Town &
5th January 2023
CountryJournal TV Guide inside! p.8
p.10
p.24
Toowoomba-based Cloe Terare was named the 2022 Billy Thorpe Scholarship winner at the Woodford Folk Festival.
A tribute from the family of Denis Ryan of Greymare and Warwick.
Gerard Walsh covers the races, Saturday’s parkrun and more in this week’s edition.
Rodeo tragedy Staff reporters
A
coroner’s report will be prepared on the death of a 25-year-old man at the New Year’s Eve Rodeo at the Warwick Showgrounds. The man, believed to be from Northern New South Wales, was riding in the novice bull rice event, and sustained serious injuries after the man’s mount apparently trampled on him after he was dislodged. Witnesses say the man was wearing a helmet and
protective vest as per health and safety requirements, but the force of the bull’s hind legs nevertheless caused serious damage to the amateur rider’s chest. He was treated by paramedics on site, then rushed to the Warwick Hospital, only a few hundred metres from the Showgrounds, but died not long after. The journey to hospital was marked with drama, when the ambulance carrying the man became stuck in the sludge, with onlookers and rodeo officials rushing to help push the vehicle out of the bog.
The young man was not a regular on the show circuit, but as required for entry to the novice division, held a ‘day membership’ to the National Rodeo Association. The young man, whose name has not been released at the time of writing, is understood to have a young family, with money raised at the National Rodeo Association Junior Rodeo going to assist his family. “The management committee of the Warwick Show and Rodeo Society Inc extends their deepest condolences to the family and
friends of the competitor,” the Warwick Show and Rodeo Society said in an official statement, calling for privacy for the family during the days ahead.
A view from the stands of the New Year’s Rodeo at the Warwick Showgrounds.
Pumping money into dams
Leslie gets an extra 1% effective capacity, as minister admits there is no Plan B Staff reporters
W
hile the Emu Swamp Dam may have hit another boggy patch on the road to completion, water infrastructure hasn’t completely fallen off
the priority list, with the state government announcing the completion of Sunwater upgrades to the Leslie Dam intake pump station. Three 55-year-old pumps, pipework and an electrical switchboard that are literally as old as the dam itself, were completed in
time for Christmas. While the new equipment comes at a time when Leslie is still close to brimming (97.94% as we go to press, a long way from its historic low of 3.44% back in February 1995), it happens to come at a
time when we are relatively short of electricity—so the new pumps, while delivering more oomph, will be more energy efficient, and increase the ability to eke more out of the dam during big dries. Continued on page 3...
Murder by motor car?
T
here have been a couple of extraordinar y stories lately that appear to be about drivers using their vehicles as a weapon, including one
that is literally close to home. A 30-year-old man has been charged over an incident in Millmerran where a 55-year-old man suffered critical injuries on Christmas night. The man died at the scenes, with police taking the younger
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man into custody a short time later. Police will allege the 30-year-old deliberately drove into his victim, identified as Russell Klein, a well known rugby league E warwick@rfsteelbuildings.com.au identity in the town.
(07) 46 619 835
Continued on page 3...
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Popular footballing identity ‘deliberately’ mown down Staff reporters
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