A severe weather warning for damaging winds remains in place for the region. Read the warning here.

We're in for a partly cloudy day with a high (70%) chance of showers, most likely this afternoon. Expect a top of 19 degrees in Ballarat.

A young mother and her five boys are housebound after a thief stole her car with pram, car seats and Christmas presents inside. Read more here.

A man has been charged and a Sebastopol teenager taken to hospital following a stabbing in Melbourne’s CBD early on Sunday morning. Read more here.

An overwhelming public response to Ballarat clergy sexual abuse survivor Peter Blenkiron’s photography exhibition has seen it extended until the end of the month. Read more here.

Rokewood-Corindhap’s new coach Jarrod Thompson has moved quickly to bolster leadership around the club with the addition of two key recruits for next season. Read more here.

Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered. 

► HUNTER: Hundreds of firefighters worked across the Hunter overnight, battling 14 blazes, including the Lone Pine fire and the Racecourse Road Fire at Cessnock. On Sunday evening, the two fires alone had already razed over 7500 hectares of bushland across the region and had caused some damage to property, although the exact toll was unclear. More here.

► EATON: Major Crime Squad detectives are investigating a death at a home in Eaton at the weekend. Just after 8.30pm on Saturday, police were called to an address on Ann Street after a report that a 41-year-old woman was deceased. More here.

► ORMISTON: Professional rollerblader Rob Kellett says he is lucky to be alive after being hit by a car driving about 80km/h. More here.

► GOULBURN: The council has issued an emergency order to the owner of the former St John’s orphanage, following three fires in two weeks. It’s the second such order issued to John Ferrara. It came after two fires ripped through the historic Mundy St property on Thursday and Friday nights. More here.

► SHELLHARBOUR: The proposed privatisation of public hospitals including Shellharbour is likely to become major election issue as the unions step up their campaign. More than 500 protesters on Sunday heard NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley say Labor plans to make a proposed public-private partnership at Shellharbour Hospital a major election issue if NSW Premier Mike Baird does not back down like he did with the greyhound racing industry. He said public health was an even more important issue. More here.

► WODONGA: A jail sentence for a series of pursuits in stolen cars might just be the start of time behind bars for Raymond Williams. The 28-year-old last week pleaded guilty to 12 charges including armed robbery and dangerous driving, for his part in an incident that ended in he and co-offender Dean Honeysett being arrested at gunpoint on the Lincoln Causeway. More here.

► PORT MACQUARIE: Taxi cabs will feature billboards on the back of their vehicles in the latest bid to find William Tyrrell. More here.

► The Australian Taxation Office cut more deals in the 2015-16 financial year, but the dollar value of those settlements dived, largely because a backlog of old disputes with companies have come to an end. More here.

► He may own a luxurious seven-bedroom Templestowe mansion and a sprawling 140-acre horse stable, but Tian Di spends most nights at the "office" – the private super-VIP high-roller gaming salons on the upper floors of James Packer's Crown Towers. More here.

► Moments before crime figure Hamad Assaad was killed in a hail of bullets outside his Sydney home, he received a frantic call from his brother. Tarek, who lived a few doors down on Sturt Avenue in Georges Hall, wanted his 29-year-old sibling to know there was a police car sitting outside his house. More here.

► Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has attacked Insiders host Barrie Cassidy, challenging him over comments about Labor's record on treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. More here.

► BALI: The widow of the Bali police officer killed on Kuta beach says her husband could still be alive if Byron Bay woman Sara Connor had sought help after leaving his bloodied body on the sand. More here.

► BANGKOK: Terrorist groups are planning kidnappings on central Philippines islands popular with Australian tourists, including parts of the business and tourism hub of Cebu, the United States has warned. More here.

It is a 60-year marriage that began with the power of the pen. 

Tuncurry’s Jack and Valarie Ross first began writing to each other as pen pals 72 years ago. It was an era when the concept of today’s more transitory Facebook was far from being a reality and unbeknownst to them, Jack and Valarie’s future was set the minute 14-year-old Valarie posted her details on-air.

“I walked into the local radio station to have a look around with a friend, and they made us give them our details for the pen-pals segment,” recalled Valarie, referring to the then-popular radio personality Charlie Chuckles. Read more here.