A starling was electrocuted by 11,000 volts and caused a power outage for 1044 Whangarei customers on Thursday. Little remained of the bird after Northpower repair crews discovered the fault in Dyer St about 7.34am. Northpower Public Affairs Manager Steve MacMillan said it caused an outage for 33 minutes, affecting 1044 customers around the Smeatons Drive, Kioreroa Rd, Rewarewa Rd area.
Names released of two killed in accidents
Two Northlanders who died in separate road fatalities have been named.
Cheryl Temaro, 40, from Dargaville died after the car she was travelling in collided head-on with another vehicle on State Highway 12 at Paparoa on March 19.
Another person travelling with Ms Temaro suffered serious injuries and was flown to Whangarei Hospital. In the other fatality, 65-year-old Steven Dolan from Whanganui died when two cars collided at Kareponia Hill on State Highway 10, near Awanui, on March 20.
Cycleway stoush parties reach settlement
A Kaikohe business and the Far North District Council have reached a confidential financial settlement over a legal stoush over a cycleway tender process.
Last year, Ken Rintoul's Rintoul Group successfully sued FNDC for unlawfully excluding his company from a tender to build four sections of the Twin Coast Cycle Trail.
The company sought through a High Court order more than $500,000 in loss of income from FNDC. Mr Rintoul confirmed both parties have reached an out-of-court settlement but refused to disclose details.
Australian visitor campaign winds up
An ambitious campaign to attract more Australian tourists to visit Northland between March and May has ended. Tourism New Zealand, in partnership with other companies including Flight Centre, launched a campaign in January to entice visitors to Northland outside the summer months. The campaign ran in New South Wales and Queensland.
A similar campaign was launched in Victoria in January last year.
Appeal for leads on bank robbery
No arrests have been made in the robbery of ANZ Bank in Whangarei a week ago. Acting Detective Inspector Aaron Proctor thanked members of the public who had provided police with information which continued to be a focus for officers working on the case. He said police were following lines of inquiry and would still like to hear from anyone who may have information about the robbery. "We would like to reassure the public we are doing everything we can to catch the offenders so they are held to account." he said.
Physiotherapist back in court
A Northland physiotherapist accused of fraudulently claiming more than $138,000 in ACC payments is back in court next month. Skye Renes, 37, last year pleaded not guilty in the Whangarei District Court to 17 charges of obtaining by deception and a further six charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage. She has elected trial by jury. The alleged offences were committed between May 2011 and January 2016. Both charges carry a maximum penalty of seven years in jail. All except two are representative charges which means exact dates of the alleged offences are not clear. No trial date has been set. Ms Renes will next appear on April 13.
