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Fire alert for north-east town
Containment lines are being built around a blaze at Mathinna in the state's north-east that is at watch and act level.
The Tasmania Fire Service says the fire has now burned out nearly 700 hectares of land.
The TFS said the fire will be difficult to control.
Keep updated by checking the TFS website.
Teenager 'shaken' after armed robbery
Police are calling on the public to help them find two "cowards" who robbed a Launceston ice cream store and assaulted a teenager worker.
Inspector Adam Mollineaux said a man armed with a small axe walked into the Cold Rock Ice Creamery, on the corner of York and Charles Street, at about 9:30pm on Saturday, while another man waited outside on a motorbike.
"He's demanded money from the staff there and he's assaulted a 14-year-old staff member by forcing him to open the till," Inspector Mollineaux said.
The duo fled on a white motorbike with an undisclosed amount of cash.
"Fortunately he (the teenager) wasn't physically injured as a result of this is incident but I'm told he was shaken," Inspector Mollineaux said.
"We're talking about a cowardly act that occurred upon a 14-year-old that was simply doing their job.
"Somebody knows who these cowards are and I urge people please come forward with your information."
An 18-year-old female worker and a customer in the store at the time were unharmed.
'Most homophobic town' ditches image
The town of Ulverstone in the state's north-west has commemorated how far it has come in its fight for gay rights.
The first anti-gay rally was held in Ulverstone in 1989, and the town was a centre of resistance to the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
Yesterday a tree was planted and a plaque was unveiled in the town to acknowledge a change in attitudes.
Equality Tasmania's Rodney Croome said the town had become an inclusive community.
"Ulverstone saw the first and without a doubt the worst anti-gay rally that was conducted in Tasmania back then," he said.
"Now, 30 years on, the community is much changed, it's much more inclusive, it's much more respectful."
The Handmaid's Tale author Hobart-bound
Acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood will visit Hobart next year as part of a national tour.
The author of the Handmaid's Tale, which was made into an Emmy award-winning series, is the current co-winner of the Booker Prize for fiction for the sequel, The Testaments.
She told the ABC's 7.30 program in September she had not wanted to write a sequel because she thought it would fail.
She rejects claims the dystopian Handmaid's Tale is prophetic, saying it is just timing and luck.
Atwood will speak in Hobart next February.
Point to 'Longley pub' race as safety comes first
The popular Point to Pinnacle half-marathon in Hobart is dubbed the world's toughest half-marathon had to yesterday settle for a less gruelling event.
The race usually takes competitors on a challenging 21-kilometre race to the summit of kunanyi-Mount Wellington but snow and ice forced organisers to divert runners and walkers four kilometres before the summit.
The alternative route finished at the Longley pub.
Race director Tim Smith said safety had to come first.
"Nationally there's a spotlight on it, so of all the years for it to happen this is probably one we didn't want it to happen, but safety is the number one thing," he said.
Ben St Lawrence took out the race for the second consecutive year, completing the route in just over an hour.
Launceston's Karinna Fyfe was the first woman to finish, recording a time of one hour and 16 minutes.
Weather
There will be showers about the west and south, with fresh to strong and gusty west to north-westerly winds.
There is a severe weather warning for damaging winds for south-eastern Tasmania and a gale warning for southern coastal waters.
A full and updated list of warnings can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology's Tasmanian Warnings summary website.
As of 6:30am the Pinnacle Road to the summit of Hobart's kunanyi/Mount Wellington was open.
Check the council website for the updated status of Pinnacle Road.
| Forecast * all temperatures in Celsius | Maximum | Minimum |
| Burnie | 13 | 2 |
| Cape Bruny | 18 | 8 |
| Devonport | 18 | 8 |
| Hobart | 21 | 9 |
| King Island | 16 | 9 |
| Flinders Island | 17 | 9 |
| Launceston | 21 | 8 |
| Liawenee | 14 | 1 |
| Port Arthur | 21 | 7 |
| Smithton | 14 | 10 |
| Swansea | 23 | 7 |
| Queenstown | 15 | 6 |
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
