The Things You See In The CBD
Tourist atop one of the Lord Mayor's balls in Reddacliffe Place, One of Council's new street cleaners (same), and a Buff-banded Rail in the Botanic Gardens! [captured 28/4/07] I also saw a whole lot of folks who couldn't give a toss what the future will bring, as Kevin Rudd announces whether we are going to mine more uranium and have massive radioactive dumps all around the place. Or maybe they did, and they mask their trepidation with false smiles, shoving McDonalds in their gobs, spending like crazy, and generally behaving like clowns. Who would know?
A Clean Start, One Year On
A group of Brisbane cleaners celebrated the first anniversary of the 'Clean Start Campaign' with singing, dancing, chanting and a good old fashioned racket outside the ANZ building on the corner of Creek and Queen Streets last Thursday [26/4/07].
The building is owned by Multiplex and is currently cleaned by Howard Cleaning Services, who haven't yet signed the responsible contractor's policy document.
Banging on tin buckets with their cleaning brushes, and dancing a modified version of the hokey pokey, the protestors captured the interest of the Brisbane lunchtime crowd for about an hour before chanting "We'll be back! We'll be back!" and exiting the scene waving their brushes in the air.
No police or security guards appeared during the course of the very upbeat demonstration, and quite a few cars honked their support.
The 'Clean Start Campaign' is a historic, global campaign to win decency and respect for low-paid largely immigrant women workers.
"The ten city campaign has won plaudits from religious, community and political leaders for the way it has raised the voices of these normally invisible workers," Clean Start Lead Organiser Richard Jonsson said.
Howard Cleaning Services are yet to respond to my query regarding whether or not they intend to sign the responsible contractor's document.
Another Armed Robbery
Police are appealing for witnesses to an armed robbery at Spring Hill in the early hours of Sunday [29/4/07] morning. Between midnight and 1am a 24-year-old man was walking through Albert Park when he was approached from behind by a man who held a knife to his throat and demanded money. The man handed over a sum of money and was pushed in the back by the male before running off towards the city.
Turnbull: Minister for Froth and Light Bulbs
Malcolm Turnbull has become the Minister for Froth and Light Bulbs, rather than the serious Minster for the Environment Australians deserve in an age of dangerous climate change, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.
"Turnbull's light bulb leadership is farcical when measured against the scores of coal export ships jamming Australian ports, the logging and burning of Australian forests and now the IPCC's assessment that Australia has performed worse than any other major industrialised country in improving energy efficiency," Senator Brown said.
"Turnbull says Australia is the world's best, the IPCC says Australia is the world's worst - the voters will choose who to believe," Senator Brown said.
"Turnbull's claim on ABC radio today that Australia is a world leader in deforestation was a Freudian slip. No doubt Indonesia is the world's worst but Turnbull actually endorses the logging and burning of thousands of hectares of high-carbon oldgrowth forest in Australia each year. As Minister for the Environment, his actions are fraudulent," Senator Brown said.
Senator Brown called on Turnbull to heed the IPPC's plea to put energy efficiency first by mandating that Australia's 250 biggest companies, which consume 40% of the nation's coal power, implement their own energy efficiency audits to cut waste. Both the Coalition and Labor have twice voted against this option when put forward in the Senate by Greens Energy spokeswoman Christine Milne in recent months.
I've Been Working On The Railway!
Graffiti along the wall adjacent to the Normanby section of railway line
Police report that an 18-year-old Marsden man has been issued a notice to appear for 1278 graffiti offences in and around Brisbane. The man was located by the Railway Squad on Sunday evening in Southbank allegedly committing graffiti offences. He will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 21 for 1278 counts of willful damage by graffiti.
Shine On Brisbane!
Pooey Nappy On The Footpath, Albert Street - heading toward Spring Hill [23/4/07]
If you're "olde Brisbane", you'll remember 'Shine On Brisbane'. Who could forget Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, and her campaign before the 1982 Commonwealth Games to smarten up our smelly, dirty town. Essentially it was about smiling, being friendly to tourists and picking up rubbish. Channel 7 ran an ad with the catchy song called, funnily enough, 'Shine On Brisbane', and we all got sunshiney stickers?
If my memory serves me correctly, the song went something like:
Shine on Brisbane...
Shine on with a smile
Let's all something something
And something for a while.
