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

Hunter weather: Cloudy and rainy day for Newcastle strong winds (26 degrees), Raymond Terrace is in for a cloudy day with showers (24 degrees), cloudy for Maitland with showers and possible thunderstorms (26 degrees) and a partly cloudy with showers in the afternoon for Scone (26 degrees).

Hunter beachwatch: The day should start off quite okay but things will deteriorate as the day progresses. The wind will be warm north to north-west at first but a southerly change will move along the coast during the afternoon. The swell is from the east around half to one metre but is expected to increase in size quite quickly late in the day. For a surf this morning try the Cowrie Hole, Newcastle, Bar Reef, The Cliff and Redhead in the city. To the south try Hams, Catho, Frazer Park and Soldiers and at Port Stephens try Samurai and Birubi. Maybe try some of the protected southern corners once the wind goes southerly. Most beaches are good for a swim but some heavy edges will develop later. The water temperature is 22 degrees. 

► IT started between one-time mates, included a shooting, turned into mass defections, led to a wild street brawl and has festered into highly dangerous tit-for-tat attacks between now feuding gangs. More here.

► Felicity and Gwyn Williams decided to finally take control of their energy bills four years ago by installing 20 solar panels on the roof of their late-1800s Mayfield Federation-style home. More here.

► NEWCASTLE clinicians are at the forefront of what is being dubbed “practice-changing” research in the treatment of prostate cancer, with the results of a new clinical trial showing treatment times can be halved without adverse affects on patients. More here.

► INDEPENDENT MP Greg Piper says Lake Macquarie City Council should “step up” and do more to help dozens of land buyers in the stalled Bunderra Estate development. More here.

► IT shapes as the game that could tempt Jack Bird to become the highest-paid player in Newcastle’s history, or alternatively convince him to steer well clear of the rebuilding Knights. More here.

► JOIN Tony Butterfield and Josh Callinan for a quick set of the week's big rugby league issues.  More here.

► NEWCASTLE City Council has called for greater clarity on the role of the Hunter Development Corporation in making planning decisions in the city. More here.

► THE RSPCA will not prosecute a Fullerton Cove boarding kennel for animal cruelty, after autopsy results ruled out heat stress as the cause of death for a popular Fern Bay greyhound. More here.

► CANDID Newcastle captain Nigel Boogaard says that jobs deserve to be on the line after a string of poor results ended the Jets’ finals hopes. More here.

► THE HUNTER now has its own ghost-busting team. Scott Faulkner and Nick Potts have founded East Coast Paranormal Investigations.  More here.

► UNIMAGINABLE.  That’s how Newcastle writer Greg Ray described the horror of 60,000 dead Australians in World War I, a figure he said was unfathomable in today’s times. More here.

► A steel plate left on the New England Highway at Maitland caused havoc and some costly repairs for Maitland motorists on Tuesday. More here.

► Speculation international fashion retailer H&M will set up shop in the $412 million Stockland Green Hill’s redevelopment has prompted a huge community reaction on social media. More here.

► Muswellbrook woman Anna Periscal managed to snap a picture with Arnold Schwarzenegger this month. The photograph was taken at the Arnold Classic in Melbourne and it got us thinking about celebrity selfies… So we dredged up this gallery of our favourite celebrity selfies taken by people from across the Hunter. More here.

► Maitland and the wider Hunter are about to be pounded with heavy rain, flash flooding  and wild winds as the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie heads south. More here.

► A program has been launched at Lake Haven to help Indigenous job seekers find a job they will be passionate about. More here.

► POLICE are appealing for information following an alleged armed robbery in San Remo overnight. More here.

► Raymond Terrace body builder Andi Condon has placed second in the grand masters category of the Arnold Classic and it has only fueled his hunger to win. More here.

► Port Stephens Council has refused to back down on code of conduct proceedings against Cr Geoff Dingle. More here.

► Doctors have told Anna Bay’s Tania Clark to get her affairs in order but she’s more determined to make sure future cancer patients have an easier run. More here.

Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.

►LAUNCESTON: If you’re looking to expand your family, a happy cow might be just what you were looking for. 

A curious ad appeared on the online buy-and-sell site Gumtree on Tuesday evening advertising an Ashgrove Farm ‘happy cow’ was going free to a good home. Read more.

►BALLARAT: The thunder of hooves and the crash of timber on armour will fill the grounds of Kryal Castle this weekend as our Australian jousters take on their New Zealand counterparts in the Tasman Shield International Jousting Tournament.

Ballarat veteran Phillip Leitch is joining compatriots Cliff Marisma and Andrew McKinnon to combat the NZ team of Jezz Smith, Vikki Subritzy and Simon Neilsen. Read more.

►MANDURAH: In the wake of recent statistics showing a significant increase in the number of people taking methamphetamines and seeking help for drug addiction, the Palmerston Association is set to roll out a comprehensive community response to meth for families and individuals in the Peel region.

A recent secret test of wastewater undertaken by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has shown a significant rise in the amount of people addicted to methamphetamines. Read more.

