Heroes return: The Newcastle Knights had a heroes' welcome at City Hall on Tuesday evening. The crowd spilled out onto King Street and into Civic Park while the Knights were called out onto the balcony holding their premiership trophy. They were given the keys to the city before a big meet-and-greet with fans, signing autographs and taking selfies.

Renewable energy plan on display: A draft plan for the Hunter and Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone has been put on public display for the next few weeks. It's one of five zones declared by the state government. Our region's zone aims to create new energy projects to generate at least 1 gigawatt of renewable power, and includes the potential of offshore wind projects near Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

Boy killed in Upper Hunter crash: A 10-year-old boy died at the scene of an accident on Flaggs Road at Merriwa on Saturday. A male driver was also injured, along with a 15-year-old girl. The driver was flown to John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition, while the girl was taken to hospital in a stable condition. It's understood the vehicle left the road and hit a tree before rolling several times.

Fatal crash at Morpeth: A 37-year-old man has died after the van he was driving crashed into a telegraph pole on Tuesday morning. Emergency services were called to Tank Street near Canterbury Road just before 5am. The driver, who was the vehicle's only occupant, died at the scene. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Pool leaking money:  Maitland City Council says it hopes to reopen the leaking East Maitland public pool in time for local school swimming carnivals in February. But general manager David Evans says he simply can't guarantee the deadline in light of an expected wet summer. Council this week signed off on almost $500,000 in repairs, which should extend the pool's life by a few years.

Knights named in World Cup squads: Six local NRLW players have been selected to represent their countries at the 2022 World Cup in England next month. Yasmin Clydsdale, Millie Boyle, Caitlan Johnston and Tamika Upton were chosen to wear the green and gold for the Jillaroos, who will take on the Cook Islands, France and New Zealand in their round games. However, Upton has had to withdraw due to a calf injury, and Boyle has pulled out to start up her own business.  Shanice Parker and Autumn-Rain Stephens Daly have been named in the Kiwi Ferns squad.