Northland news in brief: Another Lotto win; and man arrested for alleged assault on officer

Northland's mini Lotto second division streak has continued with a fourth winning ticket in three draws sold at Whangārei Pak'nSave on Saturday.

A Lotto ticket sold in Northland will be making its holder happy after winning more than $36,000 with Lotto second division on Saturday.
The tickets, sold at Whangārei Pak'nSave, was among seven nationwide that each won $36,649. It was the third Lotto draw in a row that saw second division prizes won in Northland.
The winning numbers were 4, 5, 21, 26, 31 and 36, with the bonus number 38.
Powerball was not struck on Saturday and will be worth $7 million tonight.

Alleged assault on officer

Police arrested a driver in Whangārei yesterday after he allegedly assaulted an off-duty officer attempting to curb his erratic driving. The officer was headed to work around 6.50am when he spotted another vehicle being driven erratically on Central Ave. He motioned for the driver to pull over and attempted to speak to the man, who responded by allegedly assaulting the officer. A police spokesman said fortunately the off-duty officer escaped serious injury but received medical treatment as a precaution. The officer was being supported by police.

Country festival rocks on

The Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival is 32 this year and still going strong. This year's event, which starts on Friday, May 7, will once again see more than 40 musicians performing at multiple locations in Paihia and Russell over three days, with Brendan Duggan, Suzanne Prentice and Gray Bartlett topping the bill.

REAP campaign a winner

Far North REAP's One Tear Too Many campaign has won the Cedric Rogers Leadership in Road Safety Award, presented by the Safe and Sustainable Transport Association of New Zealand in Wellington last week. The award recognises projects that achieve long-term road safety benefits through education, engineering, enforcement, management and/or community ownership.

FNDC letters on the way

About 9000 Far North property owners should receive letters from the Far North District Council this week, alerting them to Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) on their land.
Council staff had planned to send the letters last month, but compiling a mailing list of affected property owners from the rates database had taken longer than expected. It was now aiming to have the letters delivered by Friday.
Councils now have a statutory obligation to identify unique landscapes, species and habitats, and manage them in a new district plan. The Northland councils had collaborated on the mapping of SNAs in the region last year, identifying that 42 per cent of land in the Far North contained potentially sensitive environments, an increase from about 30 per cent in the 1990s.

Two hurt in Taheke crash

Two people were taken to Bay of Islands Hospital yesterday after a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 12 at Taheke, west of Kaikohe, about 9am on Tuesday. The patients' injuries were described as moderate and minor. Police, St John Ambulance and firefighters from Kaikohe and Okaihau responded.