Here is what is making news for October 29, 2026.===================================After more than fifteen years of planning, construction has officially started on the new home for the Apollo Bay Fishermen’s Co-Operative.

Funded through the Geelong City Deal and Regional Development Victoria, the multi-million-dollar Apollo Bay Harbour redevelopment is being managed by the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority. 
======================================================================Thousands are heading to the Otways for the Melbourne Cup long weekend, prompting a major campfire safety blitz.

Authorities will be patrolling local forests, targeting illegal and unattended campfires.

Conservation Regulator Director of Regulatory Operations Cal Heppell urges visitors to remember to always extinguish fires with water, not soil.
======================================================================A charity walk for cancer raising money to by fuel vouchers for those affected will take place in Colac tomorrow.

Colac local Chris Duve says locals are encouraged to attend and dress up in pink to support the cause.
======================================================================An increased police presence will be felt across the Colac region this weekend in the lead up to the Melbourne Cup with Operation Furlong.

Colac Highway Patrol's Jamie Kahle says they will be monitoring all driver behaviour ranging from phone use to driving while on substances.
======================================================================The Environment Protection Authority says recent fish deaths in Colac's Barongarook Creek are the result of natural conditions, rather than pollution.

The E-P-A has been liaising with the Colac Otway Shire and the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority regarding the situation.

Authorities have determined the fish kill was caused by very low dissolved oxygen levels and high temperatures. 
======================================================================Colac Otway Shire Council has awarded a major contract for its Sealed Road Major Patching Program, backed by a one-million-dollar budget allocation.
======================================================================Investigators are appealing for witnesses following a suspicious blaze at a Cobden tobacconist yesterday morning.

An arson chemist examined the Curdie Street scene yesterday after emergency services extinguished the six-fifteen a-m fire.

Local Area Commander Dean PICKERING from Warrnambool Police says anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers.
======================================================================Warrnambool detectives have charged four people following an investigation into a targeted house fire in Cobden earlier this year.

Police executed search warrants in Camperdown and Cobden this morning, arresting two men and two women.

The charges relate to a Mitchell Street blaze in February, which engulfed the front of a home while a father and two children were inside. 
======================================================================AND IN SPORTThe Colac Ladies Open was a massive success, drawing seventy-six golfers from seventeen different clubs across the region.

Colac local Ros Brauer took out the overall title, shooting a gross score of eighty-one. Fellow Colac golfer Jayne McGlade claimed the A-Grade gross win.

Lorne Country Club dominated the A-K-D Perpetual Plate, taking out both first and second place. 
======================================================================This weekends Country Basketball League action sees a double header for both the Colac Kookas Men's and Women's teams.

The pair host the Terang Tornadoes from 3pm onwards this Saturday afternoon.
======================================================================In the Corangamite Bowls Midweek Pennant Bowls results City was too strong for Simpson

Camperdown Magpies 1 smashed Colac.

Central had a narrow win against Cobden

AND Camperdown Magpies 2 won against Cressy.
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