By Kyle Mackey-Laws
Good morning Canberra folk!
It's a rather mild Monday morning with the temperature staying above 8 degrees overnight thanks to cloud cover and some light rain. That's likely to continue this morning with the occasional shower before clearing in the afternoon and a maximum of 11 degrees.
Here's your quick fix of news before you kickstart another week:
Key health strategy years' out of date
The ACT's peak alcohol, tobacco and other drugs strategy is now three years' out of date, despite extensive consultations to review the strategy in 2015.
It means the drug and alcohol sector risks falling into a 'policy vacuum'.
It is one of a number of key health policies or guidelines years out of date, Daniel Burdon reports here.
Novel to honour missing cousin helps find her
Melissa Pouliot has some simple advice for suffering families after her missing cousin, Ursula Barwick, was recently found following a 30-year search: 'It's never too late".
Ursula, aged 17, had died in a car accident on the Hume Highway, near Tarcutta, in 1987, only weeks after she went missing.
Ursula had been living in Sydney under a new name, Jessica Pearce, and it was that name her new friends provided to investigators after the crash.
Michael Inman has the story here.
Budding grand masters keep pollies in check
Canberran Fred Litchfield may have been declared the overall winner of the ANU Chess Open at the weekend, but it was ACT Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson's performance that caught the eye.
Pettersson is believed to be the first state, territory or federal politician to to have competed in an official tournament.
More than 40 players joined the competition at the ANU School of Art, played across seven rounds, with players given 60 minutes per game and 10 seconds per move.
You can read up on all things kings and queens in Tom McIlroy's report here.
Mills gives his fans a treat
Patty Mills was in town on Sunday to meet fans and sign copies of his children's book series Game Day! - and he insisted on greeting every person in line with a smile and handshake.
It's a classy personal touch for the NBA star, who recently signed a $65 million NBA contract with San Antonio Spurs.
"I guess you don't really understand the impact that you have on kids until you do something like this," Mills said.
Check out the rest of Caden Helmers' story here.
ICYMI: Meet the heroes of Thredbo
Sunday marked the 20th anniversary of the devastating Thredbo landslide, which claimed 18 lives.
Andrew Brown pieced together the events from that fateful day two decades ago after speaking to the people on the ground.