8:22 AM AEST | Some Thornton residents are keeping baseball bats by their front doors because they fear violent attacks from young mobs. But the residents were told their fears, which they aired at a community meeting on Tuesday night, were not reflected by police statistics.

8:24 AM AEST | Maitland Gaol has clocked up a record-breaking year for visitors. The site's popularity as a tourist attraction continues to exceed expectations with the end of the 2007-08 financial year showing 25,285 people flocked to the site in the first time the figure had topped 25,000.

8:28 AM AEST | Maitland Gladiators Motorcycle Club will host the ninth annual Les Darcy Day Boxing Fundraiser this Saturday at the Gladiators clubhouse. The exhibition will feature boxers from Maitland City and Round Table Boxing Clubs as well as boxers from Toronto, Grafton and Windale PCYC.

8:31 AM AEST | Chris Edwards was able to sum up how he felt when he was told he’d been selected for Australia with one word – “stoked”. The 18-year-old hooker could be a Wallaby in the making after being selected as part of the Australia A schoolboys rugby squad.

8:33 AM AEST | Alex Humphreys loves to run. The Year 6 student from Hunter Valley Grammar School will hit the track as part of the Combined Independent Schools team at the NSW Primary School Sports Association cross country competition on Friday.