►  BURNIE, TAS: The north-west coast of Tasmania was struck by lightning and severe thunderstorms on Monday evening. More here.

► BENDIGO, VIC: A former Strathdale wedding venue, getaway and conference centre with award-winning gardens is set to be developed into a housing estate.

Rob and Peg Green spent more than 40 years converting a two hectare, bare block into the Nanga Gnulle estate until age forced them to sell in 2014.  More here.

► BALLARAT, VIC: A bill introduced in parliament on Monday would give objectors new grounds to challenge a ruling which allows a far-right nationalist party to use the Eureka flag as their logo.  More here.

► ALBURY-WODONGA, VIC: AFTER playing his entire junior career as a forward, Corowa-Rutherglen and Murray Bushrangers rising star Ryan Garthwaite has had interest from as many as seven AFL clubs as a defensive prospect ahead of Friday’s national draft. More here.

► ILLAWARRA, NSW: A woman held against her will and violently raped inside the home of Illawarra amateur boxer Leroy Fisher last July told police she feared she was going to be killed. More here.

► WAGGA WAGGA, NSW: Joe Williams identifies as many things but it is his work with mental health advocacy that is gaining him national recognition.

The former boxer and Rabbitohs player, suicide survivor and proud Wiradjuri man has been nominated for the inaugural Australian Mental Health Prize. More here.

► SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS, NSW: Paramedics have been left disgusted and outraged by the theft of a fallen colleague’s bush memorial.  A bronze plaque at Bridal Veil Falls at Robertson paid tribute to intensive care paramedic Michael Wilson, who was killed on Christmas Eve 2011 as he attempted to pull a stricken canyoner to safety. More here.

► ORANGE, NSW: The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has secured its first seat in lower house of the NSW Parliament after its candidate, Philip Donato, was declared victorious in the Orange byelection by just 50 votes. More here.

► SUTHERLAND SHIRE, NSW: Community Outreach Ministries is celebrating bringing 30 years of hope to Sutherland Shire this month. To mark the milestone, the organisation has launched Glenda’s Place, a new place of refuge for victims of domestic violence in Sutherland Shire. More here.

► MAITLAND, NSW: A man was stabbed in the abdomen at Pender Place carpark on Monday night. Fairfax understands the man was involved in an altercation with another man around 6pm. More here.

► HUNTER, NSW: THE worried mother of missing Metford teenager Zac Barnes has pleaded for any information which may lead them to the 18-year-old. More here.

► LAUNCESTON, TAS: A Tasmanian business has been recognised nationally and named one of Australia’s fastest growing companies. Launceston architects and branding specialists S. Group secured the 54th spot on the Australian Financial Review's Fast 100 list for 2016. More here.

►  KATHERINE, NT: VANDALS have caused approximately $60,000 worth of damage to the Katherine Country Club’s new fairway and holes. More here.

► BEAUDESERT, QLD: A MUCH-LOVED cook at Beaudesert Hospital is preparing to hang up the tongs and hairnet for the last time after a stellar 41 years serving the community. More here.

► MANDURAH, WA: A Comanchero bikie from Lakelands has been charged with a child pornography offence following a search of his home. More here.

► ESPERANCE, WA: A young family who have had most of their belongings stolen are pleading with the thief or thieves to return them. Local couple Nicole Webster and Jarrad  were away from their Dalyup property, which they share with Mr Greig’s mother and father, when the thieves struck. More here.

► MURRAY, SA: On December 2, 2014, Mannum lad Jayden “Donny” Schulz was involved in a tragic car accident that changed his life forever. At just 17, Donny became a tetraplegic after he lost control of his vehicle at 100 kilometres per hour on his drive home from Murray Bridge. More here.

►  CLARE, SA: DESPITE reports of devastating hail damage in the Upper North, Murraylands and Riverland last Friday, PIRSA is still estimating SA is on-track to produce a record-breaking grain crop. More here.

► The Senate has passed one of the Coalition government's key bills targeting unions with the support of every crossbencher except the Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie, in a marathon session that extended until just after 2am on Tuesday morning. More here.

►  The Turnbull government's proposed lifetime ban on asylum seeker visas is heading for defeat in the Senate, with key crossbenchers including David Leyonhjelm and Derryn Hinch positioning to oppose the controversial bill. More here.

► Pub baron Arthur Laundy was handed a confidential excerpt from a statutory review of alcohol-related violence laws which his lawyers then used to fight a push by the Director of Public Prosecutions to impose a "strike" on one of his hotels. More here.

► The governments of Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia - Australia's competitors in the oil and gas export sector - extract twice as much tax revenue from petroleum companies as a proportion of production than the federal and state governments combined. More here.

► The Greens have ramped up their rhetoric against the alliance with the United States in the wake of Donald Trump's victory, suggesting the strategic arrangement has become a "security threat to Australia". More here.

1718 - English pirate Edward Teach (a.k.a. "Blackbeard") was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him. He was shot and stabbed more than 25 times. 

1963 - U.S. President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, TX. Texas Governor John B. Connally was also seriously wounded. Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was inaugurated as the 36th U.S. President. 

1965 - Bob Dylan and Sara Lownds were married. 

1990 - British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced she would resign. 

1991 - Freddie Mercury (Queen) issued a public statement confirming that he had "been tested HIV positive and have AIDS." 

2005 - Microsoft's XBOX 360 went on sale. 

Actors Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johanasson celebrate birthdays today.​

When you have 1,600 hectares of prime grazing land that also includes cropping land near Canowindra, you soon realise something that when you think about it, is plainly obvious.

“No one’s making any more farmland,” said Stuart Tait who operates the property in conjunction with his parents, “so we have to make the farmland we have more productive.”

To help do this Stuart has received a Nuffield Australia Scholarship to investigate integrated beef and cropping systems, encompassing all facets of a farming operation combining beef cattle and broad-acre cropping; including dual purpose grazing crops, soil and nutrient management, productivity optimisation and grazing management.