Do Be Do Be Do
Pick it up, it's good luck
You could even wash a truck
Shine on Brisbane, Shine on all of us
Shine on Brisbane, Shine on Shine on (I think)
Can't remember any more.....
A Pub With No Beer
The beer hasn't flowed at the Alliance Hotel, on the corner of Leichhardt and Boundary Streets, Spring Hill, for a few weeks now.
A search through the Queensland liquor licensing database reveals the Alliance's license has been suspended. Phone calls to the hotel have elicited no response.
The Alliance was sold at auction for an undisclosed amount in May 2004, and operated regularly throughout 2006 following a basic renovation. The front bar is a pleasant place partake of a few beers, and watch the world go by, while in recent times, the hotel has hosted theatrical productions, live music and the Hellfire Club.
Despite its obvious historical significance, a spokesperson from the Environmental Protection Agency advised that the Alliance has never been on the Queensland Heritage Register, and has never had a file. According to the Brisbane City Council, the hotel is in a High Rise Residential Precinct (HC3), and is not in a Demolition Control Precinct, but it is listed on the Council Heritage Register.
A hotel bearing the name "Alliance" has existed on the corner of Boundary and Leichhardt Streets since the 1860s (although in the 1890s it was briefly known as "The Federal"). The current Alliance Hotel was built in 1888. It was designed by the Architect, John Nicholson, who also designed the Princess Theatre and the Normanby Hotel.
The concrete and brick hotel was constructed according to the Victorian Renaissance style. The Brisbane History Group's 'Spring Hill Heritage Tour: St Pauls to Gregory Terrace'', states it had twelve bedrooms, public and private drawing rooms, a dining room, six parlours, two bars, two ballrooms, the latest appliances and the best brands of liquor.
Although the balconies,which once offered views of old Brisbane town, have long since vanished, the Alliance remains one of Spring Hill's eye-catching historical landmarks.
Parklands Curator Gives Historic Kauri Some TLC
A historic Kauri Pine in the Roma Street Parklands has been singled out for special treatment because it is stressed.
Roma Street Parklands Curator, Mr Bob Dobbs said he noticed excessive growth along the trunk of the Kauri Pine (Agathis robusta), and that some of its branches had thinned out, while others have died.
"These are sure signs that a tree is under some form of stress", he said.
A closer inspection and some digging around revealed the ground surrounding the tree was very badly compacted.
The Kauri has been fenced off while it is being treated. Mr Dobbs removed some of the compacted surface soil, and then 'de-compacted' the subsurface by using an 'Air Spear'.
"This equipment blasts highly compressed air down into the subsurface, thereby causing the subsurface itself to fracture and open up," he said. "The roots of the tree are not affected by this treatment. I then filled up the holes created by the spear with a filler (sand), mixed with some slow release fertiliser and gypsum. This will add some fertility, and the gypsum will assist in further de-compaction."
The compacted surface soil has been replaced with good quality soil, which is made up of composting of green waste from the Parkland. Once work is completed on an underground irrigation system, Mr Dobbs said he will spread mulch over the area and carry out re-turfing.
The Kauri is located on the rise above the pathway to the Ampitheatre, in the Albert Park section of the Parklands. Mr Dobbs said it would be around eighty years old, and probably planted back in the days when Albert Park was originally created.
Mr Dobbs said that once water problems are resolved (which could take a couple of years), his "vision" for this part of the Parklands is to create "a unique and interesting garden ... of a type not found elsewhere". But he's adamant that what he's going to do will remain a secret. "I want to take people by surprise. Watch this space!" he said.
Brisbane WaterSmart initiative flush with water savings
Brisbane City Council and Caroma have developed an Australian first idea that integrates a hand wash basin with a dual flush toilet to help households and businesses save water.
The innovative all-in-one design uses excess water from hand washing for toilet flushing. It is not only compact but also aesthetically pleasing, modern, and most importantly, it saves water.
With South East Queensland in the grip of the worst drought on record, Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said it was yet another water efficient option for residents.
"Under level 5 restrictions, the Queensland Water Commission expects everyone to reduce their water consumption to 140 litres per day," he said. "This hand basin toilet will certainly help household water saving efforts at a time when every drop counts."
Cr Newman said the dual-flush hand basin toilet could help homeowners with old single flush toilets reduce their water consumption from 12 litres a flush to about four litres a flush.
Compared with the most water efficient dual flush toilets, the use of water collected from the hand basin facility reduced water use by a further 10 per cent.
