The Brisbane Bantam goes bonkers … and on the local scene, Desperate David Moyle takes the bait.

And head-butted: Terry Butts socks it to the pompous poohbahs of Queensland Racing  with a legal  win.

… and The Astonisher gives the ratepayers the finger yet again, - could it be to keep a major national advertiser on side?

Typo Gleeson employed crims as columnists at the Gold Coast Bulletin ... did he know about their drugs and money laundering? 

And what next, we’ve heard of special undies for LBL (ahem,  that would be ... ummm ... Light Bladder Leakage) now some smarty pants has invented farty pants. Fair dinkum. details for the curry and beer crowd.

A beauty from cartoonist Bentley and all sorts of goss from all sorts of places here in the nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

Transit Townsville: some hitherto unreported - and surprising - comings and goings – and one notable leapfrogging of the ‘Ville.

With that in mind, The ‘Pie poses a few questions:

What do Bill Shorten and Bob Katter have in common?

Why are illegal boat people posing a safety issue for the Townsville community?

Why has News Corp further down graded its Townsville operation – in favour of Cairns?

Also, herding cats – why is the Townsville City Council wasting more than $100,000 in a pointless exercise in bureaucracy?

Why has David Moyle exposed himself as a self-seeking barefaced liar?

And the quiet, unreported departure of one of Townsville’s best known public figures … all answered here in the nest this week at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

As promised, a Magpie mid-week special examining the validity of the specially commissioned report into the benefit of the V8 event's value to the Townsville community.

The Magpie does not expect this post to break any box office records, but the following information and consequent argument is published as a matter of record, unlikely to be published anywhere else. It involves questions of public money and proper governance. And frankly, that is the old bird's only interest in the issue.

For those who want to, they can make up their own minds

The V8 event is a done deal, to which The Magpie is wholly indifferent (good advertising for the city, though), but the old bird is always interested in transparency when it comes to the ratepayer dollar. So the initial reluctance for the council to release the report, and its author’s continuing refusal to fully disclose both the data and methodology he used to reach what is a most favorable conclusion for the principal commissioning organization, requires the information to be easily and publicly available for independent scrutiny. There are just two links following at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

The Return of the White Shoe Brigade – is a new proposed project for Via Vomitorium just a front for trouble-beset Jarrod McCracken?

The Magpie will show evidence of just how trouble beset the former Townsville high flyer is.

Also EXCLUSIVE - and it really is! - The Magpie gets a look at an hitherto secret Townsville Council report into the benefits of the V8s - and it raises more questions than gives answers.

 … and want to get the ear of the phonephobic councillor Les Walker? – the South Koreans have an idea tailor-made for ol’ Messagebank. That and lots of other bric-a-brac in this week’s nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au

Those damn numbers just keep coming: buttock puckering time for two big North Queensland sliders whose fortunes continue to fade.

The final count shows The Mad Katter looks to have used up eight of the feline’s allotted nine lives – he’s squeaked home in Kennnedy, possibly for the last time.

And the Townsville Bulletin remains in the death roll, joyfully being again chomped by those nasty people at circulation.

But that hasn’t stopped the Astonisher again resorting to sneer and smear with a snide little story of which they, and reporter Daniel Bateman should put up o shut - except to apologise.

And in among the other bibs and bobs is a shaggy dog story about a dwarf with a lisp that you’ll be telling all your friends, all here in the nest at www.townsvillemagpie.com.au