Good morning Ballarat, partly cloudy today with a top of 11.
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Ballarat hoon fined $2.5k for drag racing down city's main street
A 24-year-old hoon driver who reached speeds of 140km/h while drag racing along Sturt Street has been labelled an âidiotâ. Read more.
Euthanasia needs wider debate: Yates
AMA Ballarat sub-division president Dr Mark Yates believes any potential laws around doctor assisted suicide need far wider discussion. Read more.
Reports condemn alignment
A Buangor resident is keenly awaiting the completion of an environmental report into tree discrepancy for the next stage of Western Highway duplication. Read more.
Rail fears after horror smash
The Ballarat truck driver involved in Wednesdayâs horror train crash near Colac is lucky to be alive. Read more.
BFL and CHFL round 13 line-ups
See who's playing this weekend. Read more.
State of the nation
Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
âș BENDIGO: Victorian corruption investigators have laid more than two dozen fraud charges against the former construction manager of the $630 million Bendigo Hospital project. More here.
âș LAUNCESTON: When wild winds ripped the roof off their Kings Meadows home on Tuesday afternoon, Harry and Patricia Williams thought the worst of it was over.But on Tuesday night while they were away, looters climbed into the roofless property and helped themselves. More here.
âș BALLARAT: A probe by Victoriaâs anti-corruption watchdog into claims of fraud in the Ballarat City Council may be investigating more than one of the organisationâs senior officers. More here.
âș BUNBURY: A house in East Bunbury was gutted by a fire on Wednesday afternoon. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in relation to the suspicious fire. More here.
âș WOOLONGONG: A man has been hit with a hammer during an early morning robbery on a suburban street. More here.
âș MURRAYLANDS: An ambitious expansion of Monarto Zoo is on the cards, one that would make it an international safari destination with an area greater than every other Australian zoo put together. More here.
âș SOUTH COAST NSW: An exhausted baby seal, trapped in fishing net on a South Coast beach for about a week has taken 30 seconds to find its way home without looking back, once freed. More here.
âș WARRNAMBOOL: A rare piece of Warrnamboolâs history will be on show for the first time in almost 70 years on Saturday. F Project Cinema is hosting two screenings of what is believed to be Warrnamboolâs first feature film. More here.
âș NEWCASTLE: V8 Supercars driver Aaren Russell says a waterfront track in Newcastle would be one of the best motor racing circuits in Australia. Newcastle is understood to be in pole position to replace the Sydney 500 at Homebush. More here.
âș GLEN INNES: A Glen Innes man faces up to 20 years in jail for allegedly supplying more than $170,000 worth of the drug ice. More here.
National news
âș The backers of the latest plan for a fast train between Melbourne and Sydney have met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and have enlisted two former premiers, a federal trade minister and the USA's ex-transportation secretary to their advisory board. More here.
âș First they deconstructed the latte. Then they took out the milk. Then they replaced the actual coffee with ground turmeric to create a golden latte. Now, in the relentless pursuit of the next wave of "coffee", novelty-seeking drinkers can order a blue algae latte. More here.
âș One-year-old Isabella swallowed a battery, no one knows when, and it made her sick. Her parents took her to hospital several times over two weeks, but staff didn't pick up the presence of the battery until it was too late, the Coroners Court heard on Thursday. More here.
âș A woman accused of murdering a housemate over $50 was overheard saying she would "gut her" in the time before a fatal fight, a trial has heard. More here.
âș Thousands of Melburnians say they will take to the streets this weekend to support the Black Lives Matter movement after a spate of police shootings of African Americans. More here.
National weather radar
International news
âș BRITAIN: Amid the head-scratching over the decision to name eccentric politician Boris Johnson as Britain's new foreign secretary, the response from the US has been telling. More here.
âș CAMBODIA: The wife of a prominent anti-government activist shot dead in Cambodia on Sunday is reported to want to escape to Australia. More here.
âș BELGIUM: At least two explosions have rocked the Belgian capital of Brussels, with reports of explosions in or near several parked cars. More here.
On this day
All in all...
In 1982, Pink Floyd's The Wall premiered at The Empire in London, England.
It was a cross between a live film and an animated surreal film, and was based on the band's 1979 album of the same name.
Ground-breaking at the time, it has since built a cult status thanks to its metaphors and symbolic animated imagery, which was drawn by cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.
Oh, and its soundtrack is pretty rad, too.
The faces of Australia: Peter West
Five chief executives in five years left RSPCA Tasmania in turmoil.
Ridden with controversy and systematic financial mismanagement, the organisation was âtouch and goâ, according to the organisationâs chief executive Peter West.
RSPCA Tasmania was still facing some financial difficulty, but the organisation has defied odds under the governance of Mr West.
Prior to his current role, Mr West worked at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery for 17 years.
His final project at TMAG saw him utilise his impeccable marketing background to work on redeveloping and changing the museumâs brand.
Mr West talked openly about RSPCA Tasmaniaâs âtroublesâ, and the challenge he faced turn the organisation around.
âOur governance and the board's relationship with the senior management was pretty s--t,â Mr West said.