Author: Press Room

Snoop Dogg has a member of staff to stop people getting too high with him.The 53-year-old star is famous for his advocacy of marijuana but tries to take precautions with his smoke sessions and has a monitor there who is ready to step in if he thinks people have consumed too much of the drug.Appearing on Watch What Happens Live, host Andy Cohen asked Snoop who was the “lightest weight” smoker he’s ever lit up with but the Gin and Juice rapper didn’t have an immediate answer, so asked the presenter to smoke with him and see if he could…

BNZ offers tips: How to gauge investment risk and return.Risk is an inherent part of investing and typically, the higher the risk, the higher the potential reward. There are some key factors to help you decide what type of investment suits you.Defining investment riskInvestment risk can be described as “the chance that you end up with a return that’s different to the return that you expect”. This is a definition that has stuck with Ryan Wilson, BNZ’s General Manager Wealth & Insurance Partnerships, who suggests “you can think of the return you get as being the reward for the investment…

Law changes proposed for alcohol sales rules will treat West Aucklanders like adults by scrapping alcohol licensing trusts, an ACT MP says.Currently, publicly-owned alcohol licensing trusts operate in West Auckland – as well as Invercargill and Mataura in Southland – are used to run hotels, taverns and off-licences, with the profits going back to the community.But if passed, MP Simon Court’s member’s bill would abolish all alcohol licensing trusts.The current system is a mess, with confusing inconsistencies, monopolies and inflated prices, Court said. For example, supermarkets in licensing trust zones are not allowed to sell alcohol, but it can be…

Actor Timothée Chalamet made a surprise appearance at his own look-alike contest in Lower Manhattan today, an event that drew hundreds of onlookers, a disbursal order from police and at least one arrest.Flanked by bodyguards, Chalamet briefly posed for photos with his high-cheeked, curly haired doppelgängers, some of whom had dressed as the actor’s characters in “Wonka” and the “Dune” movies.But just as the wannabe-Chalamats began strutting along a red carpet in Washington Square Park, police ordered the large group to disperse, slapping organizers with a $500 (NZ$836) fine for an “unpermitted costume contest”.At least one contestant was taken away…

The closure of a Tauranga supermarket is concerning locals who say it will particularly impact elderly in their community.Woolworths New Zealand is planning to close the Greerton store in the village centre sometime in mid-November.A spokesperson told RNZ the Greerton store has served customers well for many years, but locals shopping preferences had changed.”As we look to the future, with our current lease term expiring in December, we believe it makes sense to consolidate our customer offer in the area.”However, on the streets of Greerton, locals spoken to by RNZ said it will be a big loss.”I’m very surprised it…

Police said it tracked a stolen vehicle in Hamilton overnight by following the marks in the road left by its rims after it was spiked, leading to the arrest of the 15-year-old driver.The incident began at around 2.30am when police noticed a stolen vehicle driving along Borman Rd in Flagstaff.”The car drove off but was spiked in Taupiri,” a police spokesperson said.”Police didn’t pursue the vehicle but were able to track the car by following the marks on the road left by its rims.”The vehicle was tracked back into Hamilton where it was located at a Collins Rd address.The spokesperson…

A move to remove New World and Pak’nSave online shoppers’ ability to sort items by price is “surprising and disappointing” said Consumer NZ.The change had been made “quietly” to both supermarket brands’ websites, the consumer advocacy group said.Consumer NZ spokesperson Chris Schulz said shoppers were used to having the option, and other retailers, including The Warehouse and Woolworths, still offered it.But he said New World and Pak’nSave now defaulted to sorting by popularity.”Such a move may limit options for shoppers and ultimately bolster supermarket profit margins at the expense of local suppliers,” Schulz said.Consumer NZ said Foodstuffs told it that…

Police are appealing for sightings of a missing Wellington man amid fears for his safety.Terrence Jameson, 74, was last seen on the walking track behind Harcourt Park in Upper Hutt at around 9am on October 25.Detective Inspector Haley Ryan said he used this track often and would regularly ride his electric one-wheel scooter between the duck pond through to Akatarawa Rd Bridge.”On the morning of October 25, he had his electric one-wheel scooter with him, however on this day he could have been carrying it, which would give the appearance of him carrying a black box.”He also had distinctive red…

A bus carrying 26 passengers slid off the road on its way to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village in heavy snow on Saturday afternoon.Police said they were called to State Highway 8 – Mount Cook Road – at 12.40pm.There were no injuries but the bus could not be towed and alternative transport was arranged for the passengers.A police spokesperson said the bus was driven on to a closed road in the snowy conditions. Waka Kotahi said members of the army were called in to ferry the passengers from the stranded bus.It said the road had been closed nearly an hour earlier but…

The Ministry of Health has not won itself many friends this week with its failure to inform minister Casey Costello that one of its staffers is related to her arch-rival in Parliament.Costello has every right to feel aggrieved.For months, she has been working with health officials on tobacco reform policy, all the while, unbeknownst to her, one of them was the sister-in-law of Labour’s Ayesha Verrall.It is true, as has been stressed by Verrall and Labour leader Chris Hipkins, that many MPs have relations who work in the public service. Hipkins points out that when he was a minister, he…