Colac
Otways fire poses new threat to lives and homes as temperatures soar; New fire starts east of main blaze
Residents in numerous Otway Ranges towns have been warned to find immediate shelter after a bushfire that began two weeks ago broke containment lines.
- Alexander Darling and Penelope Liersch
Latest
The parched part of Victoria where even football fields are ground down by drought
The impact of the drought is now spreading beyond farms and leaving its mark on community sport.
- Benjamin Preiss
Hungry Jack’s tries to squeeze in to town already bloated with fast food
Colac, a country town in south-west Victoria, already has a whopping share of fast-food outlets. Some locals don’t think it needs another.
- Benjamin Preiss
- Updated
- Extreme weather
Bushfires still bearing down on western towns as cool change nears
Towns in Victoria’s south-west face a nervous wait overnight as some bushfires continue to burn out of control, even as a coming cool change is expected to bring wild winds and heavy rainfall.
- Sherryn Groch, Gemma Grant and Bianca Hall
Hospital used ambulance, fake patients during ministerial visit
Ten Colac Area Health staff members, who worked in other sections of the hospital, attended the urgent care clinic during the visit and sat in the waiting room.
- Rachel Eddie
- Analysis
- Naked City
The student, the cop and the long road to justice
Kevin Wilmore Myers was a sportsman, fraudster and fake teacher who molested children for 50 years. Dean Paatsch was an ex-pupil who wouldn’t let him escape.
- John Silvester
Foot and mouth disease threatens generations of dairy farmers’ hard work
Many farmers have built up their herds of cattle for decades. All this could be lost if there is a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Australia.
- Benjamin Preiss
From the Archives, 1962: Sad farewell for Colac’s ‘Beechie’ steam train
60 years ago, the steam locomotive known as “The Beechie” arrived at Colac station on its final work run between Colac and Crowes. It was a sad farewell for the old train, which had become a part of life for people living in the isolated region.
- Staff Writers
Country doctor shuts practice after police called over vaccine exemption claims
Video allegedly taken last month showed cars flanking either side of the road outside the GP’s surgery near Colac, and dozens of people queued up on foot.
- Cassandra Morgan and Erin Pearson