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8.58am: While the world devours news about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's expected baby, another royal is at work in Australia.
Fewer than one per cent of Australians are now involved in farming, yet almost five million Australians went to an agricultural show in the past 12 months, HRH Princess Anne told conference delegates in Brisbane on Tuesday.
"The tradition of the agricultural shows form a particularly rich part of Australia's social and cultural heritage," the Princess Royal told agricultural conference delegates.
"I think there are more than 600 agricultural show societies across Australia and they do actually comprise the longest, continuously operating institution in the nation dating back to 1821," she said.
The Princess Royal is the president of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth, a role she has taken on since her father, the Duke of Edinburgh stood down when he turned 90.
8.52am: Is it your birthday today? You will blow out candles with Shaggy. Flashback more than a decade with his hit, Angel.
8.47am: Educationists talk about options for Higher School Certificate candidates in the latest edition of the Mailbox Shopper, delivered free to Dubbo mailboxes today.
8.42am: Taking a look at today's front pages in the gallery below and to see all the regional Fairfax mastheads
8.30am: The state election is coming.
Dubbo lawyer Stephen Lawrence has announced he will stand as a Country Labor candidate in the seat of Dubbo at next year's state election. The decision will see a contest for the electorate held by the Nationals' Troy Grant, who last week became the NSW deputy premier when he was elevated to the leadership of his party.
"It's going to be really hard and a really big challenge. I think the electorate in Dubbo is unpredictable."
- Stephen Lawrence, Country Labor candidate for the seat of Dubbo.
8.26am: Washing or watering?
In the 24 hours to 7am today Dubbo city consumed 27 megalitres of drinking water, which is 34 per cent of the plant's daily treatment capacity. This is equivalent to a residential water consumption of 515 litres of water per person.
8.22am: A sporting season celebration:
AFTER another hugely successful Group 11 season Dubbo CYMS celebrated their presentation night at Dubbo Golf Club on Saturday.
With many prestigious and historic awards up for grabs it was a special night for a club which won the Group 11 first grade premiership and finished as runners-up in the under-18s and reserve grade during season 2014. MORE PHOTOS HERE.
8.17am: Around the grounds, courts, pools and other sporting venues
Lawn bowls: AFTER producing some stunning results at the under-18s national championships at Darwin recently, Dubbo lawn bowls prodigy Jono Davis has taken another step forward in his hugely promising career. The 13-year-old Dubbo Railway bowler won a gold medal in the pairs event in the Northern Territory while he also claimed a bronze in the singles division and these performances saw him named in the Australian under-18s squad.
Cricket: DESPITE only playing two matches for adopted state Victoria in the 2014-15 Matador BBQs One-Day Cup, and not taking a wicket, Yeoval junior Chris Tremain said his decision to move south was unequivocally paying off.
8.12am: Is this a good or bad thing?
Could it be that The Bachelor saga is finally drawing to a close?
Even The Project's Carrie Bickmore announced she was passing on the baton as The Bachelor correspondent after Tuesday's show failed to milk any more drama out of Blake Garvey and his romantic debacles.
In a brief five-minute segment on Tuesday's show, following Monday night's tell-all interview with Blake Garvey and his newly revealed lover Louise Pillidge from their Thai hideaway, very little emerged to spark any new fuel for The Bachelor gossip juggernaut.
In fact the biggest sign that The Bachelor barrel was well and truly beyond any more scraping was that The Project's producers had to resort to padding out the segment with soundbites from celebrity fixer Max Markson, who is apparently now Garvey's manager.
In Tuesday's segment, most of which had already been aired in glimpses on Monday, ex-fiancee Sam Frost and runner-up Lisa Hyde gave their responses to Garvey's face-saving claims from The Project the night before.
8.00am: Today's front page
Taking a closer look at today's front page of the Daily Liberal:
POLICE have praised a pilot who performed an emergency landing at Dubbo airport after a mid-air emergency Tuesday afternoon.
The charter flight had left earlier in the day bound for Dubbo but the pilot reported a possible problem with the undercarriage of the aircraft as the plane neared its destination.
Emergency services converged on Dubbo City Regional Airport just after 1.15pm.
Under instruction from ground crews the plane, a Beechcraft King Air 90 containing a pilot and four passengers, circled the airport several times before landing without further incident.
Inspector Scott Tanner from Orana Local Area Command said the emergency airport plan had been put in place and police, airport staff, Rural Fire Service, NSW Fire and Rescue and Volunteer Rescue Association personnel responded. READ MORE HERE.
