Two Vietnamese ‘crop sitters’ who were arrested at a Wendouree grow house earlier this year have been jailed. Read more.

Ballarat West police are continuing to familiarise themselves with their new beat, patrolling highly populated areas including Lucas Town Square. Read more.

Nearly three times as many people have died on the Ballarat region’s roads than last year, according to new figures. Read more.

An independent citizens’ jury has strongly endorsed the electrification of the Ballarat railway line from Sunshine to Melton. Read more.

See Ballarat's best young footballers and netballers glitzed up on the night of nights. Photos here.

Windy and a top of 18 degrees today.

►The Boomers are just one win away from creating history and winning their first Olympic medal after crushing Lithuania in Wednesday's quarter-final - but they won't be content without a gold medal. Read more

►Australia's underwhelming performance in Brazil is set to come at a cost of as much as $11 million per medal to the taxpayer. Read on

► Photographers were all over Rio for Day 11 of the 2016 Olympic Games. See the photos.

►Need a national news snapshot first thing? We've got you covered. But also check out what's happening around regional Australia …

►WAGGA: Gundagai’s old hospital site could now become a refugee support centre after the building sold for the second time within a year – for a skyrocketed value.  A Sydney general practitioner this week purchased the building for $650,000, a staggering 500 per cent value rise from its $110,000 sale in 2015. Read more

►WONDONGA: Ed Fouslton got a shock on Wednesday morning when he walked past the shed on his Bonegilla property when feeding the calves and heard a person call out “hello”. The voice turned out to belong to missing Wodonga man Cameron Kemshal-Bell, who had not been seen in five days. Read more

►WOLLONGONG: Schoolgirls from at least three Illawarra high schools are among those targeted by a pornographic photo-sharing website that police are powerless to stop as it is hosted overseas. The graphic chat forum features thousands of nude photos of non-consenting students shared by boys and men who appear to know them. Read more

►ARMIDALE: State MP Adam Marshall has called for Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to “butt out” of commentary on the greyhound racing ban and focus on “looking after his own turf”. Read on​

►LAUNCESTON: Targa Tasmania’s popular George Town Super Stage will go ahead after the council unanimously agreed to overturn its decision from last month to not endorse the proposed sponsorship deal. Read more

►So what happens to the CEO's salary when a company delivers an $8 billion loss? One thing is for sure, BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie will be doing well to take home as much as last year's $US4.6 million. Read on

►More than half of Australian households have completed the census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed, more than a week after the nationwide survey was launched and then shut down for 40 hours following an attempted cyber-attack. Read more

►Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is seeking urgent talks with his Vietnamese counterpart after the country delivered what the government is calling a "kick in the guts" by banning Thursday's 50-year Long Tan battle commemoration. Read on

►USA:  Given how the figs and ferns walk off the shelves at Home Depot, it's a safe bet that had Republicans named a potted plant as a candidate, they'd be better placed in this presidential race – because, transfixed as they are by the cringeworthy chaos of the Trump campaign, Americans are set to give an easy pass to a person they find equally distasteful. Read more

►LONDON: He led the charge to see Britain exit the European Union. Now, he has been seen queuing in line at the German embassy, prompting speculation that he might be seeking dual citizenship with EU-member Germany. A Facebook user reported seeing former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage standing in line the German embassy in London. Read more

In its heyday the pub culture of Ballarat was indeed something to behold. Until just prior to 1870 over 500 hotels served the town and environs. Learn more and see some amazing photos

He may only be seven years old but Mount Ousley Public School student Jack Khan has some big ideas. The Year 2 student recently heard about the school’s plan to create a large outdoor learning area and decided he needed to do something to help make it happen. Read on