Two a penny

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Seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher will replace injured driver Felipe Massa at Ferrari if he passes a fitness test, the team said early today (NZ time).

The German, now 40 years old, retired from Formula One at the end of 2006. All being well, he will make his comeback in Valencia, Spain, next month.

“Michael Schumacher has shown his willingness and in the next few days he will undergo a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the championship starting with the European Grand Prix on Aug.

“Ferrari intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa’s car for as long as the Brazilian driver is not able to race,” the Italian team said in a statement.”

That race is one of the few Schumacher is unfamiliar with since the Spanish street circuit was added to the calendar only last season. 23.

Schumacher’s comeback for the reigning champions will be a huge boost for Formula One organisers as well as local fans, who could be without home hero Fernando Alonso after his Renault team were suspended for one race.

Both Hamilton, 24, and 22-year-old German race winner Vettel – nicknamed ‘Baby Schumi’ by his compatriots – entered the sport after Schumacher had left the scene.

His comeback will be the first time McLaren’s current world champion Lewis Hamilton, as well as Red Bull’s title contender Sebastian Vettel, have raced against the man who dominated a decade.

“I talked on the telephone with (team principal) Stefano Domenicali and (Ferrari president) Luca de Montezemolo this afternoon and we decided jointly that I’ll start preparing to jump in for Felipe,” he said on his website, www.

Ferrari contacted the German, who has taken part in occasional motorcycle races since he retired, after Brazilian Massa fractured his skull in an accident at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.de. .

“Even though I completely wrapped up the subject of Formula One quite a while ago, due to my attachment to the team I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation.

“Even though I completely wrapped up the subject of Formula One quite a while ago, due to my attachment to the team I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation.

He won his first world title aged 25 with Benetton in 1994, by a single point from Britain’s Damon Hill, and retained the title the following season before moving to Ferrari in 1996.”

Schumacher is Formula One’s most successful driver, with 91 wins and more titles and records than anyone else has ever achieved.

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He won five straight titles from 2000, and his final tally of race wins far eclipsed the previous mark of 51 set by Frenchman Alain Prost

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A sharp-eyed prison officer foiled an attempt to have cannabis delivered to an inmate at Tongariro/Rangipo prison on the weekend.

“One of our guys was on his way into work when he spotted what looked like a Tupperware container tucked into the grass by the prison entrance,” acting assistant regional manager Diane Brophy said.

“Inside he found approximately an ounce of cannabis leaf – enough for several tinnies and considered a valuable commodity by some prisoners.

“The way the container was placed aroused suspicion so the Corrections officer stopped to investigate further.

“Unfortunately, there are people in the community that are willing to help prisoners access drugs by trying various devious methods to get them into Corrections Facilities. .

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Anyone caught trying to smuggle drugs or other banned products into the prison would be prosecuted, Ms Brophy said

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Two people have died on New Zealand roads this weekend.

This morning a 78-year-old Hauraki man died at the scene of a crash close to Paeroa.

The driver of the ute was the only other person involved and was unhurt.

Police said the man attempted to do a U-turn in the path of a northbound ute close to the intersection of Rangiora Road, Komata, on State Highway 26.

The dead man was driving west and hit an oncoming car, Sergeant Steve Salton said.

About 1am yesterday (Saturday) a 22-year-old man died at the scene of a two-car collision on Auckland’s Upper Harbour motorway, close to the Greenhithe Bridge.

On Friday morning two teenage girls were killed in a car crash in Whangarei.

He suspected speed to be a factor in the crash.10am.

The pair, who were aged 17 and 18, were killed when the car they were in rolled down a bank on Anzac Rd and into the front yard of a property in suburban Morningside just after 1.

The two were in the back seat of the car and not wearing seatbelts, Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said.

Police said they were locals.

They received minor injuries and did not need hospital treatment.

There were three other women, aged 16 to 19, in the car.

Ms Kennett said the car lost control on a bend and no other vehicles were involved.

The driver was breath-tested at the scene and was found not to have been under the influence of alcohol.

Also on Friday, a woman died after her car and a truck collided close to Dargaville, 58km south west of Whangarei.

She said the road would have been wet as it rained in Whangarei yesterday and overnight.

The woman driver of the car died at the scene. . The three deaths on the road on Friday fell outside of the weekend reporting period.

