Central Hawke’s Bay news in brief

The rail signals on the Tamumu Rd, Waipawa, crossing will be out of order for a while longer.

Air rifle warning

Police are reminding the public of the rules around air rifles after four youths aged 14-16 were found shooting rabbits with an air rifle at the Waipukurau Rugby Grounds on Mitchell St on January 29. None of them held firearms licences — which are required to be held by anyone under 18 to use an air rifle. Senior Constable Andy Walker says, “Anyone under 18 must hold a firearms licence. Anyone under 16 must be under the supervision of an adult.” The air rifle was seized by police.

Alleged offender flees after assault

On Sunday police responded to a report of a man allegedly punching a woman on Tavistock Rd, Waipukurau. On being approached by police the alleged offender fled in a vehicle, travelling at speed through Waipukurau. Police did not pursue the speeding vehicle. A second sighting of the alleged offender also resulted in the man fleeing at speed, however, he was located and arrested on Monday and will appear in court on multiple charges.

Low-level chopper

CHB locals may have seen a helicopter flying at low levels yesterday — this is Transpower NZ doing visual inspections of its transmission lines. The helicopter will be flying again today, at levels of about 300m. For more information and a map go to the Transpower NZ Facebook page.

Rail crossing alert

KiwiRail says over the New Year period the main controller’s box at the Tamumu Rd rail crossing was damaged. KiwiRail is arranging for a new controller’s box to be constructed but this will take time. In the meantime, its trains are required to stop and blow the whistle to alert drivers before crossing. Drivers must come to a complete stop and look both ways before crossing.

Race mare honoured

Outstanding race mare Melody Belle will be inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame at a special dinner in Hamilton on Sunday, May 7. The Commands mare, who was raced by a 34-member syndicate that included Waipukurau couple Trevor and Debbie Walters, was the winner of 19 races from 41 starts and stakes of $4,265,000. Melody Belle was a major winner every season from two to six years, voted New Zealand Champion 2YO in 2016-17, Champion Sprinter-Miler in 2018-19 and 2019-20, Champion Middle Distance Horse in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and New Zealand Horse of the Year in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Melody Belle’s crowning glory was her March 2021 victory in the Gr.1 New Zealand Stakes (2000m), when she broke Sunline’s record of 13 Group 1 wins.