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Man charged with murder over death of NZ firefighter in Hunter Valley

NSW man Joshua Knight has been charged with murder over the 2018 death of New Zealand firefighter Ian Pullen, 43, in the Hunter Valley. Mr Pullen's body was found on the side of a road in Glenridding, near Singleton.

The helicopter pilot (pictured here with widow Vicki Pullen) had been in the Hunter region to assist with local bushfire fighting efforts.
 

LGBT Australians at higher risk during pandemic

A University of Melbourne study has found that transgender Australians are experiencing thoughts of suicide or hurting themselves at disproportionately higher rates during the pandemic.

Transgender Newcastle man Taryn Dorrough has spoken out about his personal battle with his mental health, including suicidal throughts, excaerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Ponga out of Origin squad with shoulder injury

Knights star fullback Kalyn Ponga will miss the State of Origin series but will be fit to return for the 2021 NRL season. The 22-year-old Newcastle fullback was named in Wayne Bennett's preliminary 15-man Queensland squad.
 

Why Josh wants farmers to consider climate change

Braford cattle farmer Josh Gilbert, from the Gloucester district, has watched changes on his family's property and realised what he was seeing wasn't reflecting natural cycles.

However, his dad Andy Gilbert wasn't initially receptive to the suggestion that climate change was to blame, saying: "I used to think it was an absolute load of bullshit. No-one could convince me otherwise."

Guilty plea to crossing border for Uluru pics

A Newcastle man has pleaded guilty to illegally crossing the Northern Territory border so he could take photos of Uluru. Alice Springs Local Court heard Otonye Lawson arrived at a South Australia-NT border checkpoint on September 13 and turned around when he learned he would have to enter quarantine if he wanted to cross.

He then drove 2km south and parked his car, and was later found 10km north of the border.

Bucking trends: Port Stephens has a job for you

Businesses in Port Stephens are flat strap. It was a slow start after the COVID-19 lockdown, but now the community is booked out until early 2021. It means they are looking for workers and in a time with a high unemployment rate, that's a good thing for job seekers.

What else is making news?

Coach jetting away: The Newcastle Jets will be scouting for a new coach after confirmation Carl Robinson will leave the club to join the Western Sydney Wanderers.  

Campaign to combat coercive control: Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says moves can be taken at a grassroots level as well as policy and legal changes to address coercive control – abusive behaviour that humiliates, frightens and disempowers another person.  With a bill currently before parliament on the issue, she says a new committee – chaired by the sister of Preethi Reddy, who was murdered last year by a former partner – will discuss ways to address the behaviour at a local level. 

Murder trial over death of burning man: Wade Still, 23, died after he was allegedly set on fire at a disused quarry in Whitebridge in 2018. Fifty-year-old Troy McCosker has pleaded not guilty to murder, in Newcastle Supreme Court, denying he was part of a joint criminal enterprise with another man to kill Mr Still.  

Batteries energise Tomago: A new manufacturing plant for lithium ion batteries is set to start construction next year, in a bid to supply battery storage to large scale renewables projects. Managing director of Energy Renaissance, Mark Chilcote, says it could take 10 years for the plant to grow to full capacity, at which stage it will employ more than 1,200 people. 

ACCC coal port case: Hearings are underway in the Federal Court in a case brought by competition watchdog the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which argues that deals done in 2013/14 to privatise NSW ports effectively hinder the development of a container terminal in Newcastle. Under the provisions of the lease, the Port of Newcastle must compensate the State Government if container traffic goes beyond a specified cap. 

New cancer centre for Maitland: Construction has begun on a $6 million facility offering radiation therapy, medical oncology and clinical trials, opposite the new Maitland hospital. Oncology general manager Ian Maytom says it will mean less travel time for patients from the valley, who would normally have to go to Newcastle for their treatment. It’s estimated that at capacity, the centre could provide 14,000 treatments a year to as many as 800 patients.

How's the weekend weather looking?

It will be mostly sunny on Friday and Saturday with temperatures in the high 20s. There's a chance of rain increasing on Saturday through to Monday, with temperatures dropping to the mid- to low-20s on Monday though to Wednesday.

Meet the team: Broadcaster Madeline Lewis

Our reporter Maddie Lewis never goes anywhere without her phone, which comes in handy for everything, including recording interviews, taking photos and live TV crosses. 

Here she is in action before a live cross to ABC News during an East Coast Low weather event in July. "I post behind-the-scenes photos to Instagram if I'm doing TV or if I'm at the scene of a story on everything from wild weather to coronavirus or crime," Maddie said.

Maddie's posts are public at @mad.lewy.

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