WA Brekkie Blog | Friday, March 24, 2017

► HOPETOUN: Two WA tourists made an exciting discovery in south west WA last week, after finding a 'message in a bottle' washed up on a Hopetoun beach.

The pair found the black bottle covered in barnacles, and later opened it to find a questionnaire, a unique bottle number and some US dollar notes. Read more. 

► BUNBURY: A man facing 34 child sex offences indicated he was likely to plead guilty to all charges in Bunbury Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The man, who cannot be named, appeared via video from Bunbury Regional Prison. Read more.  

► MANDURAH: A noise level complaint issued to The Bridge Garden Bar and Restaraunt has once again shed light on the pressured relationship between residents and live music venues in Mandurah’s CBD.

The fine was believed to have been issued due to a complaint from One Brighton, the high-rise apartment complex at 1 Barracks Lane, constructed in 2009. Read more. 

► WHEATBELT: A four-year-old boy is in a stable condition at Princess Margaret Hospital after being a passenger in a vehicle crash on the Old Koorda-Wongan Hills Road, approximately 50 metres east of Railway Road in Cadoux. Read more. 

► COLLIE: Hard work and determination has paid off for Collie TAFE student Sharla Birch, who has been awarded the Collie Campus Student of the Year Award for her studies in Education Support. Read more. 

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

►WOLLONGONG: Stephen Grimmer plans to be there when the man accused of taking his sister, Cheryl, from Fairy Meadow beach and killing her in 1970 fronts court today. Read on

►LAUNCESTON: The Tasmanian government and farming body has welcomed Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (FSANZ) decision to recommend low-THC hemp seed products be granted food status.

A government spokesman said the Tasmanian government had been a long-time advocate for the use of low-THC hemp in food as it would present an economic opportunity for the state’s farmers. Read more

►BUNBURY: A mentally ill man who sparked a 12-hour siege in Bunbury and held his chained up friend hostage with a speargun has been sentenced to four years and nine months in a mental health facility.

David Charles Batty, 54, held his friend captive at a park in the state's south-west in July 2015 - threatening to blow him up with a fake explosive he said was wrapped around his chest. Read on

►BENDIGO: The Supreme Court has heard a man accused of shaking his daughter to death had “no idea” how her injuries happened when interviewed by police.

Joby Anthony Rowe, 24, was questioned by the homicide squad shortly before the death of his daughter, Alanah Rowe, on August 30, 2015.

Mr Rowe has been charged with child homicide and on Thursday the jury in his trial was played a video recording of the interview in which he denied hurting the three-month-old. Read on

►DUBBO: The crew involved with the emergency landing of a flight out of Dubbo have been congratulated for their skill during the incident.

Emergency services were called to Dubbo airport after a Regional Express (REX) flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday morning. There were 26 people on board the flight to Sydney when the pilot reported a right engine failure alert. Read on

►HORSHAM: A gun store owner believes the duck hunting season is a Wimmera tradition that needs to continue. Read on

►SA: An Eyre Peninsula woman has captured an amazing example of parental diligence with her video of an adult emu caring for a group of about 40 juveniles. Watch the video here

►VIC: In the past 12 months, 82,800 Australians have moved to Victoria from interstate, around 500 carloads a week. Read more

►NSW: A man who allegedly impersonated a doctor worked shifts at the Royal North Shore and Mona Vale hospitals, health authorities revealed on Thursday. Shyam Acharya allegedly assumed the identity of a doctor from India - Dr Sarang Chitale - migrated to Australia and was employed by NSW Health between 2003 and 2014. Read on

►VIC: One of Jane Garrett's former senior advisers is a contender to replace Steve Herbert in the Victorian Parliament, after he sensationally quit politics. Ending a difficult week for the Andrews government, in which further pressure was piled on the Premier over the entitlements scandal, Mr Herbert said he "no longer [had] 100 per cent to give" after 15 years in state politics. Read on

►QLD: Queenslanders who lost millions of dollars in the devastating 2011 floods - but whose properties suffered no physical damage - could receive compensation if a second class action against Seqwater is given the go-ahead on Friday morning. Read on

This is what’s coming your way ...

►LONDON: Major landmarks in the British capital gradually reopened on Thursday afternoon and life began to return to normal, the day after a lone attacker descended on Westminster, killing three and injuring 40 more. Read on

►BEIJING: Chinese media have blown hot and cold on Australia as Premier Li Keqiang arrived for a five-day visit. To its English language audience of diplomats and business people, the state tabloid Global Times has raised the prospect of cheap Chinese infrastructure opening up Australia's deserted north. Read on

►DUBAI: "I was thinking I was going to die that night, I didn't know what to do."

The militants came to the town in the dark. The girls, aged between 16 and 18, were at their boarding school, studying for their final exams. From their school dormitory they heard gunshots and men yelling, and they knew it was Boko Haram.

Next month, April 14, marks three years since Islamic extremists from the Boko Haram group stormed the government high school in Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria, and abducted 219 girls at gunpoint. Read on

On previous March 24s …

This was one of Ted Taylor’s earliest memories of growing up in the Snowy Mountains where transport was by horseback, schooling was by correspondence and real-life experiences, friendships were forged through blizzards, and community was as strong as the freezing winds that blew across the mountains in the depths of winter. Read on