.
Let's all take a dictionary selfie to celebrate!
8:20AM
Did you see our Throwback Thursday gallery yesterday?
This week we're featuring photos published in the Western Advocate from October 1984.
Were you there? Take a look here and find out!
8:10AM
BATHURST Regional Council’s Racing to Save the Mount Panorama Woodlands project has been nominated for two awards.
The project is in the running to win the NSW Government’s 2014 Green Globe Awards and the Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards.
The Green Globe Awards, the leading environment awards in NSW, recognise businesses, government, community organisations and individuals who have integrated environmental practices and resource saving initiatives into their day-to-day operations.
Racing to Save the Mount Panorama Woodlands project is only one of two government projects in the running to win an award.
The winners will be announced at NSW Parliament House next Thursday.
8AM
Have you seen this week's Domain featured home?
This week we get an inside look at this tri-level family paradise owned by Dion and Amanda Killiby.
It has five bedrooms, multiple living areas upstairs and down, a cinema, large kitchen with granite bench tops, and spectacular views from the north and the east.
It's easy to see why it is our featured home this week.
7:50AM
While it may be well into October 24 here in Australia, the day has only just hit India and the people are still coming down from the high of Diwali.
The festival of Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over dark, good over evil and knowledge over darkness.
Diwali is one of the biggest festivals on the Hindu calendar and it is celebrated for a variety of reasons.
The most popular narrative, based in the ancient Sanskrit epic Ramayana, is of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana returning to their kingdom Ayodhya after defeating the demon king Ravana. On that dark new moon night, the residents of Ayodhya joyfully lit oil lamps to welcome Rama, Sita and Lakshmana back to the kingdom.
Maintaining that narrative, Hindus celebrate Diwali by lighting oil lamps, bursting firecrackers, cleaning and decorating their homes, distributing sweet delicacies and gathering with friends and family.
Even the President of the United States recognises the significance of the celebration.
We hope everyone enjoyed happy and bright Diwali!
7:45AM
THE cream of the crop from the Charles Sturt University sporting community were celebrated recently at the 44th annual Sports Council Blues Ball awards night at Rafters Bar.
Top prizes on the night for the sportsman and sportswoman of the year went to Tristan Harrison and Laura Reeks.
Harrison earned his award for his triathlon efforts, while Reeks’ work on the volleyball court scored her the top prize.
Harrison and Reeks found themselves spots on the Blue Award winners list along with Hugh Medway (rugby union), Laura Peel (aerial skiing) and Phillip Bellingham (cross country skiing).
The night wasn’t just about picking out the top athletes, but about acknowledging sporting, cultural, social and community engagement, plus the faculty-based and recreational clubs throughout the Bathurst campus.
7:40AM
Residents are asked to be mindful of the high fire danger today, with temperatures set to heat up to almost 30 degrees.
7:30AM
Here's what's happening around the Central West:
BRIAN Whitton will spend the next six months behind bars after he committed a string of offences including assaulting a woman, possessing drugs and driving an unregistered vehicle.
DETECTIVES from the Unsolved Homicide Team have issued a fresh appeal for information concerning the disappearance and suspected murder of Mudgee woman, Michelle Mills.
A SUPER council formed from Dubbo City Council and two of its neighbours would capture $11 million cash from the state government.
The offer is on the table for voluntary amalgamations until the end of June 2015 but its target recipients have shown no signs of taking it up.
And in national news...
The Abbott government is offering to ditch or delay the most controversial elements of its sweeping higher education reforms to secure a deal with the Senate cross-benchers to allow universities to set their own fees.
In the May budget the government announced that it would deregulate university fees, apply a real interest rate to student debts for the first time, cut university course funding by 20 per cent and extend Commonwealth funding to private colleges.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne and university vice-chancellors have been intensely lobbying the Senate cross-benchers to support fee deregulation ahead of a Senate debate on the government's higher education bills next week.
The government's negotiating position is that it is committed to fee deregulation but is willing to make major concessions on the other elements of the package even if this means giving up significant short-term savings.
Fairfax Media can reveal that the government is willing to:
- reduce the 20 per cent course funding cut to 12 to 15 per cent;
- delay the expansion of Commonwealth funding to private colleges by three years;
- abandon the plan to peg student debts to the 10-year government bond rate; and
- fund a structural adjustment package to help universities transition to a free-market system.
7:15AM
Making local news this morning:
THE number of parking fines issued in Bathurst has jumped by almost 50 per cent since the mobile licence plate recognition camera patrol came into force in March.
TWO Bathurst councillors, alongside many Western Advocate readers, have come out in support of a proposed new service station at Kelso.
A development application (DA) before Bathurst Regional Council is for a 7-Eleven service station at the Bill Dando Finer Cars site on the corner of the Great Western Highway and Boyd Street.
IT was all about team building at The Scots School yesterday for the Mighty Minds Muster.
The brightest students from various schools around the region come together in Bathurst at the annual activity day to take part in a series of challenges that test their abilities across a range of subjects.
BATHURST Golf Club professional Matt Barrett has called on the local youngsters to bring their A-games to this weekend’s Bathurst Open and break a local drought stretching back almost a decade.
7AM
Good morning and welcome to another edition of BathurstAM. It's Rachel here with you this morning bring you all the latest news from Bathurst, the Central West, and the world.
It's going to be a warm one today, with temperatures predicted to hit as high as 29 degrees. The sky will be partly cloudy and there is a chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon.
If you have anything you'd like included in today's BathurstAM, send an email to rachel.ferrett@fairfaxmedia.com.au