An elderly man has died and a woman is in hospital with critical injuries following a collision at Bannockburn on Wednesday afternoon. Read more.

Ballarat's mayor and councillors have successfully awarded themselves a substantial pay rise, with some arguing the state government recommended them to do so. Read more.

Fourteen Ballarat pathology data entry staff, some of whom have careers spanning 40 years, will be made redundant later this year from St John of God Pathology. Read more.

Reid’s Guest House has stood between people in need and a night on the street for 14 years. Read more.

The owner of a home burgled earlier this week says she is sure she recognised the thief in her street just prior to the crime. Read more.

It looks like it will be fairly pleasant weather for the Easter long weekend.

►SHEPPARTON: A group of 11 Victorian regional cities and towns is preparing a bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030.

The Greater Shepparton City Council is leading the pioneering bid, which would see the events shared between several Victorian regional centres including Shepparton, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Mildura, Wodonga and Warrnambool - but not Melbourne. Read on

►LAUNCESTON:  A devastated father has described the loss of his son as feeling like his heart has been “pulled apart”.

The remains of 24-year-old Tyson Timothy Clark-Robertson are believed to have been found in a shallow grave at Mayfield on Wednesday. Police suspect he was murdered, and have three people in custody. Read on

►NEWCASTLE: A bunch of mates, a 4WD and the vastness of the Stockton sand dunes have captured the attention of more than 1.6 million Instagram users. While on a road trip to Port Stephens in March, Sydney photographer Pat Kay snapped an aerial photo of himself and four friends standing on Stockton Beach at sunset. Read more

►BENDIGO: The city’s underground labyrinth of disused mine shafts could generate and store renewable energy under an ambitious proposal by the state government. An investigation into whether the historic shafts have the capacity to power and store pumped hydro electricity will begin in June. Read on

►TAMWORTH: A man charged after three teenagers were badly burnt in a backyard explosion will fight the case at trial.

Raymond Harland Hubbard waived his right to a contested committal hearing in Tamworth Local Court on Wednesday, instead electing to head to trial.

Legal Aid solicitor Fiona Hadlington told the court her client was pleading not guilty to all three charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm. Read on

►NARACOORTE: Naracoorte Hospital’s visiting gynaecologist Dr Ian Jones is set to tackle a unique and tough challenge. From April 29 to May 5, Dr Jones will ride a unicycle from Melbourne to Adelaide as part of the Leukaemia Foundation’s Ride as One fundraiser. Read on

►WARRNAMBOOL: One family has an extra reason to get behind south-west Good Friday Appeal efforts supporting the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Cousins Ashley Holmes, 11, and Lily Blackmore, 3, both have forms of cerebral palsy, meaning they’re no strangers to the medical facility. Read more

►QUEENSLAND: Landholders have some lessons for farmers in NSW and South Australia.

A nervous federal government is instructing other Great Artesian Basin states to open up country for coal seam gas (CSG) production, in the hope increased availability can curb soaring gas and electricity prices.

But the Queensland government’s draft management plan for its artesian water resources highlights the challenges CSG can create for other water dependent industries. Read on

What does it look like in your neck of the woods today?

►The divide between Melbourne's richest and poorest suburbs is widening. New data shows average incomes are growing much faster in the wealthy inner-east and south than in less advantaged outer areas. Read more

►A potential $1 billion federal government loan to Indian conglomerate Adani for its proposed coal mine has been called into question because comments by the company appear to conflict with infrastructure funding guidelines.

Public finance for Australia's biggest open-cut coal pit has become the latest political battleground, as alarming new footage emerged of the environmental damage done to wetlands bordering Adani's Abbot Point coal terminal in Queensland by cyclone Debbie. Read on

►Patients are less likely to die within 30 days of hospitalisation for major conditions in NSW than they were in 2009 and the greatest improvement has been in ischemic stroke.

A NSW Bureau of Health Information report published on Wednesday compared mortality and readmission rates in 2012-2015 with 2009-2012. Read on

►WALCHA: In recognition of Youth Week 2017, we spoke to one of the Walcha Council’s younger staff members Madison Garrad, about her role and the services Walcha Library offers.

After working in a temporary role for almost 12 months, Madison took over the reins at our local library in late 2015. She has a dual role as the Walcha Library services coordinator and Walcha Council youth worker. Read more and watch the video here

►BULLECOURT: History is buried shallow in Bullecourt. A hundred years on from Australia's own versions of the Charge of the Light Brigade, you still have to step carefully.

Just ask Kerrie Allan, who had a moment of sheer terror this week when she found herself holding an unexploded bomb.

The 59 year-old from Crows Nest came to France to remember her grandfather, who played an honourable role in one of the Anzac forces' most horrific battles on the Western Front. Read on

►WASHINGTON:  As the US seeks a footing in negotiations on two fraught global crises - Syria/Russia and North Korea/China - the Von Trump Family presidency has taken centre stage, as a presidential son dares Moscow to mess with his "tough" father, who he said had been influenced in deciding to bomb Syria by a presidential daughter, who was "heartbroken and outraged" by civilian deaths in a chemical strike last week. Read on

►LONDON: Australia should follow the British Conservative government's lead in enshrining its aid budget in legislation to prevent it from being diminished in an appeal for votes, leading campaigners say, with the OECD listing Australia as among the countries recording the biggest declines in aid for the world's poorest people.

The OECD's latest rankings show Australia slipping another spot to 17th out of 29 countries - meaning small countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg are contributing a greater portion of their budgets to helping the world's neediest compared to Australia. Read more

2014 Flight recorder signals from the missing Malaysia Air jet are no longer detectable; the flight, which disappeared on March 8th, may be located in a zone of over 57,000 square km of water about 2,200 km to the northwest of Perth, Australia.

2011 Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and sons, Alaa and Gamal, are detained for 15 days of questioning regarding charges of corruption and abuse of power.

1992 Nelson Mandela announces he will seek divorce from Winnie.

1964 New Zealand Colin Bosher shears a record 565 sheep in one work day.

The origin of Wagga’s “Purple Princess” almost sounds like a comic book fantasy: Seven years ago, mild-mannered hospital nurse Wendy Swann accidentally dyed her hair purple before a shift.  

But instead of a disaster, the chemical accident created a brand-new hero, a character that would help sick kids and their families fight the hospital blues.

“Emergency departments can be frightening places,” Ms Swann said. “If a child sees someone dressed up as a purple fairy it takes their minds off the pain.” Read more