"This is a smarter and more sustainable dual flush toilet because it reuses water from hand washing that would usually go down the sink," Cr Newman said.
"This work between Brisbane City Council and Caroma is a great example of how business and government can work together to create innovative solutions to help us save water."
Brisbane City Council helped Caroma develop the most sustainable design with important research, testing and analysis of various toilet-hand basin concepts. This Council-business partnership was first established in 1987 to develop a water-efficient dual flush toilet.
A Punch In The Eye
Last week the Gold Coast City Council advised that Sea World's Development Application to make the Sea World Eye a permanent structure was refused.
Council advised that the Sea World Eye is inconsistent with The Spit (Gold Coast Harbour) Local Area Plan, as it represents a deviation from the scheme that would cause a change of character for The Spit, and promotes the future transformation of the character of The Spit. Other reasons put forward by Council were that the Sea World Eye would introduce an excessively tall structure into an area of significant natural landscape value, and would be out of character in the Sea World precinct.
The 60 metre high Sea World Eye was allowed to operate over the past summer because it had a temporary, two month permit from the Gold Coast City Council. The permit was negotiated by Cr Susie Douglas (who represents Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, Benowa and Bundall) according to a spokesman from, you guessed it, the Gold Coast City Council.
The Sea World Eye has 42 air-conditioned gondolas (each hold up to 6 people) and offers views of the Gold Coast area and the Broadwater. It's the first time an attraction of this size has appeared in Australia. Similar wheels exist in London, Manchester, Seville and Niagara Falls.
Sea World has 20 days from 13 April, to lodge an appeal against the decision.
[Thankyou to the Save Our Spit folks for the update]
Snapped in the windows of Raw Space Gallery [21/4/07]
An Interesting Afternoon At The Brisbane Entertainment Centre
The afternoon session of day two [18/4/07] of the Senate Inquiry into the Traveston Crossing Dam began with Leader of the State Opposition, Mr Jeff Seeney MP lambasting the political process that led to the Beattie Government's announcement of the dam last year.
Mr Seeney, who was opposition Shadow Minister for the Environment at the time of the dam's announcement, referred to a 1994 report which dismissed Traveston as unsuitable due to the high capital cost and inundation of farming land.
"It was a political decision to create the impression they were doing something about the water crisis," he said.
Mr Seeney said he was confident the dam could be stopped under the Environment Protection And Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999), and that the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull MP would reject the dam.
At the conclusion of the Senators' questioning of Mr Seeney, a large contingent of media entered the room. Former Labor MP for Noosa, Cate Molloy, jumped up and accused the inquiry chair, Senator Heffernan, of not letting her speak, and that there was an agenda behind the Senate Inquiry. Indeed. And by the way, who is behind the opposing movement which seems able to get full media coverage when other causes cannot?
Ms Molloy was ejected from the State Labor Party during last year's annual conference, for not supporting the dam.
"I think we have conducted this hearing in a reasonable way, "Senator Heffernan responded.
Gee - who said Senate Inquiries were boring?
Then the ten high ranking public servants from a variety of state government departments involved with infrastructure and water, took their positions at the front table.
"No shielas?" remarked Senator Heffernan, as the men readied themselves for the Senatorial onslaught.
The Senators raised the issue of a lack of information sharing and community involvement, to which one of the bureaucrats acknowledged that improvement is needed in these areas.
Questions put to the panel related to allegedly inappropriate behaviour and bullying in discussions and negotiations with landholders, alternative proposals for water storage options and why the Glendower Dam never went ahead.
Senator Heffernan made a particular point of asking "What
killed the cows?", in reference to
the death of five cows near the proposed wall of the dam, following exploratory
drilling last June. (These areas are notoriously poisoned by past farm and
mining practices, so drilling up old arsenic or cyanide is not to be unexpected.)
The bureaucrats were unable to provide the actual final cost of the dam's three stages, and couldn't give straight answers to Senator Joyce's questions relating to whether any geotechnical tests on seepage were undertaken before the dam was announced and how it was decided that Traveston was the preferred site without checking the suitability of any other sites:
"How do you determine yield without knowing what's seeping out of it?" he asked, when one of the bureaucrats said Traveston was determined to be the best site for the dam because it offered the greatest yield!
