EAST GATE: THE ROUTE IS REAL NOW

Mick Sorensen's grader came past the store before eight on Wednesday. By mid-morning the east gate track was done — three hours, clean job, finished. The circulating version attributes the whole arrangement to Clarrie Burton, which is plausible, and the route is now understood to be Bicentenary infrastructure, which puts it beyond dispute.

What is not beyond dispute — but what several people have chosen to make notable — is that Ray Connelly had the gate open when Mick arrived. Not opened when Mick knocked. Open. Ready. The observation being circulated is simply: he was ready. This paper will not overwrite that with commentary. It stands better on its own.

At Tuesday's planning session, Deb Forsythe put "Connelly (east gate) — Mick Sorensen" on the site map in red. Red pen means confirmed. Bruce Patterson read it and nodded. The route now has a name and a contractor and a colour on Deb's map, and it got there without a single raised voice.

Priya Sharma was in her usual chair from eight minutes in, which is as close to a permanent fixture as anything in this district.

TASH BRIGGS: TEN MINUTES, GREEN PEN, DONE

Natasha Briggs was seen walking toward Deb Forsythe's house at five o'clock Friday afternoon. She had nothing with her on the way in and nothing on the way out. She was inside for under ten minutes.

Friday evening, someone walking past Deb's window observed her writing on the master list. Green pen. Deb Forsythe does not use green for provisional items.

This paper has carried Tash's name since Edition 25, has watched her build something from one table and a good product, and is not surprised. What she said to Deb, or what conditions she may have attached — this is genuinely unknown, and the competing versions (she said yes; she said yes with conditions) have no confirmed origin. Both are entirely consistent with Tash.

What is confirmed: something is now green on Deb Forsythe's master list.

THE GOVERNMENT VEHICLE DOES NOT RETURN: AN INTERPRETATION

The Department vehicle did not come back this week. The town has formed a view: whatever was needed has been done, and Priya is staying.

Nobody has asked Priya directly. The town is agreed that this is a form of respect. The town is equally agreed that it is a form of waiting. Both things are true and Redgum Hollow is comfortable holding them simultaneously.

This paper will note only that Priya keeps turning up to things — to Tuesday sessions, to Macca's pub on occasion, to whatever the district puts in front of her. That is its own answer, and perhaps a more reliable one than any official correspondence.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor,
Just wanted to say the east gate track is a proper job. Mick does good work. Clarrie had the measurements right before I even got there. I won't say more than that.
— B. Patterson, Redgum Hollow

Marge,
Some of us have noticed the government car business and we think the sensible thing is to let Dr Sharma get on with it without making a fuss. She's here, she's good, and she doesn't need the district staring at her. That's all.
— Name withheld, as always you know who I am

(Ed. — I do. And I agree, which I don't say often.)

Dear Marge,
Clarrie Burton was on that bench at past nine Saturday night. I walked past with the dog and he was just sitting there in the cold. He didn't seem troubled. He seemed like a man who had decided something. I didn't disturb him.
— A. Reeve, Quarry Road

AROUND THE DISTRICT

Winter is staying. Morning frost on the flat, smoke from chimneys from seven. The tank gauges are not improving.

Fourteen rolls Monday at the café, gone by ten-fifteen — five minutes faster than the previous Monday. The trend is its own headline. Lorraine has not commented.

Forty-one through the Royal on bye-round Saturday. Down slightly on last week, which is what bye rounds do. Macca ran the night without visible concern.

Clarrie Burton, Saturday night, the bench, after dark, in the cold. Working something out, the town says. The town is probably right.

Bruce Patterson is well.