DID YOU KNOW

The New England Highway is 914 kilometres long.

Armidale bands often used locations outside town to jam and socialise during the 1970s and 1980s. The Old Rockvale Pub was one venue known for such sessions.

 In August 1998 The New England Highway was closed for eight hours after two truck-sized boulders fell onto the northbound highway, blocking it.

Open Houses for this Saturday

Elders

162W Legge Street Walcha @ 1pm to 2 pm

Hutchinson & Harlow

10am-10:30am @ 125 Donnelly Street

10am – 10:30am @ 18 McCarthy Crescent

11am – 11:30am @ 109 Kirkwood Street

11am – 11:30am @ 2 Claverie Street

12pm – 12:30pm @ 23 The Boulevard

12pm – 12:30pm @ 175 Kirkwood Street

1pm – 1.30pm @ 96 Brown Street

Richardson & Wrench

4 Laurence Avenue 10.00-10.30am

17 Jones Avenue 10.45-11.15am

270 Dangarsleigh Road 11.30am – 12.00 noon

98 & 100 Old Gostwyck Road 12.15-12.45pm

AUCTIONS

Ray White Rural Guyra

“Old Sherwood” 1310 Maybole Road Ben Lomond Friday 5th December @11am Guyra Bowling Club

1436 Rockvale Road Friday December 12 @11am Wicklow Hotel

1735 Old Armidale Road Guyra Tuesday December 16 @ 11am Guyra Bowling Club 

A MAN facing several aggravated sexual assault charges who allegedly choked his victim has opted to remain in custody while his legal team seeks further brief material for his case. Click here for the full story.

Armidale model train enthusiasts learnt about the latest developments and advances in their hobbies while getting to see some interesting displays. Find out more here. 

Councillor Jim Maher fears the construction of a new library could be abandoned if a motion to establish a new committee to review the project succeeds. Read the full story here. 

Check out our classifieds from around the region. 

Professionals is selling a three bedroom house in Armidale with plenty of room for outdoor entertaining. Click here for more information. 

Good Price Pharmacy Armidale is seeking an experienced pharmacy assistant. Find out more here. 

Who doesn't love a sedan? This one has very few kilometres on it and is priced at $6,900. Click here to find out more. 

8.30AM

BackTrack will today be performing their Paws Up show in Armidale to help farmers affected by the drought. 

As part of the Federal Government’s Drought Assistance Package funding, Carers NSW along with

Back Track, Black Dog Institute and Rural Fit will be delivering a series of free ‘Be self-care aware’

workshops across the New England region throughout November and December 2014.

The ‘Be self-care aware’ workshops will provide information on available services, resources and

tips on maintaining your own physical and mental health and wellbeing. Community members are

encouraged to attend these free events which will include a Paws Up dog show, free food, kids’

activities and free raffle draw.

First prize of the raffle will be the opportunity to take some time out and receive a full day

assistance with animal handling and general farm work on your property from a skilled Back Track

team. Second prize is professional assistance and support in enhancing your health and wellbeing

for you and a friend with a membership to Farm Fit Wellness Program run by Rural Fit.

The Armidale show will be at the Armidale Showground from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

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