►A Highlands archer has once again made it to the international stage. 

Diann Benson competed in the archery at the World Masters Games in Auckland, New Zealand from April 21 to 30. 

Benson won silver in three competition events, World Field, 1FFA field and Target Match play. 

►After three top-10 finishes in the opening week, former Highlander Caleb Ewan has finally won a stage in the Giro d'Italia.

The Orica-Scott rider took the seventh stage in a sprint finish for his first career Giro victory while Bob Jungels held on to the pink jersey.

►Farmers can now receive free quad bike training across NSW.

This training is part of a state-wide safety improvement program aimed at reducing the number of deaths on rural properties.

Goulburn MP Pru Goward said eligible farmers and their workers who completed an approved training course would also receive a free helmet (worth about $120) - suitable for use while riding their quad bikes.

►Wingecarribee Adult Day Care Centre (WADCC) is working to make the Highlands a better place for seniors.

But it still needs help to make that dream a reality.

WADCC started an extension appeal in 2016 to help expand the Carribee Centre in Bowral. More here.

►Help combat crime and add the Crime Stoppers phone number into your contacts list.

The NSW Police force is supporting NSW Crime Stoppers Day, an annual celebration to mark the achievements of the community-based initiative.

►Community groups, councils and charities can apply for $8 million worth of state government funding to help build or improve community facilities used by social housing tenants.

Minister for Social Housing and Goulburn MP Pru Goward has encouraged these groups to apply after the latest round of the Social Housing Community Improvement Fund (SHCIF) was extended.

►Despite close to an hour of discussion on coal mining at the May 10 council meeting, a decision on the matter was deferred. 

Councillors debated the issue of making a submission in response to Hume Coal’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for about 45 minutes.

The debate began when councillors were asked to adopt the minutes of the Environment and Sustainability Advisory Committee Meeting held on April 19. More here.

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

TRAINS: Commuters can expect delays on the Southern Highlands today. Buses are replacing trains on the Southern Highlands Line between Picton and Moss Vale in that direction only due to a freight train with mechanical problems at Tahmoor. Trains continue to run towards Campbelltown. Passengers are advised to allow extra travel time and listen to station announcements.

WEATHER: A sunny day with areas of fog in the north early this morning, winds W/SW 15 to 20 km/h tending S/SW in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening and a daytime maximum temperature of 15 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. 

► BALLARAT, VIC: A former Ballarat man who killed and dismembered his Indonesian partner before taking his own life in 2014 had seen a doctor for anxiety, depression and a sleep disorder in the weeks before their deaths, an inquest has heard.

► PORT MACQUARIE, NSW: The decision to include Port Macquarie Base Hospital in a trial of medicinal cannabis has met with a strongly favourable response. Crescent Head resident Tony Bower is an advocate for the use of medicinal cannabis. He operates Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd. One of his patients is 12 year old Jai Whitelaw from Queensland who was diagnosed with three rare forms of epilepsy as a five year old in 2010.

► TASMANIA: A petition has been started to ban child sex offender Nicolaas Bester from the University of Tasmania Hobart campus and terminate his PhD scholarship. National Union of Students women’s officer and University of Tasmania student, Heidi La Paglia, started the petition which demands that the university take this action in the interests of student safety.

► BENDIGO, VIC: Beccky Johns was a passionate supporter of Kidney Health Australia and its work with kids, so no doubt her dad Paul will be channelling her enthusiasm when he embarks on the 4000-kilometre Kidney Kar Rally in a few months’ time.

► HUNTER, NSW: The Hunter has contributed more than $20 billion to the state’s coffers through the sale of publicly-owned entities over almost three decades, a new analysis reveals.

► TASMANIA: Tasmania Police officers will soon have extra protection with the introduction of body cameras. Police Minister Rene Hidding announced the $3.4 million state budget commitment to police safety on Monday. The funds will allow the roll out of Body Worn Cameras for all frontline officers in the state over the next four years.

► WESTERN VICTORIA: A speeding driver who allegedly evaded police for about 250 kilometres was arrested after his tyres were spiked during a major police operation.

► NOWRA, NSW: Rubbish dumped at the Salvation Army’s South Nowra store is costing the organisation more than $20,000 a year.

► Papua New Guinea police have conceded multiple gunshots were fired into Australia's refugee compound on Manus Island during an Easter rampage that has been shrouded in mystery and conjecture. It followed a report by charity Amnesty International claiming to have established "with a degree of certainty" that bullets were fired into the regional processing centre, despite initial police denials.

► Former prime ministers Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott, whose famous clashes were some of the most hostile in Australian political history, will both be presented with honorary doctorates by Israeli universities this week.

► The tweets started just after 9pm on Friday and kept coming relentlessly, in alphabetical order, for the next 48 hours. Over 2000 tweets in total – all aimed at Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young – listing how much each public school in NSW would lose unless the Turnbull government funds the six-year Gonski agreements in full.

► Marine scientists heading out on a month-long voyage to explore for the first time the deep waters off Australia's east coast, estimate that up to half of all animals they encounter will be new species or, at least, ones never seen in Australian waters. Led by Museums Victoria, the international team of researchers will sample and film the cold, dark abyss that begins where Australia's continental shelf ends.

► The jury has been sworn in for the trial of Australian entertainer Rolf Harris who is accused of four counts of indecent assault against three women, two of whom were teenagers..

► Australian woman Sara Connor has had her jail sentence increased to five years for the fatal group assault of a Bali police officer after the prosecution appealed to the High Court. The increased sentence will come as a bitter blow to the 46-year-old from Byron Bay, who was not in court. She had faced an anxious wait for the ruling from Bali's Kerobokan jail.

► A guard at the Colombian prison where accused drug mule Cassandra Sainsbury is being held has accused the Australian of being an attention seeker and lying about the conditions inside the facility, Channel Nine reports..

1953: Happy birthday Pierce Brosnan! The Irish-American actor turns 64 today. He is also known by Bond, James Bond, having been the fifth actor to portray the secret agent. But his talents don’t end there. Check out Brosnan in action during the 2008 musical Mamma Mia!:

WELL-KNOWN NSW Ambulance inspector Steve Towle will take to the road for his last shift on Friday, May 19, bringing to a close a tremendous 42 years of dedicated service.

Based at Port Macquarie for the past 30 years, Mr Towle will take with him a sense of pride at the many patients he has treated and assisted along the way.

“I will miss the interaction with patients, making them feel better and reassuring them. A lot of our patients are aged 80 and over and reassurance goes a long way,” he said.

Mr Towle signed up in November 1975 at age 18, inspired by his father Fred who had been an honourary (volunteer paramedic) for about 10 years.

“I started out working in a bank, which didn’t inspire me that much. So I had a think about what I liked to do,” Mr Towle said. Read more.