Ballarat police arrested a 45-year-old Sebastopol man over an assault on Tuesday morning. Read more.

A young Ballarat woman was forced to flee her home in the early hours of the morning after she heard two men break in, a court has heard. Read more.

American wholesaler Costco will not be acquiring Masters Hardware sites, with its Australian managing director attributing reports to a “mix up” in media coverage. Read more.

The police minister has slammed union suggestions that Ballarat has less front line police than in 2014, maintaining the government is committed to providing police the resources they need to cope with the region’s rising crime. Read more.

This may look like a miracle, but Ballarat High School rowers might need one. Read more.

A generally pleasant day all round - we could get used to this!

Need a national news snapshot first thing? Well, we have you covered. 

► The Border Mail's James Wiltshire took to the skies with Helifly to capture the extent of flooding around the Albury-Wodonga region. Read more.

► Hazard reduction burning is thought to have caused a bushfire at Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast, leading to holidaymakers being evacuated. Read more.

► Months of hard work from the team at The Land, the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP), and the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health comes to fruition today with the official launch of the fifth edition of the Glove Box Guide to Mental Health. Read more.

► SA Community Football League has announced that it will be investigating allegations of football clubs flouting the new player payment rules. Read more.

► A body believed to be that of a man missing for five days has been recovered in floodwaters near the central western NSW town of Forbes. Read more.

► Some say second chances don’t happen often but ​a second chance was all Shane Thompson needed to get his life back on track. Shane said he thought no employer on earth would give him a shot because of his previous criminal history, but he’s now turned over a new leaf thanks to traffic management company SJ Roadworks. Read more.

​► Two passengers have been escorted off a flight and could be banned from flying with Jetstar in the future after a mid-air "incident" where they had to be separated by the crew. Read more.

► In just 12 hours, Australia saw its own Greek tragedy play out. Playing the role of Sisyphus, the ancient doomed to eternally push a boulder to nowhere, Liberal MP David Coleman approached his duty with bleak determination, if not resignation. Read more.

► Hotel owners, bakers and florists who object to same-sex marriage would have their legal cases bankrolled by a new fighting fund set up by the Australian Christian Lobby. Read more.

► Attorney-General George Brandis has vehemently denied misleading Parliament and refused calls to resign amid an extraordinary and escalating brawl engulfing the country's top lawyers. Read more.

► The Hague: It is not yet time to take action against Russia over the shooting down of flight MH17, despite investigators finding that the Buk missile responsible had come from the Russian Federation, the Netherlands' Foreign Minister says. Read more.

► The Budgie​ Smuggler Nine are living proof that a good school, good DNA and good clothes maketh neither the man nor for good sense. Read more.

► Melbourne: Antonio Guterres is about to become the boss of the United Nations, and it is almost certain he barracks for the Western Bulldogs. Can this year get any better for the Sons of the West?! Read more.

The pinnacle of motor sport racing is this weekend and there are not many people more excited than Kempsey local Neville Robertson for the Bathurst 1000.

Robertson first attended the great race when he was 18-years-old and he has been a further 17 times, including going the last five years straight. Read more.