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The Orange and Cabonne Road Safety Officer, Andrea Hamilton-Vaughan is on a mission to get every driver in the central west using their car's headlights during the day.

And based on how many views a video promoting the message received, she is getting close to achieving her goal.

The video, promoted through social media, on the Orange and Cabonne Road Safety Facebook page received 83,000 views, was shared 775 times and 64 per cent of people watched the whole 30 second clip.

City Of Orange Traffic Committee chair, Cr Russell Turner said it was "fantastic" to see this home-grown video with a simple message get so much coverage online.

"The clip was prompted by the recent damp and foggy conditions, and a key message from the Orange and Cabonne Road safety program about encouraging drivers to leave their headlights on 24-7," he said.

" When I see cars driving at dusk without their lights on, I often think they must be able to see the road in front of them.

"But, depending on the colour of their car, other drivers might not be able to see them. It’s just not safe."

Shot from behind the wheel of a car, the video simply asks which of the oncoming cars are easiest to see.

The pictures speak for themselves as the cars with their headlights switched on stand-out.

"It’s common sense but there’s also lots of research which points to just how much more visible a car can be with its lights on," Cr Turner said.

"Some of the latest cars have a daylight setting for their headlights which makes it even easier to drive with your lights on."

Orange City Council is continuing to develop its efforts in communications and this is a sign of that strategy working successfully," Cr Turner says.

" As well as individuals, many of the shares have been by police, road safety and other community groups right across NSW."

ENGINEERING: Orange City Council's Director of Technical Services Chris Devitt with Engineering Student Logan Hignett and General Manager Garry Styles.

The prospects for Orange businesses in Papua New Guinea were explored during a visit to Orange by the PNG Consul General.

Consul-General Mr Sumasy Singin spent four days in Orange recently in a visit arranged by Deputy Mayor and Sister Cities committee chair, Cr Chris Gryllis.

The Consul-General said the latest visit builds on “Orange’s special relationship with Papua New Guinea through the Mount Hagen Sister City relationship.”

“This relationship has being going for thirty years or so and Hagen is at the heart of our highland region.”

Because Mt Hagen has recently opened an international airport, “most of the mining companies operating in the area fly in and fly out though Mt Hagen.” Mr Singin said.

A major mining industry support business based in Orange, Pybar, will be attended its first mining expo in Port Moresby this week.

“We’re starting to look at overseas opportunities,” Pybar Chief Operating Officer Brendan Rouse said. “PNG, given its proximity to Australia and the eastern states, is a logical choice.”

“Underground gold mining at the moment is the main opportunity there. That’s our speciality.”

“It’s a long term project,” Brendan Rouse said. “We’re not there to try and find something next month. It could be twelve months away, but if it takes 12 months then that’s fine. We want to try and understand the country and see what the opportunities are and put a plan in place.”

The PNG Consul-General said there are “a lot of opportunities” for businesses in Orange to explore business in PNG and that current economic conditions could make now a good time to explore the PNG market.

“They should go to PNG now,” Mr Singin said. “The prices or oil and gas have gone down and a lot of bigger companies are sizing up their operating costs. It is better to move in now to see the opportunities.”

Based in Sydney, Mr Singin made the trip to Orange with his wife and two grandchildren.

“I went to Mount Canobolas. It is like going up to the Everest of this part of the world and see all the cities below you. The road was closed but it was fun walking up to the summit. My grandchildren had never seen the snow before.”

OPPORTUNITIES : The prospects for Australian businesses working in PNG were up for discussion when the PNG Consul-General visited Orange this week. Pictured (l. to r.) are Orange Deputy Mayor Cr Chris Gryllis, Pybar Chief Operating Officer Brendan Rouse, Consul-General Sumasy Singin, Pybar CEO Paul Rouse and Cr Russell Turner.

THE VIEW: This is the view potential residents of the old hospital site tower would have.

BUSY: Businesses across the region are being urged to attend tourism workshops.

The latest Orange City Council meeting has awarded the tender for the latest stage of the East Orange stormwater channel.

The contract worth just under one million dollars has been awarded to Hibbo Hire Pty Ltd.

Orange Mayor John Davis said the problems of potential flooding for residents of the East Orange area were well-known and Orange City Council was committed to tackling this problem by enlarging the stormwater channel.

"It’s a major construction task and so the work has to be spread out over a number of years," he said.

"With the rain of recent weeks residents have noticed how full these stormwater channels are and how important they are for clearing large volumes of water away."

He said residents between Summer Street East and Byng Street could already see the benefits of the recently completed stage and how much more water the bigger channel can shift.

