Author: Press Room

A Chiefs rugby fans (Source: Getty)Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said Chiefs fans are “disappointed” at the news cowbells would be banned at the Super Rugby final between the Crusaders and Chiefs this Saturday, but it wouldn’t stop them making a din. Yesterday, it was announced cowbells would be banned from the final. Cowbells are synonymous with Waikato rugby, which fans of the region have long used to show support.Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate. (Source: 1News)“The Chiefs cowbell is in their DNA, and we’ve been shaking this thing forever,” said Southgate.“I can understand if the Crusaders are a bit rattled, but not…

Relief is on the way for Kiwis struggling with insomnia and treatment-resistant depression, with Medsafe approving the sale of over-the-counter melatonin and the prescription of medicinal psilocybin.Melatonin – used to treat insomnia and jet lag – would be available for purchase in pharmacies without a prescription in due course.The medicine has previously been tightly restricted in New Zealand. Currently, only a handful of melatonin products were approved for people aged over 55. “Many New Zealanders have asked me why people can buy melatonin overseas but they can’t buy it from their local pharmacy. Medsafe has assessed this and decided there’s…

Foodstuffs says it will take time to determine when a fire-ravaged Auckland CBD supermarket may reopen, as they grapple with the “confronting scene” inside. Fire crews completed thermal imaging of New World Victoria Park this morning, confirming no remaining hot spots before handing the building back to the owners.The fire broke out shortly after 11am yesterday, and black smoke could be seen billowing from as far away as the North Shore. At its peak, around 80 firefighters from 23 trucks across the region, and support personnel, were at the scene.The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including Auckland’s supermarket fire, Trump’s…

A drone will be deployed by police in central Christchurch tomorrow as part of the ongoing search for missing woman Elisabeth ‘Lis’ Nicholls. Nicholls, 79, was last seen at the Chateau on the Park in Riccarton on the evening of Wednesday, June 4.The drone will be flying over the Riccarton and Hagley Park areas between 8am and midday on Thursday. Police and Nicholls’ family were desperate to locate her, a statement from police said today.Searchers and police have gone door to door, reviewed CCTV footage, and made extensive enquiries “but we have not been able to find Lis”, Detective Sergeant…

There were more than 160,000 people off work due to injuries last year who had to be supported by ACC, new data shows — and it came at a cost of $2.5 billion.ACC has released data showing the accidents and injuries it dealt with last year.It said there were 162,571 people who required financial support because of injury. They were paid more than 18 million days of weekly compensation.In total, ACC accepted two million injury claims from 1.6 million people in the year, which cost $7b in total. Of that, $4.4b went to rehabilitation expenses.In 2004, the cost was less…

Carterton District Council will trial a greener approach when it comes to disposing sludge from its wastewater ponds.At a Policy and Projects committee meeting on Wednesday, councillors endorsed a trial to compost the waste, which could stand to make the council money, if successful.Council infrastructure services manager Johannes Ferreira said disposing of wastewater sludge was a challenge facing many councils across New Zealand.Wastewater treatment plants used stabilisation ponds, or oxidation ponds, to treat wastewater.Over time, bio-solids build up in the bottom of these ponds as sludge – a byproduct of the treatment process.The sludge must be periodically removed, or it…

Scott Technology has inked $27 million in new global automation contracts across the food and beverage sector, including an entry into the Canadian poultry market. It has partnered with Maple Lodge Farms — one of Canada’s largest independently-owned poultry processors — to design, build and install two 24-bird-per-minute trussing lines at the company’s plant in Brampton. The world-first poultry trusser automated the labour-intensive task of trussing; tying chicken legs and wings. The North American poultry market was a $US95 billion ($NZ157b) industry with more than 900 million rotisserie chickens produced each year. Scott already has its trussing technology in the…

UFC fighter Dan Hooker is bringing back his controversial backyard brawls, inviting 32 women to fight it out for $50,000.In a post on his Facebook page alongside former world middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Hooker called on female fighters to throwdown in his backyard for his second “1 min scraps” event.”Alright, we are going to let the girls play next, we are going to find out who’s the baddest b***h in town,” Hooker said.Adesanya added the prize up for grabs: “50k, one minute, or just as long as it takes to finish these b*****s in his backyard.”Hooker then implied he would…

Farmers have the power. That is the mission of a new business Solayer NZ which has been founded in the heart of the Central Otago farming community to connect farmers with sustainable energy options. Ranfurly vet, farmer and sustainability advocate Becks Smith, founder of The Whole Story, became inspired after a podcast episode featuring Mike Casey, the electricity entrepreneur and orchardist. It got her thinking about farm energy efficiency and then farm energy generation and she decided she wanted to put some solar panels on the Smith family farm. While she did the farm’s accounts, she had never really looked…

Nelson woman Denyse Kinraid says the tree outside her home is beautiful, but she also wants it ripped up for the damage its causing.“I really like it, but it’s just in the wrong place,” she said.Kinraid has lived in her Rutherford Street home since about 1980 and remembers the liquidambar being planted on the berm outside her property.However, more than 40 years later, the effects of the tree – and others planted on the street – were concerning her.Tree roots cracked the footpath and road, and the sheer number of leaves dumped each autumn clogged storm drains and made the…