Thursday, 13 January, 2022
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Food flying off shelves
How they got their crowns
In the thick of the action
Casey’s Spin on sport
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20 years in our service Former Southern Downs Mayor Peter Blundell passed away just before 3am on 24 December after a very short battle with cancer. His funeral was held in Stanthorpe on Wednesday 5 January. He is survived by his wife Charlie, whom he married on 11 September last year. STORY PAGE 3
A look back While many would no double love to forget the year we’ve just had, 2021 still held times to delight and surprise, as well as testing our resilience in ways that require more than just a nasal swab. We ran the full range of weather from drought to flood, we celebrated great achievements and community events - and we took stock of what we really valued. We take a look back in this edition at the high points and the challenges. Write to us and let us know what you remembered most. STORIES PAGES 13-16, 21-24
Blow to region’s shows Rising rates of Omicron infection have caused upcoming agriculture shows to take drastic action, with at least one cancelled while others postpone. The Stanthorpe Show, the first 2022 show in the state, announced
late last week that they would be postponing. Other shows in the region have made announcements regarding their events too. Read more on page 5
Covid case surge new cases on Tuesday 11 January. With over 100,000 cases in the state, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath stated on Tuesday 11 January that they expected a large number of cases to be going unreported. “We do expect that is an under-reporting,“ she said. “There are many other people in the com-
munity who are showing symptoms who have not either registered their tests or have come forward for PCR tests at this stage.“ Over the weekend, the region’s numbers increased steadily, however, case numbers are expected to be higher across the state due to Rapid Antigen Test shortages, PCR testing wait times, and four testing centres being down
earlier in the week. A Darling Downs Health (DDH) spokesperson stated that the symptoms for Covid-19 regardless of variant remain the same - fever, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, vomiting or nausea, loss of smell and/or taste, cough, shortness of breath, headache and diarrhoea. STORY PAGE 4
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In almost three weeks, Covid-19 cases in the Southern Downs region have risen to almost 300. Cases were confirmed in the region prior to Christmas, with 16 cases documented in the region on 27 December. At the time of print, there were 290 cases in the community. The state announced 20,566
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