"The new stage will see an enlargement of the current channel between Byng and McLachlan Streets," Cr Davis said.

"Work is expected to start soon and weather permitting the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year."

WIDENED: The East Orange Channel at Byng Street and Summer Street after it was widened.

NARROW: The East Orange Channel at Byng Street and McLachlan Street.

UPDATE - August 3:

Orange City Council rangers are back to chalking tyres while a review of the number plate recognition based system continues.

The Orange Woodworkers Association swapped its usual gesture of gifting Orange City Council a hand-crafted gavel and instead gave it kids toys.

To express gratitude for receiving community grants from the Council, the group traditionally made a gavel for the Mayor but this year its members made wooden toys for the Council’s childcare centres.

These toys were particularly impressive given they were crafted by a man with only one hand, according to club President Ramon jones.

“The crickets were made by member Ray Parrish who is very talented despite missing one hand,” Mr Jones said.

“Our club is open to everyone, anyone who has an interest in woodwork.

“Young, old, women or men.”

Mr Jones aid the eldest member of the group was 92 and the youngest 19.

Orange City Council has supported the group for several years with community funding grants and the latest grant given to the club was $2,800.

It allowed the group to purchase a table saw and a dust extractor.

Group member Ryan Collins said the new equipment allowed the group to be more versatile with what members could make.

“We make anything, all types of furniture,” Mr Collins said.

“The most complicated was a (wooden) soccer ball.”

The organisation is in its 16^th year and anyone interested in joining should call Mr Jones on 63673048.

“We welcome anyone who has come from a trade or who has no idea about woodwork and would like some help,” he said.

For more information on applying for donations or grants contact the Council on 63938000 or go to its website http://www.orange.nsw.gov.au/grants

GIFTS: Spring Street Children’s Centre kids Arabella Campbell, Jacob Felton, Daniel Johnson and Riley Whitford play with the wooden toys gifted to them by Orange Woodworkers Association members Ryan Collins and Ramon Jones.

Forget about The Borgias or The Kardashians, when it comes to influential families Orange’s The Daltons had plenty of political and social influence.

Their contribution to Orange has been captured in an exhibition at the Blowes Conservatory in Cook Park and is open this Winter.

The exhibition highlights the many achievements of one of Orange’s founding families.

One of the most influential Catholic families in NSW, the Daltons were key to developing commerce in Orange.

It was a remarkable journey for James Dalton who came to Australia in 1849 as an Irish immigrant aged 15. His father arrived the following year as a convict.

In the wake of the gold rush, aged 19, James opened a store in Orange in 1853.

The Daltons went on to build local landmarks including Duntryleague, Kangaroobie, Galbally in Byng Sreet, Mena in Kite Street and the Dalton Bros shop building in Summer Street, among others.

The Dalton Fountain located in Cook Park and recently restored was donated by James Dalton who was the Mayor of Orange in 1869.

This exhibition has been placed in the Blowes Conservatory, making use of this building during the winter period, when it has been previously closed to the public.

The main display of Tuberous Begonias will be returned to the Conservatory later in the year.

The Council would like to thank the Orange and District Historical Society for providing the information and images used in this display.

ON SHOW: The Dalton exhibition at Cook park.

They could be in your house and you don’t know they are there.

They could be in your bedroom watching you sleep.

They could even be in your bed.

The PokemonGo craze has well and truly hit Orange’s young people with reports of 50 to 100 of them appearing in Robertson Park last Saturday night, July 9.

With their eyes downcast onto their phones, stumbling around looking for the little monsters that can only be seen through the lens of a smart phone camera.

PokemonGo is a smart phone app that superimposes little monsters into real-world situations and the aim is to “catch em’ all”.

Pokemon trainers, as players are known, then train their little beasties and battle them against other trainers.
Trainers have to go to virtual ‘gyms’ to train and battle their critters and as it turns out, the Orange Regional Museum courtyard is one of those gyms.

Roberston Park, Lake Canobolas and Cook Park are known as Pokestops where trainers can find medicines and food for their Pokemon and often find free-ranging Pokemon to catch.

By most accounts it seems to be a craze worth embracing, with young people getting outside, using Orange’s parks and gardens and making friends while they're playing a video game.

There will always be the odd grumble of “back in my day young people had to walk 879,000 miles to and from work, we didn’t have time for socialising” or “surely young people have better things to do than to go outside, get some fresh air and meet people”.

So if you see an army of young people walking in your direction with their eyes glued to their phone screen, don’t be alarmed, you’re probably just surrounded by invisible monsters.

CULTURED: Rattata snuck into the Orange Civic Theatre to see the renown The Wharf Revue on Tuesday night.