Good morning. Here are your headlines from around regional Australia and beyond. Scroll down and refresh for weather, road reports and more.
BUNBURY: Millbridge mother Felicity McQueen believes a fitness tracker given to her as a gift, has helped to save her life.
Ms McQueen was given a Fitbit by her partner Darryn in October and while wearing it in November, she discovered her heart rate going up to a disturbing 200 beats per minute. Read more.
BUSSELTON: Blackwood River Clinic psychiatrist Dr Stephen Proud has said that sexual perversity is a hidden element in the methamphetamine problem.
Dr Proud said methamphetamine was often fused with violence so users could get violent and very aggressive with sex. Read more.
MANDURAH: A Dudley Park man, whose name has been withheld to protect his victim’s identity, has pleaded guilty in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Tuesday to three charges relating to an aggravated assault. Read more.
WA: The Department of Health has warned people in WA to take precautions against mosquitoes and biting insects following heavy rainfall and flooding throughout the state. Read more.
WA State Election
MANDURAH: Labor’s candidate for Dawesville Adam Woodage has denied misusing public resources after a photo of him campaigning in Mandurah MP David Templeman’s taxpayer-funded electorate office was posted on social media. Read more.
WHEATBELT: The Liberal Party launched its Central Wheatbelt campaign last Sunday at the Northam Country Club.
The evening’s entertainment included The Perth Hills and Wheatbelt Band, singer Debbie Hughes and a speech by Hon James Chown MLC and local candidate Bill Crabtree. Read more.
State of the Nation
A Farmborough Heights mum who reported finding a used syringe in the bottom her baby’s ugg boot has prompted an investigation at Warrawong’s Target store.
Police have confirmed the human remains found at Mount Macedon on Monday are that of missing Avondale Heights, woman Karen Ristevski.
Anne Murphy is picky when it comes to food – only the cheapest of staples make it to the checkout on her fortnightly grocery shop.
National news
Australian businessman Dick Smith has blamed immigrants for high house prices, claiming the "enormous population increase" is making young families unable to buy their first home.
The amount of money lost on poker machines in individual clubs and pubs in NSW would be made public each month under a fresh push to improve transparency of gambling data.
The highest income earners in Australia would be forced to pay a mandated minimum rate of tax under a policy proposal being pushed inside the Labor Party to counter the populist appeal of One Nation and potentially add $2.5 billion a year to the budget bottom line.
National weather radar
International news
An Australian model and his skateboarding friend have been hailed as heroes in New York after they risked their lives to save seven teenagers who fell through ice in Central Park.
Byron Bay woman Sara Connor appeared shocked and distressed after prosecutors requested she be sentenced to eight years' jail for a group attack that led to the death of a Balinese police officer on Kuta beach last year.
Apparently I'm a virtue-signalling social justice warrior. So… what's wrong with that exactly?
I'm sure I'm not the first Fairfax journalist to be called these names. Our email addresses are on our articles so people feel free to – and often do – write nasty things to us about our stories. And we're on Twitter, too. Say no more.
On this day | February 22
1819 – By the Adams–Onís Treaty, Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars.
1856 – The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh.
1959 – Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
BORN | 1962 – Steve Irwin, Australian zoologist and television host (d. 2006)
1973 – Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices.
1980 – Miracle on Ice: In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3.
2011 – New Zealand's second deadliest earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing 185 people.
The faces of Australia: Roy Marando
“I’ve got 602 sets of lights up, and we’re not quite there yet.”
For Griffith man Roy Marando, the lead up to the Christmas season is a marathon, not a sprint.
