8.50am: HE’S the cheeky Santa’s little helper that’s keeping the kids at Tamworth resident Christine Brown’s house on their toes.

His name is Eddie. He could pop up anywhere, at any time, and is Santa’s eyes and ears in the lead-up to Christmas. 

8.40am: 

8.30am: THE final hearing on the controversial proposed mine on the Liverpool Plains has been forced to start a day early and stretch over two days in response to overwhelming community interest. 

8.20am 

8.10am: IT’S still “early days”, but local growers and producers are hoping Chinese investment could provide a wealth of opportunity to their flailing industries. 

8AM: FORMER NRL player Craig Field has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of former Tamworth man Kelvin Kane outside a North Coast pub.

7.50am:  

A COURT has been told a police officer was allegedly in pursuit of a motorcyclist without permission before he hit the bike in Moree.

Senior Constable Terrence John Payne is contesting three charges against him over the alleged incident on Boggabilla Rd, near the Newell Highway, Moree, while he was on duty on September 9 last year.

7.40am:

7.30am: THE next stage in a program to improve mobile reception in rural and regional areas is under way.

7.20am: And the team from weekend Sunrise were in Gunnedah yesterday on a special mission. Click below to find out what it was.

7.10am:  LOCAL motorists’ fight for fairer fuel prices appears stuck in neutral after it emerged a Walcha petrol station owner is selling unleaded more than 15c a litre cheaper than Tamworth. Read  more here.

7AM: YOUR WEATHER:

NORTH WEST SLOPES AND PLAINS: Partly cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers in the south, medium (40%) chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon and evening. Winds northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light in the morning then becoming northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the late evening. Daytime maximum temperatures 33 to 38.

NORTHERN TABLELANDS:  Partly cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers, most likely during this afternoon and early evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Light winds. Daytime maximum temperatures 26 to 32.

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

Get your weather update and national news snapshot here.

► David Warner moved into the company of Invincibles on one of Australian cricket's hardest days. He held himself together and honoured his friend and he did it in the blazing style he knows best with his 10th and greatest century at Adelaide Oval.  Read more

► Older Australians are capturing a growing share of the nation's wealth, while the wealth of younger Australians has stagnated according to a new report . The promise of each generation enjoying higher living standards than its parents' generation is at risk in Australia, partly due to ballooning spending on older people funded by deficit budgets, the new Grattan Institute report says  Read More 

►The final show for long running At the Movies show with Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton ended fittingly with an accidental homage to one of history's greatest flicks. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," was the final line in Casablanca, but as Pomeranz and Stratton walked arm-in-arm into the darkness on Tuesday night it was clear this was the end, at least for us on this side of the screen.  Read more

► Former NRL player Craig Field has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of farmer Kelvin Kane outside a north coast pub.

► A man who died after a six-metre fall at King Island Airport at Burnie on Monday when visiting to conduct renovations on the facility has been described  as hero by his sister.

MOREE:  A court has been told a police officer was allegedly in pursuit of a motorcyclist without permission before he hit the bike in Moree.  Read more

ALBURY:  A NORTH Albury man was punched to the face and choked while his two children slept in nearby bedrooms in a savage home invasion, a court heard yesterday.  Read more

► Imagine having a seizure, being taken to hospital, sent home and then the next thing you know you are waking up in John Hunter Hospital diagnosed with cancer. Gunnedah man Stuart Little doesn’t have to imagine – this is his life, but the 20-year-old remains positive.