Two men were lucky to escape with their lives after their plane caught fire mid-air before making an emergency landing.

The two occupants, 64-year-old male pilot from Wagga and a 69-year-old male passenger from the ACT, were able to free themselves from the burning plane after landing.

On the same day, an 18-year-old army recruit from Queensland, Liam Wolf, suffered a cardiac arrest after falling down a ladder on an obstacle course at the Kapooka base outside Wagga.

Mr Wolf later died of his injuries and was given a military funeral.

Wagga joined with the city's Sri Lankan community to hold a candlelight vigil following a wave of terrorist bombings in the South Asia country's capital city on Easter Sunday.

Mourners gathered at the Victory Memorial Gardens to spread the message that love conquers hate.

April was also a time for new and renewed major projects in Wagga.

Wagga PCYC secured the final $10 million in funding it needs to build its long-planned multi-purpose sports centre.

Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack announced the funding after visiting the current PCYC site in Gurwood Street.

The $10m from the federal government was the final tranche of funding needed to build the $23m complex. The state government has previously committed $10m and Wagga City Council $3m.

Mr McCormack's announcement came just weeks after the Wagga PCYC was unsuccessful in an application to the Building Better Regions Fund.

Wagga council cleared the way for a new four-storey hotel on Forsyth Street after more than an hour of debate and public depositions.

A majority of Wagga councillors backed the need for central accommodation and providing foot traffic to CBD businesses over parking space numbers and delivery truck access concerns.

Prior to the start of debate the owner of the development application, Joel Berrigan, told councillors they would be "crazy to pass up" the hotel, which he said would cater to emerging customer bases.

Wagga's fastest growing suburbs were given the green light to build more than 200 new homes after a subdivision was approved by council staff.

Combined Development Group applied for a staged residential subdivision over two existing lots totalling 35 hectare north of Harris Road at Gobbagombalin.

Australia's champion barista Matt Lewin took a special case of Riverina Fresh milk to represent the nation at the annual World Barista Championships.

The Canberra-based barista has requested that Wagga-based Riverina Fresh deliver their best batch of milk to the Boston event, to help him craft the perfect brew.

But it was quite the trick to get the 18 litres of Riverina Fresh Gold to him.

"We're packing it into controlled temperature eskies and they will be hand-carried by the baristas along with all of their brewing equipment," said CEO Robert Collier.

The Wagga Zoo welcomed a new member in April after the city's favourite donkey family gave birth to a foal.

It was the third foal for parents Jenny and Forest Gump and the keepers asked for the public's help to name the new baby.

After weeks of speculation about the date of the 2019 federal election, the starting gun was officially fired in April.

Incumbent Riverina MP for the Nationals and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack wasted no time in getting on the campaign trail, holding a press conference in Wagga just an hour after the Prime Minister announced an election for May.

Over the next few weeks, The Greens' Michael Bayles, Labor Party's Mark Jeffreson and United Australia's Richard Foley announced they would run.

Perhaps worn down by the third election or byelection since September 2018, Wagga voters embraced early voting with demand doubling since the 2016 federal election.