The Whangārei Scrabble Club won big at New Zealand’s 43rd Scrabble Championship last weekend, coming home with a clutch of individual prizes, as well as the prize for the best team. Both Scrabble club members and independent players competed head-to-head over 22 games at the event held in Auckland. While Lyres Freeth of Auckland won the national championship title, Whangārei players were individual place-getters in three of the four levels in which they competed. Suzanne Harding won 17 of her 22 games to come first in E Grade; Jena Yousif won 14 of her 22 games to come second in D Grade; Cicely Bruce won 16 of her 22 games to come second in B Grade; Jason Simpson won 14 of his 22 games to come third in B Grade; and lastly, the club - whose 11 players made it the largest contingent competing - took out the team prize. The Whangārei Scrabble Club meets every Thursday from 1pm to 4pm at the Bridge Club, 17 North St.
Public hearing postponed
A public hearing into the future use of hydrogen cyanamide, a controversial kiwifruit spray widely used in Northland to mimic the effects of frost and encourage vines to produce buds, has been postponed to 2024. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is currently reassessing use of the chemical after being alerted to what it describes as “significant new information”. A decision-making committee appointed by the EPA had set a public hearing date of July 3-7 but that has been rescheduled to February 26-March 1 next year, following requests from New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers and Zespri. The decision to reassess hydrogen cyanamide is largely the result of a long-running campaign by Kerikeri resident John Levers, who has highlighted concerns about use of the spray overseas. The industry, however, says kiwifruit growing in areas with mild winters, such as Northland, might not be viable without it.
Pōhutukawa giveaway
The Whangārei District Council is giving away pōhutukawa plants that may help residents replace trees damaged or destroyed by the bad weather the past wet and stormy summer delivered. Council parks technical officer Spencer Jellyman said whether people lived in a rural area, or in the city, this was a good chance to play their part in creating a more diverse natural environment planting free plants across the district. The council is giving away 4280 plants this year. Contacts for the council’s distributors will be available on www.wdc.govt.nz at 7am today. The Pōhutukawa Coast programme has distributed 90,880 trees since it was set up more than 30 years ago to help re-establish young Pōhutukawa trees along Whangārei’s coastline.