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Police lay down ultimatum to Rainbow Serpent Festival
The region’s top cop has called for the length of the controversial Rainbow Serpent Music festival to be slashed amid fears it is risking the lives of revelers and the community. Read more.
Man charged after six-hour police operation in Wendouree
Shots that shattered a tradie's ute window led to a six hour police operation and the arrest of 53-year-old man. Read more.
19-y-o labelled ‘danger’ by court
A 19-year-old Ballarat man who police have described as a “ringleader” has been told his repetitive offending warranted nothing but detention. Read more.
SNEAK PEEK: New hospital wing to open its doors
Ballarat Health Services’ Base Hospital’s new Gardiner-Pittard wing will open its doors to the public on Wednesday. Read more and see the photos here.
Community work for illegal taser
A Sebastopol man who was caught carrying a homemade taser has 12 months to complete 200 hours of community work. Read more.
Weather
A hot spell is about to hit Ballarat!
State of the nation
Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
► Ed Sheeran. What a legend. In the last three days of his current visit to Australia alone, he’s dropped into a concert in Victoria and then pranked a pair of radio hosts in Wagga Wagga during an impressions competition. He also played at the Sydney Opera House to a small crowd on Tuesday night.
But the weather battering the NSW coast can’t be all that fun. We’ve been thinking out loud of some other places to visit – let’s see where else he could drop into before he heads back to the UK. More here.
► BALLARAT: The region’s top cop has called for the length of the controversial Rainbow Serpent Music festival to be slashed amid fears it is risking the lives of revelers and the community.
But festival organiser Tim Harvey said there was no evidence cutting the length of the festival would improve patron or public safety. Instead, Mr Harvey said increasing the length of the six-day festival would give revelers a chance to “rest and revive” before hitting roads. More here.
► HOBART: On February 7, 1967 in and around Hobart it seemed as though hell had opened up. The most deadly fires in Tasmania’s history swept through the city leaving a trail of devastation and grief.
Tuesday marked the 50th anniversary of the fires, which came to be known as Black Tuesday. More here.
► BURRUMBUTTOCK: Brendan Farrell’s driven 7000 kilometres in a week.One day he drove from Longreach to north of Bourke to catch up with a farmer there, help him “feed a few sheep” and have a few beers.
He’s traversing the countryside to meet up personally with farmers donating hay and is currently tidying up the “final 1 per cent” of preparations for the 12th Burrumbuttock Hay Run to far north Queensland on February 23. More here.
► NEWCASTLE: The man accused of murdering Renee Mitchell told a psychiatrist he had “an uncontrollable urge” to kill the aged care nurse but was unable to provide a reason, a jury has been told.
Graham Anthony George Sloane, now aged 68, did not tell psychiatrists about the urge until after cognitive therapy late last year, more than two years after the killing. More here.
► PORT MACQUARIE: Snake sightings are likely to increase at this time of the year, especially on beaches, with baby snakes common.
It is because of the breeding over the past couple of months, according to snake expect Stuart Johnson of Reptile Solutions and the Billabong and Koala Wildlife Park. More here.
National news
► A notorious parliamentary perk that gives retired politicians free business-class travel on the taxpayer will be scrapped under a new plank of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's crackdown on the political entitlements system.
Special Minister of State Scott Ryan says a bill to abolish the controversial Life Gold Pass will be introduced into federal Parliament this week. The perk will be scrapped as soon as the bill passes, instead of being phased out over up to six years. More here.
► Millennials in Australia no longer consider it the "lucky country" and are less optimistic about the future than their counterparts in developing economies including the Philippines, Indonesia and India.
The international study also reveals Australians born after 1982 are more prepared to leave their jobs after two years than they have been in previous surveys. More here.
► The mother of a woman who was stabbed to death in a Queensland backpackers hostel last year has publicly condemned Donald Trump for including her on a White House list of terror attacks.
Mr Trump was using her daughter's murder for "insane persecution" of innocent people, Rosie Ayliffe said in a social media post. More here.
► More than two years ago Antonio Bagnato claims he left Sydney for Thailand with hopes of furthering his kickboxing career. Police say his sudden departure was under more sinister circumstances, particularly after he emerged as a suspect in a fatal shooting in Sydney's inner-west.
On Tuesday the law finally caught up with the 28-year-old gym owner. A Thai court sentenced Bagnato to the death penalty for the murder of Hells Angels heavyweight Wayne Schneider in late 2015. More here.
National weather radar
International news
► US: Barack Obama enjoyed his new found freedoms on his short post-presidential holiday, according to a home video and new photographs posted by British billionaire businessman Richard Branson.
The former Democratic President has been holidaying with his wife Michelle on the British Virgin Islands, after leaving the White House on January 20. The couple was joined on their vacation by Sir Richard, who shared some of their experiences online on Tuesday. More here.
► US: First lady Melania Trump has re-filed a libel lawsuit against the Daily Mail after the website published, then retracted, rumours she once worked as a high-end escort.
Mrs Trump had previously filed the lawsuit against Mail Media, the owner of the Daily Mail, in Maryland, but a judge earlier this month ruled the case shouldn't be filed in Maryland and dismissed it. More here.
On this day
The faces of Australia: Alan and Margaret Woodford
Alan and Margaret Woodford have said farewell to the great open road and sold Woodford Tours to Wimmera Roadways after 40 years travelling alongside Wimmera residents.
The pair bought their first school bus in 1977, from the previous owners who drove the Horsham, Natimuk, Grass Flat route from 1944.
Mrs Woodford, 78, said it was the same route she took to high school every day, and the route of her children. Read more here.