Two a penny

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Auckland police investigating a suspicious
death believe they know how the man died, but lack enough evidence
for an arrest after being stonewalled by witnesses.

Damien Loder Allen, 33, the previous month died from head injuries which were not accidental.

Police believe the house where his body was found on September 24 in the suburb of Hillsborough had been cleaned and his body had been moved.

Mr Allen had head injuries and police were still waiting on toxicology results.

Several possible witnesses were refusing to co-operate.

He would not say how Mr Allen got his injuries, or if they had found a weapon.

Detective Inspector Scott Beard said he believed witnesses may be protecting someone involved in the death.

Others in Mr Allen’s house made 111 calls the night he died.

It was not a party but people were socialising and drinking.

Four people were in the house when police arrived and others had visited the house on the night.

He said information was still flowing in but police still wanted to hear from anyone who knew what may have happened or knew the people at the house. .

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Anyone with information should call the confidential Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111

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LATEST:
Deputy Prime Minister Bill English has announced he will not receive any more taxpayer-funding housing allowances.

The finance minister this afternoon confirmed actions he had taken with the aim of putting the “unnecessary distraction” of the row over his housing expenses behind him.

His announcement comes ahead of an informal meeting scheduled with the Auditor-General’s office this evening to discuss an investigation into his housing allowances claim.

* Had not received any housing allowance payments since July 28.

Mr English said he:

* Would no longer receive a housing allowance.

* Had received a legal opinion from Stephen Kos, QC, that changes made to his family trust arrangements did not affect his eligibility for the housing allowance.

* Had repaid all housing allowance payments received since last November’s election to Ministerial Services.

“What I’m announcing today reflects a set of personal decisions I have made about my own situation,” Mr English said.

“At all times my decisions have been driven by my desire to keep my family together and provide them with as much stability as possible.

“It is in no way setting a precedent for others although I make the point here that I believe Parliament does have to think how it can accommodate the families of long-term politicians.”

A TV One poll showed that voters felt the issue was denting Mr English’s credibility. It’s now clear that the system has struggled to deal with my circumstances.

The Deputy Prime Minister considers the Southland town of Dipton, in his electorate, to be his primary residence under parliamentary rules, but his family has lived in, and owned, a house in Wellington for years.

Asked if the issue had damaged his credibility, 62 percent said yes and 27 percent no; asked if Mr English has acted with integrity, 54 percent said no and 30 percent yes.

He came under fire when it was revealed he was now claiming a much higher allowance to stay in the Wellington house than when he lived there as an opposition MP.

He came under fire when it was revealed he was now claiming a much higher allowance to stay in the Wellington house than when he lived there as an opposition MP.

Today, a spokesman for Mr English said the Auditor-General’s office wrote to the minister after receiving the complaint.

Auditor-General Lyn Provost has asked for more information before deciding whether to investigate a complaint by Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton into the matter.

He will meet with a team from the office tonight for informal talks which will not form part of the inquiry, the spokesman said.

They said “feel free” to get in touch and Mr English has done that. .

Mr English will be informed about what the Auditor-General’s office is doing

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LATEST:
A man has been arrested after allegedly chasing a car with a replica pistol in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay.

Acting Senior Sergeant Corey Watts said the man, who gave himself up last night after police set up a cordon around his house, had been charged with presenting a firearm.

Police were called to Island Bay after 10pm yesterday after receiving calls that a man was seen running down a road after a car armed with a pistol.50pm.

Mr Watts said police then cordoned off a property in Eden St around 10.

Mr Watts said police had determined the firearm was an air pistol, and that it had been used to fire plastic BB pellets in the early stages of the incident. .

Though the Armed Offenders Squad was initially called out, officers were not deployed. We treated it very seriously,” Mr Watts said.

“It’s pretty provocative running down the street with one of those in your hand.

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It was a reunion of reunions.

