Northland news in brief: Crews fight Kaitaia house fire; Shonky Fest this Saturday

A car on fire was one of the callouts firefighters attended to in Northland over the weekend. Photo / File

A house fire in Kaitaia was among the callouts firefighters across Northland attended to over the weekend.

Three appliances from Kaitaia went to a house in Kaingaroa about 5pm on Saturday. The fire had started from a wood burner and travelled up the ceiling. Firefighters spent two hours bringing the fire under control.

Earlier that day, Kamo firefighters attended to a car fire about 4am on the front lawn, just two metres from a house.

Then yesterday morning,

the Whangārei brigade was dispatched to a fire at the back of a house in Raumanga. But the fire was already extinguished with a garden hose before firefighters arrived.

Shonky Fest at Matapouri

Shonky Fest comprising music, food, and other entertainment has been planned for this Saturday

at Matapouri Park.

The alcohol and smoke-free event is open for all ages, and children under 12 must be supervised.

Pre-sale tickets are two for $5, five for $35 while on the day tickets are $10.
Kids under 12 are gold coin entry.

Tickets can be purchased via www.shoonkyevents.com.

Expert to share brain insights

Clinical pharmacologist Dr Amy McCaughey-Chapman will give a talk in Whangārei on the occasion of Brain Awareness Month.

The free event is being organised from 6.30pm to 8.30pm tomorrow

at the Distinction Hotel on Riverside Dr.

Dr McCaughey-Chapman will speak about the innovative work being done in the Bronwen Connor lab, at the University of Auckland's Centre for Brain Research, around growing brain cells in a dish.

She will explain how they grow the cells in the lab, what kind of work can be done with them and what she has used these cells for in the past.

Lotto prizes roll over

Powerball and Strike have both rolled over for a combined prize pool of $6.4 million up for grabs on Wednesday.

Powerball was not struck on Saturday and the jackpot on Wednesday will be $5m.
Lotto First Division will be $1m and Strike Four will be $400,000 on Wednesday.

The winning Lotto numbers on Saturday were 6, 25, 31, 32, 33, 34 with Bonus number 39 and Powerball 6.

May 20 Budget date

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has revealed to MPs that this year's Budget will be on Thursday, May 20.

He revealed the date at the finance and expenditure committee this morning while he was talking about the Budget Policy Statement.

Little is known about what will be in the Budget at this stage, although the Government has set aside a significant amount of money for its housing supply announcement.