Northland news in brief: Students to strike over climate change; and meet the candidates

Whangārei students joined their counterparts across the country on their School Strike 4 Climate NZ protest last September. A strike is being staged for the fifth time next month.

Students set for climate change strike

Northland school students are set to go on strike next month to protest the lack of action on climate change on September 4. School Strike 4 Climate NZ is holding its fifth strike to demand that the Government and elected members take urgent and meaningful action for the climate and our collective future. For more details email: Schoolstrike4climatenz@gmail.co.nz .

Meet the Northland candidates

People wanting to meet the candidates in the Northland electorate can do so at a meeting in Dargaville later this month. Kaipara Grey Power has organised the meeting on August 21 at the Dargaville Methodist Church from 1pm. To date 8 of the 9 currently nominated Northland electorate candidates have said they will be there. The meeting will be chaired by Richard Alspach.
■ If you are standing in the elections or putting on a meet-the-candidates event in Northland, email details to elections@ northernadvocate.co.nz

One new Covid-19 case

There was one new case of Covid-19 reported in managed isolation in New Zealand yesterday. It has been 102 days since the last case of Covid-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source. Yesterday's case is a man in his 20s who arrived in New Zealand on July 30 from Melbourne. He has been in managed isolation at the Grand Millennium and tested negative around day three of his stay. He has tested positive around day 12 of his stay and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility. This case brings New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 to 220.

Be in early for big Lotto draw

Northlanders are being urged to get their tickets early for tonight's third-highest ever Lotto Powerball jackpot, due to high demand for tickets. Lotto NZ encourages people to avoid the last-minute rush to buy tickets for tonight's $43 million draw.
A surge in online players since March means Lotto NZ is expecting its busiest day ever on MyLotto today and says people should buy their tickets early to avoid the online peak.
"Our MyLotto website and app has never been so busy as the number of people playing online has increased by 33 per cent since March," Lotto NZ head of communications Marie Winfield said.
"The big increase in people playing online, combined with the high jackpot, means we are seeing an unprecedented number of people playing online.''
Lotto outlets are also expected to be especially busy today.

NZTA licensing deadline

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency wants Northlanders to renew their temporarily extended Warrants of Fitness (WoFs), Certificates of Fitness (CoFs), driver licences and other documents by October 10 following a decision by the Government this week on the expiry date for the temporarily extended documents.
This decision follows legislative changes made in April to temporarily extend expired/expiring land transport documents unable to be renewed due to Covid-19 restrictions. These changes enabled drivers to continue to drive and use their vehicle legally when the ability to renew these documents was limited.