Standing out amongst Federation cottages and California Bungalows, this Chatswood house looked to Rome for its inspiration.

Watch the full video below for the history of Hilton house.

Earlier this year, we wrote a short guide to some of the best local baked goods in the North Shore. Since then, we’ve listened to your suggestions and found a few worthy additions to the list. 

Blessed Fruit Pies

David and Rose opened this pie shop after trying their hand at baking during the pandemic. The shop recently moved from Castle Cove to Greenwood Plaza, where they bake hundreds of pies and pastries fresh each day.

Recommendations: date scone, sour cherry pie, persian carrot cake. 

Where: 103 Miller Street, North Sydney

It's Always Sunny in Wahroonga 

It's Always Sunny is the latest addition to the Wahroonga village, serving croissants, donuts, tarts and Ona coffee. 

Where: 2 Railway Avenue, Wahroonga

I Love Butter 

All in the name: buttery, freshly baked croissants, along with pain au chocolat, cinnamon scrolls and cookies. Run by Sophia, a local mum, since 2015. 

Where: 49B Spofforth Street, Mosman

Fiore Bread 

A small sourdough bakery on Blues Point Road. Cakes, bread wheels, focaccia and choose-your-own-filling sandwiches.

Where: 129 Blues Point Road, McMahons Point

Read the full list below.

A surprise three-way mayoral race has resulted in the election of Wahroonga ward councillor Kim Wheatley as the newest mayor of Ku-ring-gai, replacing Christine Kay. 

What happened: Three councillors ran for the mayoralty. The Lorikeet reported on Tuesday that Indu Balachandran and Kim Wheatley were the frontrunners for the position, each appealing for support from the nine other councillors. 

A third contender: This did not stop Barbara Ward from throwing her hat in the ring, though she failed to garner a single vote — not even her own — and was eliminated in the first round of voting. 

In the first round, votes were split 6 – 4 in Wheatley’s favour. Balachandran’s supporters were Alec Taylor, Christine Kay and Barbara Ward. Wheatley was supported by Matt Devlin, Martin Smith, Jeff Pettett, Sam Ngai, Cedric Spencer.

In the second round, Wheatley’s majority increased to 7, with Ward flipping sides. Following this, Wheatley assumed the throne of Ku-ring-gai Council chambers. 

Heavy is the head: As mayor, Wheatley will inherit responsibility for managing the catastrophic Norman Griffiths Oval redevelopment, a massive infrastructure backlog and the implementation of a 29 percent rate rise. 

The new position will grant Wheatley a casting vote, meaning when council is tied on an issue, she decides which way to proceed. 

Councillor Matt Devlin was also elected to the position of deputy mayor unopposed. If the mayor is ill or absent, the deputy will take their place. Both Wheatley and Devlin are unaligned politically and not members of any party. 

In Ku-ring-gai, the annual mayoral fee is $81,380, in addition to the councillor fee. This means Wheatley will be paid $112,020 annually by ratepayers. The deputy mayor receives the regular councillor fee of $30,640.

Memetic warfare uses memes and targeted content to influence the public.

And the last decade has seen this form of warfare both discreetly, with Russian influence campaigns using fake accounts, and more explicitly, like the Iranian government's Lego city memes.

These influence campaigns raise a question back home: is Australia vulnerable to a memetic influence campaign?

Watch the National Account’s Archie Milligan below: