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LONG spells of hot, dry weather are nothing new in the Central West, but last year the drought hit the local, state and national headlines like never before. Farmers across the region were already subject to failing crops and stock left without water and feed, but in early August it seemed the entire nation was made aware of the conditions. On August 8, the entire state

HORTICULTURALISTS have been “just shoved aside” by state and federal governments during the drought, NSW Farmers Association horticulture committee chair Guy Gaeta says. Millions of dollars in financial loans, subsidies, waivers, support, tools and other drought initiatives might have been announced in the past 12 months, but he said very little of it will help

MORE than 3100 people have signed an online petition calling for Charles Sturt University (CSU) not to change its name in an upcoming rebrand. The rebrand was announced by the university on Friday, with Wiradjuri suggested as an alternative and a “fantastic thing” for reconciliation. A CSU spokeswoman said the institution was “working on a refresh for our brand, to ensure

POLICE are appealing for public assistance to locate a woman reported missing from the Broken Hill area. Marilyn Anne Grubb was last scene when she left a property on Menindee Road, around 50 kilometres from Broken Hill on Sunday, December 30. She was travelling in her vehicle, a 2005 year model Holden Adventra station wagon, grey/blue in colour with South Australian

AN 18-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested and charged by police in relation to a string of offences that occurred in the Dubbo region. In late October a number of crimes were committed on a property in Dandaloo, near Trangie. “The offender entered the cab of the loader and stole a UHF radio,” NSW Police State Rural Crime Co-ordinator Detective Inspector Cameron Whiteside said.

Racing pigeons have taken to the skies as the communities of Narromine and Trangie dug deep for the McGrath Foundation this year. A fervent wish to see more breast care nurses sparked donations of more than $10,000 at the ninth annual Pink Pigeon Race at Narromine and related fundraising activities. The sum collected will go to the McGrath Foundation, bringing it closer to

A hacker has been able to send messages via text, email, and landline to people across Australia after an emergency warning alert service, used by councils, was hacked. The message sent from the Early Warning Network on Friday night warned "EWN has been hacked. Your personal data is not safe. Trying to fix the security issues". It then included a link to a support email

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It is a new year, but not a fresh outlook for interest rates and the Australian dollar. Despite the turmoil that rocked global markets over the last few months of 2018, the Aussie dollar was remarkably resilient late last year, mainly holding in the low 70 US cent range over the second half of the year. A very short-lived plunge of a few cents to a decade low of 67.3 US