Good morning, central Vic!
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A partly cloudy day, with rain developing later - Bendigo 23, Maryborough 22, Castlemaine 21, Redesdale 23, and Echuca 25.
Autumn is in the air! Share your pictures of the region turning golden by using the hashtag #bendigoweather on Instagram or inboxing us on Facebook.
Then, catch up on news here:
City of Greater Bendigo draft budget released
Council unveils defining four-year plan
The City of Greater Bendigo has released the six pillars of governance on which its councillors will be judged over the next four years. More here.
Council debt to hit $50m
Aggressive borrowing to fund infrastructure projects will likely plunge the City of Greater Bendigo into $50 million of debt by mid-2017. More here.
Fee hikes part of council budget
Smaller, community-driven projects are the cornerstone of a conservative City of Greater Bendigo budget, which includes marked increases in waste disposal charges. More here.
Call for new approach to crime
A local lawyer and human rights campaigners say the Coalition’s “tough on crime” focus ahead of next year’s state election is misguided, and more emphasis should be placed on crime prevention and rehabilitation. More here.
Dragons ready to bounce back from defeat
Sandhurst’s shock loss to Strathfieldsaye in round one could be a blessing for the Dragons, according to coach Wayne Primmer. More here.
Fortuna Villa's restored Roman bath revealed
Fortuna Villa’s Roman bath has been restored to its former glory. On Wednesday, owners Paul and Lisa Banks unveiled the finished work on the bath, which lies next to the iconic mansion on Chum Street. More here.
State of the nation
► Adelaide, SA: Horticultural grower groups in the north of Adelaide have come out in opposition to a local council’s proposal to lift rate charges for primary producers.
► Esperacne, WA: The state government has come under pressure to reveal its plan to prevent shark attacks after fisheries minister Dave Kelly conceded drum lines would no longer be dropped to catch dangerous sharks following fatalities.
The fresh political row erupted after 17-year-old Mandurah girl Laeticia Brouwer was killed in an attack near Esperance on Monday.
► Queensland: Nationals Deputy Leader and Regional Development Minister Fiona Nash has outlined further plans to bolster the potential for decentralising government agencies and also pushing commercial businesses out into country centres.
In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra today, Senator Nash also revealed a new mental health initiative that’s a direct result of the recently convened Regional Ministerial Taskforce chaired by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff announced this week that the government would not fund Safe Schools once federal funding for the program ran out this year.
► Morpeth, NSW: The assault on Berrsheba, a legendary battle in the First World War, was immortalised by Ron Marshall in his painting The Charge. The painting will be on display at Morpeth Gallery until April 23, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle.
The assault on Beersheba began at dawn. It was the first time the Australian Light Horse was used as pure cavalry, and it became history’s last great charge.
The man from Hunterview, in Singleton, presented to Cessnock Hospital at 10.15am Saturday with a 10 centremetre laceration to his torso.
Eye on the weather
What does it look like in your neck of the woods today?
World news:
► Jakarta: Anies Baswedan is poised to become the next governor of Jakarta in October after one of the most bitter and polarising elections in the history of Indonesia's nascent democracy.
The election has been portrayed as a test of Indonesia's much vaunted pluralism and an ominous presage of the role sectarian politics could play in the 2019 national election.
► Beijing: Interpol has issued a red notice to arrest a flamboyant Chinese billionaire who has been taunting the Chinese Communist Party online and hurling accusations of corruption while living a luxurious life in exile in the United States.
Guo Wengui, aka Miles Kwok, is a Forbes rich-lister who shot to international prominence last month when it was revealed the 50-year-old was a member of US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Faces of Australia
FOR 18 years, Darryl Sheridan has been teaching kindergarten children about the many and varied animals that are part of his mobile animal farm.
It was explaining the characteristics that identified his rainbow lorikeet, Polly, as a parrot to one inquisitive child that inspired his first published children’s book.
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On this day …
1862 The first pasteurization test is completed by Frenchmen Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard.
1902 Marie & Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium chloride
1920 Balfour Declaration recognized, makes Palestine a British Mandate
1968 English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial "Rivers of Blood" speech.
1974 'The Troubles', the Northern Ireland conflict between republican and loyalist paramilitaries, British security forces, and civil rights groups, claims its 1000th victim
1980 Climax of Berber Spring in Algeria sees hundreds of Berber political activists arrested
1999 Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School, Colorado
2010 The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes, killing 11 and causing the rig to sink, causing a massive oil discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and an environmental diaster