Beer Garden

[Nort]

Ask the Greens about that one.

They shut down the refineries and the coal fired power stations.

Just curious, can you let me know when the Greens were in power?

[The Scooter Guy]

Channel 9 Adelaide (NWS-9) turns 60 this month!

[The Scooter Guy]

Community Support is what kept everything in Adelaide afloat.

And now one has the god-damned nerve to pull off blasphemy like this:

Windmill Educational Toys and Equipment to close Norwood branch unless someone buys it

It’s game over for a toy store that has served Adelaide’s east for 35 years — unless it finds a new buyer before Christmas.

A long-standing Adelaide toy shop is on the brink of closure after 35 years in business.
Windmill Educational Toys and Equipment at Norwood has announced with “much regret” it will close its doors at Christmas unless it can find a buyer.
The company, which started in Melbourne in 1977, opened The Parade shop in 1984.
Windmill owners Annabel and Roger Richards are retiring but their daughter has taken over the Melbourne shop.
“It’s been a marvellous business for that length of time,” Mr Richards, 79, said of the Norwood outlet’s 35 years of trade.
“There’s an enormous opportunity there for somebody who has got some passion and who knows the industry.”
He said the sale deal would be on a “walk-in, walk-out” basis, including all stock.
The shop employs four staff, including manager Therese Kennedy, who has been working for Windmill since 2013.
She said the shop had loyal customers representing different generations of the same family.
If Windmill closes the only toy shop left on The Parade would be Kidstuff.


Bethany-Kate, 5, on a slippery slide with Winnie the Pooh at the Windmill toy shop in 1986.

[Nathan]

god-damned nerve to pull off blasphemy

It's not like the store is going under due to lack of support, the article clearly states that the owners are retiring.

[rev]

Two pretty damn good signs from the climate protests today

[rev]

Adelaide’s desalination plant will be fired up over summer to aid drought-stricken River Murray

South Australia’s “virtually unused” $2.2 billion desalination plant will be fired up to help drought efforts across the country after the State Government struck a deal with the Federal Government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinted at the deal today as he revealed the Federal Government would be releasing 100 gigalitres of water along the Murray, with 40 gigalitres set to come from SA’s desal plant.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sou ... 2d0e228d34


About fucking damn time the thing was put to use.

[SRW]

It's an ok idea so long as it's not a diminution of South Australia's entitlements or at our cost (i.e. it remains SA's water security safeguard not substitute and the Commonwealth pays). But it's really just another diversion from the real issue that needs to be tackled, which is overallocation in upstream states, particularly NSW. The can can't be kicked down the road forever, else those farmers and communities will live in an unsustainable and ongoing cycle of torment.

The other side of the coin:
https://theconversation.com/three-reaso ... ant-100968

[SRW]

'How will the revival of Adelaide's desalination plant help drought-stricken farmers?' on ABC News

[rev]

SA’s hidden drought: SA farmers do it tough as focus stays on eastern states
Paula Thompson, Michelle Etheridge, Sunday Mail (SA)
November 9, 2019 6:30pm
Subscriber only

South Australia has experienced its driest October on record, providing no relief to the 4500 farms estimated to be drought-affected in the state.

While much of the focus is on drought in the eastern states, if you travel just 130km north from Adelaide to Robertstown, the bone-dry ground resembles the surface of Mars.

Jamestown stock agent Shannon Jaeschke said SA was suffering from a hidden drought and “nobody is talking about what’s happening here”.

In the state’s northeast, farmers have been forced to destock their properties for the past two years, with no feed being grown.

“We’d usually have 5000 lambs at each (bimonthly Jamestown) sale, but in the north of the state the lamb numbers just aren’t there to sell this year,” he said.

The State Government last year implemented nine family and business-support mentors to work with drought-affected families. Mentor Kay Matthias said many farmers were struggling, with 70 per cent of the state considered drought-affected in some way, accounting for an estimated 4500 farms.

“Farmers in SA are doing it tough, with the state’s year-to-date rainfall only 41 per cent of the normal average,” she said.

“But because the state’s rainfall has been so patchy, whereas the eastern states are in drought pretty well all over, the focus has tended to go towards those states.”

The extreme variability in SA is likely to translate into one of the state’s lowest grain harvests on record.

About 100km northeast of Adelaide at Sedan and Cambrai, farmers are expected to reap grain crops of half a tonne per hectare – about a quarter of the average.

Agricultural finance spe­cialist Rabobank has estimated the state will produce 5.7 million tonnes of grain this year – two million tonnes less than the five-year average and almost half of the 2016 season’s 11 million tonne-plus harvest. Rabobank senior grains analyst Cheryl Kalisch Gordon said that for many grain-producing regions this will be the third consecutive year of severely drought-affected production.

“This means that the tough times are getting tougher and the enduring impacts of the drought are getting longer,” she said.

South East stock agent Robin Steen, who travels across SA, said “patchy” was the best way to describe this season. “If you go north of Pinnaroo through to Loxton, it’s looking very ordinary,” he said.

“And if you go to the back of Eudunda, it’s looking very, very ordinary.”

Mr Steen also said there was a major issue looming for the state’s livestock sector when widespread rain finally arrived and farmers rush out to buy replacement stock, likely at highly inflated prices.

