Hunter trains: There is a good service on the Central Coast and Newcastle line and the Hunter line.

Hunter weather: Cloudy and possible showers in Newcastle (20 degrees), cloudy and a slight chance of showers in Raymond Terrace (20 degrees), cloudy and possible showers for Maitland (21 degrees) and cloudy and showers for Scone (20 degrees).

Hunter beachwatch: There’ll still be a few showers but the beach weather will be an improvement on yesterday. The wind  will be south-west to north-west with the swell from the south around half to one metre. Wave conditions will be clean but once again the surf will be small. Around town try the Cowrie Hole, Newcastle, Bar Reef, The Cliff, Dixon Park and Redhead. Down south try Hams, Catho and Frazer Park. At Port Stephens try Samurai and One Mile. Like yesterday all beaches will be good for a swim with the water temperature on 17 degrees.

► THE Newcastle Muslim Association’s plans to build a mosque in Buchanan have been sensationally approved during a heated meeting of Cessnock council. More here.

► A GLEAMING blue skate bowl on Newcastle beach could be the jewel in the crown of the Bathers Way coastal walk if ambitious plans to revive the area go ahead. More here.

► POLICE will renew pleas for information into the disappearance of Forster woman Nardia Clark after attempts to locate her failed. More here.

►  A FRIEND and drug customer of a man brutally murdered at Caves Beach in 2008 has furiously denied having any involvement in the crime, telling a coronial inquest he was “not a killer” and hadn’t “woken up with an ambition to go to jail and destroy lives”.  More here.

► GRAHAM Anthony George Sloane – the man accused of murdering Renee Mitchell and dumping her body in a park at Windale – told detectives: “I hope you catch the motherf---er”, according to documents tendered in Newcastle Local Court.  More here.

► THE success of the popular Bar Beach skate park could be replicated at south Newcastle beach. The facilities at Empire Park attract major events such as the Australian Bowl Riding Championships to the city. It has also fostered the talents of the number one female skateboarder in the world, Poppy Olsen. More here.

► A MAN has died following a single-vehicle crash in Bobs Farm in the early hours of Thursday morning. More here.

► The popular Sunday Muster Artisan Market has been axed by Maitland City Council following confusion over whether or not the event needs development application approval. More here.

► When Rutherford couple Ethan Rumble and Samantha Dorn booked their New Zealand holiday, they knew they had planned the getaway of a lifetime, but this week they got much more than they bargained for. More here.

► A former Maitland councillor has sparked some spirited debate on social media recently over plans to improve the Lorn side of the Hunter River. More here.

►  A MAN has had his snake confiscated after revealing it to fellow passengers on a Central Coast train this morning. More here.

► AS a finalist in the Lake Macquarie Business Excellence Awards to be announced this Saturday, Liz McGovern fully expects that she has been visited by a mystery shopper in recent weeks. More here.

► Toronto Rotary Club golf days help to raise more than $220k for charity. More here.

► AS ANXIOUS as Port Stephens residents are the mayor, Cr Bruce MacKenzie, said no news was good news on the merger review front. More here.

► A NEW cafe at Nelson Bay PCYC will provide work experience and training opportunities for some 150 teenagers each year. More here.

Need a national news snapshot first thing? We've got you covered. 

► ILLAWARRA, NSW: There’s lucky crims out there in the world – and then there’s the Illawarra’s own Nathan Scott Edwards. A 30-year-old unemployed man from Warrawong, Edwards proved the old saying “crime doesn’t pay” in more ways than one last year when he took a tumble while breaking into a school at Berkeley and ended up in hospital nursing multiple fractured bones and – no doubt – one bruised ego. Read more.

► WEDDERBURN, VIC: Prosecutors have called for the man who murdered three neighbours on their rural properties to never be released from prison, despite him entering guilty pleas. But a lawyer for Ian Francis Jamieson has urged a Supreme Court judge to give the killer a "glimmer of hope" for rehabilitation and set a minimum term to acknowledge his pleas, even if it meant he might not get parole until his mid 90s. Read more.

► TASMANIA: Greens leader Cassy O’Connor has again placed the spotlight on political donation reform, but has committed to pursuing changes inside her party whether or not the major parties act. Ms O’Connor said the Greens had nothing to hide and were open to immediately disclosing political donations, confirming she would raise adopting the practice with the party’s Tasmanian membership. Read more.

