Two a penny

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All-you-can-tan offers have critics seeing red

By KEITH LYNCH and KIM THOMAS – Monday, 16 February 2009

Salons offering all-you-can-tan sunbed promotions have been branded as irresponsible by doctors, who say such promotions highlight the need for stricter controls over solarium operators.
Dr Judith Galtry, a skin cancer adviser with the Cancer Society, said offering people the opportunity to tan many times in a month was potentially unsafe. Those who used the beds at any age were 15 per cent more likely to develop skin cancer.
"Research from an international agency on cancer found people who used sunbeds before they were aged 18 were 75 per cent more likely to develop melanoma.
Manager Kerry Middleton said the salon strictly monitored its all-you-can-tan customers."
Christchurch salon Skin Deep Solariums is offering an all-you-can-tan promotion for $60 a month.
"In the vertical [tanning bed], it's a max of nine minutes; in the lay-down [tanning beds], it's a maximum of 25 minutes.
"All-you-can-tan is a one-month offer that is strictly within the health boundaries."
Some customers did flout the guidelines, and tanned every day, but the all-you-can-tan system was closely monitored, Middleton said. And we recommend people tan at most every second day, as the skin needs time to recover. We are looking after their skin.
"Our customers are in a controlled environment where we can check exactly how much time they go in for."
Parental consent was required for customers under the age of 18, but sunbeds were off limits to people under 16, Middleton said. .
Galtry said the Cancer Society would carry out "stings" on sunbed operators this year to gauge how many were flouting the guidelines.
This year, Standards NZ and Australia published new guidelines for the tanning industry, including advising against the use of tanning machines by people under 18.
"Good salons should offer people the benefits of tanning without the risk of burning," she said.
Gabrielle Brown, of the Indoor Tanning Association, advised people to tan moderately.
"We've tried to get together with a couple of our critics to talk to them about educating people on how to moderate their tanning behaviour and how to avoid sunburn.
"But our critics' position is they see no benefit to tanning and would like to see the industry completely disappear."

. But they've said, `we can't work with you'

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All-you-can-tan offers have critics seeing red

By KEITH LYNCH and KIM THOMAS – Monday, 16 February 2009

Salons offering all-you-can-tan sunbed promotions have been branded as irresponsible by doctors, who say such promotions highlight the need for stricter controls over solarium operators.
Dr Judith Galtry, a skin cancer adviser with the Cancer Society, said offering people the opportunity to tan many times in a month was potentially unsafe. Those who used the beds at any age were 15 per cent more likely to develop skin cancer.
"Research from an international agency on cancer found people who used sunbeds before they were aged 18 were 75 per cent more likely to develop melanoma.
Manager Kerry Middleton said the salon strictly monitored its all-you-can-tan customers."
Christchurch salon Skin Deep Solariums is offering an all-you-can-tan promotion for $60 a month.
"In the vertical [tanning bed], it's a max of nine minutes; in the lay-down [tanning beds], it's a maximum of 25 minutes.
"All-you-can-tan is a one-month offer that is strictly within the health boundaries."
Some customers did flout the guidelines, and tanned every day, but the all-you-can-tan system was closely monitored, Middleton said. And we recommend people tan at most every second day, as the skin needs time to recover. We are looking after their skin.
"Our customers are in a controlled environment where we can check exactly how much time they go in for."
Parental consent was required for customers under the age of 18, but sunbeds were off limits to people under 16, Middleton said. .
Galtry said the Cancer Society would carry out "stings" on sunbed operators this year to gauge how many were flouting the guidelines.
This year, Standards NZ and Australia published new guidelines for the tanning industry, including advising against the use of tanning machines by people under 18.
"Good salons should offer people the benefits of tanning without the risk of burning," she said.
Gabrielle Brown, of the Indoor Tanning Association, advised people to tan moderately.
"We've tried to get together with a couple of our critics to talk to them about educating people on how to moderate their tanning behaviour and how to avoid sunburn.
"But our critics' position is they see no benefit to tanning and would like to see the industry completely disappear."

