Author: Press Room

Neha Sharma appeared to be an honest, hard-working property manager at Oranga Tamariki. Her husband ran a construction company. No-one knew about their marriage until after they’d conned the Government agency out of more than $2 million. Roughly eight months after Christchurch-based construction company Divine Connection was added to Oranga Tamariki’s list of contractors questions began to emerge about the quality of its paperwork.Invoices that had been approved and paid to the company did not contain all the required information.The issue was flagged with Neha Sharma, the property and facilities manager at Oranga Tamariki.Unbeknown to her colleagues, Sharma had been…

A large US warship has arrived in Wellington’s harbour, making the first visit to the city by a US naval vessel since 2021.The nearly 200-metre long USS Blue Ridge arrived in the city this morning.The command ship, and flagship of the 7th US Fleet, was full of sensors, as opposed to missiles and shells. It was commissioned in 1970 and is the oldest operational ship in the US Navy. The nearly 200-metre USS Blue Ridge arrived in the city this morning. (Source: 1News)During the visit, leadership from the vessel would meet with their Kiwi counterparts to discuss ways of improving…

More than 100 staff from the now-former Whānau Ora commissioning agency for the South Island returned to the place where it all started to bid farewell yesterday.In March, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu were notified their contract to distribute Whānau Ora funds would not be renewed. Instead, the Government awarded contracts to four new agencies following an open tender process, replacing Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, and two others – Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for the North Island, and Pasifika First. Yesterday the agency held a poroporoaki, or farewell, for staff at Ngā Hau e Whā Marae in Christchurch, the…

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown’s upcoming tour was thrown into question Friday as a British judge ordered him held in custody while facing allegations that he beat a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.Brown, 36, appeared in Manchester Magistrates’ Court to face one count of causing grievous bodily harm and was ordered held until his next hearing June 13 in London — the same day he’s due to take the stage in Frankfurt, Germany, on the third date of his world tour.Judge Joanne Hirst rejected Brown’s bail request after prosecutor Hannah Nicholls said that the crime…

Twice this week, first-home buyers have been told that now might be their big chance to get into the housing market.First, QV said a lull in property values was giving first-time buyers a “rare opportunity”.Then, the Real Estate Institute acting chief executive Rowan Dixon suggested that, if first-home buyers were looking for a chance to get into the property market, it was a good time to do so.”There is still plenty of stock there, particularly in the main centres, good pricing and low interest rates… if people can get into the market for their first home now is a good…

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he does not want to “get caught in the middle of a cockfight” between two competing inland port projects despite the government financially backing the Mosgiel option. Mr Jones announced yesterday the Port Otago and Dynes Transport’s jointly proposed Southern Link Logistics Park, in Mosgiel, would receive a loan of up to $8.2 million from the government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund to develop a three-track rail-siding connection to Port Chalmers. The announcement came days after Calder Stewart announced its own inland port proposal — the “$3 billion” privately funded Milburn Quadrant development in South Otago.…

The cancellation of Taupō’s only flight service to Wellington may not be for long, with hopes that another company might step in to fly the route.Taupō Mayor David Trewavas told RNZ the area was gutted to lose its only direct route to Wellington, as without the flight, travellers had to detour through Hamilton or Auckland.”We’re extremely disappointed, as we had another airline start up with huge promises, but unfortunately, they didn’t have forward booking to make it pay,” he said. “We appreciate Originair giving it a go, as it’s very important for the business people.”The three return flights each week…

The Otago Daily Times has won four awards at the Voyager Media Awards, including metropolitan newspaper of the year. The ODT also won best editorial campaign or project, illustrations editor Stephen Jaquiery won best photography – news and Matthew Littlewood was named local journalist of the year at the awards ceremony in Auckland last night. Editor Paul McIntyre said he was “immensely proud” of the results and that it was testament to the exceptional work from the newsroom over the past year. “Above all, I’m immensely proud. You can’t win these awards without the hard work from our team of dedicated journalists across the…

A kitten has been rescued from a car engine bay by a police officer who temporarily tucked it in his lunchbox.A woman driving home from shopping at Sylvia Park mall in Auckland heard concerning noises coming from her car engine. After entering the motorway, she heard “meows” coming from her car bonnet, said Auckland motorways manager, senior sergeant Scott Cunningham. “She pulled in behind a Motorway Patrol car and explained to the officer what was happening,” said Cunningham. “On closer inspection, a kitten was found tucked under the bonnet.”For safekeeping, the officer placed the stowaway kitten into his lunch box.…

Dramatic video shows the moment a car drove through a roller door garage into a Nelson business overnight. Footage captured from external cameras at Nelson Alarms Security Systems on Parkers Rd in Tāhunanui showed the vehicle failing to stop at an intersection and driving straight through the roller door. Inside, cameras capture the driver attempting to reverse out of the building a few times, surrounded by debris from the crash. Nelson Alarms managing director Adrian Laing told 1News he was alerted to “a lot of activations” happening on the alarm monitoring system, including the fire alarm going off, shortly before…