Northland news in brief: Taniwha game brought forward; health trust seeks new members

The Northland Taniwha NPC game against Southland Stags has been brought forward a day to Saturday.

Taniwha game brought forward

The Northland Taniwha versus Southland National Provincial Championship game scheduled for Sunday in Invercargill will now be played a day earlier. Southland Stags coach Dale MacLeod said they were advised by New Zealand Rugby on Saturday of the change. MacLeod said the shift would give Northland an extra day's preparation for a midweek game against Bay of Plenty the following week. That Northland-Bay of Plenty game was expected to be on Sunday but was postponed because it was the same day as Bay of Plenty player Sean Wanui's tangi.

Health trust hunt for trustees
The Whangaroa Health Trust is calling for nominations of community members interested in being a trustee on the trust board. An election will then be held to select one Māori and five other representatives to the board. Nominations close on November 22 and forms can be obtained from the returning officer at returningofficer.whst21@gmail.com or from Kaeo Library of WHST office at 180 Omaunu Rd, Kaeo.

Two men die in crash
Northland police say two male drivers died in the fatal two-vehicle crash on State Highway 14, west of Whangārei, on Sunday. Several people were also injured in the crash, but police were unable to provide condition updates at edition time. A police spokesperson said: "We know the vehicles were moving at 100kmph and the weather was atrocious. It was a head-on collision but the police had not confirmed who was at fault." Traffic over the long Labour weekend was steady, said a police spokesperson. "The unpleasant weather has kept people indoors. Northland suffered only one major road crash this holiday."

Glass stabber found
Northland police have located a man who stabbed another person with a piece of glass over the weekend. A police spokesperson said the attack was not life-threatening; "It was a shoulder stab with a piece of glass." The accused was found driving around Whangārei and the police are investigating the matter.

Wildlife sanctuary clarification
In a story in the Northern Advocate on October 21 relating to MPI yet to grant a licence to open the Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, it stated that Earth Crest, a company run by Lion Man Craig Busch's mother Patricia Cooksley, took over the park after a dispute between the pair. Cooksley did not run Earth Crest. Zion Wildlife Gardens Limited, which owned the business, was sold by receivers to Zion Wildlife Kingdom Limited and not because of a dispute. The Advocate apologises for the error.