Kiwis beat lockdown boredom by tackling DIY projects
I'll go first: my husband and I have just survived a major renovation so we're down to touch-ups and final details. Sharon Stephenson Sharon Stephenson has been making the most of her lockdown time with home DIY projects. "We bought this house 14 months ago and are in the middle of a major renovation," admits Singh. Singh's plans for the lockdown include stripping seven layers of lead paint from the exterior walls of their home. "We can get a lot done ourselves so we certainly won't be sitting around bored during the lockdown."
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 16:52 UTC
Dress-ups, comedy and sing-alongs at coronavirus street party
One Taranaki neighbourhood is embracing the coronavirus lockdown with a daily street party. ANDY JACKSON/STUFF From left Aaron Hine, Kohan Hine, Rach Hine, and Solae Hine. READ MORE:* Coronavirus: Full coverage* Coronavirus: Spin bikes dropped to homes before lockdown helps people keep spinning* Coronavirus: Hamilton residents raise a glass to community spirit* Coronavirus: Lockdown prompts extension of environment plan appealsAnd the fun part is guaranteed with nightly entertainment from the residents. ANDY JACKSON/STUFF Dress up night, Kohan Hine struts the footpath showing off his outfit. ANDY JACKSON/STUFF Dress up night, from left Chip and Maggie Rangi.
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 16:52 UTC
Finding a silver lining to lockdown
Derek Burrows has been enjoying spending time with his step-daughter's 15-month-old Natie during lockdown. Opinion: A four-week lockdown to counter the growing threat of Covid-19 can be a bit of a challenge but it can also throw up some amazing benefits. Natie and our ginger moggy, Flynn, have, I think it's fair to say, a somewhat guarded relationship. Natie, in turn, treats Flynn with much more consideration and the cat only retreats when the stroking becomes unwittingly over-enthusiastic. It could be said the relationship has progressed so much that Natie now has Flynn literally eating out of his hand.
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
Our cohesive society will help us cope with crisis
Karl du Fresne: ''New Zealand is better placed than most countries to deal with this crisis. We're an intimate, cohesive society with a strong sense of communal solidarity.'' ■ The Covid-19 crisis truly merits the adjective "epochal". ■ Even within my own social sphere, I'm aware of people having to cope with painful personal consequences arising from Covid-19. MONIQUE FORD / STUFF Jacinda Ardern and her top-tier team have handled the crisis commendably enough to almost guarantee a second term.
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
The Homicide Report: Understanding NZ's killers
The Homicide Report, a major Stuff investigation, has obtained new police data that reveals the types of people who kill in New Zealand. It aims to provide the public with a greater insight into the issue of homicide in New Zealand. READ MORE:* The Homicide Report: Full analysis* Jeremy Powell named as man accused of killing Angela Blackmoore 25 years ago* The Homicide Report: An unprecedented and ongoing record of our biggest social problems* The Homicide Report gives a detailed account of gun violence in New ZealandSUYEON SON The Homicide Report examines in depth why New Zealanders kill. The Homicide Report database now encompasses 1125 people – 301 women, 627 men and 197 young people – killed between January 2004 to December 31, 2019. HOW WE BUILT THE DATABASEThe Homicide Report is an extension of Stuff's award-winning Faces of Innocents project, an investigation into child abuse, neglect and maltreatment in New Zealand.
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
Belated recognition for Ngani Laumape's 2019 form welcomed
OPINION: At long last Ngani Laumape has locked down the No 12 jersey in a New Zealand rugby team. All hail to the 2020 Almanack editors for excluding the two untouchables at second five-eighth, Ryan Crotty and Sonny Bill Williams. DAVID UNWIN/STUFF Laumape only played a handful of games for the Turbos in 2019, but his impact was enormous. That's a pity because May was to herald 150 years of rugby in New Zealand, all in a year when New Zealand Rugby was in the midst of a tumultuous review. The editorial said it seemed strange that World Cup rights-holders, Spark Sport, would pay a guesstimated $13 million and could not guarantee a seamless service.
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
Science could have saved us from hindsight
Bill Gates delivered a Ted Talk five years ago in which he said the most likely threat facing humanity was not a nuclear war but a global pandemic. The Global Health Security (GHS) index grades countries on their pandemic preparedness. New Zealand's grade is 54 out of 100, putting us 35th in terms of pandemic preparedness. You might say hindsight is a good thing but the whole point here is that we have science so that we do not have to rely on hindsight. The science of an unknown respiratory coronavirus was always very clear: time is of the essence, act early or suffer severe societal and economic impacts.