* The weekend road death toll was earlier incorrectly reported as five.

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Immigration ‘has to be fixed’

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Fellow bikies performed a haka chant as the coffin of Rebels motorcycle club life member Richard Roberts was lifted from a motorcycle sidecar at a crematorium in Canberra.

About 300 bikies attended Roberts’ funeral on Monday, remembering the man they called ”Rebel Rick” as a ‘’superstar” of drinking who ”loved the chicks and they loved him”.

”He was feared by those who didn’t know him, but loved by those who did,” a fellow bikie, known as Pappa, said of Roberts in a eulogy.

The 57-year-old New Zealand-born father of three was fatally shot last Tuesday at a suburban Canberra home.

”He was a hard worker.

Another Rebel said the slain man had ”loved his club and loved to ride”.

Roberts was a New Zealander who shifted to Australia in 1973.”

Roberts was also remembered as a man with a ”heart of gold” who ”could make you laugh”.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s cover version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, with the poignant lyrics ”Regrets? I’ve a had few”, was played after the eulogies. .

Earlier, a procession of more than 300 bikies and an empty hearse moved through the northern suburbs of Canberra from a Rebels clubhouse in Queanbeyan to the Norwood Park Crematorium under police escort.

Bikies from Rebels chapters as far away as southeastern Victoria, the NSW central coast, Gundagai and Sydney attended the funeral.

A police car stood by as the bikies, most of them wearing helmets, ran a red light at the entrance to the crematorium.

The coffin containing Roberts’ body was carried on a sidecar. Police have charged 20-year-old Russell Field with their murders.

Roberts and Gregory Carrigan, 48, were shot dead outside a southern Canberra house last week.

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A spokeswoman for ACT police said the funeral and the procession through Canberra on Monday morning were incident-free.

The slayings were initially thought to be an explosion of violence between outlaw bikie gangs, but a long-time Rebels member has said they resulted from a bitter ”love triangle”.

The proposed laws would allow police to apply to the Supreme Court for an order to prohibit members identified in an outlaw motorcycle gang from associating with each other.

The funeral was held as the NSW government is considering introducing tough new laws aimed at stamping out violent bikie gangs.

The night before Monday’s funeral, a Hells Angel member, believed to be Peter Zervas, 32, was gunned down outside his Sydney home.

One bikie at the funeral wore a provocative t-shirt which read, ”Love us or hate us, you’d better get used to us”.

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The man, who survived the shooting, is the brother of Anthony Zervas, 29, who last week was bludgeoned to death at Sydney airport during a brawl between members of the Hells Angels and the rival bikie gang Comancheros

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Teacher undergoing surgery after bus crash

and Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Eight pupils from a Gisborne high school were discharged from hospital in Hastings today after a bus crash on the Napier-Wairoa road.
The group's teacher, who was driving their mini bus back to Gisborne, was undergoing surgery as pupils waited for their parents to arrive from Gisborne to collect them.
The Lytton High School group was travelling on State Highway 2 near Putorino about 6.
Police said it appeared a car came around a corner towards the northbound mini bus and may have crossed the centre line.30pm when the crash happened.
The car driver received facial injuries and broken bones.
The pupils suffered moderate injuries ranging from broken bones to bruising.
The Lowe Walker rescue helicopter tried to land at the crash scene, but had to turn back because of bad weather.
Both vehicles were extensively damaged. .

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Police said they were continuing their investigation into the accident and hoped to speak to both drivers today

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Police clean up boy racers in Hamilton?

