Caitlin Crowley

FROM the pub feeds after footy training to hotly contested bare-foot sprints at the end of a country race meet, Darling Downs readers will feel right at home within the pages of Clare Fletcher's latest novel, Love Match.

SOAKING rain across much of the Darling Downs in November has helped transform the countryside from bone-dry brown to lush green, with spirits lifting alongside commodity prices to end what's been a tough year for farmers on a more positive note.

THE ECONOMIC benefits of the largest weir to be built in Australia since the Second World War are on the cusp of flowing across Central Queensland after summer downpours left the newly completed Rookwood Weir spilling for the first time.

EYE-WATERING produce prices at Australia's supermarkets are contributing to the mental health crisis among the nation's farmers, with one Southern Queensland beef producer describing the chasm between what farmers are paid and what consumers are charged as a "bitter pill to swallow".

STAGING a high-end fashion runway show which could be the envy of regional centres nationwide is the bold vision of the creative team behind the Toowoomba Fashion Festival, coming to the city's social calendar for the first time this March.

By CAITLIN CROWLEY | EXCLUSIVE SOLVING Australia's worsening teacher shortage requires a similar community response to the collaboration

SUMMER sorghum crops in Central Queensland have been under attack from a sudden and severe invasion of Fall armyworm at a scale never seen in the region before.

CONFUSION in the community around the role of local government and its responsibilities has emerged as a key concern among Southern Queensland council candidates, who are experimenting with creative ways to combat disengagement and connect with voters in the lead up to next month's election.

By CAITLIN CROWLEY | EXCLUSIVE CLOSING the knowledge and skills gap between imagining a large public art project and seeing it delivered

The Australian Defence Force is at the centre of a major biosecurity breach unfolding on Queensland's Darling Downs after the discovery of at least 110 fire ant nests on the Oakey Army Aviation base, 150 km west of Brisbane.