We think Mount Beauty is a very apt name for the location of this picture. 

PUBLICLY, Maurie Chick would probably have played down the pomp and ceremony of his funeral at St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Albury on Thursday.

But privately he would have been delighted at the celebration of his life that his family provided him.

A WAGGA man has narrowly avoided death after rolling his car on the Hume Highway. 

The man rolled his white Ford Falcon about 4.20pm in Chiltern on Thursday, taking out three small trees before hitting a large tree. 

Murray United will take a leaf out of the NPL playbook and look to be more ruthless in defence.

The Border’s NPL1 side travels to Melbourne this weekend to take on western conference cellar dwellers Sunshine George Cross, looking for points and hell-bent on limiting the opposition’s chances.

They say catches win matches. Well, so do tosses, and Australia have seized on the opportunity to bat first on a flat Lord's pitch in the second Ashes Test to hit back emphatically after their defeat in Cardiff.

Chris Rogers (158 not out) and Steve Smith (129 not out) scored terrific hundreds in a second-wicket partnership of 259 and counting as Australia sailed to 1-337 by Thursday evening.

As well as the pair batted, it could have been a very different story if Michael Clarke not reverted from his usual preference at the toss of the coin and uttered the word 'heads'.

"He has called tails as captain​ right through his career and hasn't had a great run at late," Clarke's predecessor as Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, told Sky TV in commentary. "The boys were waiting at the hotel this morning and I had a word to him from 15 metres away.

"I said 'how about calling heads for once?' He looked back over with a cheeky grin on his face and said 'You know what, I was going to call heads today'."

► BATHURST: THE Mount Panorama precinct is one step closer to becoming the site of a go kart track. Bathurst Regional Council has received a development application from Bathurst Kart Club to build a $450,000 national level circuit at the iconic location. The club had previously earmarked the disused Alec Lamberton Field as a site for the track, but those plans were scuttled by neighbouring residents’ noise concerns. If the new DA is approved, it would see a 950 metre track built on the land behind Brock’s Skyline that is currently Mount Panorama lookout. 

► CANBERRA: Kiss frontman Gene Simmons has urged Canberra brain cancer patient Jack Woodhams to be strong and described the brave youngster as "a true superhero". Jack, 6, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour two months ago and discovered the benefits of music therapy while undergoing radiation treatment at The Children's Hospital, Randwick. His parents Paul and Karyn Woodhams watched glimpses of their cheeky, music-loving son return with the help of the hospital's music therapist Matt Ralph.

► HUSKISSON: Dealing with drop-ins was all part of a day’s surf when brothers Russell and Adam Quinn from Huskisson hit the waves last week at Sussex Inlet. Adam photographed his brother being shown-up by the local wildlife when a seal joined him on a wave. “We see seals all the time,” Russ said.  "It was just me and my brother out there, I was in the water and Adam was on the jetski with the camera. The seal was circling for a while and playing around." Read more.

► KALGOORLIE: There's a simple reason why Kalgoorlie-born Jenny Talia ended up on the politically incorrect comedy trail like she did – it was hereditary. Funnyman Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson’s daughter is returning to the Peel region to perform at one of her favourite venues. “I have friends now, that I only know because I perform at the Ravenswood Hotel,” Talia said. “It’s so good to be back there – to be back home. Anywhere in Western Australia feels like I’m performing to a home crowd.”

► KANAHOOKA: Every time Jane Malcolm hears reports of an air crash, a natural disaster or terrorist attack; she relives the tragedy of her mother and stepfather's deaths in the MH17 plane crash. Retired Kanahooka teachers Carol and Michael Clancy were among the 298 people killed when their Malaysia Airlines' flight was shot down over a war zone in the Ukraine on July 17 last year. Ms Malcolm, 38, will attend a memorial service in Canberra today for the families of the 38 Australian victims, to mark the first anniversary of the crash. Read more

► LAUNCESTON: TWO brothers found guilty at trial of acts of serious violence in the lead-up to a stranger's death in the Mowbray Hotel have each been jailed for less than three years. Last week, Jay David Blazely, 40, and Mitchell Clay Dowling, 44, were remanded in custody in Launceston after a Supreme Court jury returned five guilty verdicts against them. Jurors found Blazely, 40, guilty of assaulting Tony Brown, committing an unlawful act with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Mr Brown and assaulting Grant Thomas. The Exeter-raised Mr Brown, 28, died from the injuries he suffered during the brawl at the Mowbray Hotel on July 17, 2013. Read more.

► NEWCASTLE: IT’S the obstacle course that attacks the senses. Night Attack will be held at Hunter Stadium from September 16 to 18, with participants tackling 17 obstacles and a five-kilometre run like no other. Competitors will navigate the course in the dark, with ultraviolet light beaming across some areas. There will also be music and smoke to test all of the entrants’ senses. Story, photos and video here.

