cross-posted from: https://leminal.space/post/37736144

The high-pitched whirr of coal trains between Newcastle and Muswellbrook has been the backdrop to life in the NSW Hunter region for more than 100 years, but a new soundscape is set to take its place as the renewables transition gathers pace.

Smoke billows from silo at Carrington, emergency services rush to scene

By Anna Falkenmire
Updated July 12 2026 - 6:17pm, first published 5:39pm

📷 Smoke at Carrington on Sunday evening. Picture supplied

Firefighters have rushed to reports of smoke billowing from a building at Carrington on Sunday night.

Emergency services were alerted to an incident in the vicinity of Graincorp just after 5pm on July 12 and rushed to the scene.

Fire and Rescue NSW resources and Newcastle police officers were deployed.

Multiple firefighting crews were tasked to the scene on Denison Street at Carrington after initial reports of smoke gushing near grain silos.

A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesperson confirmed there appeared to be something alight inside a silo. It was unclear at that time what may have caused the ignition.

The spokesperson said crews were working at the scene and had called for an aerial drone to inspect hotspots through thermal imaging.

The spokesperson said there was no risk of explosion to members of the public in the immediate vicinity, but there was an exclusion zone in place for safety. NSW Police said localised road closures were in place.

Eight fire trucks remained at the scene at about 6pm. The operation was still unfolding at that time, the Fire and Rescue NSW spokesperson said.

People should avoid the area.

In short:

Two farmers from the NSW Upper Hunter are on a mission to stop city food waste from going to landfill.

They are collecting tonnes of scraps from restaurants and cafes in Newcastle for compost, then using worms to turn it all into liquid fertiliser.

What’s next?

All businesses that sell or handle food in NSW will need to comply with new FOGO mandates by July 2030, with those with the largest bin volumes targeted first from July 1.

In short:

Six major ice cream companies in Japan are under suspicion of colluding to hike their prices.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission is investigating the allegations against frozen dessert brands Meiji, Ezaki Glico, Morinaga Milk Industry Co, Lotte Co, Morinaga & Co, and Akagi Nyugyo Co.

What’s next?

If the companies did violate laws, they will be fined and ordered to improve their business practices.

In short:

Police are investigating after dozens of dirt bike riders caused mayhem at a Newcastle park.

Up to 40 riders were observed taunting police and riding recklessly at a planned merchandise giveaway event for streetwear brand Bad Apples.

What’s next?

Newcastle’s Deputy Lord Mayor said the council would pursue the clothing company promoter to pay for damage to the park.

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/33300807

In short:

Media academics fear for the future of regional journalism after WIN Corporation announced cuts to one of Australia’s oldest nightly news bulletins.

The current one-hour 6pm weeknight news bulletin on NBN in northern NSW will be cut to 30 minutes and shifted to 5:30pm, while local weekend bulletins have been axed.

What’s next?

NBN News staff were told this week that WIN management will look at the news structure over the next three weeks as they assess resources.

Voting was conducted using full preferential Instant Run-off Voting in comments, with results declared (and explained) in this comment.

2nd place: Genesis Owusu - DEATH CULT ZOMBIE
3rd place: PLAYLUNCH - Keith
4th place: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Grow Wings and Fly
5th place: Ben Gerrans - London Lights

Links for the rest of the songs nominated can be found listed on either of our voting threads.

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/32072753

It’s time for us to nominate our /c/rage’s Lemmyvision 3 song!

Over the past few weeks, our community has submitted nominations, and we have until 3rd May to pick a winner. Our Lemmyvision representatives @Gorgritch_umie_killa and @zero_gravitas have again delegated our election to an independent agency, the Aussie.zone Eureka Commission (AEC).

Anyone who has recently commented a few times on aussie.zone before today is allowed to vote. (This includes, for example, various Australians on other instances)

This election uses preferential Instant-Runoff Voting^[wiki] just like our federal elections. Put simply, this means that if your [1] choice has no chance of election, your vote then moves over to your [2] choice, and so on.

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Here are the entries. Please listen to them all before voting:

• King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Grow Wings and Fly
• Genesis Owusu - DEATH CULT ZOMBIE
• Peach PRC - Miss Erotica
• Ben Gerrans - London Lights
• Ball Park Music - Please Don’t Move to Melbourne
• Ecca Vandal - BLEACH
• Tame Impala - Dracula
• PLAYLUNCH - Keith
• The Terrys - Work Out Fine
• Tanzer - Maximum Glamour

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Here is the ballot template for you to fill in. Copy and paste it as a new reply to this post, and number ALL boxes from 1 to 10 in order of your choice. [1] is your preferred choice, [10] is your least preferred.

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**Lemmyvision 3 /c/rage Nomination Ballot**

Place a number inside the box next to ALL songs, ranking them from 1 to 10 in order of preference.
```json
[]  King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Grow Wings and Fly
[]  Genesis Owusu - DEATH CULT ZOMBIE
[]  Peach PRC - Miss Erotica
[]  Ben Gerrans - London Lights
[]  Ball Park Music - Please Don't Move to Melbourne
[]  Ecca Vandal - BLEACH
[]  Tame Impala - Dracula
[]  PLAYLUNCH - Keith
[]  The Terrys - Work Out Fine
[]  Tanzer - Maximum Glamour
```
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Time out from the heavy stuff. This video is not only interesting but will put a smile on your face. It is not rude so can be shared with children (but not young ones as they may not understand) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXjfz0N_JXg