Baby survives crash that killed his parents
READ MORE:* Baby survives two-vehicle fatal crash as four die on Waikato roads* NZTA warns of 'summer ice' on roads* Child in critical condition in fatal crash as three die near WhangareiTOM LEE/STUFF The crash in Cambridge was one of four fatals that left five people dead in Waikato over the weekend. "I've always been huge on car seat safety, but [the seat] really did save the baby's life. A Waikato Hospital spokeswoman said the baby remained in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit on Sunday afternoon. TOM LEE/STUFF The crash between a ute and truck occurred on Cambridge Rd, following a 65kmh signposted corner. TOM LEE/STUFF Two adults lost their lives and a baby was left in critical condition after a crash near power pole in the foreground.
Source:Stuff
February 23, 2020 03:45 UTC
Mayor's quake apology will help grieving families 'in time'
Dalziel acknowledged the council had neglected its responsibility for preventing poorly designed buildings from being constructed, grieving brother David Selway said after the apology. Selway said the design of the Canterbury Television (CTV) building "didn't meet the bar", but the design had "slipped through". CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel earlier said she was "acutely aware" of how long the apology has taken. CTV families spokesman Professor Maan Alkaisi, whose wife Maysoon Abbas was killed in the collapse, said the apology was the "the right thing to do". Dean Smith came to the Christchurch earthquake memorial wall by himself for the first time on Saturday.
Source:Stuff
February 23, 2020 03:33 UTC
Mother and businesswoman Kim Girbin dies after health system failures
Kim Girbin, of Auckland, had to give up her two dogs because she became to ill to care for them. A woman who was let down by the health system has died after a courageous battle with bowel cancer. Aucklander Kim Girbin, 42, said her final goodbyes to her family and close friends on Saturday morning. David White/ Stuff Kim Girbin died on February 22 after a long battle with cancer. Supplied Friends of Kim Girbin paid tribute online to an inspirational businesswoman and great friend.
Source:Stuff
February 23, 2020 03:22 UTC
One person dead after two-car crash in Waikato
Police were called to the scene of the crash about 10.35am. One person has died and several people are injured after a two-car crash on Morrinsville-Tahuna Road, north of Morrinsville in Waikato. Four others had moderate to minor injuries, a police media spokesperson said. "Initial reports are that there have been serious injuries and the Serious Crash Unit is attending." Motorists are advised to avoid the area or expect delays.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 22:30 UTC
'Confused, lost' Kiwi arrives at Brazil hospital with no documents, clothes
The New Zealand Embassy in Brazil is working to repatriate a Kiwi man home after he arrived at a local hospital with little recall. Hospital staff in Rio de Janeiro are concerned for the wellbeing of a "confused" patient believed to be from New Zealand. The man, who training nurse Nayane Velasco estimated is aged between 45 and 50, arrived at Hospital Municipal Miguel Couto on February 5 with no documents or clothes. An English speaking doctor at the hospital was able to help the man communicate, but Velasco said he appeared "quite lost". Velasco said there is a chance the man had already been living on the street before coming to the hospital.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 20:48 UTC
High-dose MDMA: Police issue drugs warning
Police have warned that dangerous drugs are circulating. Photo: Getty ImagesPolice in Canterbury have issued a stark warning ahead of this weekend's Electric Avenue festival, telling festival-goers that killer drugs are circulating in the scene. He also said that police were concerned about the presence of high-dose MDMA (ecstasy), and dangerous cathinones (like N-ethylpentylone and eutylone) in the New Zealand music festival scene this year. The warning echoes previous alerts this summer about high-strength MDMA. On December 30, drug-related harm-reduction service Know Your Stuff issued a warning about dangerously high-dosage MDMA pills circulating the country.
Source:Otago Daily Times
February 21, 2020 19:18 UTC
SkyCity fire: 'Discrepancies' in Convention Centre consents before massive blaze
Fletcher Construction was ordered not to work on part of the unfinished SkyCity Convention Centre six months before a devastating fire ripped through the building. READ MORE:* SkyCity Convention Centre fire: 'Fundamental errors' in draft report* SkyCity Auckland Convention Centre fire: Firefighters officially finish working at the site* SkyCity convention centre fire: Engineering report did not plan for roof blazeDetails of the discrepancies came to light after Stuff obtained a notice, sent from the council to Fletcher Construction, under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF Charred debris strewn across the roof of the convention centre weeks after the fire. "Therefore, work relating to the car parking layouts on all car parking level may not proceed [...] until the resource consent is approved," he wrote. Mark White, a council resource consents manager, said the issue was not rectified before the fire.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 18:56 UTC
46,000-year-old bird discovered frozen in Siberia
The bird, identified as a horned lark, was found by miners in permafrost - ground that remains completely frozen for at least two years - in Siberia. Scientists have been given a rare look into an animal's past with the discovery of a 46,000-year-old bird. The bird, identified as a horned lark, was found by miners in permafrost - ground that remains completely frozen for at least two years - in Siberia. In the past the likes of mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, horses, bisons and wolverines, have been discovered in permafrost sites in the Arctic. In 2019, an 18,000-year-old puppy was discovered in permafrost in Siberia.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 18:45 UTC
Biggest Otago medal haul to Dunstan Arm
Dunstan Arm claimed the biggest haul, while the region’s RPC rowers also supplied a handful of placings at the national championships yesterday. Oamaru’s Mark Taylor, based out of the Southern RPC, claimed gold in the under-22 double sculls. Dunstan Arm claimed its first medal in the women’s club coxless quadruple sculls. Not to be outdone, Kirsty Mahoney and Daendie de Beer followed with a bronze in the women’s double sculls. In the men’s club coxless quadruple sculls, Wakatipu’s crew of Loic Billoud, Oliver Herron, Oliver Bisley and Charlie Campbell took bronze.
