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Mitre 10 fire suspected as arson attack
By MICHAEL FOX – Thursday, 11 December 2008
/Suburban News
SUSPICIOUS: A massive fire at a Mitre 10 store in Onehunga in Auckland appears to have been deliberately lit.
A fire that engulfed a large hardware store in Auckland, resulting in traffic jams and power cuts is now being treated as suspicious.
"Fire service have looked at the cause, have ruled out anything accidental, have ruled out anything electrical and passed on to Police," he said.
Fire Service Investigator Russell Dickson confirmed police had now taken over the investigation at the Mitre 10 store in Onehunga."
Mr Dickson said they had identified the area of the fires origin and this had led to police interest.
"We believe, though it is still undetermined at this stage, it is of a suspicious nature.
Mr Dickson said an asbestos contamination had slowed down the investigation considerably.
Police are now in charge of the scene and the fire service was scaling back their involvement."
The building had a very high fire loading because of the contents of the hardware shop and there were no sprinklers and fire engineers have been constantly pushing for sprinkler systems in such buildings, he said.
"We had to lock it right down, until it was deemed safe enough, and wet down enough for fire service investigators to start. He was not aware of any accelerant having been used.
Manukau chief fire officer Larry Cocker said he wasn't sure where in the store the fire originated.
Power was cut to the area and several roads close toby, including the motorway to the airport, were closed.
Around 80 firefighters and more than 20 fire engines battled the blaze for three hours. .
In a statement today, Mitre 10 CEO Craig Wilson said the organisation was shocked at the findings but would assist the police in any way it could
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Air NZ crash: Fyfe arrives in France
By ADRIENNE BOURGEON – Sunday, 30 November 2008
Experts at a loss to explain Airbus tragedy
Rob Fyfe’s longest, saddest day
Air New Zealand staff in Perpignan sincerely wish to retrieve their colleagues and return them home, the airline's chief executive Rob Fyfe said at a press conference in the southern French town today.
"Our primary goal is to retrieve our colleagues and return them to New Zealand; that is our sincere wish," a visibly shaken Fyfe told reporters shortly after arriving on a 30-hour flight.
Accompanied by members of one of the families involved, Mr Fyfe made the decision to travel to Perpignan to ensure that everything possible was being done to help.
Since the company was of the accident advised two days ago, the focus has been on supporting the families of the crew aboard the crashed Airbus, he said.
"We don't think anything more could be done and that has been very important for the families of the people who were aboard the aircraft.
Before leaving New Zealand, hespoke to Prime Minister John Key, and said that both the Prime Minister and Air New Zealand were tremendously gratified by the French authorities' effort to search for survivors. Members of three more families are expected from New Zealand in the next two days."
Mr Fyfe arrived in Perpignan accompanied by a team of investigators and several police officers.
Recoveredfrom the submerged wreck off the coast of Perpignan by police divers today, Alzeari said that the "black box" – in reality fluorescent orange – contained the recorded conversation between the pilots in the last minutes leading up to the crash.
The flight recorder retrieved from the crashed Air New Zealand Airbus is to be taken to Paris tomorrow (Sunday, French time) for analysis, Perpignan’s Procureur-Adjoint, Dominique Alzeari said.
A second flight recorder, containing technical data about the flight, such as speed, altitude and navigation information was also precisely located today, but aheavy swell and visibility reduced to only 20 centimetres prevented divers from bringing it to the surface, but he hoped it could be recovered tomorrow (Sunday French time).
It was in one piece and held vital information that should be known within 48 hours, he told reporters at a press conference on Saturday night (French time) in Perpignan.
It was still far too early however, to speculate on the cause of the crash, its origins or the responsibility of those involved.
It would take several days for the all the information to be pieced together,Alzeari said.46pm on Thursday (French time) when two of the seven crew members were found.
No further bodies have been discovered since the crash occured at 4. .
Unfortunately thecondition of the two bodies means they have yetto be visually identified.
Alzearisaid that some of the bodies may still be in the cockpit, the most rigid and reinforced part of the aircraft, which has not yet been accessed.
Themain priority for investigators was to identify the bodies with rapidity and dignity.
. Much of the debris has now been located and covers an area 800m long, 400m wide and 40m deep
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Air NZ crash: Fyfe arrives in France
By ADRIENNE BOURGEON – Sunday, 30 November 2008
Experts at a loss to explain Airbus tragedy
Rob Fyfe’s longest, saddest day
Air New Zealand staff in Perpignan sincerely wish to retrieve their colleagues and return them home, the airline's chief executive Rob Fyfe said at a press conference in the southern French town today.
"Our primary goal is to retrieve our colleagues and return them to New Zealand; that is our sincere wish," a visibly shaken Fyfe told reporters shortly after arriving on a 30-hour flight.
Accompanied by members of one of the families involved, Mr Fyfe made the decision to travel to Perpignan to ensure that everything possible was being done to help.
Since the company was of the accident advised two days ago, the focus has been on supporting the families of the crew aboard the crashed Airbus, he said.
"We don't think anything more could be done and that has been very important for the families of the people who were aboard the aircraft.
Before leaving New Zealand, hespoke to Prime Minister John Key, and said that both the Prime Minister and Air New Zealand were tremendously gratified by the French authorities' effort to search for survivors. Members of three more families are expected from New Zealand in the next two days."