Twelve Apollo astronauts reminisced, traded stories and poked fun at each other Friday night as the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and moonwalk approached.

The crowd of hundreds at the National Museum of the United States Air Force erupted in cheers when a video chronicling the space program replayed Armstrong’s famous first words after stepping on the moon July 20, 1969: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

The astronauts, including first moonmen Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, attended the ceremony in which the National Aviation Hall of Fame presented the Apollo crews with the “Spirit of Flight” award for their courage and dedication. “Any time you go to a place where everything you see is different than anything you’ve ever seen before in your life, it’s unique and it’s memorable.”

“It was spectacular,” Armstrong recalled of gazing at the moon’s surface as he took those first steps.”

However, Armstrong said he and Aldrin had little time to savor the experience. And that certainly was.

Armstrong said he had been a backup on Apollo 8 and that when he wasn’t needed was asked if he wanted to be on the third mission down the line — what turned out to be the fateful Apollo 11 mission.

“We didn’t rest hardly five seconds when we got a message from Mission Control, saying get on with the next item,” Armstrong said.

“We knew we had a chance at landing, but it was by no means certain,” he said. He said it was difficult to predict the exact mission of succeeding flights.

Astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, also flew in the flight preceding Armstrong’s.

As they sat together on the stage, the astronauts joked and bantered with each other.

“Everyone knew Neil could land on the moon, but we didn’t have a lot of confidence Neil could find it,” Cernan quipped. He joked that his job was to paint a white line to the moon that Apollo 11 could follow.

But the first lunar landing was a serious matter for the astronauts and those in mission control.

“I’ve been listening to that for 40 years, and this is not the time to change my position,” Armstrong shot back, drawing laughs from the crowd.

“I can’t say it was panic, but it was a lot of attention to detail in mission control,” said Charles Duke, who was at mission control at the time. When the designated landing zone proved to be too rocky, Armstrong had to burn fuel from a diminishing supply to find a suitable place to touch down.” When there were only 30 seconds of fuel left, “it got dead silent. .”

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It was a reunion of reunions.

Twelve Apollo astronauts reminisced, traded stories and poked fun at each other Friday night as the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and moonwalk approached.

The crowd of hundreds at the National Museum of the United States Air Force erupted in cheers when a video chronicling the space program replayed Armstrong’s famous first words after stepping on the moon July 20, 1969: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

The astronauts, including first moonmen Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, attended the ceremony in which the National Aviation Hall of Fame presented the Apollo crews with the “Spirit of Flight” award for their courage and dedication. “Any time you go to a place where everything you see is different than anything you’ve ever seen before in your life, it’s unique and it’s memorable.”

“It was spectacular,” Armstrong recalled of gazing at the moon’s surface as he took those first steps.”

However, Armstrong said he and Aldrin had little time to savor the experience. And that certainly was.

Armstrong said he had been a backup on Apollo 8 and that when he wasn’t needed was asked if he wanted to be on the third mission down the line — what turned out to be the fateful Apollo 11 mission.

“We didn’t rest hardly five seconds when we got a message from Mission Control, saying get on with the next item,” Armstrong said.

“We knew we had a chance at landing, but it was by no means certain,” he said. He said it was difficult to predict the exact mission of succeeding flights.

Astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, also flew in the flight preceding Armstrong’s.

As they sat together on the stage, the astronauts joked and bantered with each other.

“Everyone knew Neil could land on the moon, but we didn’t have a lot of confidence Neil could find it,” Cernan quipped. He joked that his job was to paint a white line to the moon that Apollo 11 could follow.

But the first lunar landing was a serious matter for the astronauts and those in mission control.

“I’ve been listening to that for 40 years, and this is not the time to change my position,” Armstrong shot back, drawing laughs from the crowd.

“I can’t say it was panic, but it was a lot of attention to detail in mission control,” said Charles Duke, who was at mission control at the time. When the designated landing zone proved to be too rocky, Armstrong had to burn fuel from a diminishing supply to find a suitable place to touch down.” When there were only 30 seconds of fuel left, “it got dead silent. .”

