ABC North and West

06/10/2026

Did you head along to any country shows over the weekend? 🤔

Among the whopping seven that took place across the long weekend was the 150th Jamestown Show!

Though the poultry sheds looked a little emptier this year as per bird flu guidelines, there were some pretty special chooks on display. 👀

"We actually put out to our schools for kids to make a chook, so we're going to display the school kids' chooks instead of actually having chooks," Jamestown Show president Matt Scharkie told ABC North & West Breakfast's Tom Mann on Friday.

"I'm sure there'll be some funny chooks come out of that." 🐔

06/10/2026

Farmers on South Australia's west coast have delivered the first load of grain for the season.

Primary Industries and Regions SA estimates 11,591,000 tonnes of grain will be harvested in South Australia in 2026/27.

South Australia's crops, sown early on the back of good autumn rain, are ready for harvest. Logistically, it is going to be a big, difficult harvest but "what a great problem" to have, says a grower.

06/10/2026

A South Australian man with "lifetime involvement in pastoral and agricultural enterprises" has been fined $60,000 for unlawfully clearing 277 hectares of native vegetation at a property about 70 kilometres north of Adelaide.

A 73-year-old farmer is fined $60,000 for clearing more than 250 hectares of native vegetation at a property at Port Wakefield.

02/10/2026

In 1997, Sarah Sutter stepped onto the netball court as an inaugural Thunderbird.

Nearly 30 years later, her daughter Jazmin McKay is making her own history as the club's first mother-daughter signing.

Jazmin Mckay has joined the Adelaide Thunderbirds as the club's inaugural mother-daughter signing, following in the footsteps of her mother, a dual premiership T-Bird and gold medal winning Diamond player.

01/10/2026

About 200 jobs at an iron ore mine in South Australia's far north are in limbo amid a financial dispute between the project's owner and a major onsite contractor, the ABC understands.

About 200 workers at an iron ore mine in SA's far north are facing uncertain futures amid a financial dispute between the project's owner and a major on-site contractor, the ABC understands.

01/10/2026

Former federal court judge Dr Iain Ross AO has been appointed to lead South Australia's Royal Commission into Artificial Intelligence.

The other two commissioners announced by SA Premier Peter Malinauskas today are former Tech Council of Australia CEO Kate Pounder and artificial intelligence expert Christopher Manning.

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has appointed former federal court judge Dr Iain Ross AO to lead a royal commission into artificial intelligence alongside experts Kate Pounder and Christopher Manning.

30/09/2026

Stingrays are back at Point Turton! 🐟🌊❤️

Have you spotted any stingrays in South Australian waters recently?

Eighteen months on from the algal bloom that impacted South Australia's coastline, there’s a promising sign of recovery, with stingrays being spotted at Port Turton on the Yorke Peninsula.

This remarkable footage was captured by Dani near the Point Turton jetty.

Marine biologist Stefan Andrews told 891 ABC Adelaide’s Rory McClaren that stingray sightings had become rare, making these recent encounters especially encouraging.

“I’ve been in the water this week and was happy to see a few stingrays, which is awesome. There are a few promising signs around.”

🎥: Point Turton Caravan Park

30/09/2026

It's been 50 years since the iconic theme music for the Blue Hills drama swelled on ABC radio for the last time.

At the time, the show was Australia's longest-running serial radio drama, broadcast from February 1949 until September 1976.

Blue Hills started life as "a piece of rural propaganda" to encourage World War II servicemen to "grow better crops and increase production". It ran for 27 years on ABC radio and became an institution of Australian life.

29/09/2026

The government's timeline to transition the Coober Pedy council out of administration is set to be scrapped — and no new end date has been fixed.

The remote Far North council was suspended and an administrator appointed in 2019 but Coober Pedy had been due to participate in the April 2027 local government elections, which would have marked the end of the administration.

The South Australian government's timeline to transition the District Council of Coober Pedy out of administration is set to be discarded — without any new end date being set.

28/09/2026

Have you ever seen a field full of Sturt’s desert peas like this before?

This sea of red was captured by photographer David Jaensch who couldn’t believe his eyes and had to get a look from the air.

This flower field was in station country near Moonaree north of Minnipa on Eyre Peninsula.