The bureaucrats, who displayed not the merest hint of compassion, took many of the questions "on notice" and indicated they would put their responses in writing to the Senators. Even though the highly paid Journalists at the ABC and other Murdoch controlled press will probably ignore the outcome of this story, we will continue to follow the intriguing story of the dam which (apparently) must go ahead despite mass community objection, a strong and united community protest, a lack of scientific or other justification and an arrogant and unaccountable State Government.
Day two of the hearing concluded with Senator Heffernan telling an Irish joke.
The next hearing will be held on the 13th May. Perhaps the real reason for this proposal will emerge. With most credible experts asking serious questions about the prospects of this shallow, unusual proposal for a dam-site, there is bound to be a deeper story involving power, money and influence. Hopefully, we can join the dots.
"20 by 2020": Brisbane Needs To Prepare For Climate Change
In August last year, the Brisbane City Council convened a Climate Change and Energy Taskforce, chaired by the President of the Australian Conservation Foundation Professor Ian Lowe, to advise Council on preparing the city for climate change and peak oil. The work of this taskforce has been distilled into a report entitled 'A Call for Action', and was released last month.
If you read the report thoroughly, you'll see that Brisbane needs to do something about climate change now. Initiatives such as paying money to plant trees to offset carbon emissions, and million dollar incentives to encourage developers to build environmentally-friendly office buildings, are all well and good, but they won't solve the problem.
If they want to act in Brisbane's best interests, our city leaders must reconsider their blind faith in our rampant car culture. Our Lord Mayor is convinced that buses run faster without transit lanes, as was reported saying on ABC on-line yesterday [4/4/07], and this mindset needs to be challenged.
The report states that as a city with a sub-tropical climate, and situated on a river and coastline, Brisbane could be susceptible to, and experience a range of impacts from climate change - including higher temperatures, drought, larger storm surges, gusty winds, and bushfires.
As oil prices climb, due to increasing world demand - despite the peaking of daily oil extraction capacity at about 85 million barrels per day in 2005 (known as "peak oil"), Brisbane will experience social and economic consequences due to our reliance on oil for personal mobility and freight movement. The report suggests that Brisbane will be able to save money by planning for these future challenges. If we take action NOW to anticipate and adapt to climate change and peak oil, we will avoid having to adapt later at far greater cost.
The report makes a range of recommendations, and a particularly catchy section considers the goal "20 by 2020". These 2020 targets include, 20% of transport fuels from non-petroleum sources, 20% CBD road space pedestrianised, 20% urban trips on bicycle or foot and 20% of urban travel on public transport.
Evidently Brisbane City Council is well placed to lead by example, being the largest local government in Australia. To illustrate this point, the report refers to Council's decision to buy the new low-pollution form of diesel called Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD). Because of Council's decision (which added cost to the bus fuel bill), BP decided to sell only ULSD in Queensland, thereby magnifying the benefits of Council's clean air initiative.
In a speech he presented at the Brisbane Workers' Community Centre in Paddington last week, Professor Lowe said:
"We are of course part of the coalition of the unwilling, a sort of axis of environmental irresponsibility with the United States of America, that hasn't ratified Kyoto, and hasn't yet done anything serious to respond to climate change."
But he acknowledges the will of the people may be what sparks changes in public policy, and referred to an opinion poll where people were asked: "Is Australia's climate policy a sham?" 90% said "yes", and 10% said "no".
"People now accept that what we're getting is all smoke and mirrors. Malcolm Turnbull changing a few lightbulbs isn't going to solve the problem. We really need to think in a much more concerted way about what we're doing," he said.
And this does not mean we should embrace nuclear power, although as a young scientist forty years ago, Professor Lowe admitted he saw nuclear power as a clean, modern alternative for the future.
His outlook changed when the Whitlam government launched an inquiry into the proposed Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory. Chaired by Justice Fox, the Fox report revealed that that uranium could be mined and sold and generate a modest amount of export income. Yet according, to Professor Lowe, "The inquiry turned into a more wide ranging study of the nuclear fuel cycle and Australia's role in it. The Fox report also said that the mining and export of uranium were associated with two problems that were certainly not solvable at the time and appeared possibly intractable."
Those problems were radioactive waste and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the Fox report concluded that until those problems were solved, it was irresponsible to mine and export uranium.
"I found that argument very persuasive, and turned almost overnight from being in favour of a limited role of nuclear power, into being opposed to the mining and exporting of uranium," he said.
