Central Victoria local news briefing: Monday, September 14, 2026 - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

A motorcyclist has died after he hit a pothole on the Western Highway west of Ballarat.

Police said officers were called to Trawalla about midday yesterday after reports a motorcycle had struck a pothole and lost control.

The rider, a 71-year-old Ballarat man, died at the scene.

Police said the exact circumstances surrounding the crash were yet to be determined and investigations were ongoing.

A truck driver allegedly involved in a collision that killed central Victorian high school student Thom Hosking last year has been charged and will face court.

The 15-year-old Girton Grammar student was crossing the road on his way to school when he was killed just after 8:30am on October 10.

A 36-year-old truck driver from Sebastian has been charged with dangerous driving causing death, driving in a dangerous manner, careless driving and failing to give way at a pedestrian crossing.

He will face Bendigo Magistrates' Court in November.

The family of a woman killed in central Victoria three years ago says no jail term can make up for what they have lost, after her killer was sentenced on Friday.

British national Timothy Loosemore, 63, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the manslaughter of 60-year-old Maree Vermont.

Loosemore killed Ms Vermont, then used petrol to burn down her home in Goldie, near Kilmore, in 2023.

The judge said Loosemore was another angry man lashing out after being rejected romantically.

Ms Vermont's son, Darcy, said the sentence "definitely doesn't represent what we've lost".

Federal member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters has defended Labor's use of an invite-only grants program amid accusations of pork-barrelling taxpayer funds.

An investigation by the Centre for Public Integrity found almost three-quarters of the $560 million Major and Local Community Infrastructure program went to seats notionally held by Labor, while 45 electorates received nothing.

Ms Chesters announced a contract for a new pavilion at Truscott Recreation Reserve on Friday, one of three Bendigo projects backed by the program.

She said Labor was delivering election promises in a transparent way.

La Trobe University has been rated Victoria's best public university for teaching quality and overall student experience in postgraduate coursework.

The result came in the latest national report from the Quality Indicators of Learning and Teaching Student Experience Survey.

The university also placed ninth among Australian public universities for overall experience in postgraduate coursework, after placing sixth in the 2024 survey.

The Golden Dragon Museum is taking visitors down memory lane with a new exhibition detailing Bendigo's Chinatown at different stages since Chinese settlement.

The site between Park Road and Cemetery Street was also home to shops including Sun Ack Goon and the Chinese Masonic Hall.

The museum's chief executive officer, Hugo Leschen, said the displays featured the people and infrastructure of Chinatown from decades ago to now, with photographs, maps and explanations.

Bendigo Heritage says a tram driver involved in Friday's collision with a car is recovering well.

The tram driver was helped from the tram by a colleague and was assessed by paramedics at the scene.

Bendigo Heritage said the city's heritage trams resumed operation on Saturday.