Author: Press Room

Break-ins at two Ōtara schools, just 750 metres apart, and a local preschool have led to calls for more security patrols and community vigilance during the school holidays.Secret Santa presents and tuck shop food were among the items stolen, while the thieves left a trail of smashed windows and broken doors during the break-ins over the weekend.The incidents come after vandals hit a number of playgrounds and parks around the area in recent months, sparking calls from a local board leader for more security patrols in the area.Caretaker of Rongomai Primary, Phil Johnson, said he was frustrated and disgusted by…

Teachers fear a series of curriculum rewrites will erupt into fierce debates over topics including Shakespeare, transgender identity and traditional Māori knowledge.A months-late advance draft of the secondary school English curriculum is only now circulating among select teachers after what they say was a cloak and dagger writing process. In November, the group rewriting the science curriculum was suddenly paused.Meanwhile, rewrites of the Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum and health and physical education, which included relationships and sexuality curriculums, lay ahead.PPTA president Chris Abercrombie said curriculum rewrites were usually controversial only among teachers, but increasingly they were attracting public debate…

It was an early Christmas present for the Bennett family from Tarras. Superfine bales from Shirlmar Station took the three top spots at the recent final Melbourne wool sale for the year; two 12.5micron bales sold for $284kg greasy, or about $78,646 in total. Growers Bruce and Robyn Bennett, and their son Nic, were thrilled with the result. Mrs Bennett said prices like that had seemed impossible earlier in their farming careers. “It’s amazing to reflect on how unreal it felt to get a $10k bale; now we’ve almost quadrupled that. It is such a great result and really shows…

President of Montenegro said he ‘believes every nation has its right to choose its future’ and that Ukraine would eventually become a NATO member. ADVERTISEMENTUkrainian NATO membership will “definitely” be discussed among the alliance, President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović has told Euronews. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for NATO countries to immediately offer a formal invitation for NATO membership as part of his Victory plan, and as part of any future negotiations to end the Russian war.  Although Milatović said his country supports Ukrainian NATO membership, he stopped short of saying an invite should be immediate, or contingent on peace talks with Russia. “We supported the NATO decision last year to elevate the…

A large tourism company is looking at Dunedin Railways’ operations as part of a major expansion bid. South Island-based Pounamu Tourism Group, which runs the Sir Edmund Hillary Rail & Coach Tours, said it was prepared to back Dunedin Railways, working closely with the Dunedin City Council on a potential new operating model. Group managing director Paul Jackson said the council had received its proposal. “We expect initial feedback in January followed by a public consultation process. “We have always seen potential in DRL and have worked closely together for the last three cruise ship seasons successfully marketing DRL’s cruise…

A person has died in a house fire in Christchurch this afternoon.Emergency services were called to the scene on Dickson Cres in Hornby at around 12.55pm, police said.”Tragically, a resident of the house was found deceased inside the house.”Four fire trucks were called to the scene but two have since been stood down, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson confirmed to 1News. Cordons are in place on Dickson Cres while fire services continue work to extinguish the fire before carrying out a scene examination.  

A box of moustache wax, a bag full of toilet paper and a bridesmaid’s dress are just some of the unusual items that were abandoned on InterCity buses in 2024.In a statement, the transport company said passengers left behind a trove of belongings this year ranging “from the mundane to the outright bizarre”.Among the standouts included a box of moustache wax, a fake arm, dentures, and even a bridesmaid’s dress.Other unusual items included a bag full of toilet paper, a toilet seat in a box, a fire safety blanket and a collection of dolls.InterCity’s chief operating officer Sam Peate said…

As European Home Affairs ministers meet in Brussels for their monthly meeting, they face the question of the possible return of Syrians to their home country. ADVERTISEMENTJust days after the fall of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, countries across Europe are already discussing the possible fate of the thousands of Syrian refugees that have fled to the continent.Several countries, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark, have already announced they will pause asylum applications for Syrian refugees.But as European interior ministers meet in Brussels for their monthly meeting, they are still divided on the scenarios for possible returns…

A Flaxmere resident says he can’t stop smiling now “the damn monstrosity of a sign” put in front of the suburb by Hastings District Council has been taken down.Mark Davis, who has lived in Flaxmere since the 1970s, was appalled when he first laid eyes on the Hastings ‘H’ sign on Flaxmere Ave.”It just appeared. No communication with the community. It was just there,” Davis said of the May arrival of the sign.But he didn’t just shake his head and walk away. He decided to do something about it. He took to social media on November 6.He wrote he had…

The grief-stricken partner of a Christchurch man who was fatally stabbed when walking his dog has recounted to the High Court how she found him bloodied and “dying in front of her” the morning he was attacked.It came during the first of several heart-wrenching victim impact statements heard from friends and family of Nigel Wilson, as the man’s 20-year-old killer was sentenced today in the High Court at Christchurch.Bailey Messervy was jailed for 17 years and six months after being found guilty for the murder of Wilson, 62, who was found badly injured with several stab wounds at Bexley Reserve…