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9.00AM
That's a wrap for today and the week! Thank you for rising and shining with us. Enjoy the warm weather, but stay safe. Join us again bright and early Monday morning.
8.55AM
8.51AM
NATIONAL: The $254 million to be slashed from the ABC's budget dwarfs the $59 million in savings identified in a recent efficiency review, Mark Scott has revealed during an impassioned defence of the public broadcaster and its staff. Read more here.
8.45AM
LOCAL: WIll you be going to the Bong Bong Picnic Races today? Take our poll here.
8.40AM
INTERNATIONAL: AS disgraced Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps completes a stint in rehab, a woman claiming to be his girlfriend has revealed she was born male.
Taylor Lianne Chandler, 41, who identifies as intersex, meaning she has male genitalia but no testicles, a uterus but no ovaries, has also shared intimate details of their alleged relationship via Facebook. Read more here.
8.35AM
LOCAL: Yesterday we asked if you thought your work/life balance had improved or worsened over the years and for 50% of respondents it had worsened, 33.33% said it had improved and 16.67% said it was the same.
8.30AM
8.25AM
LOCAL:
MORE than 1100 drivers have been caught drug driving on NSW roads in 2014.
Since January 1, random drug-testing operations have tested 29,500 drivers with 1160 positive test results, compared to 729 drivers out of 34,280 in total in 2013. The illicit substances detected include cannabis, methamphetamine (speed or ice) and ecstasy. Read more here.
8.20AM
8.15AM
LOCAL: SOUTHERN Branch is offering under-12 to under-15 boys one last opportunity to trial this Sunday for the 2015 Youth Regional League. Read more here.
8.10AM
LOCAL: WOOD will be the main attraction at Sturt's graduate exhibition this weekend.
The exhibition will feature the finest work from Sturt School for Wood. Head of Sturt Mark Viner said Sturt was the oldest craft centre in Australia and dealt with wood, textiles, ceramics and metal work. Read more here.
8.05AM
8.01AM
LOCAL: THE matter of alleged asbestos contamination at Bowral Country Golf Club has been put to bed.
Councillors unanimously moved a motion to note the matter was operational and would remain operational after receiving results from inspections and soil samples of the ground. Read more here.
7.58AM
NATIONAL: AMWORTH’S fight to legalise medical marijuana will take a historic step forward today at the opening of the Inaugural Australian Medical Cannabis Symposium at TRECC. Read more here.
7.55AM
7.52AM
HE was a sportsman, a great friend and a much-loved son and brother.
These are the qualities of Dominic Chandler which will never be forgotten by all those who knew him. Read more here.
7.47AM
7.42AM
INTERNATIONAL:
Blistering heat across Australia but frigid conditions across much of the continental US – what's going on?
As Sydney braces for 38-degree heat and a total fire ban on Friday and some inland towns of NSW face their sixth heatwave since October, regions of north-eastern United States are digging themselves out of two metres of snow or more. Read more here.
7.38AM
LOCAL: THE event that stops the Highlands is on once again today.
With picnic baskets in one hand and hats in another, the Bong Bong Picnic Races has been a long standing community tradition in the Highlands. Read more here.
7.34AM
7.30AM
LOCAL: A GRIEVING community is turning a tragedy into a positive.
Friends and family will remember Dominic Chandler's life in a proactive way this Saturday, November 22 at the Imperial Hotel Bowral. Read more here.
7.25AM
LOCAL: YEAR 7 students from Bowral High will mark the end of their first year at high school on the big screen.
Every Year 7 class has been busy creating a film which showcases the learning students have achieved in their first year of high school. Read more here.
7.22AM
7.19AM
LOCAL: A GROUP of Highlands business owners will take part in a global movement to end violence and abuse against women.
The Highlands Business Circle will sell White Ribbon Day merchandise at Springetts Arcade on White Ribbon Day, Tuesday, November 25. Read more here.
7.16AM
INTERNATIONAL:
A new video featuring Brittany Maynard has been released three weeks after she voluntarily ended her life instead of dying in pain from terminal cancer.
In the video, Maynard, who died aged 29 on November 1, calls for an extension of the right to die in all American states. Read more here.
7.13AM
7.10AM
LOCAL: TONY Abbott and his Government must be starting to feel the electoral pressure with the Opposition having opened up a two-party lead of some 10 points in the polls, with Bill Shorten as the Preferred PM, having dominated the media for the last several months with issues such as the shooting down of MH17, ISIS, APEC, the ASEAN Summit, freer trade deals with Japan and China, and the G20. Read more here.
TRAFFIC: All Southern Highlands roads are open and clear.
TRAINS: Passengers travelling on the Southern Highlands Line are advised to allow additional travel time after a tree was blocking the line at Mittagong earlier. Passengers should listen to station announcements and check indicator boards.