“Restocking, when it does rain, will be a huge problem,” he said.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business ... 640e72bdd0

[rev]

Go bush and spread some festive cheer

South Australia’s drought-affected regions are crying out for support in the lead up to Christmas, saying lending a hand can be as easy as spending extra time on a road trip, or buying food and gifts from local producers.

It comes as the SA Country Women’s Association has distributed $2.2 million in financial assistance to more than 700 farming families since August 2018. As the drought bites across the state, president Roslyn Schumann urged people to consider simple ways to help boost regions, including extending holidays to inject more money into communities.

“Joining in anything local going on, like Christmas pageants or markets that have been organised in towns really provides support and helps communities,” Mrs Schumann said.

Rural Business Support is helping direct emergency funds towards the families that need it most, and encouraged people to consider donating to the Country Women’s Association appeal.

It’s not only farming families that needed assistance, as the organisation’s fund for emergency aid – helping deal with crises such as domestic violence, redundancies and bill stress – begins to deplete.

South Australian Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex said regions relied heavily on the tourism, with the sector injecting $3.3 billion into country areas each year. “If you can’t take much time off over Christmas, why not consider a day trip to buy presents for friends and family?” he said. Mr Harrex also encouraged locals to attend events in their own backyard, including Rodeo by the Sea, in Streaky Bay on November 23, the Asian Le Mans Series at the Murray River, Lakes and Coorong from January 10-12 and Tunarama, in Port Lincoln from January 24-27.

Southern Flinders Tourism ‘n’ Tastes vice chair Sue Scarman encouraged people to stop off at tourist information centres, which usually stocked local produce.

They could also help by considering gift vouchers for regional stays, and buying food and fuel locally when on road trips rather than stocking up first at home.

Peterborough is hosting family day ‘North of the Line’ on Sunday November 17, featuring sports, children’s activities and the chance for people to meet staff from a host of services, including Rural Business Support and Red Cross.

One of the organisers, Hayley Trott, said the region was doing it “very tough”. She said people were reluctant to reach out to for help, believing other people were worse off – but the event would encourage them to seek support.

[HiTouch]

great idea

[gnrc_louis]

Another desal plant related opinion piece: https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2019/11/ ... -no-sense/

[rev]

With two emergency warning level fires burning today near Gawler and Cudlee Creek, although I hear the fire is now hitting Lobethal and properties have been lost, we've had to get fire bombing aircraft flown over from NSW.
NSW, where there is a mega fire burning for weeks now. NSW RFS, who have had their funding cut this year by tens of millions of dollars, are sending us fire fighting planes.

What a disgrace.

The former fire chiefs with their campaign, putting aside their PC climate change rhetoric, are 100% correct we need a national approach so that all states and territories have the resources and equipment able to fight fires. Whether you think it's all natural cycles of the planet or man made or helped along by mankind, whatever, it's an utter disgrace and shows how shambolic we are, when we need to get reinforcements from a state that's currently experiencing what NSW is.

We need more of those Boeing tankers that the NSW RFS has bought. When you look at the overall cost of buying it, and hiring a crew for 10 years, I think it was under $30 million in total, it's a very wise and cost effective investment.
We need those big Canadair tankers, that fly low and scoop up water.
More of the Ericson Skycranes.

I saw a photo recently from NSW, where they brought out a water carriage vehicle that looked like it was from the 1960's.

[rev]

https://twitter.com/timhatfield87/statu ... 9937351680

[SBD]

With two emergency warning level fires burning today near Gawler and Cudlee Creek, although I hear the fire is now hitting Lobethal and properties have been lost, we've had to get fire bombing aircraft flown over from NSW.
NSW, where there is a mega fire burning for weeks now. NSW RFS, who have had their funding cut this year by tens of millions of dollars, are sending us fire fighting planes.

What a disgrace.

The former fire chiefs with their campaign, putting aside their PC climate change rhetoric, are 100% correct we need a national approach so that all states and territories have the resources and equipment able to fight fires. Whether you think it's all natural cycles of the planet or man made or helped along by mankind, whatever, it's an utter disgrace and shows how shambolic we are, when we need to get reinforcements from a state that's currently experiencing what NSW is.

We need more of those Boeing tankers that the NSW RFS has bought. When you look at the overall cost of buying it, and hiring a crew for 10 years, I think it was under $30 million in total, it's a very wise and cost effective investment.
We need those big Canadair tankers, that fly low and scoop up water.
More of the Ericson Skycranes.

I saw a photo recently from NSW, where they brought out a water carriage vehicle that looked like it was from the 1960's.

FIre bombing aircraft are coordinated by the National Aerial Firefighting Centre. Are you working on any knowledge of how to fight fires in various terrain, or just "bigger is better"?

The radio this morning mentioned that the 50th rotation of SA fire fighters and equipment was departing for New South Wales. I guess SA is contributing in what we do well too.

Did the big air tanker actually get used today in SA, or were the conditions wrong for it? The smaller aircraft made 31 drops over the Angle Vale fire. I can't find aircraft information for any of the others, and never saw the large tanker on FlightRadar24 nor out the window, but was not watching all day. Where are there suitable expanses of water in SA to scoop up from a moving aircraft? Would they be able to use the South Para or Happy Valley Reservoirs, or any parts of the Murray River?