Get other Popular Fiction hereGet other Kate Jacobs here Juggling the demands of her yarn shop and single-handedly raising a teenage daughter has made Georgia Walker grateful for her Friday Night Knitting Club. And when the unthinkable happens these women will discover that what theyve created isnt just a knitting club–its a sisterhood.Berkley Publishing Group
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Get other Popular Fiction hereGet other E. P. Roe here Then Clancy remarked lightly “We had our share of disaster in the last August’s cyclone. Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. The jar of Friday was only a little sympathetic symptom in old mother Earth who like other mothers and women in general are said to be subject to nervous attacks. Suppose we settle down to our games.”
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One a Penny, Two a Penny . Hot cross buns! Do you remember the old nursery rhyme
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NineteenTeen: One a Penny, Two a Penny
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Air New Zealand will say sorry to the families of those killed in the Erebus disaster as part of the 30th anniversary commemorations.
The apology will be the first to families of the 257 people who died when the airline’s DC-10 crashed into Mt Erebus in Antarctica on November 28, 1979, during a sightseeing flight.
But he would not go as far as apologising for the accident itself or the subsequent controversial investigations.
It is understood chief executive Rob Fyfe will use the unveiling of a sculpture at the airline’s head office in Auckland next Friday to apologise for the way the families were treated after the accident.
Jackie Nankervis, who was 15 when she lost her father and uncle in the accident, said an apology would be “a step in the right direction”.
Air New Zealand would not reveal what would be said, referring instead to a statement earlier this week that Mr Fyfe would “speak directly about the lessons learned from the Erebus tragedy and the way in which the airline interacted with the families in the aftermath of the accident”. She had felt neglected by the airline for the past three decades.
Although financial compensation was paid, most families felt there had been a lack of communication and emotional support, Ms Nankervis said. In 1979, there was nothing in place to meet the families’ needs.
These days, disaster victims received support, including counselling and constant communication. “The police did everything else.
Air New Zealand’s only direct contact with her family immediately after the accident was a bunch of flowers to her mother. French investigators have indicated another report on the Perpignan crash could be made public before Christmas.”
Mr Fyfe has been widely commended for his handling of the Airbus A320 crash off the French Mediterranean coast on November 28 last year, when all seven on board died – four Air New Zealand staff, a Civil Aviation Authority inspector and two German pilots.. . that caused me to reflect on many of the gaps and failings that occurred in the days, months and years after November 28, 1979.. Laying blame was not helpful.”
He said the most important immediate response to Perpignan was to support the families of the victims and learn from the flight safety lessons.
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Ms Nankervis said she would like the airline to bring the Erebus families together – which has never happened – to allow them to share their experiences
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Winter is expected to have one last hurrah with snow forecast over much of the country until the weekend.
The MetService said strong cold winds were expected to spread snow showers down to 200 metres over Otago overnight, and over Banks Peninsula and the Kaikoura Coast down to 400 metres tomorrow morning. .
Snow showers should lower to about 400 metres on the eastern ranges of Wellington, 500 metres for the central North Island and Hawke’s Bay, and to about 600 metres over Gisborne tomorrow.
Up to 20cm could fall on the Catlins through to late Thursday morning.
Severe frosts were expected on sheltered basins and valleys in the South Island on Friday morning and again on Saturday.
Showers south of Napier should clear on Friday but rain and strong winds were expected in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay on the weekend.
Motorists were warned to take care in icy conditions.
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Cold southerlies were expected over the North Island late on Thursday, and farmers were warned the wind, cold showers and snow could be stressful for newborn lambs and calves
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Rare find on Northland beach
Dargaville News Friday, 13 February 2009
SLIPPERY ONE: A snake eel washed up in Northland today.
In arare find, a fisherman hasfound a large snake eel washed up on Northland's Kauri Coast.
The 2.
Commercial fisherman BillMilich, of Te Kopuru,said the fish was very much alive when he found it andit tried to bite him.5m long creature had washed ashore about 12km south of Glinks Gully, on the Kauri Coast, at10am today."
When he returned to where the eel was lying on the beach, it was dead and seagulls were attacking it.
"I decided to leave it alone for a while.
"I decided to take it back to Dargaville to show it off to the grandkids."
Bill says that Kelly Tarlton's told him it was a snake eel as a result of its round tail and three rows of sharp teeth. The last one I found was 30 years ago. .
There were two rows of teeth on the sides and one down the middle.
. He says he intends to use it as fertiliser for the garden
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Schools’ uniform rules may be illegal
Tuesday, 09 December 2008
Schools may be breaking the law by insisting that uniforms be bought at one supplier, the Commerce Commission warns.
The commission has been investigating complaints about the high cost of kitting out children for school uniforms.
It has just issued guidelines for the supply of school uniforms, which can cost more than $1000 at some schools, after an investigation into sole supplier agreements between school boards and uniform manufacturers.
"If schools are in doubt as to whether their conduct risks breaching the act, independent legal advice is recommended," the guidelines say.
The guidelines warn that some uniform supply arrangements could breach the Commerce Act by restricting competition and bumping up prices.
Parents faced high uniform costs as a result, without the ability to seek better deals from other suppliers.
The commission found uniform makers paid some schools in return for exclusive supply rights.