Since then, and with the tragedy of Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island accident, the nuclear industry has been in decline. According, to Professor Lowe, "About four years ago, people in the nuclear industry, who've never shown sign of an any interest in climate change suddenly realized that this was their last chance to salvage the nuclear industry."
Thus began a clever campaign (that started in the UK) of briefing journalists in key organs of mass media about the possible role that nuclear power could play as part of a portfolio of renewable and other forms of energy to solve the problem of climate change.
"The mass media took this up and the Murdoch press until quite recently were saying simultaneously that climate change is not a proven problem, but embracing nuclear power - which is a very interesting dual position," he said.
Last September, Professor Ed Blakely, who is the Recovery Director for New Orleans, spoke at City Hall. He discussed planning for climate change and spoke at length about the lessons New Orleans offers South East Queensland for planning and policy development.
Funnily enough, fifty years ago Katharine Hepburn travelled to our big old country town and during her visit, she compared Brisbane to New Orleans and it is not hard to see why - both cities were settled on a winding old river and enjoy a temperate climate.
Hepburn may have been a renaissance woman, but she wasn't a planner and Professor Blakely is. Referring to Brisbane's wonderful location by the water, with the hills nestled behind, he suggested we need to plan for the predictable impacts of climate change such as rising sea levels, which threaten shorelines and shoreline development. We also ought to consider unpredictable events such as flooding and fire.
"A single event can hit one part of our infrastructure and make our environment uninhabitable," he said.
Careful planning involves everybody and incorporates good building practices, the integration of walkable and transit oriented shopping centres, recreation areas that can double as safety corridors in an emergency, and managed expansion of the city and infrastructure. We should recognise our ecological limits and limit the use of non-renewable resources.
"It doesn't take long until we run out of precious things," he said.
After some technical difficulties, the Climate Change and Energy Taskforce Final Report: 'A Call for Action', is finally available from the Brisbane City Council homepage: www.brisbane.qld.gov.au. Council will debate the report on Monday, 30 April 2007, and make recommendations. The community is invited to provide feedback on the recommendations for a 30-day period following the debate.
Brown's court win over Turnbull and Abetz
Greens Leader Bob Brown has had another win in the federal court over Federal Ministers Malcolm Turnbull (Environment) and Eric Abetz (Forestry). The Ministers had sought full party status in Forestry Tasmania's appeal against Justice Marshall's finding last December that logging the 10,000 hectare Wielangta forest was illegal and should halt.
The forest provides habitat for endangered species, including Tasmania's giant Wedge-tail eagle, the migratory Swift parrot and the ancient Wielangta stag beetle.
The Federal ministers had sought full party status when the
appeal before the full bench of the Federal Court is heard in August. Senator
Brown argued that the Commonwealth's role had been limited to intervenor in
the trial for Justice Marshall and its role should be similarly restricted
before the Court of Appeal. The role of intervenor is limited
to assisting the court with such matters as legal argument, but does notextend
to full party status in such things as cross-examination of witnesses or presentation
of new evidence.
The Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Michael Black, upheld Senator Brown's argument in Hobart this morning [13/4/07] and ordered the Commonwealth pay costs.
"This case has enormous importance for Australia's wild forests and rareand endangered species," Senator Brown said.
"Here and around the world, destruction of forests is a major cause of wildlife extinction. The Commonwealth Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation Act was passed to protect the habitat ofspecies and bring them back from the brink of extinction. Environment Minister Turnbull should be in the court on my side protecting wild animals and birds from extinction, rather than over with Forestry Tasmania which is logging and burning their habitat," Senator Brown said.
Insects On A Pole - Captured on Wickham Terrace [12/4/07], at the edges of the Roma Street Parklands
Armed Robbery Arrest At The 7-Eleven
Police have charged a man who allegedly attempted to rob the 7-Eleven store at Spring Hill early this morning [11/04/07]. It is alleged the 38-year-old man entered the Leichhardt Street store about 12.30am and selected some goods before telling the employee he did not intend paying for the goods. The employee locked the offender in the store and asked for payment, however the offender allegedly stated he had a gun and threatened to kill the employee. Police arrested the offender at the scene and he has been charged with armed robbery. He appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court today.
One Book Many Brisbanes Winners Announced
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman today [11/04/07] announced the second annual One Book Many Brisbanes short story competition has unearthed great new Australian literary talents.
While announcing the ten winning authors of the competition, Councillor Newman said he was very impressed with the number and quality of entries received this year.
