The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2021. Here's what made headlines in November.
November 6
An estimated 100 people will die and there will be 14,000 Covid-19 cases in the Lakes DHB area next year if an 80 per cent vaccination rate is achieved.
Butthe number of deaths would nearly halve and case numbers would drop to just under 10,000 if Lakes hits its 90 per cent target, new pandemic modelling figures show.
The Toi Te Ora Public Health data, released to the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend, shows cases, deaths, hospitalisation and emergency department presentation rates for 2022 - with both an 80 per cent and 90 per cent vaccinated population. The Lakes DHB area covers Rotorua and Taupō.
Andrew Leota will never forget what it was like to watch people die.
"The life was getting sucked out of them."
Lying on one of the last available intensive care unit beds in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, Leota could breathe only with the help of a respiratory mask.
He and five other Covid-19 patients were jammed into a room of about 36sq m that had been converted into an operating theatre, their beds pushed together.
"It was just beds by beds. We were all lying on our stomachs looking at each other."
Andrew Leota caught Covid-19 in Kazakhstan. Photo / George Novak
November 13
Rotorua's Salvation Army was bracing for the onslaught of demand for food parcels as it ramped up for its annual Christmas appeal.
The organisation provided 1752 instances of welfare assistance this year and 754 of this was for food parcels.
Rotorua Salvation Army Corps officer Kylie Overbye said food demand this year had been consistent with previous years, with the exception of elevated demand during lockdowns.
She said they still had the Christmas season to go through before this year's end - a time where the Salvation Army saw higher demand.
"Last year we provided food assistance to 1462, not including Christmas support where we provided food support to 445 households."
These figures have been released as the Rotorua Daily Post, with the Rotorua Weekender and The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM, launched its annual Christmas appeal to raise food and money for the foodbank.
Rotorua Salvation Army Corps officer Kylie Overbye (left) and Rotorua Salvation Army Community Ministries team leader Tania Hore ready for the 2021 Christmas Appeal. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua Lakes Council's strategy, policy and finance committee met to discuss the future governance structure of the council, including how a Māori ward would work and how many seats it would have.
Council officers, led by district leadership and democracy deputy chief executive Oonagh Hopkins, put forward a new proposal for one Māori ward with one seat – which flew in the face of submissions by Te Tatau o Te Arawa and other iwi organisations.
Te Tatau o Te Arawa representative Potaua Biasiny-Tule. Photo / Andrew Warner
November 19
"Serious offending of a systemic nature" is how a district court judge views Rotorua Lakes Council's discharging a dangerous substance from the city's dump.
The council was given a $60,000 fine and ordered to pay $80,000 reparation towards setting up a trust with local iwi to help rectify the offending, a judge in the Rotorua District Court ruled.
The judge said the council tried to minimise its offending and didn't act effectively to stop it, despite knowing the issues.
Judge Jeff Smith delivered his sentence following a four-year court battle that saw the council plead guilty to one charge brought by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council under the Resource Management Act of discharging a contaminant, namely stormwater contaminated with leachate, on to or into land in circumstances where it may enter water.
He's been touted as a super-sleuth, a great leader and a "good bugger".
But Detective Inspector Mark Loper's amazing career, during which he has nailed some of the country's biggest cases, came to an early end after a shock diagnosis.
The Government has bought a block of land in Rotorua's Pukehangi suburb for $12.6 million and plans to build a subdivision of 60 houses for those without homes.
The 4.6ha subdivision is in Collie Drive and the first stage of 37 homes will be ready for families by the end of next year.
The houses will be a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes with 14 meeting universal design standards.
An aerial view of the Pukehangi development. Photo / Supplied
November 26
Murupara Medical Centre has been slammed for ''quackery'' and "misuse of power" after one of its social media posts claimed Betadine, mouthwash, and vitamins could form part of a Covid-19 ''first aid kit''.
The social media post headed "Community Covid First Aid Kit" contains a number of items - including Betadine, essential oils or cetylpyridinium chloride, as well as vitamin supplements.
Fifteen Rotorua motels were each paid more than $1 million for emergency housing over two years.
Figures released by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) under the Official Information Act show $62.9m was spent on emergency housing in the Bay of Plenty between July 2019 and June this year.
