YesBut what's the local news?

Once again I have been surfing the net to find interesting stories in local newspapers. I leave it to you to judge the success.

From The Chronicle, Toowoomba, Queensland - “ Stress levels rise over leaning tree”.

"VOLUNTEERS cursing a giant eucalypt tree towering over the Visitor Information Centre in James Street, have nothing to fear.

But Cr Michelle Schneider isn't convinced. Apart from the safety concerns, there were issues of nuisance debris blocking gutters and on the verandah.

She stood alone in the 8-1 vote at the Toowoomba City Council ordinary meeting last Tuesday night.

The motion was lost Mayor Dianne Thorley ruled.

"Tell that to the volunteers that get killed by it," Cr Schneider joked.

Cr Schneider called for an inspection of the giant gum, more than 20 metres high and on a distinct angle."

The Sherwood Park News, Alberta - “ County Clothesline fed up with dumped junk”.

“The County Clothesline, a not-for-profit organization that sells donated clothes and gives the money back to the community, has become a cheap alternative to the dump, and staff aren’t happy about it.
Although the organization appreciates donations as that’s what keeps it running, many items are being dropped off that belong in the garbage because they could never be resold, according to executive director Loretta Nicholson.
“We’ve changed from being the County Clothesline to the county dump,” she said as she looked at the tears in an old leather couch that was dropped off earlier in the week.
The organization doesn’t take in or sell furniture, yet many people have been dropping off old couches, dressers, mattresses and other large items. But they have no room for these items so they have to be trucked to the dump, which costs the organization money. They also receive computer equipment, which they have to pay to have recycled.
“Every dollar we have to spend to get rid of this garbage is a dollar not going to the community,” said Nicholson.”
From the Waikato Times, New Zealand - “Salty language sees youth MP booted out”.

”A youth MP was kicked out of the debating chamber after telling the Government to "stop f***ing with our futures" during a heated exchange on climate change.
Kate Steel, 16, a Green Party nominee, had been arguing The Household Response to Climate Change Bill was "rigged".
Deputy speaker Ross Robertson - seemingly forgetting a recent verbal slip by Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey - told the unruly youth representatives the word in question had "never been used in Parliament before", and ejected Ms Steel from the chamber for five minutes.
Ms Steel withdrew her comment but her apology was drowned out by applause and cheering from her fellow MPs as she was escorted from the chamber.
The bill failed to proceed after voting ended in a 53/53 split with 14 MPs - including all the Greens - abstaining. "

From The Inverness Courier, Scotland. - “Cocktail gives the wallet a shake”.

“IT has been called Scotland’s most expensive cocktail and, at £200 a glass, it could give you a financial hangover. The Magnum Royal is a heady mix of the world’s finest Cognac, Louis XIII de Remy Martin 1999, vintage Dom Perignon champagne and a raspberry liqueur-soaked sugar cube. It was created by Mathieu Clausel, bar manager at the Glenmoriston Town House Hotel in Inverness, with its bar the first in Scotland to be supplied with a magnum of the costly Louis XIII Cognac, whose connoisseurs are said to include the Queen, Elton John and Christian Dior.
“We have been selling a lot of Louis XIII in our Piano Bar, which led to us being supplied with the magnum instead of the smaller bottle,” he said. “As we were the first Scottish bar to receive this, I thought I should create something extra special to mark the occasion and the Magnum Royal was the result.” A member of the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild (UKBG), Mr Clausel is originally from Lyon in France, where he studied and trained in his profession. He moved to Scotland last year to improve his knowledge of whisky. The Piano Bar, next to restaurant Abstract, offers more than 250 different malts. Although too pricey for the normal pocket, the Magnum Royal is a bargain compared with the cocktail named in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most expensive. The £750-a-glass Mai Tai, sold at the Merchant Hotel, Belfast, is made using one of only six bottles of 17-year-old Wray and Nephew Rum in existence.”
And after that, all I can say is “cheers”.

YesBut what's the local news?

Over the last couple of weeks I have attempted to find some interesting snippets from local papers, to inform and entertain you.