"Buying school uniforms is a significant cost for parents," said Deborah Battell, the commission's director of competition."
The Commerce Act bans conduct that restricts competition.
"While exclusive arrangements can provide benefits for schools, such as rebates or gifts to support school activities, they also reduce parental choice and can result in increased prices.
Most secondary school pupils and some primary and intermediate pupils are required to wear uniforms.
Its scope extends to schools when they enter agreements for the sale or retail supply of uniforms.
School Trustees Association president Lorraine Kerr said cash-strapped boards would always try to save money where they could.
The commission urged schools to go through a competitive tender process for uniform suppliers to ensure the best deal, to be transparent about financial benefits they received, and to tell parents why exclusive supply deals were signed.
"The suggestion that they might breach the Commerce Act is something we're going to have to make them all aware of.
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Stewart ‘must accept guilt’
By MARTIN VAN BEYNEN – Tuesday, 02 December 2008
Supporters of the complainant in the Peter Stewart case have called for Stewart to accept he is guilty.
The Stewart family has hired private detective Dave Haslett, a former detective inspector in the New Zealand Police, to continue investigating in an attempt to upset the guilty verdicts against Stewart.
A supporter of the complainant said the investigation was part of a campaign to portray Stewart's conviction as wrongful. What is Stewart's private detective meant to do? The Stewart groupies should really just accept the facts, the truth, and put it all behind them," he said.
"The case is finished, done and dusted and the guilty party is where he should be.
"The last thing anyone would wish for is the heartbreak and torment such a situation produces," he said.
It was absurd to continue to claim the convictions were due to a plot by the complainant," he said.
"The judicial system has worked. He has a huge amount to answer to. His criminal antics of so long ago have totally disintegrated a family and many friendships. Stewart doesn't have the decency nor guts to do the right thing. Normal people who have any conscience would do their best to set the peace."
Stewart, 62, the son of Christchurch plastics magnate Sir Robertson Stewart and husband of New Zealand Fashion Week owner Pieter Stewart, was jailed in February for 3 1/2 years. He sits in prison feeling sorry for himself when he has been responsible for all that has happened, but won't even accept the responsibility for his own actions. He is serving his sentence in Rolleston Prison. He is serving his sentence in Rolleston Prison.
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Capital hit by over 100 lightning strikes in hour
Friday, 07 November 2008
MATT VELDE
FLASH, AHA! Hail falls on the Wellington motorway during the sudden storm.
LATEST: Wellington was hit by thunder, lightning andhail after a sudden storm broke over the city.
Hail has fallen in the Wellington suburbs of Johnsonville and Karori.
More than 100 lightning strikes were recorded in Wellington, Marlborough and the Wairarapa between 2pm and 3pm, said Metservice spokesman Andy Downs. .
The storm was sparked by an unstable depression following on the heels of a weak southerly.
A Transpower spokeswoman said there was a brief outage at the Central Park substation soon after 2.
The lightning is also believed to have tripped a power station and caused a flash power outage in the city.
The outage caused power to switch on and off throughout much of the city.30pm.
-with
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Police hunt for serial bag snatcher
– Tuesday, 16 September 2008
WANTED: An identikit picture of a man wanted for questioning about a series of bag snatches in Auckland.
A middle-aged white man with a receding hairline and bad teeth is believed to be snatching the bags of elderly women in Auckland.
In the latest two incidents that occurred within minutes of each other yesterday at 11.
Police say five bag snatches in the eastern suburbs were probably carried out by one man using a car stolen from Grey Lynn last Friday afternoon.30am in Mission Bay and Remuera, two women in their 80s were targeted and one – an 87 year-old – was hospitalised with a large gash to her right forearm.15am and 11.
He pulled her right arm into the car in order to grab the bag from her shoulder and in so doing, caused her to cut her forearm on the driver's window.
The woman had her hand bag snatched from her as she leant towards the driver of a car who had asked her for directions to Meadowbank.
Fifteen minutes later an 80 year-old woman who was sitting at a bus stop on Remuera Rd was approached by a man who asked her for directions.
He made off with a navy blue cloth bag that contained a small umbrella, sunglasses and a small floral purse with some $10 and $5 notes in it.
Police say the man is a 35 to 40 year-old caucasian of medium build with tanned skin and short, light-brown hair. When she placed her handbag on the seat he grabbed it and left in a car heading towards Newmarket.
Police believe he was using a silver, 2001 Mazda 626 sedan GLX that was stolen at about 3pm on Friday, September 12.
He has a receding hairline and discoloured teeth and sports a tattoo on his upper left bicep.15pm, Lillington Rd, Remuera; a 37 year-old woman was threatened with a claw hammer and had her bag taken from her as she walked to a nearby school to collect her child.
Other snatches attributed to the man were on:
* September 12 – 4. He then took her bag and drove off.
* September 13 – 7pm, Great South Rd, Greenlane; a 30 year-old woman was approached by a man who had alighted from a silver car and asked her for the time.49am, St Vincent Ave, Remuera; 54 year-old woman is at a bus stop near Carmont St when a silver car pulls alongside and the man inside asks for directions to Meadowbank.
* September 15 – 11. He released the bag and drove away.
He got out of the car and lunged for her handbag and, while holding onto the straps, drives off with the woman running alongside, screaming.