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Two Washington, subway trains collided during the Monday afternoon rush hour, killing nine people and injuring at least 75, officials said early on Tuesday.

A District of Columbia Fire Department official said the death toll had been raised from 6 late on Monday, but said officials were could prepared to identify any of the deceased.

Mayor Adrian Fenty called the crash the deadliest in the 33-year history of the city’s Metro subway system. At least one car from the trailing train was hurled on to the top of the other in the accident, which occurred on above-ground tracks. . .

“Metro officials do not know the cause of the. .

The crash occurred on the heavily traveled red line about 5pm EDT (2100 GMT), between Fort Totten and Takoma stations on the northeastern outskirts of the city near the border with Maryland. collision and are not likely to know the cause for several days as the investigation unfolds,” the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said on its Web site.

It was the first crash involving a passenger death since 1982, when three people were killed in a derailment. Both trains were heading south into the city.

“What happened. The Metro train system began service in 1976. . . . (was) one train was stopped waiting to get the order to pass.. .

“We are committed to investigate this accident until we determine why this happened and what must be done to ensure it never happens again,” Catoe said in a statement. The next train came up behind it and, for reasons that we do not know, collided into the back of that train,” John Catoe, general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, told reporters. The accident trapped passengers in one or more of the subway cars.

The transit authority said one of those killed was a female train operator in the trailing train.

“It was very mangled, everything is ripped out of there,” the woman, who was not identified, told the local ABC television affiliate.

One witness described how one train appeared to collide with – and then run up and over – the second train.

“They will have to do both an investigation and then a release of the scene for us to clean it up,” Fenty told reporters at the scene.

“They will have to do both an investigation and then a release of the scene for us to clean it up,” Fenty told reporters at the scene.

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Michael Winslow, the Police Academy star known as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects, hammed it up with a cutout of Star Wars character Yoda before his show at the Armageddon Expo, which starts in Wellington today.

About 15,000 sci-fi, fantasy and comic book fans are expected at the two-day expo at TSB Bank Arena in Wellington.
Organiser Bill Geradts said he expected this weekend’s event to be record-breaking.”
This year’s attractions include British actor Peter Davison, who played the fifth incarnation of Doctor Who in the 1980s, as well as Hercules star Kevin Sorbo. .
Mr Geradts said Winslow’s show, including imitations of Jimi Hendrix and Louis Armstrong, was very popular.
American comedian Winslow played Sergeant Larvelle “Motor Mouth” Jones in the Police Academy movies, making realistic sound effects using just his voice.
Last year, stars from TV programmes Stargate SG1 and Babylon 5, attracted more than 13,000 people to the event.

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Click play to see Michael Winslow performing as Jimi Hendrix and Louis Armstrong at the Armageddon Expo in Christchurch

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Crashes claim two lives in Otago

Wellington Monday, 08 September 2008

Two people died on the roads in Otago last night in separate incidents.
A 21-year-old man is dead after two trail bikes collided in Central Otago.55pm on Earnscleugh Road between Clyde and Alexandra.
Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw of Central Otago CIB said the crash happened about 9.
A local man died at the scene while a 25-year-old man received moderate injuries and was admitted to Dunstan Hospital.
Mr Shaw said it appeared three trail motorcycles had been travelling away from Clyde when two of them driving in the same direction collided.
The name of the man was expected to be released this afternoon.
The third rider avoided the collision.
Meanwhile, an 18-year-old woman died in a car crash at Oamaru, in north Otago yesterday night.
Mr Shaw said it appeared the motorcycles were travelling along the highway without any form of lighting on a rural road on a moonless night.45pm.
Sergeant Daniel Keno said the accident happened on Parsons Road about 5.
Police were investigating the caused of the crash, Mr Keno said.
Four others in the car escaped serious injury.
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