'NOTHER day, another stabbing' seems to be the standard line for the morning news these days, a sad indictment of the way of life inflicted on our big cities.
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Hardly surprising with extreme views and exposure to violence so prevalent in society, often disguised as entertainment, and even more importantly the easy availability of hideous looking hunting and rnamental' knives with no apparent useful purpose outside the African jungle available over the counter at so many outlets.
When an ex Marine left Lithgow High School some years ago to resume teaching in New York he told the column how things had changed.
Students and teachers alike had to walk through metal detectors to attend school but realised it was for their own safety. No argument.
In Australia the civil libertarians are crying foul at the demands for NSW to give police more scanning powers as they have in Queensland (and all airports).
It's no imposition on anyone with nothing to hide so let's get on with it.
And set an age and permit system for 'hunting knife' purchases.
A worried community demands nothing less and the morning news will manage to survive on politics. And, sadly, domestic violence and gangland shootings.
There's too much of that too.
Doing what pigeons do best
PIGEONS are not known for their sanitary habits but the feathered fiends have excelled themselves with the vast layer of droppings on the footpath on the busy corner of Main Street and Sandford Avenue, next to Dimmeys.
It's unhealthy and another disgusting example of just how little attention Council gives to what's going on in our CBD. And while the Tatt clean up is not a Council responsibility, the old entrance alcove at Tatts Hotel is another blight on the city's image with its festoons of pigeon pollution drooping down the walls - again.
One for Paul
NOT just Council dropping the ball in terms of responsibility, there's concern at the worsening undergrowth in the Lithgow Street property acquired by the NSW Government for a new central fire station and training centre.
The site was always neatly maintained in private ownership but seems the funding provided in the State Budget doesn't include grass cutting and the weeds are now even spreading across the footpath. One for Paul Toole.
Hassans Walls Reserve
PROBABLY nowhere else in Australia would take such a casual approach to a God given treasure like Hassans Walls Reserve.
The highest and most panoramic lookout in the Mountains region is a huge attraction with visitors from around the world and while there has been much improvement over the years.
The most obvious problem is the road where fine, blinding dust coats everything in fine weather and where the need for grading is all too often something for tomorrow or the next month or so.
Overflowing litter bins are a constant source of criticism, but that's a story for another day.
One for the ages
A rare open day at 'Cooerwull', the Bowenfels home of Lithgow's first European settler, Andrew Brown, drew a crowd for the 200 year anniversary at the weekend.