Mr Fyfe arrived in Perpignan accompanied by a team of investigators and several police officers.
Recoveredfrom the submerged wreck off the coast of Perpignan by police divers today, Alzeari said that the "black box" – in reality fluorescent orange – contained the recorded conversation between the pilots in the last minutes leading up to the crash.
The flight recorder retrieved from the crashed Air New Zealand Airbus is to be taken to Paris tomorrow (Sunday, French time) for analysis, Perpignan’s Procureur-Adjoint, Dominique Alzeari said.
A second flight recorder, containing technical data about the flight, such as speed, altitude and navigation information was also precisely located today, but aheavy swell and visibility reduced to only 20 centimetres prevented divers from bringing it to the surface, but he hoped it could be recovered tomorrow (Sunday French time).
It was in one piece and held vital information that should be known within 48 hours, he told reporters at a press conference on Saturday night (French time) in Perpignan.
It was still far too early however, to speculate on the cause of the crash, its origins or the responsibility of those involved.
It would take several days for the all the information to be pieced together,Alzeari said.46pm on Thursday (French time) when two of the seven crew members were found.
No further bodies have been discovered since the crash occured at 4. .
Unfortunately thecondition of the two bodies means they have yetto be visually identified.
Alzearisaid that some of the bodies may still be in the cockpit, the most rigid and reinforced part of the aircraft, which has not yet been accessed.
Themain priority for investigators was to identify the bodies with rapidity and dignity.
. Much of the debris has now been located and covers an area 800m long, 400m wide and 40m deep
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Arrest over armed robbery of tourists
– Friday, 31 October 2008
Police have arrested a man in connection with the gunpoint robbery of four tourists in the Far North earlier this week.
The 26-year-old man was arrested in Auckland last night and will appear in the Manukau District Court today on charges of aggravated robbery and arson.
The rental van belonging to the Irish tourists was stolen in Dargaville by two men allegedly armed with a long-barrelled firearm, and possibly a pistol at about 12.
Police said the Irish men were "absolutely terrified" when the weapons were produced and their van was taken.30am on Monday.
The two male offenders drove off in the van which had a substantial amount of property inside, including generators and water blasters.
Sergeant Jonathon Tier said the four men initially refused to hand over the keys but changed their minds when the weapons were produced.
The van was found later that morning.
Some of the property has been found, and police say they are still searching for the second offender.
Police said an attempt to destroy the rental van by igniting the driver's seat was made, but the fire failed to take hold.
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Teen seriously injured in Auckland hit and run
– Friday, 31 October 2008
West Auckland police are appealing to the public for help after a teenager was seriously injured in a hit and run.
Police are calling for sightings of a silver Subaru Legacy that was involved in the Tuesday night accident on Henderson Valley Road. .
He remains in a critical condition in Auckland Hospital.15pm.
Waitemata Police communication manager Kevin Loughlin said thedriver did not stop after hitting the man, fleeing towards Te Atatu South.
None of the man’s friends were injured.
The car, which is thought to have been stolen, was recovered by police early on Wednesday morning on Glynbrook Road just off Roberts Road.
Police say a large number of people would have witnessed the vehicle’s movements between Henderson and Te Atatu.
Loughlin saidcar's front plastic bumper and front windscreen were extensively damaged in the incident.
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Anyone with sightings or other information are asked to contact Senior Constable Karl Bevin at the Waitematä Police Serious Crash Unit on 09 481 0307
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Many students bored in class
– Tuesday, 28 October 2008
More than half of 14-year-old Kiwi schoolchildren are often bored in class, a new survey shows.
Schools are so interested in the new figures they are buying reports to compare how engaged their students are compared with the rest of the country.
The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) survey of about 8500 students from more than 50 schools was released in the Seeing Yourself in Science report issued late last week.
A scale measured student attitudes to school.
It shows students lose interest in school as each year passes from Year 7 to Year 10. By Year 10, both boys and girls dropped to 53. . A score of 55 was the level at which students said they were often bored in class.
The report says there is an emerging trend for disengagement with science learning in Year 7 and 8 students.
"If you had anybody scoring down around 20 at the bottom of the scale, you would have to say that they would be very sad students who probably had some things going on in their lives that were nothing to do with school at all," said Rose Hipkins, a NZCER chief researcher and co-author of the report.
Students who left school at 16 had started disengaging in early primary years. Disengagement from science sat within a general trend to disengagement from school.
Hipkins said that while the number of students reporting boredom was a concern, there were also positive sentiments expressed by the same students.
"At 12, the young people who left school by 16 were giving up, playing up and increasingly alienated, and this trend was even more marked at age 14," the report says. A score of 55 included sentiments that their culture was treated with respect, they were proud to be at the school and their classes were not a waste of time. A score of 55 included sentiments that their culture was treated with respect, they were proud to be at the school and their classes were not a waste of time.
"They can get the data for their own individual school and see it compared to the national pattern, so they can get a snapshot of how their students are compared to students nationally," Hipkins said.
Schools were able, for the first time, to buy data about the attitudes of their students.
"They've got hugely more choices than we had.
The report highlights the need for a continued shift in curriculum and teaching methods to respond to the more individualistic "late-modern youth".
"They have a level of flexibility that simply wasn't available to us as a result of the way society was organised. They're used to everything being personalised and individualised for them," Hipkins said."