Source:Stuff
April 01, 2020 15:45 UTC
Reconfigured domestic tourism critical to recovery
Having a careful think about developing domestic tourism, long somewhat overlooked and underestimated, is an important exercise for the country’s long-term recovery, says Dr Julia Albrecht, a senior lecturer in the University of Otago tourism department. "We know that domestic tourism is worth a lot of money." By contrast, annual domestic tourism amounted to $23.7 billion — which was $65 million each day. Given climate change challenges, domestic tourism also offered other advantages, including a smaller carbon footprint than the long-distance air travel often linked to international tourism. As international tourism had fallen away, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had earlier urged New Zealanders to explore their own backyard.
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
Crucial jobs only for sweep
Extreme Clean Chimney Clean founder Jay McPhee out on a job this week. "We’ve had two chimney fires in the South lately ... a bird’s nest and a blackberry growing in another. However, when asked if chimney sweeps were an essential service during the Covid-19 shutdown, Ms Chesterfield was unable to clarify. Extreme Clean Chimney Clean founder Jay McPhee, of Dunedin, said he was not allowed to work unless it was to provide a service to prevent a safety hazard. Is your fire smoking, is it not running properly, has it been more than a year?’ and got that information back and weeded out 300 jobs down to 20."
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
Contest gets lungs pumping
Sport Clutha regional co-ordinator Craig Gordon urges son Hadlee (6) to chalk up some distance towards the district's new Lockdown Challenge near their Lovells Flat home yesterday. PHOTO: RICHARD DAVISONA new sporting challenge has already produced some friendly local rivalry in South Otago. Sport Clutha regional co-ordinator Craig Gordon launched the organisation’s Lockdown Challenge late last week, and said the district’s competitive juices already appeared to be flowing fast. "We’ve just created a wee challenge for children, families, anyone at all, pitting town against town. Mr Gordon said he would award spot prizes and a grand prize for the winning team at the challenge’s conclusion.
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
Hospital build could employ laid-off staff
"Companies are laying people off but that gives us an opportunity to fill that labour gap,’’ Mr McGowan said. The idea came about after conversations with a Dunedin law firm, Mr McGowan said. Getting locals to try fill the likely shortfall in hospital build workers would also help the issue of housingas part of the rebuild. Employers were keen to ensure staff they had to let go had something to go to, Mr McGowan said. Mr McGowan said there was about $16 billion worth of infrastructure projects that needed to happen around Otago.
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
Poison drop to stop predation of kiwi
Department of Conservation rangers monitoring kiwi chicks in the remote south of Fiordland are pinning their hopes on a planned aerial 1080 poison bait drop this month to stop the repeated carnage by stoats. In the 2017-18 breeding season 10 chicks were monitored and all were known or suspected to have been killed by stoats. In this last breeding season, 10 chicks were monitored and nine were suspected or known to have been killed by stoat predation. Mr Raemaekers said it could be a year or more before stoats reinvaded an area following a 1080 drop. Kea were also being monitored on the same peninsulas as part of the project to see how they responded to the 1080 drop.
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
University halls take up challenge
Survivor fan Oscar Sergel-Stringer, who has dreamed up Carrington College’s version of the popular television show, shows how to tackle a balancing challenge yesterday. PHOTO: CHRISTINE O’CONNORMany students at the University of Otago’s Carrington College have been buzzing with the challenge of Survivor-style mind games during the coronavirus lockdown. "It’s a challenge, everyone’s excited about it, almost everyone’s getting in to it," collegiate community leader Oscar Sergel-Stringer, who dreamed up the Carrington challenge, said. College head Ali Norton said 84 students among the college’s 240 residents had remained on site during the lockdown. On Monday, 28 of the residents began their own version of the Survivor TV shows, dubbed "Carrington College Survivor".
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
Milking continues as normal
The Natural Dairy co-owner Bethan Moore has been increasing home deliveries of the company’s organic milk. PHOTO: GUS PATTERSONCows have no idea there is a pandemic, Natural Dairy co-owner Bethan Moore says. The 12-cow organic dairy farm in Alma, near Oamaru, is continuing production and selling milk locally. In normal times, the dairy delivered 1000 litres of milk a week throughout Otago, but now operations had been restricted to the farm shop and local deliveries. Many who had milk delivered were elderly, and Mrs Moore said she was delivering a few extra essentials to save them leaving their homes.
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC
Skinks shifted to enhance survival
A 1g skink named Tiny Tim is proof of a nationally critical species’ translocation success in Fiordland. PHOTO: DOCWeighing only one gram, Tiny Tim — a Te Kakahu skink — is living proof of a nationally critical species’ translocation success. Among them was Tiny Tim. "We actually found them on an additional tiny, tiny island. It was still an island, but it was really, really small.
Source:Otago Daily Times
April 01, 2020 15:33 UTC