Highlands Rise and Shine | Friday, March 24, 2017

►Highlanders will hit the court for a new season of netball on March 25. 

Each of the grades will return to Eridge Park on Saturday for the Southern Highlands Netball Association (SHNA) round one games. 

►“Rock and roll, I gave you the best years of my life”.

This is the name of a 1970s hit by singer-songwriter Kevin Johnson – and you have the chance to hear it live.

Kevin Johnson: Man and His Music concert will be held at Mittagong Playhouse, with Andrew Forbes interviewing the Australian singer throughout the event.

►A ‘hall’ lot of history will be available for future generations in Exeter.

Wingecarribee Shire mayor councillor Ken Halstead officially opened the newly refurbished Exeter Hall on March 20.

►Make contact with the spirits who still remain adrift in Berrima.

A Berrima Courthouse Ghost Hunt will be held March 25, where participants will be taken through the historic precinct after dark.

The courthouse site was chosen in 1834 by Governor Burke, but the building wasn’t officially opened until April 1838.

Some of Australia’s most notorious early criminals, including the first serial killer John Lynch, were tried and executed at the courthouse.

►See how obedient your dog could really be at the 40th Highlands Gathering.

The Southern Highlands Kennel and Obedience Club have prepared something special for their 2017 Brigadoon performance.

Trainer Vickey Hunter said the crowd should expect something special.

►Calls for public consultation about Bowral’s hospitals are coming from all over the Highlands. The latest was from the council chambers.

Councillor Gordon Markwart called on his fellow councillors to present a unanimous front and demand answers about the future of Bowral and District Hospital. “What’s more important to the community than community and future health? Not much,” he said.

► If you’ve got wheels, you’re set to put your skills to the test.

Whether it’s a skateboard, scooter or BMX, if you’ve got talent then bring it! To Bowral Skate Park, that is.

Highlands Youth Services will hold its annual Skateboard, Scooter and BMX Competition for 12-18 year olds on April 1.

►What were you doing in March 2009?

Maybe you was snap by a Southern Highland News photographer and are featured in the latest Throwback Thursday.

TRAFFIC:  All roads are clear in the Southern Highlands today. Drive safely and enjoy the journey. 

TRAINS: Commuters can expect a good service on the Southern Highlands today. 

WEATHER:  A cloudy day with patchy morning fog about higher ground, high (70%) chance of showers, becoming less likely late this afternoon, winds SE/SW 15 to 20 km/h tending SE in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late evening and a temperature of 18 can be expected in the Highlands today.

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

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

►WOLLONGONG: Stephen Grimmer plans to be there when the man accused of taking his sister, Cheryl, from Fairy Meadow beach and killing her in 1970 fronts court today. Read on

►LAUNCESTON: The Tasmanian government and farming body has welcomed Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (FSANZ) decision to recommend low-THC hemp seed products be granted food status.

A government spokesman said the Tasmanian government had been a long-time advocate for the use of low-THC hemp in food as it would present an economic opportunity for the state’s farmers. Read more

►BUNBURY: A mentally ill man who sparked a 12-hour siege in Bunbury and held his chained up friend hostage with a speargun has been sentenced to four years and nine months in a mental health facility.

David Charles Batty, 54, held his friend captive at a park in the state's south-west in July 2015 - threatening to blow him up with a fake explosive he said was wrapped around his chest. Read on

►BENDIGO: The Supreme Court has heard a man accused of shaking his daughter to death had “no idea” how her injuries happened when interviewed by police.

Joby Anthony Rowe, 24, was questioned by the homicide squad shortly before the death of his daughter, Alanah Rowe, on August 30, 2015.

Mr Rowe has been charged with child homicide and on Thursday the jury in his trial was played a video recording of the interview in which he denied hurting the three-month-old. Read on

►DUBBO: The crew involved with the emergency landing of a flight out of Dubbo have been congratulated for their skill during the incident.

Emergency services were called to Dubbo airport after a Regional Express (REX) flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday morning. There were 26 people on board the flight to Sydney when the pilot reported a right engine failure alert. Read on

►HORSHAM: A gun store owner believes the duck hunting season is a Wimmera tradition that needs to continue. Read on

SA: An Eyre Peninsula woman has captured an amazing example of parental diligence with her video of an adult emu caring for a group of about 40 juveniles. Watch the video here

►VIC: In the past 12 months, 82,800 Australians have moved to Victoria from interstate, around 500 carloads a week. Read more

►NSW: A man who allegedly impersonated a doctor worked shifts at the Royal North Shore and Mona Vale hospitals, health authorities revealed on Thursday. Shyam Acharya allegedly assumed the identity of a doctor from India - Dr Sarang Chitale - migrated to Australia and was employed by NSW Health between 2003 and 2014. Read on

►VIC: One of Jane Garrett's former senior advisers is a contender to replace Steve Herbert in the Victorian Parliament, after he sensationally quit politics. Ending a difficult week for the Andrews government, in which further pressure was piled on the Premier over the entitlements scandal, Mr Herbert said he "no longer [had] 100 per cent to give" after 15 years in state politics. Read on

►QLD: Queenslanders who lost millions of dollars in the devastating 2011 floods - but whose properties suffered no physical damage - could receive compensation if a second class action against Seqwater is given the go-ahead on Friday morning. Read on

What’s coming your way ...

►LONDON: Major landmarks in the British capital gradually reopened on Thursday afternoon and life began to return to normal, the day after a lone attacker descended on Westminster, killing three and injuring 40 more. Read on

►BEIJING: Chinese media have blown hot and cold on Australia as Premier Li Keqiang arrived for a five-day visit. To its English language audience of diplomats and business people, the state tabloid Global Times has raised the prospect of cheap Chinese infrastructure opening up Australia's deserted north. Read on

►DUBAI: "I was thinking I was going to die that night, I didn't know what to do."

The militants came to the town in the dark. The girls, aged between 16 and 18, were at their boarding school, studying for their final exams. From their school dormitory they heard gunshots and men yelling, and they knew it was Boko Haram.

Next month, April 14, marks three years since Islamic extremists from the Boko Haram group stormed the government high school in Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria, and abducted 219 girls at gunpoint. Read on

This was one of Ted Taylor’s earliest memories of growing up in the Snowy Mountains where transport was by horseback, schooling was by correspondence and real-life experiences, friendships were forged through blizzards, and community was as strong as the freezing winds that blew across the mountains in the depths of winter. Read on