HUNDREDS of colourful and eccentric "bashers" started the annual Variety fund-raising trek last weekend in Newcastle. 

SMALL bars in Newcastle are back on the agenda after the release of the Night Time Economy Discussion Paper last ... 

RETIREES are being lured into downsizing their family homes under a new trial announced in the federal government’s ... 

THE winners and losers of this year's federal budget have been announced, and people with a disability and schools have ... 

HAPPY, healthy and safe - these will be the feelings of many Hunter children when they participate in ... 

NEWCASTLE under-18s girls hockey team last weekend won the NSW state championships, beating last year's winners Parramatta 2-0 ... 

LUDERICK have started to school up in Swansea Channel and around the breakwater in Nelson Bay. 

FOUR of Hunter's petanque competitors spearheaded Australia's campaign on home soil to take back the Trans Tasman Challenge ... 

KILLARNEY Vale withstood a fast-finishing Warners Bay outfit to record an important 11. 

Cost of raising children up 50 per cent past five, new modelling shows. 

Betting in sport: Australia's biggest corporate bookmaker, Sportingbet, has backed calls for a complete ban on the spruiking of live ... 

Time poor? Not a problem, says Bill Granger, who has the answers. 

Recipes for Moroccan spiced chicken; barley, roasted cauliflower, almond and feta salad; and basbousa with pistachio and almond. 

Early childhood centres could have the right to refuse children who haven't been vaccinated. 

Health concerns have been raised over pregnant women in the Hunter Valley