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.”

Click here to view YesBut's Images

More press hype?

Was the murdered Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer the primery target or was he used as a warning to others?

It is supposed hoodlums lost a lot of money when Parkistan was beaten unexpectedly by Ireland. Would that be sufficient reason to have the coach murdered? For what benefit - punishment or to prevent him disclosing information?

To fix a match isn’t easy. It takes a number of players, both bowlers and batsmen to participate in throwing a match. Why go to all that trouble? With spread and spot betting, match fixing is unnecessary. It’s much easier to fix small aspects of a game: the number of wides bowled in an over, the number of catches dropped. Easier to arrange, and less likely to be detected.

There is a lot of speculation over what Woolmer knew, and what he was going to disclose in his next book. Without casting dispersions on the dead, he had a history of being touched by the shadow of corruption. Woolmer was the coach of South Africa when the team was captained by the late and disgraced Hansie Cronje (he was banned for life in 2000, for his involvement in match fixing - he died in 2002 in a light aircraft plane crash).

Lets assume he was murdered to prevent him disclosing information in a book he was yet to write. The book wouldn’t be published the next day, or the next week or even the next month. Why murder him in the full glare of the ICC Cricket World Cup? It doesn’t make sense. He could have been disposed of after he returned home to South Africa and the hit made to look like a robbery that had gone wrong.

Lets assume he was murdered as punishment and a warning to others. If that was what was intended, the reverse has been achieved. “Match fixing” and all the other scams have been placed in the forefront of attention of the cricketing authorities, the police and the press. If two wides are bowled in an over, that bowler will immediately be under suspicion. The murder has probably frightened off players from participating in spread betting fixes.

The murder is likely not to be associated with match fixing or spread betting. One thing that can be said with confidence, no England player can be accused of corruption - they are so bad, there’s no need for them to throw a match.

Six Nations Rugby Championship - 2nd Weekend

Today England is playing Italy, and Scotland playing Wales. Tomorrow Ireland is playing France.

The Italians like playing with the sun on their backs, so the cold winter weather of the last four days would not be to their liking. After last weeks game against Scotland, the English supporters were singing the praise of their team. But really the Scots were so weak; no concrete evidence of a recovery can be taken from the game. It will not be until 24th February when they play Ireland that the strength of the English team can be measured. Unless England beat Italy by a margin of over 30 points, it will be seen as a poor performance.

Wales should beat Scotland, but they are still weakened by injuries. After last weeks defeat Scotland will be playing for their pride. Whoever loses today their season will be over, and it will also dent their confidence leading up to the World Cup, to be played later this year.

Tomorrows game is really juice, both Ireland and France have the potential to not only win the Championship but achieve the Grand Slam (winning all their games).They are also the two Northern Hemisphere teams who have the capabilities to challenge, if not New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Ireland have suffered a big blow losing their captain Brian O’Driscoll due to injury. The French like the Italians play their best rugby when they have the sun on their backs. Its finely balanced, hopefully its going to be an open running game.

It's going to be a tense afternoon watching Wales, but first the England vs Italy game.

Did you hear that thump; it was England falling to ground after spending last week in dreamland.

It was as if there was an invisible wall at the Italian 10 metre line through which England could not pass. They had to wait 35 minutes before they got into the Italian 22. Up to that point Wilkinson had kicked penalties at the 3rd, 14th and 24th minute. On the 37th minute Italian forward Marco Portola was sin binned for 10 minutes. In the 39th minute Jason Robinson went over in the corner for a try, which Wilkinson failed to convert, making the half time score England 14 - 0 Italy.

Fifteen minutes into the second half Wilkinson put over another penalty. Virtually all the play in the second half took place in the English half. The Italian pack had full control of the game, and England looked devoid of ideas. Italy got their reward in the 65 minutes with a try under the posts. In the 73rd minute Wilkinson put over his fifth penalty, to make the final score England 20 - 7 Italy.

Two statistics say it all, in the second half Italy had 75% of the possession and territory. Though they won, this was a reality call for England, last week’s performance was a false dawn, in reality they have made little progress since their Autumn Internationals dismal performances.

In the other game of the afternoon Scotland started strong with Wales conceding penalties at the 5th & 18th minute. Wales got a penalty back at the 24th minute to make the score Scotland 6 - 3 Wales. Scotland got a further penalty in the 36th minute, with Stephen Jones putting over a penalty just before half time to make the score Scotland 9 - 6 Wales.

In the second half Wales lost control of their own lineout and Scotland dominated possession. However even when Wales were reduced to fourteen men in the 57th minute with the sin binning of Rhys Thomas Scotland failed to score a try. In the second half Scotland scored 4 penalties to Wales’s one, making the final score Scotland 21 - 9 Wales.

The win will give Scotland confidence for their match against Italy in two weeks, while Wales are left to lick their wounds and pray for inspiration for their visit to Paris.