NZ at Noon: Young crims, Paris parcels and safe sneezing

TV3’s Patrick Gower got a special mention from Winston Peters in Hamilton yesterday

Stories making headlines across New Zealand at noon include more out-of-control boys and girls, a MasterChef contestant about to become a statistic, another dumb burglar, and the art of sneezing and spreading germs.

A 12-year-old Mount Maunganui boy has been threatening people with a lighter and four youngsters aged between 11 and 15 have allegedly trashed a house in Waihi. Meanwhile a 15-year-old boy and his 11-year-old mate have been joyriding in a stolen car in Taradale while out on a stealing spree.

An man who rammed two cars and the frontage of a small lodge on Napier's Marine Parade just got a large bill.

Meanwhile, there's been a rush on survival kits in Napier. They are probably worried about this. Coincidentally the local Civil Defence has started a recruitment drive for volunteers.

Over in Hastings, a burglar obviously didn't think he'd look suspicious walking down a suburban street carrying a 42-inch plasma television.

In Northland, they are learning you don't shake hands with someone who has just sneezed into them and if you do, the only way to get rid of the germs is to wash your hands.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Key has been shaking hands with senior citizens in Gisborne, who reminded him about that washed out railway, not to mention the roading blowout.

Who is using this Kerikeri ATM machine?

A rare war medallion commemorating the 1915 campaign at Gallipoli has suddenly appeared on someones lawn in Whangarei. Meanwhile the Marsden B power station has been cleared to sail to China.

A concert in Rotorua tomorrow night aims to give sex workers a brighter future. Meanwhile at the weekend there will be lots of women power walking and teams of people plunging into icy water.

Ngongotaha resident Fred Haumaha has been "blessed by God".

The opportunity to become the first Maori woman to climb Mt Everest is still open.

If you want to get rich don't become a gypsy.

Winston Peters has been entertaining his media buddies in Hamilton who he says are "good company" but he singled out TV3's Patrick Gower as a naughty boy.

Over in the Wairarapa they are looking at becoming a Super City, or at least a Super Province. Meanwhile If you are driving through Masterton it might be prudent to avoid the intersection of Colombo Rd and Kuripuni St.

May has been pretty darn wet in Wanganui so far.

Stratford is the first town in Taranaki to be awarded the status of a motorhome friendly town.

In North Canterbury, a Leithfield woman who decided to tear home from the local on her quad bike has discovered police are targeting country pubs at the moment.

Christchurch MasterChef contestant Matt Gilray, who burnt his caramel sauce not once but twice at Huka Lodge, is about to become a statistic.

They are firing up the guns on Mt Hutt and making snowmen around Queenstown.

At Ashburton's Netherby School they have been learning Safe Sneezing.

Dreams are coming true in Dunedin with the expected visit of an astronaut. Over at the hospital however nurses are apparently demoralised and patients are at risk.

Over in Greymouth they have nabbed some freeloading backpackers. But the mysterious parcels from Paris have stopped arriving on the West Coast, just as the region starting getting national media coverage on the issue.

Top trending items on Twitter in New Zealand at noon were: #1DAYearInTheMakingOnTV3NZ, I Hate My Face, #AdamLambertTrespassing, #almightyjohnsons, Eden Park, Diablo 3, New Zealand, Shihad, Mt Smart and England.