► STAWELL, VIC: At times supporters and players forget about the risks of playing football, but it takes the smallest of incidents to remind everyone just how important player safety is. On Saturday, Stawell Warriors midfielder David Andrivon made a strong tackle that resulted in opposition player Jordan Zeitz being knocked unconscious. The game went on, but the mental pictures of him lying motionless on the ground hit Andrivon hard. Read more.

► RIVERINA, NSW: A motorist got a shock on the road between Cootamundra and Stockinbingal on Wednesday when his campervan was engulfed by flames. Read more.

► PORT STEPHENS, NSW: An anxious as Port Stephens residents are the mayor, Cr Bruce MacKenzie, said no news was good news on the merger review front. “Hopefully this means they’re looking very closely at the Dungog-Port Stephens option,” he said. “But residents are very anxious to know because we don’t want to be chewed up by Newcastle.” Read more.

► CARBROOK, QLD: Five months on a Carbrook family remains devastated by fires that burned over 100 acres including the land around their house. Mitch and Lyndal Odgaard had hoped to live their dream of bringing their three boys up surrounded by nature. Instead their house has now been declared unliveable, particularly for their son Lachlan, who has several conditions that would be affected by smoke and harsh cleaning products. Read more.

► GOULBURN, NSW: The council and Goulburn Greyhound Club have met with Katrina Hodgkinson in a bid to overturn a ban on racing. Mayor Geoff Kettle, general manager Warwick Bennett, Cr Margaret O’Neill and the Club’s president, Patrick Day met with the Parliamentary Secretary for Southern NSW in Yass on Monday. Mr Day was armed with facts and figures about the industry’s value to Goulburn, including its estimated $10.4 million economic impact and 2481 associate members. “It was a good meeting and we voiced our concern about the effect of this undemocratic decision to close down the industry and its impact on Goulburn Mulwaree,” Cr Kettle said. Read more.

► Some disability organisations view child sexual abuse allegations as "a PR problem to be managed" and lack robust oversight, according to Australia's peak disability advocacy group. Executive director of People With Disability Australia Matthew Bowden was responding to evidence before a royal commission that a disability group which failed to address child abuse claims had full accreditation. Read more.

► A pedestrian has died after she was struck by a car on a zebra crossing in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Police have been told a car stopped to let a 60-year-old woman walk across a zebra crossing at the intersection of Mountain Highway and Boronia Road in Wantirna at about 1.30pm on Monday. Read more.

► The Coalition would command a 16-seat majority and the Greens would pick up an extra seat in the House of Representatives – if Australia's election results were replicated under a first-past-the-post system. Read more.

National weather radar

International news

► GERMANY: A 17-year-old Afghan man who seriously injured four people with an axe on a commuter train in the country's south has been killed by police. The young man shouted shouted "Allahu Akhbar" -- Arabic for 'God is great" — before he was shot, two German security officials said. But they warned that it was not clear whether the attack was an act of terrorism. Read more.

On this day

July 21, 1983: You think it's been cold this winter? Imagine this - on this day 33 years ago, the world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location was recorded! It might come as little shock that the location was Vostok Station at Antarctica. It registered a numbing −89.2 degrees. Brrr! Learn about Lake Vostok here:

When Christian Ashby was left fighting for his life in a Melbourne hospital, the Ballarat community wrapped its arms around his family and didn’t let go. 

It’s been a traumatic year so far for Mr Ashby, his wife Karen and their two children Eliza, 7, and Patrick, 3.

Mr Ashby didn’t know if he would walk again after he woke from an induced coma 10 days after he was allegedly struck by car.

The keen triathlete was riding around Lake Wendouree on Good Friday.

A breakfast of hot cross buns awaited him at home and the family had their bags packed for a camping trip.

But then tragedy struck, when Mr Ashby was knocked off his bike in an alleged hit-run. 

For 48 hours doctors at the Royal Melbourne Hospital did not know if Mr Ashby would survive. But his family said the treatment he received there and at the Ballarat Base Hospital saved his life. 

He was left with critical internal injuries, broken bones and head injuries.

While in a coma Mr Ashby underwent seven operations.

“It was horrific and stressful – we thought, will the kids have a father? If he does survive what will his life be like?” Mrs Ashby said. Read more.