"For the competition to attract such a wealth of Brisbane stories is proof that Brisbane has a strong and vibrant creative community," Councillor Newman said.
The winning authors and their short story titles are:
· Dr Venero (Veny) Armanno (Pullenvale), The Sleeping
Stranger
· Mr Christopher Currie (Highgate Hill), People Who Died While Making
this Record
· Mr Ian Demack (Aspley), Durer's Rhinoceros
· Ms Pamela Rushby (Seventeen Mile Rocks), Miss Daisy
· Ms Karen Foxlee (Gympie), May Girl and the River
· Ms Karen Herschell (The Gap), The Getting of Brisso
· Mrs Belinda Jeffrey (Taringa), The Hallelujah Roof
· Mr Daniel Jenkins (Red Hill), Not at this Address
· Mrs Dianne Morris (Broadbeach), Finding Bartok
· Mr Paul Warwick (Ferny Hills), Back to the Valley
The One Book Many Brisbanes anthology will be available exclusively from Brisbane City Council's 32 libraries from July, with the stories also published online at the Council website.
National Day Of Climate Action In The US
'Step it Up' is the largest day of citizen action focusing on global warming in US history.
It is a nationwide campaign comprised of over 1300 actions being held on April 14, 2007 as part of a National Day of Climate Action.
The actions range from a rally of thousands in New York City, to a handful of scuba divers off the coast of Key West, to a community of senior citizens in Ohio holding a global warming awareness day.
The rallies are planned in every corner of the country, in 48 states, by people from all walks of life, which demonstrates the widespread demand for quick and dramatic change on the issue of global warming.
For more information see: http://stepitup2007.org/
Armed Robbery At The Takeaway Shop On Kennigo Street
Police are appealing for information in relation to the armed robbery of The Takeaway Shop on Kennigo Street, Spring Hill on Saturday [7/4/07] afternoon. About 2.30pm, a man entered the shop armed with a screwdriver. After demanding the store owner open the till, the offender jumped the counter and removed the contents of the register and also stole a quantity of money and a mobile phone from the owner. He left the scene in a white Commodore sedan. The offender is described as being about 182cm tall with a solid build, olive complexion and facial stubble. He had black hair in a pony tail and was wearing cream cargo shorts and a black tracksuit top with white stripes down the sleeves.
Admit One: Brisbane Goes To The Movies
This new exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane explores Brisbane's cinematic heritage. It includes personal stories along with memorabilia such as photographs, advertising, movie posters, signage, autographs, uniforms, items of décor and decoration and projection equipment. It's on show until 19 August - and yes, reference is made to the Spring Hill Picture Palace!
Robbery At IGA Supermarket Carpark, Spring Hill
Police report that a 20-year-old man, alleged to be involved in a robbery at the IGA Supermarket car park in Spring Hill at approximately 1.20 pm yesterday [5/7/07], was possibly involved in a number of robberies. The man was located by police after he was allegedly involved in a traffic crash near Mount Coot-tha yesterday afternoon.
It is alleged he was involved in an earlier car jacking at Auchenflower and an attempted armed robbery of the Carole Park Post Office at 2pm. The man has been charged with attempted armed robbery with violence, wounding, wilful damage, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, bringing stolen goods to Queensland, stealing, robbery with violence, driving unlicensed and driving under the influence of a drug. Investigations are continuing.
Police were out in force on Gregory Terrace around midday today [6/7/07], with a breathalizer on the Brisbane Girls Grammar School side, and a speed camera on the other.
Now Thursday Is Illegal Parking Day In Bradley Street
Captured 5/4/07 - Around 3.30pm
As previously reported, last week Wednesday was illegal parking day in Bradley Street, this week it's Thursday!
Street Light In Bradley Street Busted
The street light at the top of Bradley Street has been mysteriously smashed. This afternoon [5/4/07] I noticed pieces of plastic along the footpath, so have done a Council "fix-o-gram", and will let you know the outcome! So far, the "fix-o-gram" has proven to be an efficient way of arranging for the disposal of possums and bats who meet an untimely demise on encountering the powerline.
*UPDATE* The Brisbane City Council advised me to direct my enquiry to Energex (who look after street lights), so I'll let you know how I go!
*SECOND UPDATE* More than 7 days later [15/4/07] and the light is yet to be repaired.
*THIRD UPDATE* Today [16/4/07] light is fixed, although no standing sign is still squeee wiff!
Wesley To Get Another Wing
