Wodonga’s ranking as worst in the region for animal cruelty comes as no surprise to Wodonga Dog Rescue president Peta McRae. RSPCA Victoria released a list of hotspots on Wednesday, after 11,840 incidents were reported across the state last year. More here.

The theft of 30 boulders from the entrance to Beechworth could not have been a stealthy crime. The rocks, weighing 20-25 kilograms each, were placed in a circle to create a garden around the “historic Beechworth” sign. More here.

Living 30-kilometres from Corryong, Evan Nicholas doesn’t get to town too often. But the Demon coach reckons he has a fair idea what the main topic of discussion will be in Hanson Street this week. More here.

Spring is here, and we all know what that means. Warmer days, hay fever and cranky magpies. But here's one you don't want to mess with. Try to pinch one of her coathangers and she could swoop - or swat you like a fly. More here.

Need a national news snapshot first thing? Well, we have you covered. 

► TASMANIA: A 6000-signature petition against the optional lowering of the school starting age has been presented to Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff. United Voice, the union representing state childcare centres, early childhood educators and parents met with Mr Rockliff on Wednesday over 40 minutes to discuss their concerns. The government proposes from 2020 to allow children aged four years and six months to start prep and those aged three-and-a-half years to start kindergarten. Read more.

► KALGOORLIE, WA: A relation of the teenage boy killed in Boulder has been lauded for her bravery and courage after an image of her standing between police and protesters during a violent riot in Kalgoorlie emerged on Tuesday. Hundreds of protesters pelted rocks and bottles at police officers standing guard outside court on Tuesday morning where a 55-year-old man charged with the manslaughter of a 14-year-old Indigenous boy was due to face Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court. Read more.

► SOUTH COAST, NSW: A prisoner accused of escaping from Corrective Services custody by leaping out a window at Shoalhaven Hospital last week had originally been taken to the facility after swallowing razor blades, a court has heard. Harold Milton Brown fronted Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday less than 24 hours after he was captured at Lake Illawarra following a week on the run. Read more.

► MOUNT CLEAR, VIC: In mere minutes a Mount Clear family was robbed of close to a $100,000 worth of cars in a terrifying aggravated burglary involving a group of offenders. Jemma Proelss and her mother are the latest victims of aggravated burglaries that have plagued police and continued to rise throughout the state. Read more.

► TUNCURRY, NSW: A rare sighting has been made of a brush-tailed phascogale going about his business during the night. Caught on MidCoast Council’s motion sensor camera on Gereeba Island near Tuncurry, the sighting has excited Natural Systems staff as proof that their work over years to restore the natural ecosystems on Wallis Lake islands is paying off. Read more.​

► INDI, VIC: A crossbench bill for an immediate vote on marriage equality has been backed by Cathy McGowan, but she says it does not mean she has turned her back on a plebiscite. The Indi MP went into the election campaign with a policy to support same-sex marriage, via the Coalition’s method of a plebiscite to gauge public opinion. She then joined fellow cross-bench MPs Adam Bandt and Andrew Wilke on the first sitting day of parliament to give notice of a motion calling on the parliament to have a free vote instead. Read more.

► RIVERINA, NSW: Blocking the approval of a recovery house on Gurwood Street will prevent addicts from seeking help in the first place, health experts have warned. Faced with overwhelming opposition from neighbours, on Monday night councillors rejected the development application for a 12-bed Riverina Recovery House at 199 Gurwood Street. It is now the second time a site for the house has been vetoed. Read more.

► Victoria faces another dangerous summer bushfire season, with western and central Victoria looming as the highest risk areas in the state. The majority of western Victoria - including the Wombat Forest, Brisbane Ranges and the eastern part of the Otways - faces an above normal bushfire threat for the rest of 2016, according to a new report. Read more.

► The Turnbull government faces what could be its first defeat in the Senate over a motion backing a banking royal commission. Earlier on Wednesday, the government headed off a lower house motion, introduced by Labor, which would have embarrassed the Coalition over the issue - but would not have forced a commission to be held. A similar motion is set to be debated in the Senate on Thursday and looks likely to succeed, underscoring the fact that the government cannot control the agenda in the upper house, where it holds just 30 of 76 seats. Read more.

► An Indigenous education charity has returned a donation from prominent Labor senator Sam Dastyari, following revelations he asked a communist-linked Australian-Chinese donor to foot an expenses bill when he exceeded parliamentary travel entitlements. Labor senators jumped to the defence of the NSW powerbroker on Wednesday as Coalition MPs questioned whether he should remain in Parliament after the $1670 arrangement with businessman Minshen Zhu, was revealed by Fairfax Media. Read more.

International news

► BALI: British DJ David Taylor has re-enacted how he bashed a Balinese police officer with a broken beer bottle as the officer lay spreadeagled on the beach at Kuta. Clutching the neck of the jagged bottle, Mr Taylor demonstrated how he hit the back of Wayan Sudarsa's head as the officer lay face down in the sand. His girlfriend, Australian Sara Connor, sat under a tree and bit her nails as Mr Taylor role-played the grisly attack on the night of Mr Sudarsa's death on August 17. Read more.

►VANCOUVER: A young Australian expat faces a long road to recovery after breaking his back in a fall in western Canada. Dylan Eccles was seriously injured in an accident in Whistler, a ski resort town north of Vancouver, on Saturday. He suffered multiple fractures to his spine, pelvis and both wrists. Details about the circumstances of his fall remain unclear. Read more.

September 1, 1939: The invasion of Poland starts the European phase of World War II. The invasion was a joint operation between Nazi Germany, the Free City of Danzig, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent. The campaign ended on October 6, with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland. Also on this day, Adolf Hitler signed a "euthanasia decree" to allow involuntary euthanasia on those "deemed incurably sick", such as people with disabilities or mental illness. Learn more about Aktion T4 here:

This week Barnawartha and Birdsville have more in common than just their first letter.

Geoffrey Barter is linking the two as a resident of the former helping to make the latter’s most famous days a success.

Mr Barter is assisting in setting up for this Friday and Saturday’s Birdsville Races, deciding to register as a volunteer as he’d planned to attend the event for the first time.

“Birdsville was just something I wanted to do,” he said.

“I actually like getting out into the desert, but it’s not something I do that often.

“Probably every couple of years now I’m making a trip of some sort.”

A Country Fire Authority volunteer for nearly 30 years, Mr Barter has also volunteered on school councils and as a football umpire.

This background encouraged him to offer his services at Birdsville as well because he would be spending a week in the remote Queensland town. Read more.