Patrick Lam of Patrick's Pies Cafe and Bakery Tauranga, after winning his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award. Photo / File
Patrick Lam of Patrick's Pies Cafe and Bakery Tauranga, after winning his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award. Photo / File
JULY:
The king of New Zealand pie makers, Tauranga's Patrick Lam, won his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award.
The accolade for Lam's roast pork and creamy mushroom pie meant Lam had won more supreme awards than any other competitor nationwide in the competition's 22-year history.
The win wasannounced at a gala dinner in Auckland on July 31.
Lam owned Patrick's Pies Cafe and Bakery in Bethlehem and Gold Star Bakery on Old Taupo Rd in Rotorua and had regularly featured in the awards since winning his first supreme best pie title in 2003 for a mince and cheese entry.
He won the supreme award again in 2004 and 2009, with his creamy bacon, mushroom and cheese pie. In 2010 and 2016, his bacon and egg pie took out the top award.
Patrick Lam of Patrick's Pies Cafe and Bakery Tauranga, after winning his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award. Photo / File
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The Bay of Plenty Times reported that a Tauranga-based medical cannabis company was aiming to build an agricultural industry to match the value of the billion-dollar kiwifruit sector.
The company, MediCann, planned to follow a similar growing and cultivation model comparable to Zespri's and scale its growing production to qualified horticulturalists in the Bay of Plenty.
MediCann went public with its plans as the health select committee considered the Government's Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill.
The National Party had also proposed its own cannabis bill.
MediCann managing director Brendon Ogilvy said the company had exclusive New Zealand rights to more than 30 medically certified European-registered cannabis strains.
Ogilvy said the company was poised to release grower licences pending the final decision on whether Kiwis would be able to legally access cannabis for medicinal purposes, which he was confident would go ahead.
Growers would apply to become a MediCann NZ medical cannabis licensed producer, and the company would provide expertise and supply all hardware, consumables and agronomists from their Bay of Plenty grower network.
Ogilvy said it was an ambitious plan, but the company was ready and had the right expertise on board.
MediCann managing director Brendon Ogilvy and board member and pharmacist Elizabeth Plant. Photo / File
A woman who nearly drowned at Mount Maunganui beach recalls the heartbreaking moment she made her peace with God and expected to die.
The woman, known as Siniua, was filmed at the beach retelling how she went for a swim with family on July 20 but realised too late she had gone out too far.
"I tried my best to come back but ... too strong, the waves were really strong. They smashed me everywhere. They picked me up; they smacked me down.
"Then I gave up, and I said to God, 'I'm gone. I can't do it. I give up'."
Siniua wept before explaining, "and then I came back up and I heard someone say, 'Hey, I'm here to save you'."
As she spoke on the film, Siniua was greeted by police officer Debbie Harries, who had been off duty at the time of the rescue and told Siniua she was one of several people who had helped to save her.
Overcome with emotion, Siniua broke down saying, "Thank you, thank you so much."
The tearful moment as a woman who almost drowned in Mount Maunganui in July meets one of the people who helped save her life. Photo / File
More than $17,000 was raised in a single day to cover the costs of sending a Tauranga crash victim's body home to his family in India.
Indian national Parminder "Perry" Singh Jabbal, 27, had been living in Tauranga for three years when he was killed in a head-on collision between his car and a truck on State Highway 36 on July 11.
Jabbal was survived by his parents and siblings in his hometown of Ludhiana, India, and his Kiwi partner, Saraiah Waerea, 25, who was six months pregnant at the time with the couple's son.
Waerea wanted to have Jabbal's body cremated so both she and his family could keep a piece of him, but his family wished to take him to India to receive last rites.
Family members travelled to New Zealand to talk through the decision. Auckland businessman and Punjabi community leader Sidhu Singh stepped in to help mediate between the parties.
He said it was a hard choice for Waerea, but she had agreed to let Jabbal go.
