Courthouse sweating bullets as airconditioning unit fails on stinker of a day

USUALLY it is the criminals sweating in the Toowoomba Courthouse dock but yesterday the magistrates, lawyers and clerks took their turn at perspiring profusely when the building’s airconditioning failed.

The malfunction forced the magistrates to shed their silken gowns, but lawyers held true to style and kept their ties and designer suits.

Rat attack

A RANGEVILLE family’s notoriously brutal cat brought a particularly large rat into the home in the early hours one morning this week, as they discovered several days later.

“He makes a certain trill sound when he’s got something in his mouth. It could be anything, but he sounded particularly proud on that night,” the homeowner recounted to Whispers.

“It was 2am so I thought he’d just eat it.”

Unfortunately, the cat was derelict in his duty on this evening and after having a nibble, decided it wasn’t the sweetest tasting rat he’d caught, and so left it under a toddler’s bed.

Over the next few days, Toowoomba, and the possumsized rat, baked under a heatwave.

And so Whispers’ informant returned home on Thursday afternoon to the sweet smell of death permeating his house.

He followed his nose to the offending carcass, which now resembled a fluffy balloon more than a rat.

Despite rousing on the cat, it did not learn its lesson and later that night deposited another rodent in the same place.

Unexpected christening

IT was the long-awaited opening of Carnival Lane yesterday.

Dignitaries assembled, the media was there.

Mayor Paul Antonio was holding forth, telling everyone how Carnival Lane was to remain a land mark “well into the future”.

Unfortunately, one of those in the crowd was focused on more present issues, and took ill, spewing over the freshly laid pavement.

“I thought we’d be waiting until early Saturday morning for the laneway to be christened,” quipped Whispers’ informant.