By Emma Swain and Elle Watson
Good morning to the Hunter Valley and welcome to Tuesday. Read on through to find out what’s happening in your world and a little closer to home. We’ll be here for a couple of hours so check in to see what’s happening.
8.58am: That’s all from us.
8.56am: A Newsagency at Bellbird has been destroyed after an overnight fire. Numerous Triple Zero calls alerted fire crews to a fire at the Wollombi Road premises about midnight, with crews from Bellbird and Cessnock attending. Firefighters gained access to the property and managed to stop the fire spreading to a neighbouring business.
8.47am: The latest of Rolf Harris
8.28am: Prime Minister Tony Abbott faces parliamentary dissent on a new front after two senior Liberal senators signalled they will not support the government’s new deficit levy in the Senate. In an impassioned speech to the Senate on Monday, Senator Ian Macdonald said he would oppose the federal government’s plan to introduce a 2 per cent tax on incomes of $180,000 or more, saying he did not think it went far enough.
8.18am: Will Parko do the unthinkable and risk the wrath of Argentinia by trying to Messi with Lionel? Can Cal resist the temptation to dip his toe in the piranah-riddled waters of the Amazon in another outlandish wager?
Fancy trying a persie anyone?
8.06am: A cast of 60 students will put Francis Greenway High School’s new sound system to the test tonight for the premier of the musical Bye Bye Birdie.
7.48am: Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away? This concept will come under the microscope as Hunter researchers begin a new clinical trial into the cardiometabolic health impacts of fructose.
7.47am: A story that will break your heart.
7.45am: A Beresfield man has pleaded guilty to starting a fire that destroyed 5000 square metres of bushland at Mount Sugarloaf last year.
7.43am: Who do you trust?
MUM JOINS FIGHT TO LEGALISE MEDICAL CANNABIS: Sam Aulton has been forced to break the law to try and save her life. With cancer waging a terrifying war on her fragile frame, the young Maitland woman turned to cannabis oil in a bid to extend her life and ease her pain.
ORCHARD CELEBRATES 150th GAME WITH GOLD: Simon Orchard celebrated his 150th Test cap in style by collecting his second World Cup crown. It came on the back of another dominant display by the Kookaburras, running rampant to successfully defend their title in a 6-1 win against hosts the Netherlands in Sunday’s decider.
HUNTER HOLDS BREATH FOR BUDGET FUNDING: Maitland and the Hunter will receive a share of $60 billion allocated to roads, rail and hospitals in the Baird government’s infrastructure-focused budget today.
FITZGIBBON CONTINUES CCTV FIGHT: The raging debate over Maitland’s proposed closed circuit television cameras resurfaced in Federal Parliament yesterday. Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon (pictured) told the House of Representatives the former government committed $185,000 to the project that was withdrawn and reallocated by the Abbott government.
PRICE RIDES AGAIN: IT’S just over a year since a career threatening injury broke three bones in his neck but former Singletonian Toby Price is already back on the podium. Toby won the two day Tatts Finke Desert Race for a third time in his motocross career on the June long weekend re-establishing himself as one of the best riders in Australia and king of the desert once more after previously winning in 2010 and 2012.
WEATHER
Tuesday: Mostly sunny
Wednesday: Possible showers
Thursday: Clearing showers
TRAFFIC
MOTORISTS: Nothing to report.
TRAINS: Normal services to and from Maitland are operating.
NATIONAL NEWS
SCHUMACHER WAKES FROM COMA: Ex-Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher has come out of a coma after suffering severe head injuries sustained in a 2013 skiing accident.
Anniversaries
1858 – Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to publish his theory of evolution.
1972 – Five men were arrested for attempted burglary on the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex (pictured) in Washington, D.C., igniting the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon more than two years later.
2009 – The War in Afghanistan: British forces began Operation Panther’s Claw, in which more than 350 troops made an aerial assault on Taliban positions in Southern Afghanistan.
BIRTHDAYS
1943 – Barry Manilow, New York City, American singer/pianist (Mandy, I Write the Songs)
1963 – Greg Kinnear, actor/talk show host (Talk Soup, Sabrina, Later)
1980 – Venus Williams, Lynwood California, tennis star
1988 – Stephanie Rice (Olympian)