► MEDOWIE, NSW: IT was an innocent social media post that quickly festered into an ugly rumour and ended with a violent arson attack. Port Stephens detectives have been forced to quell increased tension throughout parts of Medowie this week after false claims fueled some Facebook flames that someone else may have been involved in the road death of a popular teenager. Read more

► ALBION PARK, NSW: An Albion Park teen with a foot and bondage fetish offered to pay a 13-year-old boy $50 to allow him to tie him up, gag him and tickle his feet, a court has heard. Read more

► BALLARAT, VIC: A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with a series of offences after allegedly injuring a police officer during an operation on Friday morning. Read more

► MOREE, NSW: A MAN has been refused bail after hundreds of thousands of dollars was found stashed in a van near Moree. Highway patrol officers stopped the Toyota High-Ace on the Newell Highway at Boggabilla just before 5.30pm on Wednesday. Police had cause to search the van, which had Queensland registration plates, and discovered $400,000 in cash hidden in a compartment. Read more

► NORMANTON, QLD: The Normanton Solar Farm celebrated a major construction milestone this week, with completion of 16,000 solar panels. Sixteen workers took around a month to install the panels, part of the project which is taking shape on 7.2 hectares next door to the Ergon Energy power sub-station in the remote Gulf Savannah community. Read more

► ESPERANCE, WA: A modern house in Esperance has allowed Warren and Donna Liebeck to once again put roots down but they still yearn for their home of 42 years on the family farm at Scaddan, destroyed in last year's bush fire. Read more

► It's not long until the lunchtime rush and Thai Le is preparing dish number four on his menu, Hokkien Mee, when he sees the smoke. His restaurant is full of customers, like most of the noodle bars, pho joints and Vietnamese bakeries on Springvale Road typically are not long before noon on a Friday. Then it happens.

"I ran straight across the road, telling all the cars to stop," he said. About 40 metres way, just across the main strip of Springvale, a man has walked into a Commonwealth Bank branch, poured petrol everywhere and the place has gone up in flames. Read more

► If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Donald Trump must be fairly chuffed with his reception Down Under this week. With Peter Dutton attacking refugee policy, Malcolm Turnbull bashing the media and Bill Shorten targeting foreign workers, echoes of the Don's campaign were suddenly everywhere. Read more

► After months of turmoil at the CSIRO, Science Minister Greg Hunt has stepped in with a new statement of expectations for the organisation. Mr Hunt hopes it will set the the body on the path to being the world's premier public research institution. Read more

► LONDON: Buckingham Palace is going to get a £369 million ($600m) refit, it was announced today, in order to replace pipes, wires and plumbing more than half a century old. Read more

► THAILAND: A former Sydney kick-boxing champion charged with abducting and murdering an organised crime figure has told a court he fled Thailand for Cambodia because he was "scared" of the Australian outlaw motorcycle gang Hell's Angels and Thai police. Read more

1493: Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).

1863: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the dedication ceremony for the military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

1969: Association football player Pelé scores his 1,000th goal.

2004: The Malice at the Palace: The worst brawl in NBA history, Ron Artest suspended 86 games (rest of season), Stephen Jackson suspended 30 games

“MAKE the most of what you’ve got yourself, that helps you to be happy.”

Notching up many years is one thing, but Albury’s Veronica (Von) Croft also knows the knack of a life well lived.

Mrs Croft celebrates her 100th birthday today with close friends and a family that includes three children, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.