7.55am: Dubbo youngsters have their say. The Mailbox Shopper visited class 4R at Orana Heights Public School to ask the students: "If you had one magic power, what would it be? Their answers here.
7.50am: Looking at national and international news:
Parliament: It was a day when ideological agendas were set aside, when no one spoke ill and an uncommon civility descended as members of Parliament rose to praise the man who had dominated their craft long after he left the building. Gough Whitlam, said the Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, was there at a tipping point, a fulcrum point in Australian history. READ MORE HERE.
White-collar crime: Australia is a "paradise" for white-collar criminals because of its soft punishment of corporate offences, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman, Greg Medcraft, says. Mr Medcraft said the only realistic response was harsher jail terms and bigger penalties for white-collar crime. READ MORE HERE.
Rugby league: Cronulla are in negotiations to sign Ben Barba as a replacement for sacked superstar Todd Carney. Fairfax Media can reveal the Sharks have earmarked Barba to fill the vacant No.6 jersey and are hopeful Brisbane will grant him a release in order to join the wooden spooners next year. READ MORE HERE.
Finance: Local shares are poised to open up, buoyed by a positive lead from Wall Street where positive economic data and Apple's strong earnings are powering equities higher. READ MORE HERE.
Beijing: Hong Kong's political crisis shifted from its city streets to an austere university lecture theatre as student protest leaders faced off with government officials in a much-anticipated televised debate after more than three weeks of an unprecedented civil disobedience campaign. READ MORE HERE.
Pacific climate: Ocean temperatures are again warming in the Pacific, helping to drive global temperatures to new highs and also leaving conditions primed for an El Nino event to be declared in coming months. READ MORE HERE.
7.33am: Checking out the news across from across regional Australia:
ORANGE: THE prevalence of the drug ice in Orange and other regional areas is taking second place to the impact of alcohol on the community, according to Orange-based drug and alcohol experts. READ MORE HERE.
BATHURST: ANOTHER service station is simply not needed in Kelso, according to local man Nicholas Bullock, who is among the residents opposed to a development application before council. READ MORE HERE.
ORANGE: FORMER child residents of Orange’s Croagh Patrick Orphanage, run by the Sisters of Charity, say they are hoping to have their stories of child abuse during their time at the orphanage heard at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. READ MORE HERE.
ARMIDALE: WATER could be restricted to debtors’ households after a spike in unpaid water bills spurred Armidale Dumaresq Council into action. Up to 80 households face having their water supply capped to just two litres a minute because of outstanding bills. READ MORE HERE.
WAGGA WAGGA: A FAMILY of five has been left shaken after their Central Wagga home was broken into while they slept at the weekend. The Brookong Avenue address was targeted in the early hours of Sunday morning, with two wallets and a handbag taken from the kitchen table when entry was gained via a laundry window. READ MORE HERE.
WAGGA WAGGA: The city is keeping its pledge to remember men and women who died in military service by creating a new eternal flame in the Victory Memorial Gardens. Last refurbished in 1983, the memorial is undergoing a $120,000 rejuvenation. READ MORE HERE.
7.15am: Taking a look at today's local news:
DUBBO: Essential Energy yesterday refuted claims one in six of Dubbo's street lights were faulty, saying only three reported defects were yet outstanding in the city. READ MORE HERE.
NARROMINE: Just over 10 months ago Tom Newlands was in a critical condition in Westmead Hospital, on Monday his family was celebrating his return to Narromine. READ MORE HERE.
WESTERN NSW: The peak body for NSW councils has resolved to lobby for the end of a measure it says will cause a $288 million funding hole across the sector in the next three years. READ MORE HERE.
DUBBO: A MEETING will take place tomorrow night to discuss what organisers say are the radioactive risks of mining at the proposed Toongi rare earth mine. READ MORE HERE.
DUBBO: A group of Sydney Opera singers will converge on Dubbo next month where they will perform musical hits and feature a local choir and two young local artists. READ MORE HERE.
7am: Welcome to Wednesday and The Morning Grill.
You're with Faye Wheeler from Dubbo.
If you want to see anything specific in the Grill write an email to faye.wheeler@fairfaxmedia.com.au
Today's weather
DUBBO / TRANGIE / NYNGAN: A sunny morning and then a 50 per cent chance of showers in the late afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening. Dubbo will have a top temperature of 30 and Trangie and Nyngan 33.
COBAR/ BOURKE: Partly cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of showers in the east, and a slight chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm in the far east in the afternoon and evening. Cobar will have a maximum temperature of 34 and Bourke 36.