Author: Press Room

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…

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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…

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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…

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A veteran paramedic who responded to the CTV building collapse during the Christchurch earthquake and the Al Noor Mosque on March 15 has helped create a new app designed for mass casualty emergencies.Former St John paramedic Dean Brown was one of the first on the scene after the catastrophic CTV collapse and also the first ambulance officer to run into Al Noor mosque under armed cover. He said it is “chaos” when these events occur.”As we know with the earthquakes, Whakaari/White Island, the mosque attacks, while there is some sense of understanding, its very fractured across all the agencies involved.”That’s…

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The case of a man in Northern Ireland – described as one of the world’s most prolific online child abusers – shows how crucial it is that tamariki and rangatahi know they have someone they can talk to without shame, New Zealand online safety organisations say.Alexander McCartney is reported to have targeted as many as 3500 children, across 30 countries, including New Zealand and Australia.He was also found guilty of manslaughter over the death of a 12-year-old United States girl, who killed herself after being targeted.The father of a New Zealand victim was quoted in a police statement saying he…

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Content warning: This article mentions mental health and suicide.Ivy was 22 when a man with a cold sore went down on her (badly, if she may add), ghosted her the next day, and on top of that, gave her genital herpes. She says she struggled with her diagnosis at first because she held so much stigma towards herpes.Up to 80% of New Zealanders catch herpes at some point in their lives, according to the New Zealand Herpes Foundation, so why is there still a huge stigma? “I was absolutely devastated, I really believed my life was over.”What is herpes?Herpes simplex…

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A Gisborne caterer that makes 600 school lunches daily says the replacement of local suppliers with a national supply chain will be “heavily felt” by the wider community.From next year, the Government’s school lunch programme will be led by Compass Group NZ, owned by a British multinational of the same name, as part of the consortium awarded the contractThere are currently 156 external suppliers ranging from multi-national providers, Compass Group and Libelle Group, who will remain part of the supply team, to Subway and Pita Pit, to smaller suppliers such as cafes, and small businesses set up to prepare school…

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An Auckland teenager has described the dramatic moment he helped rescue residents from a burning apartment in Ōtāhuhu overnight.Firefighters were called to the blaze on Albert St just after midnight and rescued several people from the block of flats. All residents at the complex are safe. Video showed rescuers helping residents down from their apartments by ladder.”That’s what we train for, so it was all good,” a Fire and Emergency spokesperson said. (Source: 1News)Fire and Emergency assistant commander Dave Hatton said the blaze was “significant”. He confirmed the scene was a Kāinga Ora apartment block “with many units”.”We’ve had a…

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Three former Wellington mayors have delivered mixed verdicts on the Government’s decision to appoint a Crown Observer to help the troubled city council.On Tuesday, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown wrote to Wellington City Council, with draft terms of reference for appointing a Crown Observer. Brown repeatedly cited official advice from the Department of Internal Affairs in making the move. The move followed months of wrangling over the council’s long-term plan. A planned sale of the council’s ownership stake in Wellington Airport, pushed by Mayor Tory Whanau, was scuttled at the last minute following a vote by councillors earlier this month.…

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A 23-year-old man has been charged after a person was stabbed in South Auckland overnight.Emergency services were called to an address in Māngere at about 2.20am this morning, a police spokesperson said.A person was found with serious injuries at the scene.A 23-year-old man was charged with assault with intent to injure, and committing burglary with a weapon, the spokesperson added.He is set to appear in Manukau District Court.”The victim was transported to hospital, where they remain in a serious but stable condition,” police said.A St John spokesperson confirmed its crews attended the scene, and the patient was taken to Middlemore…

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