Barbara and Terry Bennett in front of their home of more than 40 years. Photo: Graham Tidy
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The residents of Wittenoom Crescent in Stirling shrug their shoulders and smile at the irony of sharing the street name with the Western Australian mining town so contaminated by asbestos it is a no-go zone, closed off and fenced.
It has also felt the chill of asbestos contamination, with four houses in the loop street to be demolished in the Mr Fluffy buyback.
- Breaking news: Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh is dead after a domestic dispute at his home. His son has been arrested.
- Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd is reforming the Commonwealth bureaucracy with a plan to send elite executives to private companies such as Woolworths and McDonald's
- Tony Abbott's sister, Christine Forster, has directly challenged the Prime Minister to allow his MPs a free vote on a cross-party same-sex marriage bill, as Liberal Party divisions erupt and the government's leader in the Senate, Eric Abetz, warns ministers who wanted to vote for the legislation to quit the frontbench.
- Canberra public schools will have more psychologists and assistants to free-up teachers' time, after the education union voted to accept the ACT government's third wage offer and end more than a year of "challenging" negotiations.
- A 70-year-old Macarthur man has become the first person arrested protesting this year's controversial kangaroo cull in Canberra.
- A leading ACT counselling service has serious fears mental-health problems in Canberra may worsen as the Mr Fluffy crisis widens to former owners, tenants, visitors and tradespeople.
- An artist accused of sexually assaulting a young girl told police he had nothing to hide and described the allegations as "off this world".
Wallabies veteran Ben Alexander was left out of the 40-man squad for the Rugby Championship.
Could this be the end of Ben Alexander's decorated international career?
Eleven Brumbies players, including debutant lock Rory Arnold, made the cut for the 40-man Wallabies squad for the Rugby Championship, but Alexander's omission was the big surprise.
- Just before winning Wimbledon, Pat Cash uttered three words to sports psychologist Jeff Bond that kickstarted his career – "I hate tennis". Bond has the same question for Nick Kyrgios as he had then for Cash.
- For the fourth straight year, Rafael Nadal was upset early at Wimbledon. The former world number one was ousted from the second round by a German qualifier with no coach.
- Sydney Swans Luke Parker was interfered with by a Port Adelaide player as he was about to receive medical treatment
- Injured Kookaburra Glenn Turner has set his sights on winning Olympic gold next year, admitting the team's sustained dominance will feel hollow if it fails to win the ultimate prize.
- Before he became the Blues newest enforcer, David Klemmer was a teenage halfback playing in the lower divisions of a local competition.
8.25: One person has been taken to hospital to get assessed after this morning's gas leak in Banks. Residents have returned to their homes and emergency crews are leaving Fern Place.
7.28: Three homes have been evacuated after a damaged gas meter sparked a gas leak outside a house on Fern Place in Banks this morning. Firefighters isolated the leak while paramedics treated one person. More to come.
The southbound and northbound inner lanes of the Monaro Highway, between Pialligo Avenue and Ski Lane (the Water Ski Club access road) are temporarily closed to allow for construction of the southbound Monaro Highway on-ramp associated with the Majura Parkway project.
The roads will be closed for the next six weeks (weather permitting). For more information, including daily construction updates, visit www.majuraparkway.act.gov.au.
Drive safely on your commute and let us know if you see any traffic problems on the roads via @canberratimes, but only when its safe to do so.
See Head Full Of Love the story of two women whose unlikely friendship forms in the lead up to the Annual Alice Springs Beanie Festival. Written by Australian playwright Alana Valentine. The Street Theatre at 7.30pm. Also on Saturday at 7.30pm. Tickets standard $39/concession $37/student/$29 from thestreet.org.au.
Two interstate producers - Ribongia and Herzeloyde - are performing at Transit Bar for True Burner Vibes from 8pm. Entry $10 before 10pm, $15 after.
The Australian Burlesque Showcase is coming to town for two nights of classic tease and modern neo-burlesque. The Abbey, Nicholls. Doors open at 6.30pm for dinner, show at 8.30pm. Tickets from theabbey.com.au. Also on Saturday night. 18+.
The National Portrait Gallery has something for everyone to enjoy these winter school holidays in the Portrait Gallery Adventure Family Space.
School Holidays at the Memorial: Hands on History is on at the Australian War Memorial. Children can try on uniforms, handle real items, and hear stories of Australians in wartime.
Skate in the City continues on an open air ice skating rink erected in Garema Place.
The Australian War Memorial's art curator Warwick Heywood in the special exhibitions gallery. Photo Jay Cronan
For modern Australian artists, World War II inspired them to create works about the experience of combat, the powerfully destructive machinery of war and the vast social upheaval produced by global conflict.
When they pictured aspects of battle or its aftermath, they primarily focused on the brutal interaction of bodies, machines and landscapes, Warwick Heywood, curator of the Australian War Memorial's newest exhibition Reality in flames, said.
A reader captured this misty morning shot for the Canberra Times' Winter Photo Competition. Photo: Tanya Apelt.
Mystery surrounds the eerie sight of a man dressed as an undertaker who has been spotted gliding through the morning mist on Lake Burley Griffin in a stand-up paddle board fashioned as a coffin.
Paddlers on Canberra's lake were baffled by the sight of the man and his bizarre vessel, which has been decorated with brightly-coloured plastic flowers.
Today: Mostly sunny. Areas of frost and patchy fog in the morning. Light winds. Min -6, Max 11.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Areas of frost and patchy fog in the morning. Light winds. Min -5, Max 11.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Fog and areas of frost in the morning. Light winds. Min -5, Max 12.
Monday: Mostly sunny. Medium chance of showers. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning. Min -4, Max 12.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h. Min -1, Max 12.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Slight (30%) chance of a shower. Light winds. Min -5, Max 11.
