9am: Finally, just because I am mean, I thought I would put this song into your head this morning.
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Thanks for joining me for today's Orange Express. Now I would like to nap.
8.55: It's time to have your say on our daily poll.
What does the national school chaplaincy program do?
8.35 Now it's time for Sport.
The coveted Astley cup is in full swing and this year Orange High School vowed to reclaim the prize.
The school has had a mildly shorter drought than the Blues in the State of Origin and last held the cup in 2006.
Check in with The Central Western Daily Astley Cup coverage to get the latest on the prize that unites our students in their passion to beat Dubbo and Bathurst.
This morning's basketball and netball fixtures will prove crucial if Bathurst are to make any headway into Orange's 100-point advantage by day's end.
Central Western Daily sport journalist Matt Findlay has written a full overview of the day one action, as well as a match report from the Orange High girls' emphatic win at the Orange Hockey Centre, check the paper or go to the Sport section of our website.
Now to Rugby..
Every orchestra needs a conductor, and so far in 2014 Orange Emus’ pivot Adam Perri has flourished in his role as maestro.
After an early season shift from fullback to fly-half, Perri has led Emus’ symphony with composure befitting someone more senior in age.
But what the 19-year-old lacks in experience, he makes up for in confidence.
8.25: On this day- June 20
451 - Germans & Romans beat Atiila the Hun at Catalarinische Fields
1837 - Queen Victoria at 18 ascends British throne following death of uncle King William IV. She ruled for 63 years ending in 1901
1840 - Samuel Morse patents his telegraph.
1895 - 1st female PhD (science) earned (Caroline Willard Baldwin) from an American University.
1944 - Nazis begin mass extermination of Jews at Auschwitz.
And It's World refugee Day.
8.15: Looking further abroad..
This morning on Twitter #WorldCup2014 trended higher than #Iraq.
Nevertheless US president Barack Obama says he is ready to take "targeted" and "precise" military action in Iraq if necessary following the swift advance of radical Sunni fighters.
Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said the United States was ready to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq and was prepared to make targeted strikes in the country to combat an extremist insurgency.
7.55: Want to know what has been happening around the region but could not be bothered reading full stories?
Have a flick through The week that was in the central west and read the captions to get an abridged version of the news.
7.45: Now for some national news.
For nearly 40 years, Griffith mayor John Dal Broi has sat in hope that each new lead on what happened to Donald Mackay would yield answers.
Another new lead in the case that has baffled police and the city's community has emerged this week, with Griffith detectives travelling to Victoria to explore new leads that might explain what happened to the anti-drugs campaigner
Councillor Dal Broi, who was on council back in 1976 when Mr Mackay disappeared from the Griffith Hotel carpark, admits he has started to wonder whether they would find the body of Mr Mackay in his lifetime.
In other news...
In what seems to me to be a win for common sense. The federal funding for the schools chaplaincy program was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court.
The Abbott government will have to grant $243.5 million to state and territory governments to continue its national schools chaplaincy program after a Queensland father successfully challenged its funding in the High Court.
7.30: There was some shocking news last night.
As many of you may have noticed, Facebook crashed at around 7.30pm and there were mixed reports as to how long it was down.
People were forced to engage in human interaction, eye contact was made and conversation was had.
But for those who could not bear the thought of speaking to a person, there was always Twitter.
The hashtag 'facebookisdown' received 49,000 mentions in 30 minutes.
7.20am: Now for some Orange news headlines to give you something to talk about over the water cooler this morning.
The Needles Gap dam is heating up to be more controversial than the Macquarie Pipeline, in my opinion.
It was the hot topic in the NSW Legislative Assembly yesterday.
Former Orange councillor and now Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham was ejected from the Legislative Council until the end of the current sitting by president Don Harwin, after a fiery exchange about the proposed Needles Gap dam during question time.
Mind you, it was the second time he had been ruled out of order by the president within 24 hours.
Meanwhile in the Orange Local Court yesterday, a teenage boy charged with attempting to run a police officer down with a trail bike could not wipe the smile off his face.
He was given a probation bond for 12 months instead of detention.
7.15am: If you are celebrating your birthday today, are old enough to read and have lived in Orange your whole life then I feel sorry for you.
You have never had a pool party.
Someone who has probably had several of those is the lovely Nicole Kidman who turns 46 today.
I recently had the pleasure of admiring her from afar in Canowindra when she was there to film parts of her upcoming movie Strangerland.
I was however, hoping to stalk Hugo Weaving but he eluded me.
Legendary R&B singer who recorded "Truly," "Dancing on the Ceiling," "Easy Like Sunday Morning," and many other top ten hits, Lionel Ritchie, turned 64 today.
And the larger than life, John Goodman who featured in TV's Roseanne from 1988 to 1997 turned 61.
If you are having a birthday or know anyone who is deserving of some embarrassment email a few lines and a photo through to nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au
7am: Good morning,
Central Western Daily journo Nicole Kuter here to bring you some bits and bobs to get you through your morning routine.
If you know of anything newsworthy, call me on 63912916 or email nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au
For those like me who drew the short straw and had the unpleasant task of being up this early, we should all salute mother nature because it is not as cold as yesterday.
Today's weather is noticeably warmer.
Unlike yesterday's minimum of -1 degrees we won't be hitting freezing today.
We're looking at a low of 4 degrees which is somewhat bearable and a top of a whopping 12 degrees.
I may even take my third layer of clothing off today.. maybe.
Our very own Shelbyville, otherwise known as Bathurst have beaten us again with a top of 15 degrees.
We should all still be jealous of Dubbo, it's expecting atop of 19 degrees.. and it has a zoo.