Gun ownership on the increase
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Initially more than a little nervousness was created at On the Pulse this week when The Northern Daily Leader reported a significant rise in the number of registered guns in Inverell Shire over the last five years.
On the Pulse is absolutely certain this increase can simply be put down to more people out there shooting at stuff.
Any suggestion a 21 per cent rise in people taking up arms can be proportionally linked to the cumulative effect of constant exposure to On the Pulse, is a nebulous observation at best.
Half the population like attending clubs
On the Pulse was left salivating to the edge of a full blown drool as it read ClubsNSW’s description of why more than 50 per cent of New England and Northern Tablelands club goers actually visit their clubs.
It’s the food.
“Chargrilled lime and chilli rubbed pork cutlet, peperonata pasta with capsicum herb sauce or the snapper fillet on a bed of fresh greens.”
See now, dear reader, what On the Pulse had to contend with?
Apparently the days of a pork chop with veges, spag bol and fish and chips (with a classy wedge or two of lemon) are gone. The figures came from a ClubsNSW survey of more than 2000 people over February and March.
Improved bistro services, good value for meals and drinks and exceptional customer service (45 per cent) were cited as other important factors for the enjoyment of the club experience.
Alas, no mention of poker machines.
Mixing up sheep with the cattle
On the Pulse sends a thank you out to a helpful reader who picked up there were sheep mixed up in the police alert on July 28 about some missing Hereford heifers.
Some days, we’re chasing our tail so hard we look a little like one of those old cartoons when the dog turns into a blurry brown donut.
If we had been a little more attentive, we might have picked up while we were typing the release nearly verbatim as fast as our fingers could rattle the keys, the NSW police Rural Crime Unit did raise an appeal for anybody who has sighted these “missing sheep”. Albeit, very large, red and white sheep that bawl instead of baa.
Finally, good news for some politicians
Now modes of travel and politicians have combined to make plenty of news lately. But this week there was some better news, and plenty of pollies from our neck of the woods were jumping up and down with excitement on Monday when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that Armidale would be the watchdog’s third ‘deep dive’ regional fuel price market study.
State MP Adam Marshall took up the matter last year, and recruited the assistance of local senator Wacka Williams to assist in the cause.
Mr Marshall said a concerted community campaign and the intervention of Wacka, forced the ACCC to eventually conduct an investigation late last year and early this year.
But the first MP to send out a press release on Monday to welcome the news was neither Wacka nor Adam. Nope. BJ beat them to it.
“Fuel prices play an important role in our daily lives,” said the federal member for New England, welcoming the news.
“The cost of freight to and from our region, the stock from our saleyards and the grain from our silos all rely on competitive price inputs.”