The front page on this day in 1989 reported of horror stories circulating around Canberra, warning people of the city's relentless and ruthless parking inspectors.
One story which made its rounds around the city was of a man who idled his car at the side of the road, waiting for the opportunity to make a U-turn.
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Before he got one, his windscreen was slapped with a parking ticket. He had idled his car next to a red-painted curb.
Another piece of speculation regarding Canberra's merciless inspectors was that the ACT government, in an attempt to gain more funds, passed down an order that parking inspectors should be twice as tough as they were already.
Many people disbelieved the story - not because it was far-fetched, but because parking inspectors could not possibly be any faster than they already were.
It would be physically impossible for them to write more tickets as they seemed to have some kind of super-speed ability.
But according to the manager of ACT parking operations, Ross Baker, the inspectors were just doing their jobs the same way they always had.
Despite public beliefs there was an army of hundreds of inspectors prowling the streets for their next unsuspecting victims, he insisted there were less than 40 inspectors out and about at one time.
He raised concerns that inspectors were receiving more abuse than usual.
"Our inspectors are simply doing a job, and some people see it as the source of all their woes," he said.
But the figures did show that over the four years prior, the annual income from fines grew from about $2 million to $8 million a year.
