Good morning central Victoria!
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There’s some morning fog and a light frost about today - Bendigo 10, Echuca 13, Maryborough 10, Kyneton 8, Redesdale 10, Castlemaine 10.
Bendigo’s Tour de Force | Video, Photos: A push to ease traffic congestion and lower carbon emissions is gaining momentum in Bendigo’s CBD. Two of the city’s major employers are taking a bike-friendly turn in a bid to keep their staff happy and healthy. More here.
Jail avoided for accessing child pornography: A man who accessed 86 images of child pornography has avoided jail. More here.
Gun produced during Golden Square altercation: Offender said to have produced handgun during intimidation incident. More here.
Tigers part ways with coach Mark Adamson: Kyneton has parted ways with senior coach Mark Adamson. More here.
Jye stars at footy titles: Jye Caldwell picked in All-Australian team at footy titles. More here.
► ORANGE, NEW SOUTH WALES: Unlicensed driver David Lee Field who drove to Mount Canobolas with a child in the boot and four passengers, crashing the vehicle on the way down, has been fined $2200 and disqualified from driving for three years in Orange Local Court.
► MOUNT ISA, QUEENSLAND: Police have confirmed three people are dead after a gas explosion in a caravan in Mount Isa.
A police spokesman said remains had been found at a home on Deighton Street, Mornington, and the caravan was destroyed.
► TASMANIA: Personal leave within the public sector is costing Tasmania $68 million a year, a figure that is due in part to a culture of entitlement, the state's auditor-general has found.
► WELLINGTON POINT, QUEENSLAND: A 23-year-old man who unlawfully took a gecko from an area in south west Queensland and tried to send it through the mail was convicted and fined $4500.
The man avoided having a conviction recorded, but pleaded guilty to eight wildlife offences relating to the taking, keeping and recording movements of protected wildlife, including taking a protected reptile from a national park.
► TOWNSVILLE, QUEENSLAND: A string of high-profile Cowboys NRL players - including star Johnathan Thurston, co-captain Matt Scott and State of Origin player James Tamou - have acquired properties from millionaire developer Laurence Lancini, who is the long-serving chairman of the North Queensland rugby league club.
A Fairfax Media investigation can reveal that over the past seven years, 10 high-profile players have bought vacant blocks of land and apartments from Mr Lancini's companies.
► CANBERRA: A former senior member of the Jehovah's Witnesses who repeatedly molested a teenage girl was stood down as a church elder only to be later reinstated, a royal commission has heard.
► MELBOURNE, VICTORIA: Who paid to put Daniel Andrews' ALP in power? It's the best kept secret in Victoria.
Victorians know next to nothing about the benefactors behind the Andrews team. Millions of dollars have flowed into ALP coffers in the past two years, yet Labor has made public just one business donation made to it since June 2013 – a $18,400 gift from Crown Casino.
►INDIA: A government committee set up two years ago to look into the status of Indian women has recommended banning the controversial triple talaq.
Muslim men can end their marriage by pronouncing talaq three times but in many Muslim countries the words are meant to be said over a period of three months so that the husband can reflect carefully before pronouncing it a final, third time.
►SYRIA: A barrage of barrel bomb attacks and Syrian regime air strikes had caused "unprecedented levels of destruction and many deaths among the civilian population" in the besieged city of Zabadani.
►UNITED STATES: The 2016 presidential election is going to be an experiment in democracy the likes of which the United States has never seen before – a race run with no effective limits on the amount of money donors can spend on the process.
And the nation's billionaires are already responding enthusiastically.
The Port Lincoln community has shown its support for a man who is walking across Australia to raise money for the homeless.
Steve Harvey is walking from Mandurah in Western Australia to Sydney in what is called the Coast to Coast Solo Walk for the Homeless, in an attempt to raise at least $11,000 for homeless people in his home state.
Mr Harvey became homeless himself after losing his job as a diamond driller a couple of months ago and is now raising awareness of homelessness.
His goal is to buy a backpack bed from Swags for Homeless and a sleeping bag for at least 100 homeless people in WA.