- Saturday, 21 February 2009

Thousands of tickets have been issued and hundreds of cars have been impounded as Hamilton police's Brat Pack rained on the boy racers' parade along Te Rapa Straight.
Figures obtained by the show in the 12 months to June 2008, police performed 9837 compulsory and mobile breath tests and took 97 positive readings; 3359 infringement and traffic notices were issued; 166 people were arrested for various offences; 143 vehicles were seized; and 362 vehicles were either green or pink stickered.
At the time, police labelled the work "very productive".
"Te Rapa Rd used to be a bloody nightmare because they used Scotsman Grandstands along the service lane which has since been shut down.
Waikato road policing manager Inspector Leo Tooman said the five-officer-strong Brat Pack had made significant progress with the boy racer problem in Hamilton. Now it's really as soon as we see them starting to congregate you go and move them on. Then the liquor ban came in. .
When contacted, owner Jeff Olsen said not a lot had changed.
Washworld has been a popular congregating site for boy racers over the years, with varying amounts of broken bottles, spew and urine left decorating the premises."
Mr Olsen said there were occasional nights where it was worse than normal, but there were "very occasional" nights when nothing happened at all.
"It (happens) fairly regularly; lots of broken bottles, even though there's a liquor ban.
He was disappointed there had not been as much presence of police in Te Rapa as had been promised.
He said his staff would spend, on average, an hour cleaning up the mess left behind by boy racers.
"There's a liquor ban but it doesn't seem to have any affect.
"There's a liquor ban but it doesn't seem to have any affect."
He had noticed several congregation areas including Bunnings, Westpac and Fairview Motors and Shell Pukete car parks. If it was enforced and there was enough of a police presence then we wouldn't be picking all the RTD bottles and other junk up. It flares up and police do a bit of extra activity, something like the liquor ban; it hasn't solved the issue, it still carries on.
"It's gone on for a lot of years and a lot of talk on what's going to happen."
Shell Pukete manager Pierre Erasmus said staff spent every Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning picking up rubbish, broken bottles and McDonald's wrappers along with cleaning urine and graffiti off parts of the building. It's just something that we pretty much deal with."
Waikato police spokesperson Andrew McAlley said for a city the size of Hamilton police would never be able to remove all boy racers, but confirmed police were pleased there were no longer congregations of up to 2000 at a time as was the case about two years ago.
"If they weren't so messy it wouldn't be a problem.

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Board sacked to protect pupils

Friday, 30 January 2009

The Government has sacked a second school board in a fortnight after revelations its teachers were hitting, swearing at and denigrating pupils.
Education Minister Anne Tolley dissolved the board of South Auckland's Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate yesterday and replaced it with a commissioner to safeguard pupils.
The move followed a damning Education Review Office report which raised "serious concerns about student safety and about the quality of teaching" at the school. It is one of 10 South Auckland secondary schools that had police officers posted on the grounds as part of a pilot scheme last year to fight crime, and gather intelligence about youth gangs and drug dealing. The 1280-pupil co-ed state school is decile one, meaning it teaches pupils from the poorest and most deprived communities and homes.
In the latest sacking, ERO said the board had failed to provide a safe environment. .
"The physical and emotional abuse of students by a few teachers is a long-standing issue that has been brought to the board's attention in the past.
Mrs Tolley said the abuse was concerning. This abuse by some teachers includes hitting, swearing at and denigrating students," the report says. Student safety is paramount. "That is totally unacceptable. ERO found a climate of mistrust among the school's three principals and said the board's inadequacy hindered the school's ability to provide quality education."
Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate is effectively three schools - junior, middle and senior.
Given the report's allegations, Mrs Tolley said she had no hesitation appointing a commissioner to replace the board.
Given the report's allegations, Mrs Tolley said she had no hesitation appointing a commissioner to replace the board.
"It was a good school," he said.
Former pupil Charles Makakea, who graduated last year, said he was surprised to hear the board was under fire.
A former teacher said it was a low-decile school and there were a lot of tensions for teachers.
He had heard reports of teachers hitting students, "but I didn't know for sure"."
But though it was a difficult environment, there were no excuses for the behaviour described in the report.
"I understand it's also a hard-to-staff school.
"Maintaining discipline and managing safety in challenging circumstances can be difficult for trained professionals who are working full time.
Post Primary Teachers Association president Kate Gainsford said it was appalling that concerns had reached such serious levels without effective support for the board being put in place earlier."
ERO will return to the school within 12 months. For volunteers devoting their spare time to shoulder such heavy responsibilities, [it] is a tall order.

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Asbestos alert after destructive Dargaville fire

Dargaville News Thursday, 08 January 2009

HEALTH RISK: Sprinklers are set up to prevent airborne asbestos spreading.

REDUCED TO RUBBLE: The aftermath of the Dargaville fire.
Kaipara District Council infrastructural assets manager Fiona Vessey told the Dargaville and Districts News today that a specialised asbestos crew is due to arrive at the scene later in the day.

