Ballarat breakfast report | Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The condition of a pre-school aged boy who was kicked by a horse on Tuesday has been upgraded to stable after he was flown from Ballan to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a critical condition. Read more.

When Georgia Liubinas warmed up with a hot water bottle on a chilly Ballarat night, she didn’t think she would end up in hospital with second degree burns. Read more.

Ballarat City Council’s chief has vowed to ensure a administrative blunder which threatened to dismantle an entire sitting council will never occur again under her watch. Read more.

VicRoads has confirmed it will undertake a major maintenance overhaul of Gillies Street North this summer to deal with problematic potholes. Read more.

Meetings were filled with strong topical debates, the result was thought-provoking pieces voicing opinions of Ballarat’s youth. Read more.

A clearing shower and a top of 14 degrees. We received 2.4mm of rain overnight.

►Tom Burton spent two days coming up with a plan to stop his main rival from forcing him into a bad start in the final Laser medal race. It proved time well spent as he turned a "one in 10" situation into Australia's first gold medal in sailing at the Rio Games. Read more

►It's been the story of Australia's Olympic campaign. They underachieved in the pool, they underachieved on the cycling track, and now the women's basketball team will walk away from Rio without the medal they were expected to win. Read on

► Photographers were all over Rio for Day 10 of the 2016 Olympic Games. See the photos.

►Need a national news snapshot first thing? We've got you covered. But also check out what's happening around regional Australia …

►WOLLONGONG: Afraid of upsetting his on-off girlfriend by severing their relationship, Michael James Quinn gave her a kiss on the cheek, put a knife in his pocket and went outside to kill himself. But when his girlfriend Cherie Vize, 25, tried to wrest the knife from him, he "pulled back and noticed blood coming from the right side of her neck". Read on

►BALLARAT: An Indian chef who found himself on the brink of homelessness has made an impassioned plea for Ballarat’s homeless and unemployed to take him up on his offer of free dinners at his new restaurant. Read more

►BUSSELTON: Goldfish the size of footballs have been travelling hundreds of kilometres each year through West Australian waterways. Read more

►KATHERINE: Management of alcohol issues in Katherine is set to feature in just over a week as Territorians prepare to head to the polls on August 27. The past two Northern Territory governments have resorted to drastic measures to control alcohol related violence and anti-social behavior in Katherine and across the territory. Read on

►ORANGE: Deputy premier and Dubbo MP Troy Grant has labelled alleged death threats made against him, his family and staff as ‘cowardly’ and ‘un-Australian’. Read more

►SYDNEY: A text from NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to his Deputy Catherine Burn sent on the night of the Lindt Cafe siege has emerged in an embarrassing last-minute discovery. Read on

►CANBERRA: Labor will test the Coalition's claim that it has a "working" majority in the new parliament, and could deny government MPs a "pair" that would allow them holidays or sick leave. Read on

►GOSFORD: One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's calendar is filling up with meal invitations - this time from the church whose Sunday service was gatecrashed by her anti-Islam supporters. Read more

►CHINA:  In a late-night launch from the desolate Gobi Desert, China has shot into orbit the world's first quantum satellite in the race to solve one of modern cyber ​-​espionage's greatest conundrums: "hack-proof" communications. Read on

►OHIO: After years of being criticised for exploiting the September 11 terrorist attacks for political gain, former New York mayor Rudi Giuliani has stunned the world by appearing to forget the deadliest international terrorist attack in history. Read on

Recent rains have the water flowing making in the perfect time to explore the area’s country side. Bendigo Advertiser photographer Darren Howe went for a look around the Metcalfe Cascades.

The rodeo saluted a young man with star quality who wowed the crowd, showing himself to be a chip off the old block in the cowboy tradition. Seven-year-old Doomadgee boy Pete Gregory Jnr won the Mount Isa Mines Rotary Rotary poddy ride final with an amazing ride and then showed he had what it takes to grab public attention with an assured performance in the limelight. Read on