ORANGE: Motorists are being reminded to slow down with a strong police presence planned for the holidays. Extra police will be on the roads over the Easter weekend and Anzac Day as part of operations Tortoise and Go Slow. Operation Tortoise will begin at midnight on Thursday and run through to Monday night.
LITHGOW: Coalpac has launched its campaign to win the hearts and minds of the public and the NSW government in a renewed bid for approval for its controversial mining proposal at Cullen Bullen.
BATHURST: HEARTLESS vandals have struck for the second time in as many days, smashing windows at the Macquarie Homes Chapel at Macquarie Care Centre. A maintenance man arrived at the chapel on Wednesday morning to find that four windows had been smashed.
COWRA: Both lanes of the Mid Western Highway were closed for almost three hours on Tuesday, April 15 after a removalist truck caught fire. At around 10.30pm the driver pulled over after realising a section of the truck was on fire, about 15 kilometres north of Cowra.
ORANGE: They rocked the roof at Orange High School’s 1969 gala day when they first formed in 1969 and last Sunday some of the members of the Orange-based swingin’ 60’s band Tolpuddle did the same thing when they reunited for a gig at the Victoria Hotel.
DUBBO: This Easter long weekend is gearing up to be a mouthful, with a whopping amount of hot cross buns and easter eggs expected to be consumed by Dubbo residents. Earlyrise Baking Company expects to make “tens of thousands” of hot cross buns in the days leading up to Easter, including Easter Saturday and Sunday.
FORBES: The Forbes branch of Commonwealth Bank invited local residents to join in on the fun as they ‘clowned around’ to help raise funds and big smiles for Clown Doctors. Staff at the Forbes bank branch dressed up in colourful costumes and held a raffle to give away a basket full of chocolates.
MUDGEE: The first 12 months back in the Town Hall have been eventful for the Mudgee Performing Arts Society, the group of local players that have their home in the Town Hall Theatre.
PARKES: Local and visitors to Parkes Shire this Easter holiday weekend will have a range of experiences to enjoy. On offer will be holiday fun at The Dish, major car rally events and the annual Tullamore Irish Festival featuring Australian Idol winner, Damien Leith.
BATHURST: A SIMPLE handshake brought a tear to the eye of The Scots School agricultural co-ordinator Libby Dawes during the Sydney Royal Easter Show’s steer competition. The school is no stranger to the hoof and hook competition at the show, and this year they took their largest group of students and steers ever.
NARROMINE: When Sacha Whitehead decided to use her art to raise money for Parkinson's Disease, she had no idea just how successful she would be. The Narromine resident was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's Disease three years ago and after taking up painting last year, she decided to give one of her paintings to people who make donation
WELLINGTON: The Easter Fun Day was a chance for family groups to learn about the health services available for children in the community. Communities for Children co-ordinator Maree Thomas said a number of service providers were there helping with everything from road safety to early diagnosis support for children with disability.
ORANGE: With a strong focus on schoolchildren the Orange Apple Festival is aimed at educating young people about the apple industry in Orange and district and the importance of including apples as part of a healthy diet.
OBERON: Autumn is upon us, and for garden lovers everywhere that means a visit to Mayfield Gardens is on the cards. With more and more visitors making the trip to Oberon for the few short weekends a year that Mayfield throws opens the gates to visitors, the stunning green oasis has decided to threw open the gates duing weekdays as well for the first time this year.
ORANGE: The captains of Orange High School are among the lucky few who will get a chance to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Sydney at a formal reception on Wednesday. Meaghan Kempson and Trent French were selected to represent high school students from across NSW and will shake hands with Prince William and his wife at the Sydney Opera House.
CANOWINDRA: International balloon pilots are firing on all cylinders in preparation for next week's Canowindra Challenge. Paul Gibbs and Maaike Bierma are in Canowindra gearing up for the challenge, which will see Mr Gibbs defend his national title.
DUBBO: Karloo Mick has always been a horse of the people and he was back entertaining yesterday when Barry and Rhonda Lew took him to St Mary's Villas for some of the residents to see. The idea for the 13-year-old to pay a visit came about because Nada Watson, a St Mary's resident, had been keen to visit Karloo Mick at Barry's property.
BATHURST: DESPITE a terrible season which left a number of the region’s winemakers with little crop, the 2014 vintage will still yield a good drop. Bathurst Region Vignerons Association member and local winemaker Mark Renzaglia said the region’s winemakers had harvested a small but solid crop.
LITHGOW: Police are seeking the driver of a logging truck who fled the scene after destroying a set of traffic lights on the corner of Lithgow and Mort Street before dawn on Saturday.
ORANGE: While Orange City Council staff will sit down with school principals and work out a method of free entry to the Aquatic Centre, Bowen Public School and Fitness Perfection representatives have already brokered a partnership to cut the costs of teaching children to swim.
MUDGEE: Grathlyn Merino Stud took out top honours at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this week, walking away with seven grand champion and reserve grand champion ribbons in the merino and poll merino sections.
BATHURST: A mature pin oak tree on Hill Street looks set to survive the chop with Bathurst Regional Council staff recommending a request to cut it down be rejected. Council records show that the owners of 49 Hill Street have made four requests in the past two years to have the tree removed and each has fallen on deaf ears.
FORBES: The first Bedgerabong markets were held on Sunday and couples, families and dogs all rolled in to the showground to take part in the festivities. With perfect weather, the markets attracted a crowd close to 700 and Secretary of the Bedgerabong Show Society Penny Carlisle said it was a pleasing turnout.
DUBBO: The Country v City rugby league clash is fast approaching, and business owners in Dubbo showed their support for the upcoming clash, by putting together their best window displays. Two of Rugby Leagues biggest stars, former Balmain and NSW Origin team mates Paul Sironen and Steve Roach, visited Dubbo yesterday to help promote the lead up to the Sunday, May, 4 game.
COWRA: Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor says the tender process to reopen the Cowra Rail Lines under private sector management is a test case for inland rail along the east coast.
PARKES: Fair Trading Minister Stuart Ayres has welcomed the ex-parte conviction of travelling conman William Barr who operated from Parkes. On April 10, 2014 Mr Barr was convicted in Parkes Local Court of two counts of failing to provide termination details on an unsolicited consumer agreement, two counts of failing to comply with requirements for unsolicited agreements and two counts of supplying or accepting payment within the 10-day cooling off period for unsolicited work.
ORANGE: Sunday's hands-on cider-making class at Small Acres Cyder was a chance for residents and visitors to appreciate why sales of the beverage are growing in Australia. While beer sales in Australia are dropping, the cider market continues to grow.
BATHURST: Carriages have been added to the Bathurst Bullet and an extra stop scheduled to make it as easy as possible for Bathurst residents to attend the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Since the show kicked off last Thursday, the Bathurst Bullet has been making an additional stop at Lidcombe Station, from where locals can catch a connecting train to and from Sydney Olympic Park.
WESTERN MAGAZINE: A crop of Pioneer hybrid averaged a touch over 2 tonnes per hectare and also produced good oil percentages, for Gary Amos, on his property, north of Cowra, in the Central-West region of NSW. Mr Amos says that for the past six years he has been growing canola, and usually produced yields of 0.5 to 0.6 tonnes per acre.
GRENFELL: It was ironic that the Greenethorpe P & C chose a very rainy Friday night, April 11 to fundraise for a new shade sail for the school playground. The Shamrock Hotel was bursting at the seams with locals and visitors coming together for the first Greenethorpe Master Cake competition and to celebrate the end of a busy term at the school.
