Car left dangling off wall
It was a cliff-hanger for a male driver in Kamo early yesterday. Police, fire and ambulance officers were called to the public carpark near McDonald's in Kamo about 6am after a man was found unconscious in his vehicle. The vehicle had one wheel hanging off a concrete wall about a metre high. Police said the man was unconscious at the wheel and alcohol may have been a factor. Whangarei firefighters were called as were St John ambulance staff.
Maori scholarships launched
Maori students can apply for a scholarship to study web development after a launch of 42 new scholarships. New Zealand web development school Enspiral Dev Academy announced the new scholarships following a successful application to the Ka Hao Maori Digital Technology fund, managed by Te Puni Kokiri and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Each scholarship will be worth $7000 each. Dev Academy is based in Auckland and Wellington and runs 18-week web development programmes where students are trained with the skills to become junior web developers. Visit evacademy.co.nz for more information.
Council borrowing vote was split
A report on the Northern Regional Council's decision to borrow $9.6 million to on-lend to NEST to replace its old helicopters said the vote was split and decided by chairman Bill Shepherd. The NEST motion was expressed in parts and decided part by part at yesterday's council meeting. Apart from one recommendation, the expression of opinion was verbal. The decision on recommendation three led to a division. The decision was not unanimous, but did not require a casting vote as reported.
Hospitality award finalists
Two Northland hospitality providers have been selected as finalists in the 2017 Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence. Wahi at Oceans, Tutukaka is a finalist in the Best Environmental/Sustainable Business category and Stay Kerikeri in the Best Redeveloped Accommodation section are among 54 award finalists spread across 16 separate categories. Winners will be announced at Hospitality NZ's national conference in Wellington on October 19.
Hikoi on water bottling
A hikoi protesting against the extraction of water for export, and water bottling will be held in Whangarei next month. The hikoi comes after Zodiac Holdings, now known by its parent company's name, New Zealand Spring Water, applied to the Whangarei District Council for resource consent to construct and operate a mineral water bottling plant at 649 Mangakahia Rd. Zodiac Holdings already has consent to take 1000cu m of water from the Poroti Springs per day. The hikoi will take place on September 4 with a debrief at 9.30am at the carpark opposite Northland Regional Council before the protest kicks off at 10am.