Ballarat breakfast report | Thursday, December 17

A 35-year-old Ballarat man was arrested just before 6pm Wednesday following an assault that shocked the city on Monday night.

He has been charged with assault related offences and remanded to appear at Ballarat Magistrates’ Court at a later date. Read more.

A Ballarat bishop lacked any “compassion or empathy” when told of the devastation left behind in Mortlake following disgraced priest Gerard Ridsdale’s rampant sexual abuse of children, an inquiry heard. Read more.

Central Highlands Water is undertaking capital works to improve water reliability and usage in the Daylesford and Hepburn communities. Read more.

You think it’s hot right now? Well it’s only going to get worse over the next couple of days.

So rather than sticking to your couch as you sit there in your underwear, we’ve compiled the perfect guide on how to stay cool in Ballarat. Read more.

Ballarat’s Blake Thomson will line up against the West Indies this weekend. Read more.

The next three days are going to be absolute scorchers!

► WOLLONGONG: After a couple of false starts including having his thesis rejected, Phillip Lavers finally received his Doctorate in Physics at the University of Wollongong on Wednesday. Read all about it.

► MUMBIL: Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered. 

Police are expected to reveal on Wednesday why they targeted the Bandidos motorcycle group, searching them for nearly three hours after they had given Mumbil's children a Christmas party to remember. Full story.

► KURNELL: Frank Partlic and his family were toasting on Tuesday night after selling their home for a record price.

► BENDIGO: Local women’s refuges are bracing themselves for a wave of families in distress expected to flee over the holiday period. Full story.

► BALLARAT: Community leaders have called the alleged bashing of Indian-born Ballarat man Sumeet Anand an isolated incident, saying the city has a welcoming culture overall. Full story.

► DUBBO: Grace Parker was sick of her family car breaking down - so she took matters into her own hands and enrolled in automotive studies as part of her HSC. Full story.

► NOWRA: THE grieving partner of James Hughes says it’s essential that a coronial inquest is held into his death.

Melissa Hughes is facing her first Christmas without her partner of three and a half years. The pair had bought a house together in Jerrabomberra and were planning to marry next year. Full story.

► BUNDANOON: IT’S official - Yallambee B&B is a stellar stay.

The Bundanoon bed and breakfast was placed third in New South Wales on the HotelsCombined Stellar Stays top 10 list last week, as rated by travellers. Read all about it.

► LAUNCESTON: KYLIE Wells was at St Giles getting a wheelchair fitted for her baby daughter when thieves broke into her Launceston home and left a cruel trail of destruction.

Gone were thousands of dollars worth of Christmas presents and food, as well as money raised to help support the family in taking 20-month-old Isla to Melbourne for treatment. Full story.

►A woman has died after she jumped in front of a train while holding a young child at Harris Park station in Sydney's west on Wednesday afternoon, police say. Full story.

►The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has lost a bid to keep a sensitive ministerial briefing to Julia Gillard on the 2011 Commonwealth ombudsman controversy secret. Full story.

►The NSW helicopter rescue service is so understaffed that paramedics are working shifts of up to 21 hours, raising fears about patient safety. Full story.

►Southern Sydney resembled a disaster zone on Wednesday after the most destructive winds recorded in NSW history lifted roofs off houses, brought down power lines and trees and left more than 20,000 homes and businesses without power. Full story.

► Australian man Joshua Terelinck has been sentenced to a jail term of two months and 15 days for causing the death of an Indonesian man in a motorcycle accident in Bali this year. Full story

►Hose Ramos Horta – Nobel prize winner and global face of East Timor's long struggle for independence – is backing Australia's former prime minister Kevin Rudd to become the next chief of the United Nations. Full story.

►In their last debate of the year, the Republican Party's presidential candidates gathered in a casino in Nevada and spoke of little else but fear and strength. Full story.

1959 - The film "On the Beach" premiered in New York City and in 17 other cities. It was the first motion picture to debut simultaneously in major cities around the world. 

WHEN one local digital artist was contemplating how he would share his music with the world he landed upon an ingenious idea.

“I’m doing this because I don’t want to be taken advantage of,” Brogo producer Nathan Johnston said ahead of the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for stage two of the development of his music trading site Digital Music Entertainment DME3. Read more.