It's really cooling off, isn't it? We're exactly one week from winter, but if you're anything like me the coats have already been getting a good workout. Today will be a minimum of 4 degrees and maximum of 16 degrees. And no rain! Hooray!

Let's take a look at what's making headlines in our favourite capital today.

Taxpayers forked out $210 million for the now-abandoned Abbott-era "Shared Services Centre", but government departments are keeping secret the full scale of the failed project.

Noel Towell writes that hundreds of public servants working at the SCC have been quietly sent back to their departments or moved to the Finance Department and the centre's functions taken over by the Employment and Education departments. Read more here.

A 36-year-old Deakin man will face court next month in relation to an explosion outside the Canberra offices of activist group the Australian Christian Lobby in December 2016.

Police said on Wednesday they had charged the man with arson and property damage.

Police have previously said the man was trying to kill himself and not targeting the ACL. But Lyle Shelton still has questions. Tom McIlroy has more.

Alexandra Back reports the Commonwealth Ombudsman has agreed to investigate alleged nepotism and misuse of public funds inside the Australian National University School of Music.

The government watchdog was responding to a complaint made under public interest disclosure laws by a former head of the school, Professor Peter Tregear, who resigned in 2015. More details here.

Jarrod Croker has written exclusively for The Canberra Times that Canberra Raiders players being left out of State of Origin has been a recurring theme during his 200-game NRL career.

But Croker doesn't view it as a snub. Instead he sees it as an opportunity for the Raiders. Read his full column, and watch his Facebook Q&A right here.

You might want to check your teeth after trying this new drink. Bree Winchester writes that the gothic latte starts with dissolving coconut-activated charcoal in hot liquid, and then adding your favourite coffee over the top - so really, you could try gothic flat whites (blacks?), cappuccinos and mochas.

The creation comes from Nat Lange of Queanbeyan-based mobile coffee business Espresso Yourself. Are you game? Get the details here.