Bushranger

Rides Harley, can sew

SPOTLIGHT has just opened a new store at the Jape Homemaker centre. They’ve got more craft supplies than you can point a knitting needle at. It’s proven a hit with handicraft fans. The store is also attracting unlikely new customers, such as the bikie spotted there last weekend stocking up on skull-andcrossbones and Australian flag fabric.

#The Last Post

AS thousands of people stood in silent contemplation at Anzac Day Dawn services, Darwin's most prolific instagrammer Lord Mayor Katrina Fong-Lim was spotted with her phone out, taking a video of The Last Post for her Instagram account. “It always gets to me,” she wrote. #wethinkitsabittasteless

Rob is really Cross

A FEW weeks back, Bushranger reported that the scrooges at ABC Darwin had chosen not to renew their CBD parking permits. Staff are livid about such penny pinching, which is forcing them to carry around loose change to buy parking tickets. News editor Rob Cross was livid at his reporters’ grudges being reported to Bushranger, and reportedly spent several hours trying to get the mole to come forward. Bushranger welcomes tips on 8944 9765 and always protects his sources.

Concrete testimony

LAST week, the who’s-who of the NT legal establishment gathered to bid farewell to Supreme Court Chief Justice Trevor Riley. The court was full to the brim with legal royalty, including High Court Chief Justice Rob-

WORST PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

ert French. Chief Justice Riley found time amid the formalities to take a swipe at John Elferink over the NT’s ever-stricter sentencing regime. More amusingly, incoming Chief Justice Michael Grant SC was outed as being one of the three co-conspirators behind an infamous prank. Years back, Mr Grant and two fellow legal eagles found a garden gnome which bore a striking resemblance to Chief Justice Riley. With some paint, they made the resemblance even better. Under the cover of darkness, they then concreted the gnome into the Chief Justice’s front yard as a birthday present.

Riley the redhead

BUSHRANGER also recalls a story that starts with some young Darwin lawyers looking after a well-known Darwinite’s red kelpie, while she was away on holiday. The dog was coincidentally named ‘Riley’. Thinking the dog’s hair was close in colour to the Chief Justice’s, the young lawyers started calling the dog ‘Trevor’. By the time the owner returned from holidays, the dog responded to both ‘Trevor’ and ‘Riley’.

What a Phoney!

THERE was an unusual number of people in court this week charged with forgery. Among those to appear on the Darwin Magistrates Court list on this unusual charge was a Ms Phoneyiem. We would have loved to have seen the look police gave her they asked for her name. “Sorry you said P-H-ON-E-Y ...?” She’ll be back in court on June 10.

What a croc!

WE know not everyone shares our unbridled enthusiasm for crocodile yarns, but Bush- ranger does have to question the news judgment of our friends down the road at the Katherine Times. We would’ve thought Katherine local Peter Rowsell’s tale of fending off a crocodile would’ve made the front page. Alas, it was relegated to a brief on page 11 under the banner of ‘late breaking news’. Considering the attack happened on Monday morning and the Times’ deadline is Tuesday afternoon, we’re not sure what was going on in the newspaper offices in Katherine Tce.

Keep it simple, stupid

THE latest edition of the NT Centre for Disease Control bulletin contained an insightful look into the creative process. CDC staff were asked for their input on a new slogan for an awareness campaign about melioidosis. Some of the failed lines include “Melioid; the bug that lives in the mud”, and Bushie’s favourite “stay out of the bog when you’ve been on the grog”. Eventually, the team settled on the tag line “Don’t get melioidosis”. Catchy.

Back to school

BUSHIE knows those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, but the constant spelling and grammatical errors in Education Minister Peter Chandler’s press releases are getting a bit out of control. Bushranger suspects the appointment of new media adviser James Perrin a few weeks ago might have something to do with the mistakes. It’s not a great look when the Education Minister apparently doesn’t know the difference between “loose” and “lose”. Perhaps it’s time to go back to school, to scrub up on those grammar basics.