► WAGGA: THE level of community concern about the rapid spread of the drug ice in Wagga was laid bare by the amount of people who attended a forum to discuss the drug on Thursday night. The public forum, held at Wagga High School, saw more than 500 people – one of the biggest community gatherings seen in recent years – come to hear from experts across a number of fields about the fight back against the insidious drug. Those at the forum came from all walks of life – those young and old, from backgrounds ranging from sporting clubs to community representatives – representing the diverse base of concern about ice in Wagga. Read more.

► Nine out of 10 suburbs worst affected by the combined impact of the Abbott government's two budgets are in Labor-held seats. New analysis has for the first time shown the impact of Treasurer Joe Hockey's fiscal policies in every suburb of Australia, revealing a compelling story of winners and losers based on geography and political leanings. The country's worst-affected suburb is western Sydney's Mount Druitt, which recently shot to national attention after it became the focus of a controversial SBS documentary about the effects of entrenched poverty.

► A man seen walking with a suitcase is wanted for questioning after a child's body was found on a highway in South Australia. The body of the child, who is believed to have been aged between two and seven, was found on Tuesday on the Karoonda Highway near Wynarka, about 120 kilometres east of Adelaide. Police believe the child, whom they are trying to identify, died elsewhere and his or her body was then left near the road.

► Embattled Speaker Bronwyn Bishop is facing the prospect of being forced out of her job as the fallout from the scandal over her travel expenses gathers momentum. The Liberal Party stalwart has even drawn fire from senior ranks of her own party, with a stinging rebuke from Treasurer Joe Hockey and a pointed refusal by Social Services Minister Scott Morrison to back the under-fire Speaker, raising the stakes on her ability to survive. Mr Hockey said Ms Bishop's use of a charter helicopter to ferry her the short distance between Melbourne and Geelong for a Liberal fundraiser last year was "not a good look" and agreed it did not pass the "sniff test".

► Being young, single and wealthy is no guarantee of happiness according to the findings of a national survey from crisis support group Lifeline. Lifeline's National Stress Poll found younger people were more pressured than their elders, higher income earners were tenser than those earning under $50,000 a year and singles were more stressed than those in a relationship. Women were under more pressure than men with 46 per cent reporting suffering a lot of stress compared with 35 per cent of men. Read more.

July 17, 1955: Wouldn't it be good if there was a park that had activities for adults and kids so that the whole family could have fun together. So thought Walt Disney when he visited Griifith Park, LA with his two daughters. The idea became a dream, and the dream became a reality on this day 60 years ago when Disneyland opened. It's seen many changes over the years. It's now officially called Disneyland Park for starters, and includes eight separate themed "lands" with a separate Disney California Adventure Park adjoining it. The franchise has grown to include similar parks in Florida's Disneyworld, Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disney, but Disneyland is still the gold standard... the place where dreams can come true.

► A sex video filmed in a Uniqlo change room in Beijing has left authorities hot and bothered after the footage flooded China's tightly controlled social media. The one-minute video, which appears to have been filmed by the fornicating couple mid-tryst, has garnered millions of views on Weibo, China's answer to Twitter, and the mobile messaging service WeChat since it was posted on Tuesday. Read more.

► United States President Barack Obama has addressed the slew of rape accusations against the comedian Bill Cosby, at a press conference held to defend the Iran nuclear deal. Asked if he supported calls for Mr Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom should be rescinded the president said, "There's no precedent for revoking a medal. We don't have that mechanism, and as you know, I tend to make it a policy not to comment on the specifics of a case where there might still be criminal if not civil issues involved." But he added, "I'll say this, if you give a woman or a man for that matter without his or her knowledge, a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape," Obama said. "And I think this country, any civilised country, should have no tolerance for rape."

► It was a touching video that would strike a chord with any ex-pat separated from the ones they love. Sitting in their living room in Cork, Irish couple Martin and Mary O'Regan thought they were watching a slide show of their 11-week-old grandson, Niall, born 17,000 kilometres away in Brisbane. Little did they know their first grandson was waiting just outside their front door.  At first the video features only scenes from Brisbane, but eventually sights much more familiar scenes started flitting up on the couple's living room wall. Read more.

A GREAT deal can change in 50 years, and things certainly have for baker Bob Hamilton.

Mr Hamilton hung up his baker’s hat for the last time yesterday when he retired from his position at Roberts Bakery having clocked up 49 years in the business.

At 16, in 1966, Mr Hamilton was offered an apprenticeship at Manildra Bakery, and from there his career as a respected and skilled baker kicked off, leading him to work in bakeries in Parkes, Condobolin and Orange.

After working in numerous bakeries in Orange, as well as a bakery manager for Woolworths in Orange and Bathurst for eight years, Mr Hamilton has spent the last 13 years at Roberts Bakery.

With a little sadness, Mr Hamilton recalled the days bakers made everything from scratch. Read more.