The Dargaville public is being kept at bay from the site where asbestos has been found after a major fire consumed four shops and extensively damaged another one in the biggest fire the town has seen in over 40 years.
Ms Vessey says the asbestos group would be supervising clean up contractors GHK Piling from Whangarei.
She says the crew had been held up at a fire in Southdown Auckland that occurred on Tuesday.
The Kaipara District Council issued a statement on Wednesday saying the asbestos discovery in the debris had delayed clearance of the site and the public was required to keep away from the area.
Northland Health health protection officer Paul Reid says the asbestos would be removed and placed in covered trucks to be transported to the Redvale special rubbish disposal facility north of Auckland.
Council, Fire Service, Northland Health and police officials, with insurers, building owners and the Department of Labour met to collaboratively minimise any potential health risk in the meantime. . The area will remain cordoned to protect the public and a section of Victoria St will stay closed.
The site is being kept continually dampened to eliminate any risk of breathable asbestos fibres becoming airborne.
"It is a concern and I apologise for any extra inconvenience but I am confident that the situation is being handled correctly and council's understanding is that the risk posed is minimal.
Kaipara mayor Neil Tiller says the discovery of asbestos is disappointing and hopes it will not significantly delay reinstatement of the area."

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Police on guard for tagging verdict

Saturday, 13 December 2008

The grandfather of a South Auckland teenager fatally stabbed after tagging a garage door wiped tears from his eyes as he sat next to the dead boy's grave and said his killer had been found guilty of manslaughter.
It was not the message he had wanted to deliver to the grave of 15-year-old Pihema Cameron, who died from a single stab wound to the chest. .
Emery's lawyer, Chris Comeskey, told the court Pihema had lunged toward Emery intending to attack him, and had pushed into the knife.
The Crown alleged Emery stabbed Pihema in angry retaliation.
"We're devastated, we're not happy," said Pihema's great-aunt, Lovie Hohepa.
Following the verdict in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Pihema's grandfather, Brian Cameron, said the family had been looking for a murder conviction.
"His mother [Leanne] is very shocked, so is Pihema's father [Clifford]."
Despite their disappointment, the family managed to "keep everyone together" for the duration of the week-long trial and had not erupted over the verdict as police had anticipated.
"But we just have to accept it.
They filed into the courtroom, took their seats and waited in tense silence.
Having kept vigil outside the courtroom since the jury retired almost 24 hours earlier, the family were surprised when told the jury was about to come back with a verdict.
Justice Hugh Williams urged everyone to restrain themselves when the verdict was announced.
But the jury was kept in an adjoining room for almost 30 minutes while a van load of uniformed police could be brought to the courthouse and be placed around the courtroom and near the jury box.
"Some people will be pleased, even elated with the verdict, some will be disconsolate.
"Some people will be pleased, even elated with the verdict, some will be disconsolate.
But Mrs Cameron gasped when she heard "not guilty" to murder and sobbed when she heard "guilty" to manslaughter."
Emery took a deep breath as he walked, under guard, to the courtroom but showed no emotion when the jury foreman read out the verdict.
Once the sobs subsided, she and the others donned green "RIP" T-shirts and filed out of the courtroom.
Leaving the courtroom, she walked with family to a private area, the sound of her cries still audible. They declined to comment on the verdict.
Emery's wife, sisters and other family members remained inside the courthouse till all Pihema's supporters had dispersed.

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Emery will return to court next Wednesday for a bail hearing before being sentenced on January 13

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Free study on offer if job goes under

Saturday, 29 November 2008

Government-owned polytechnic UCOL is offering free study next year for anyone who loses their job as a result of the economic crisis. .
The initiatives show UCOL's "commitment to its local communities and to the health of the regional economies UCOL serves".
"Anyone who doesn't find employment in their study area within 13 weeks of successfully completing a UCOL programme started in 2009 can then apply to enrol on another programme without paying further tuition fees in 2010," chief executive Paul McElroy said.
"There is still uncertainty about the impact on the New Zealand job market of the recession and slowdown in the global economy," McElroy said.
The offer is available to anyone made redundant after September 1 and includes normal tuition fees on certificates, degrees and diplomas offered at its campuses in Palmerston North, Wanganui, and the Wairarapa."

. "All of this means that many people are anxious about the security of their jobs and their ability to adapt to a changing employment environment