Northland news in brief: Kaitaia NZ's Most Beautiful Small Town? and police employee abused, threatened servo staff after refusing to wear mask

Public artwork in Kaitaia, such as this mural at Bonnetts Church with Shine on Kaitaia Youth Navigators, could see the town be named the Most Beautiful Small Town in the country.

Northland's northern-most town Kaitaia will find out tonight if it has earned the title of Most Beautiful Small Town in the country. Kaitaia is a finalist in the Most Beautiful Small Town category in Keep New Zealand Beautiful's annual Beautiful Awards. The other finalist is Foxton and the winner will be named in a ceremony tonight at Parliament House, in Wellington. Kaitāia was shortlisted for the award because of the public artworks and placemaking projects the community has delivered under the Te Hiku Open Places Revitalisation Project. A live You Tube link of the awards ceremony is at bit.ly-BeautifulAwards2022

Police staffer reprimanded

A Northland police employee has been reprimanded for abusing and threatening gas station staff after the police employee refused to wear a mask. The Independent Police Conduct Authority oversaw police criminal and employment investigations concerning an allegation that a Northland police employee entered a petrol station shop without wearing a mask on September 22, 2021. When asked to put one on, he threatened and abused a staff member including making racist comments. He also tried to use his position as a police staff member to influence the situation and refused to leave when asked. The employee receiving a formal warning for his criminal behaviour and failure to wear a mask. The employee was also subject to a confidential employment process. The Authority is satisfied with the outcome of the criminal investigation and employment process.

Twenty-four new cases

There were 24 more cases of Covid-19 reported in Northland yesterday out of a total of 1160 new community cases nationally. There were 43 cases in Northland the previous day. There are no people with Covid-19 in hospital in Northland. The Ministry of Health said there were 46,156 booster doses administered nationally on Tuesday, bringing the total so far to more than two million doses. The ministry said the booster vaccine offers a high level of protection against Omicron, so if it's been three months since you got your second dose, get your booster as soon as possible. Northland Covid testing and vaccination centres, including opening times, can be found at www.northlanddhb.org.nz/home/covid-19/

Stroppy Tarts on show

Four self-confessed Stroppy Tarts are putting on a golden exhibition of their works in Whangārei. On the same day as the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery opens on Sunday at the Town Basin, the four will open their exhibition called Pieces of Gold at The Bach gallery next door. The event at The Bach is by four long-time Whangārei friends who exhibit collectively as the Stroppy Tarts - Diane Lawson, Carol Peters, Jenni Moore and Maxine Hillier, all of whom are also well known for their work within the community. Painting is a shared passion and they use a variety of mediums including pastels, acrylics and encaustics. They chose a golden theme to mirror the vibrancy of the Hundertwasser building. The Stroppy Tarts formed nearly two decades ago when a group of women decided to have a stall at the city's annual Art Beat event. The Pieces of Gold exhibition runs until March 20.