Welcome to The Courier's resident artist John Ditchburn's best toons of 2019 - part one.
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More commonly known throughout Ballarat as 'Ditchy', the veteran cartoonist brings you a different take on what's making news in Ballarat.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE DITCHY COVER? LET US KNOW AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE
You've probably seen his work in our print edition, as well as in our online stories, but we now bring it to you all in one place.
Look back at some of his best from the year below.
READ MORE: BALLARAT'S DITCHY IS A MAN OF MANY PARTS
FEBRUARY: Cardinal George Pell starts the year having been secretly convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys at Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996. The 78-year-old cardinal is jailed for six years in March. His first challenge to his five convictions fails when Victoria's Court of Appeal upholds the jury's verdict two judges to one. Pell's legal team heads to Australia's High Court, which agrees to refer the case to the full bench to hear appeal arguments in 2020.
MARCH: Car fires are still a problem in Ballarat, even now at the end of 2019. How will the situation be in 2020?
JANUARY: Australia Day, January 26, is always a controversial date.
FEBRUARY: Ballarat councillors say the parking plan is not done and dusted just yet, with a new proposal for two free hours of parking across the CBD.
MARCH: A long-held aspiration - mobile coverage along the entirety of the Ballarat Line - seemed to have been settled following an $18 million state government project
MARCH: Waste management leaders say focus now needs to turn to creating long-term local recycling solutions.
The topic of concussion reared its ugly head in 2019 across all sports - not just football.
It seems every month that bills are becoming more expensive.
JUNE: An automatic loss of licence for using your mobile phone while driving could be the next step if a new campaign targeting distracted drivers fails to get the message across.
JUNE: Wendouree's V/Line station was officially opened 10 years ago, on June 12, with the first train departing for Ballarat on June 14.
Former Premier Steve Bracks marked 10 years of Wendouree Station - and said the time was ripe for council to outline where it needs future investment.
JULY: The first stage of the Civic Hall restoration works cost almost $800,000 more than expected, The Courier has learned.
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