. But they've said, `we can't work with you'

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BOP businessman accused of drugging, raping woman

Friday, 06 February 2009

A Bay of Plenty businessman has been accused of raping a woman after allegedly stupefying her with the party drug ketamine.
The Tauranga man, in his early 40s, who was granted interim suppression of his name and that of his business, faced two charges in Tauranga District Court yesterday of sexual violation by rape.
The man was granted bail by Judge Thomas Ingram despite strong objections from police, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
He also faced a further charge of trying to intimidate the complainant the day prior to his arrest on February 4, after she was allegedly threatened by a woman known to the accused.
He said without more substantiative evidence to support the allegation, he was prepared to grant bail on the basis that the accused observed a 24-hour curfew to live outside the Bay of Plenty.
The judge said he had real concerns over any allegation involving intimidation of a witness but at this stage there was no evidence linking the defendant to the alleged threat.
Police allege that last weekend the accused and the his alleged victim met at a Tauranga address where she was plied with alcoholic drinks and stupefied with ketamine – a prescription-only sedative – then raped.
The man is also also barred from having any contact with his alleged victim and other police witnesses.
During a search of the man's address police allegedly found a small amount of ketamine. .
Judge Ingram said the issue of bail and the suppression order would be revisited on February 11 when the man is due back in court.
But the accused's lawyer told Judge Ingram the allegations were absolutely denied.
Judge Ingram said on that day he wanted to see a sworn statement by the complainant to substantiate her claim of intimidation, plus an affidavit from the accused setting out the grounds why suppression should continue.

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Emotional funeral for teen shot by police

Pregnant mother to be taken to hospital after burial

Friday, 30 January 2009

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TRAGIC LOSS: Halatau’s little sister Lupe Teputepu at the casket before the funeral.

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FAREWELL: A local South Auckland police officer bends over the casket of 17-year-old Halatau Naitoko as thousands of mourners, police representatives and local dignataries amongst them, paid their respects to the slain teenager at his home in Mangere.

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GRIEVING: Halatau’s sister Sekola Naitoko with her daughter Jurnee Brown, aged five months.

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A MOTHER’S TEARS: Ivoni Naitoko, centre, sitting, with family members ahead of the funeral service for her son.

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SAYING GOODBYE: Mourners pay their respects to Halatau Naitoko at the start of his funeral.
"A week ago the blood of an innocent boy was shed," one of five ministers officiating at the service told mourners.

Photo 5 of 5

Funeral for shot teenager

Halatau Naitoko, the teenager accidentally shot dead by police last week, was farewelled by more than 1000 mourners at his funeral today.
"He's dead but he is still speaking to us today."
The words were met by applause at the makeshift chapel where the service was held at the back of the family home in the suburb of Mangere East.
"Let that be a message to the government officials, and dignitaries, minister of police and police officers, even to the beloved policeman who fired that fatal shot.
The 17-year-old courier driver died last Friday when he was caught in police crossfire during the motorway chase by police of an armed man.
Mourners were told Halatau worked hard to help feed his brothers and sisters.
At the traditional Tonga funeral more than 1000 mourners, including police minister Judith Collins, police commissioner Howard Broad and numerous politicians, were told he was a hard-working, loyal, faithful, truthful, respectful and a loving child.
He was a loving and devoted father to his two-year-old daughter, mourners heard.
He was killed in the line of duty as his life was just starting to unfold, an aunt said.
He was killed in the line of duty as his life was just starting to unfold, an aunt said.
The traditional Tonga funeral in Tongan and in English began several hours after the first mourners arrived and after an early morning prayer session over his open casket. He had a loving heart and much compassion and hope for the future, she said.
Shewas to be taken to hospital to give birth immediately after her son's burial today.
It was a day of almost unbearable emotion as Mr Naitoko's mother Ivonifarewelled him, just hours before she was due to give birth to his baby brother.
The high emotion of her decision to name her new baby – her 10th child – Halatau after his dead brother, was not lost on mourners.
Family spokesperson Peter Sykes said the visit was a check-up but it Mrs Naitoko believed she would give birth.
Hundreds gathered around the silver hearse as the large, white casket topped with white flowers departed for Halatau's final resting place.
She cried out as she walked down the family's driveway as 13 pallbearers, including one member of New Zealand Police, carried her son'scoffinto the hearse.
For Paea Fangu Fangu, the 16-year-old brother of Halatau, it was a day of sadness.
The hundreds of floral wreaths left by mourners were packed into Kiwi Express courier van, the compnay both Halatau and his parents worked for. I just want to speak to the person that killed my brother and asked him why he took my brother away from us," he said as traditional hymns of farewell were sung at the family home. I just want to speak to the person that killed my brother and asked him why he took my brother away from us," he said as traditional hymns of farewell were sung at the family home.
Mr Naitoko's body, dressed in white, has been at the family home since Sunday night, accompanied around the clock by family members, relatives and friends.
Many mourners wore traditional ta'ovala, a woven Tongan flax dress, and black T-shirts. . May he rest in peace."
On the back was a picture of him with the words: "May he rest in Paradise, 1991-2009."
West Auckland man Stephen McDonald, 50, was arrested after the shootout. He faces 29 charges relating to events leading up to Mr Naitoko's shooting.
His alleged accomplice, Margaret Mann, 19, faces three charges. They will both reappear in court next week.
– and

