Samantha Murphy vanished on her morning run one year ago, and her home town of Ballarat is forever changed.

Two men were compensated after the National Redress Scheme accepted they were abused as boys by the late Cardinal George Pell in Ballarat in the 1970s.

Police have drained a dam on a farm south of Ballarat after receiving new information in the search for missing mother of five Lorrin Whitehead.

Grassfires sparked by lightning have destroyed at least two homes in Victoria's north west, with fears of more property losses.

In Cavendish, there are only two food joints. Now at the centre of Grampians fires, the often sleepy Bridge Cafe is feeding hundreds of hot, exhausted firies.

Dry lightning strikes have been blamed for causing a number of bushfires across Victoria. But what's the difference between dry and wet lightning? 

Authorities are working to investigate the collapse of a wind turbine at the Berrybank Wind Farm, west of Geelong.

The two Victorian H7 strains of avian influenza have been successfully eradicated, but some farmers fear more frequent outbreaks and egg shortages could be on the horizon.