►NEWCASTLE: THE RSPCA will not prosecute a Fullerton Cove boarding kennel for animal cruelty, after autopsy results ruled out heat stress as the cause of death for a popular Fern Bay greyhound.

The death of Baron the greyhound on December 28 sparked outrage among animal lovers, after Fern Bay man Nathan Wilson publicly criticised Jane’s Pet Resort following the death of his beloved pet, believing the dog died of dehydration and heatstroke while in the boarding kennel’s care. Read more.

►WOLLONGONG: Kevin Condon's is not the face you usually see splashed across a news story about vaccination. It's usually a chubbier, more youthful visage. About seven decades more youthful.

The babies and preschoolers of parents opposed to vaccinations are the unrivalled targets of government and media focus surrounding immunisation rates. But the children of anti-vaxxers and vaccine-hesitant people form a tiny subset of Australia's under-vaccinated population. Read more.

►GRIFFITH: A convicted killer who's been on the run since skipping a Melbourne court date seven years ago has reportedly been seen in NSW.

Police say Graham Gene Potter was spotted in Griffith twice in July 2016 - once in a shop and another at a gym.

There were reports of possible sightings in August last year, but Victoria Police have released more information about the fugitive and his movements. Read more.

►TASMANIA: Alisha Powell and her mum Cherie Mackean were heartbroken when they discovered two kittens fighting for their lives at Cataract Gorge. 

The pair were about to begin their morning run when Ms Powell heard screeching from the bushes. 

“We thought it was a bird,” she said. Read more.

►MURRAY BRIDGE: There are more than 2,300 little corella sites across South Australia, according to a study released this month by Discovery Circle, an initiative of the University of South Australia.

The statewide report aimed to identify steps, based on research and consultation with the public, to help reduce issues with little corellas. Read more.

► Bronwyn Bishop has avoided a planned review of her use of entitlements over the last 10 years by cutting short her participation in the investigation, which had already led to the former Speaker repaying taxpayers $6700 for costs related to her attending her colleague's weddings and Kerry Packer's funeral. Read more.

►A convicted murderer who attempted to sue the NSW prisons boss over his incarceration in Goulburn's Supermax prison has been shot in Sydney's west.

Emad Sleiman was shot in the chest and leg inside an Auburn apartment block at 9.20pm on Wednesday. Read more.

►A man has died and another man is seriously injured in hospital after their car crashed following a police pursuit in the NSW central west.

Both men were ejected from the car in the single vehicle crash in South Bathurst, near the intersection of Lloyds Road and Vale Road, police said

The car was being pursued by police moments before the driver lost control just after 1pm on Wednesday. Read more.

►There is more to income inequality than the famed 1 per cent versus the 99 per cent or standing chief executive officers next to average workers.

Inequality in wages, new research has found, is increasingly defined by where you work not what your job title is. Read more.

► BANGKOK: Cambodian authorities have permanently banned the sale and export of human breast milk after suspending exports from a US company that has been collecting it from impoverished mothers for more than two years.

The ban has put the spotlight on a global trade in breast milk to other mothers, bodybuilders, cancer patients and breast-milk fetishists. Read more.

► PERU: A Boeing jet operated by Peruvian Airlines caught fire on Tuesday while landing at an airport near the Andean town of Jauja in central Peru after it swerved on the runway, but there were no serious injuries, a government minister said.

Peruvian Airlines said in a statement that the Boeing 737-300 jet drove off the runway for unspecified reasons during the scheduled landing, after swerving to the right. It said that all 141 people on board the flight, which originated in Lima, were evacuated safely. Read more.

► LONDON: London: In the day of terror that besieged Westminster just seven days ago, one particular eyewitness account stood out as especially horrific.

"I saw a body fall into the water," a horrified worker who had been sitting on Parliament's balcony told Fairfax Media.

An hour earlier he had seen the horror Khalid Masood was able to unleash in just 82 seconds, beginning at 2.40pm. Read more.

1461 –  The armies of two kings, Henry VI and Edward IV, collide at Towton.

1827 –  Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is buried in Vienna amidst a crowd of over 10,000 mourners.

1867 –  The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.

1886 –  Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton, claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold.

1903 –  A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi's wireless.

1936 –  Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar.

1941 –  The British sink five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean.

1951 –  The Chinese reject Gen. Douglas MacArthur's offer for a truce in Korea.

1962 –  Cuba opens the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders.

1967 –  France launches its first nuclear submarine.

1973 –  The last U.S. troops withdraw from South Vietnam.

1976 –  Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970.

1986 –  A court in Rome acquits six men in a plot to kill the Pope.

Ryker Harris –

Ryker Harris pushes and barters with his parents just like any other three-year-old but unlike his peers he battles every day with a genetic disorder called Meier-Gorlin Syndrome.

His mother Lana Stewart said Ryker was diagnosed within four hours of birth as one of about 53 individuals worldwide with this syndrome. 

“To have this syndrome you need three things, small ears, no kneecaps and short stature,” she said. Read more.