From the Mackay Daily Mercury, Queensland Australia – “Rude customers will not be served - cafe owner”. “

GORDI'S Bar and Cafe owner, Gary Choy said people might complain about bad service in Mackay, but from his perspective on the other side of the counter, customers could be just plain rude. "Customers can be horribly rude in Mackay, but that's the same everywhere else," he said.
"If I have someone who clicks their fingers at me, I won't serve them. We are here to serve not to be treated like a piece of dirt."
He instructs staff at Gordi's Bar and Cafe and his restaurant, Pacino's, to do likewise.
Mr Choy's comments come after hospitality consultant Rowena Hardy said there were a significant number of businesses in Mackay which gave bad service. “

From the Lennox Independent, South Dakota – “Shootin’ in the Dakota Territory to be held in Lennox July 21-22”
”Yeeehaa! Get ready for some cowboy fun! On July 21 and 22 the Dakota Territory Mounted Shooters (DTMS) will host the 2007 South Dakota State Shoot - Shootin’ in the Dakota Territory at the Whitehead Arena just south of Lennox.This state event will bring riders from four states together, all competing for points that will help send them to the national event in Las Vegas, NV next November.Dakota Territory Mounted Shooters is a local club formed in January of 2006 to foster the family oriented equestrian sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting. President of the club is Mike Whitehead, of Lennox. They have a business meeting once a month and practice twice a month.What is Cowboy Mounted Shooting? According to the DTMS website (www.daktms.com), Cowboy Mounted Shooting® is one of the nation’s fastest growing equestrian sports. Mounted contestants compete in this fast action timed event using two .45 caliber single action revolvers each loaded with five rounds of specially prepared blank ammunition. Courses of fire are set in a variety of patterns. The first half (5 targets) of a course of fire will vary with each go and requires the horse and rider to stop, turn, change leads and accelerate rapidly. The second half (5 targets), called the “run down”, is a straight course with targets set at 36 foot intervals.Typically, a competitor crosses the timing beam at a full gallop and engages the first pattern of five targets. After a shooter fires the fifth shot, he or she returns the empty revolver to a holster and proceeds to and turns around a barrel and then races to the far end of the arena while drawing a second revolver. At the far end the horse and rider turn another barrel and then engage the five remaining targets of the run down at full speed.”


And from the UK, the Chester Observer – “Vandals steal underpass safety barriers”. Thieves have put walkers and cyclists in danger by stealing safety barriers at a Bognor Regis underpass.
The tubular aluminium structures were stolen overnight from both ends of the underpass which connects the northern and southern sections of Gordon Avenue.The 40-yard long passage goes through the banks of the A259 Hotham Way flyover and is used as a cycleway and a footpath.The barriers were separated from their supports which have been left behind in the pavements.Stunned West Sussex County Council's highways officers believe the barriers could only have been stolen. "They have probably been taken for their scrap value," a spokesman said."We take the matter very seriously. The barriers were there for safety reasons and we will be replacing them, though we don't have a date yet."


From the Port Elizabeth Herald, South Africa – “Top cop asked to explain MEC rumpus”.
“A LATE-NIGHT altercation between Humewood police and Eastern Cape safety and security MEC Thobile Mhlahlo at the weekend took a bizarre turn yesterday when a senior Port Elizabeth police officer was summoned to Bhisho to report on the incident.
This comes amid fresh allegations that Mhlahlo was apprehended by police after he became embroiled in a heated argument with police when his chauffeur, Constable Zotwa, was stopped for driving under the influence at about 1am on Sunday.
The Herald has learned that Inspector Ronald Koll, station commissioner of the Humewood police station, was ordered to report to provincial commissioner Mpumelelo Landu to explain what took place during the confrontation between his officers and Mhlahlo.
Koll confirmed he was in Bhisho on Monday, presenting statements taken from the officers on the scene.
He said Landu wished to investigate the matter at a provincial level.
However, Mhlahlo yesterday denied he had been apprehended and refused to comment on the incident, saying only: “If we have moles within the SAPS we should follow and talk to those moles.”
The Herald reported on Monday that Mhlahlo had been called by Zotwa after the chauffeur was pulled over by members of the flying squad for changing lanes without indicating.
According to a police statement issued on Sunday, Mhlahlo and his driver went to the Humewood police station, where the matter was solved and the driver issued with a fine.However, a well-placed source said yesterday that when Mhlahlo arrived on the scene, he threatened to take away a police officer‘s gun and throw him off a bridge.”

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