Source:Otago Daily Times
February 21, 2020 16:07 UTC
The real purpose of the NZ First Foundation: control
READ MORE:* Songs, jokes and serious fraud in New Zealand politics* Serious Fraud Office will investigate NZ First Foundation* NZ First foundation donations referred to SFO by police* NZ First donations scandal threatens to upend election yearDuring the three months leading up to any election, there is a cap on how much parties can spend. KEVIN STENT/STUFF NZ First leader Winston Peters fronts the media over the NZ First Foundation donation allegations. The National Party Foundation was set up in 2013. Its donations are treated as party donations by National and declared, even though they are not used for routine party spending. Peters first denied knowing anything about the NZ First Foundation, then denied that it had anything to do with the NZ First political party.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 16:00 UTC
Sir Russell Coutts to get back in New Zealand colours in SailGP expansion plans
A look at the increasing appeal of foiling catamaran racing on a global circuit initiated by Sir Russell Coutts. Kiwi yachting legend Sir Russell Coutts intends to have personal involvement with a New Zealand team in an expanded SailGP. GETTY IMAGES Sir Russell Coutts is keen to work New Zealand into his expanding SailGP empire. "Certainly one of my objectives is to have a New Zealand team competing," Coutts told Stuff. A 2022 SailGP entry for a New Zealand team would come after the glare of next year's America's Cup in Auckland.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Coronavirus is not our most pressing public health problem
AARON FAVILA/AP Coronavirus has been confirmed in the Philippines, which has adopted tight precautionary measures. From this point in the Kiwi summer, when drought and sunburn are pressing concerns, the misery of winter cold and flu season feels like something viewed from the wrong end of a telescope. Ah, America, where suburban life involves shovelling snow off the pavements in winter and there's no public health system. So far, no cases of novel coronavirus have been confirmed in New Zealand. But we need to treat our cold, damp housing like the public health emergency it is in order to prevent the deaths we know are coming.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
'Twisted logic' behind Hamilton City Council CEO pay rise
OPINION: Like many a resident of New Zealand's fourth largest metropolis, I had high hopes for the new Hamilton City Council. READ MORE:* $16K increase takes Hamilton City Council boss' pay to $469K* Highs and lows in Hamilton for 2019* Hamilton City Council to host mayoral debate and candidate session* Opinion: Who voted for Richard Briggs' $440k annual salary? TOM LEE/STUFF Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate said the pay rise had gone through a "robust" process. By what twisted logic then is Justin Trudeau paid the equivalent of $422, 773.69 and Richard Briggs $469, 040? Nor did the eventual rate rise of 9.3 percent over three years suggest we should be paying the man at the top the better part of half a million dollars.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Uncertainty and excitement all part of the bikepacking revolution sweeping the world
The first official bikepacking event was the Tour Divide (but with a different name then) in the United States, in 2008. Brian Alder Bikepacking has taken Brian Alder all over the world, including high above the glaciers in Xinjiang Province, China. Two years later he was on the startline for the 2014 Great Southern Brevet, his first bikepacking event. In New Zealand you're allowed to draft whereas on all the overseas bikepacking events you aren't. In bikepacking events most people have a particular style that works for them and often that plays to their strengths.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Red Zone Restart: What's happening in Christchurch's abandoned eastern suburbs?
STUFF Work on Christchurch's red zone is slowly progressing. ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Much of Christchurch's red zone has been a wasteland for years. CCC City council strategy and transformation manager Brendan Anstiss wants to see the public back in the red zone. For Evan Smith from the Avon-Ōtākaro Network (AvON), a group dedicated to revitalising the red zone, hope is mixed with frustration. "I'm confident that in 10 years time we'll see a significant amount of development in the red zone.
Source:Stuff
February 21, 2020 15:56 UTC