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We're in for a mostly sunny day. Expect a top of 31 degrees in Ballarat.
Dad tells of lucky escape as car catches fire on road
A dad’s quick thinking actions aided his family’s lucky escape just minutes before their car caught fire. Read more here.
Ballarat man jailed for 20th driving conviction
A Ballarat man who notched up his 20th conviction for driving without a current licence has been jailed. Read more here.
Regional areas ‘breeding ground’ for child sex abuse, inquiry told
Regional areas were a “breeding ground” for emotionally immature Catholic clergy who easily entrenched themselves in communities and went onto sexually abuse children undetected, an inquiry heard. Read more here.
Sebastopol bus timetable misses the mark
Sebastopol mum Julye Calladine spends four hours getting her kids to school and back after the city’s bus routes and timetables changed last month. Read more here.
Heat is on
There were talks of “a vote of no confidence” from North Ballarat Football Club members at an emotional annual general meeting on Tuesday night. Read more here.
Regional
A Farmborough Heights mum who reported finding a used syringe in the bottom her baby’s ugg boot has prompted an investigation at Warrawong’s Target store.
Police have confirmed the human remains found at Mount Macedon on Monday are that of missing Avondale Heights, woman Karen Ristevski.
Anne Murphy is picky when it comes to food – only the cheapest of staples make it to the checkout on her fortnightly grocery shop.
National news
Australian businessman Dick Smith has blamed immigrants for high house prices, claiming the "enormous population increase" is making young families unable to buy their first home.
The amount of money lost on poker machines in individual clubs and pubs in NSW would be made public each month under a fresh push to improve transparency of gambling data.
The highest income earners in Australia would be forced to pay a mandated minimum rate of tax under a policy proposal being pushed inside the Labor Party to counter the populist appeal of One Nation and potentially add $2.5 billion a year to the budget bottom line.
National weather radar
International news
An Australian model and his skateboarding friend have been hailed as heroes in New York after they risked their lives to save seven teenagers who fell through ice in Central Park.
Byron Bay woman Sara Connor appeared shocked and distressed after prosecutors requested she be sentenced to eight years' jail for a group attack that led to the death of a Balinese police officer on Kuta beach last year.
Apparently I'm a virtue-signalling social justice warrior. So… what's wrong with that exactly?
I'm sure I'm not the first Fairfax journalist to be called these names. Our email addresses are on our articles so people feel free to – and often do – write nasty things to us about our stories. And we're on Twitter, too. Say no more.
On this day | February 22
1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
BORN | 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
2011 – New Zealand's second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
The faces of Australia: Roy Marando
“I’ve got 602 sets of lights up, and we’re not quite there yet.”
For Griffith man Roy Marando, the lead up to the Christmas season is a marathon, not a sprint.