Here's a look at what the local weather is doing right now.
7.00AM: Good morning and welcome to the Southern Highlands Rise and Shine. Over the next few hours we will be bringing you as much information as possible from across the Southern Highlands and nationally.
Weather, road conditions, breaking news, we will have it all - and we'd love to have your help! If there's anything happening in your part of the world, drop us a line! Email jackie.meyers@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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
►The NSW Rural Fire Service has declared a total fire ban today in the following areas: Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney Region, Central Ranges, North Western and Upper Central West Plains. This includes Newcastle, Cessnock, Blue Mountains, Penrith, Sydney, Bathurst, Moree and Bogan.
► Matthew James McAlister says he can’t recall brutally attacking a bus driver who was simply doing his job, but judging by the screams of the passengers on board it will live with them forever.
► Dozens of people gathered at Hargreaves Mall outside the office of Senator Bridget McKenzie to protest cuts to the ABC. Community and Public Sector Union deputy secretary Rupert Evans told the crowd they had a responsibility to stand up and defend cuts to the organisation.
► Intruders deliberately lit insulation batts on fire at a building site in the Nowra CBD on Thursday night.
►Where's the most expensive unleaded petrol in NSW? Tumut, the Daily Advertiser, says. Anomolies between standard grocery costs and disparate petrol prices across the state put forward by supermarket monopolies have left the Tumut community frustrated and wanting answers.
►A former St Patrick’s College teacher says she and her partner are living a nightmare eight months after they were accused of planning to blow up a Middle Eastern consulate where they worked.
► Two farmers are calling for community support to help build an on-farm butchery. Mount Beckworth Free Range farm owners Chris Peel and Diane Snell are hoping to raise more than $36,000 through a crowdfunding website to buy a mobile van and establish a store and cool-room on their property.
► Police respond to an average of 285 domestic violence incidents each month across the Central Hunter local area command. Officers at Maitland police station have crunched the numbers for the area, which includes Cessnock and Kurri Kurri, to highlight the need for action on White Ribbon Day.
►Eyre Peninsula barley growers are among those set to benefit from the newly announced free trade agreement between Australia and China.
► Two women in their late 30s escaped with minor injuries after a fiery car crash on the Mitchell Highway around 10 kilometres west of Bathurst on Thursday.
NATIONAL: Clive Palmer has walked out of an interview. Again. The Palmer United Party leader removed his microphone and terminated the interview with Emma Alberici on Thursday after the Lateline host's persistent questioning over his Chinese business deals.
KANGAROO ISLAND: Scientists said a rare pygmy right whale found stranded on a Kangaroo Island beach is likely to have been weaning. Locals made a number of attempts to guide the whale back out to sea, but it continued to return to shore.
KATHERINE: The issue of problem drinking in Katherine is never far from the public discourse and one community member is fed up with inaction. Toni Tapp-Coutts said it was time for the Katherine Town Council, the Northern Territory government and the community to be as proactive about alcohol management as they were about the cost of petrol.
BALLARAT: A new cheerleading team out-danced every club in its division to claim victory at a national championship at the weekend.
MARGARET RIVER: Superstar chef Heston Blumenthal had such a blast at Margaret River Gourmet Escape last year, he will be back for the three-day event which starts today.
BURNIE: Live on television, Somerset's Kim Eade chased her husband down the road barefoot with phone in hand. The panel of the nation's most popular breakfast show, Sunrise, cackled as Mrs Eade screamed for her husband frantically as he drove off.
MOUNT ISA: North-west Queensland residents are twice as likely to die from an avoidable death compared with the Queensland average.
WOLLONGONG: The annual Stockland KidzWish Christmas Party put smiles on the faces of 4300 special needs children and carers who packed WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday.
LONDON: Australian bedrooms, backyards and even babies' cots are among the images on a Russian site showing live feeds from thousands of homes and businesses around the world.
US: Celebrated movie director Mike Nichols has died. He emerged in the late 1950s as half of a groundbreaking satirical comedy team and found his true calling in the next decade as director of the landmark films Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. He was 83.
BANGKOK: Screenings of the latest Hunger Games film have been cancelled in the Thai capital after opponents of the country's military rule adopted a three-finger salute from the movie as a sign of defiance.
BEIJING: Chinese authorities have detained respected Korean-American Christian aid worker Peter Hahn on suspicion of embezzlement, amid a wider crackdown on aid groups along the North Korean border.
INTERNATIONAL: Blistering heat across Australia but frigid conditions across much of the continental US – what's going on?
A Xavier High School student’s planned adventure could be a forerunner for a new schoolies program. Mason Collins, 18, is substituting the beach for the outback for his end-of-year celebrations after being inspired by a trip to Yuendumu through the school’s immersion program last year. Read more