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NZ storms harbingers of climate change

By CHARLIE GATES – Wednesday, 14 January 2009

The storms, droughts and floods that hit New Zealand last year could be a harbinger of climate change, weather scientists say.
New Zealand's weather extremes in 2008, from droughts in January to storms in July and August, are comprehensive in asummary published yesterday by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).
The July and August storms that wreaked havoc across New Zealand caused $68 million damage and killed five people, Niwa said.
Niwa principal scientist James Renwick said the extremes could be a preview of how global climate change would affect New Zealand weather.
The drought in the west of the North Island early last year cost $1 billion, it said.
"The idea of a sunny year, but with some pretty violent storms, is consistent with climate change.
"I am not saying 2008 was a result of climate change, but we should expect to see more years like that," he said.
"We should expect to see more of those rainfall extremes.
"It is really quite a challenge for agriculture."
Renwick said the extreme weather expected to be sparked by global climate change would affect New Zealand agriculture.
"There will have to be some thought about where the different activities take place. The good conditions you need to grow certain crops and raise stock will move around the country," he said.
"They will probably be quite viable in the South Island in the close to future. For example, kiwifruit were first grown in the Bay of Plenty, then Hawke's Bay."
The South Island had some of the most dramatic weather of 2008."
The South Island had some of the most dramatic weather of 2008.
Canterbury recorded the highest temperature of the year with 34.
Christchurch was also the driest of the five centres, with just 704 millimetres of rain compared with the 1662mm that made Wellington the wettest.
The sunshine and arid conditions were occasionally broken by violent rainstorms in the South Island.8 degrees celsius at Timaru Airport on January 12 and March 19. . Marlborough, Canterbury and eastern Otago had more than three times the normal rainfall in July.5C at Mount Cook on August 20.
Weather extremes:
Coldest temperature minus 9.8C at Timaru Airport on January 12.
Highest temperature 34.
Highest rainfall catchment Cropp River, in the Hokitika River catchment, had 10,940mm of rainfall for the year.
Highest rainfall catchment Cropp River, in the Hokitika River catchment, had 10,940mm of rainfall for the year.
Heaviest snowfall Arthur's Pass closed three days after 1 metre fell, August 15-17.

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Fiji heads for the hills, again

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

GREG FOWLER/Supplied
Locals survey the flooded streets in Fiji.

GREG FOWLER/Supplied
A photo sent in by Stuff reader Greg Fowler shows a flooded bridge outside Nadi.
The warning comes as authorities say the death toll from the storm earlier this week has reached seven.

Fiji floods strand Kiwis

Fiji declares state of disaster

NZ helps Fiji despite shaky relations

Fijians are being told to urgently head to higher ground as another severe storm begins to hit the island nation.
He is also warning of strong winds.
But Fiji Meteorological Service head Rajendra Prasad says severe flooding will take place throughout the whole country.
Meanwhile Nadi Airport was nearly empty this afternoon as flights got away to Australia and New Zealand.
Many of the areas already badly affected are expected to be hit again.
However Air Pacific is warning future flights today and tomorrow could be delayed or cancelled as severe thunderstorms prevented refuelling of aircraft.
An official at the airport said two more flights, including one to Samoa, were expected to leave this afternoon.
The latest confirmed deaths are of a 19-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy who drowned in separate incidents near Lautoka.
Earlier the Fiji National Emergency Operation Centre three people died in landslides while four from drowning in the earlier storm.
The officepredicts heavy rain and strong winds across Fiji from tonight.
The Nadi Weather Office says although water levels have receded in many areas, strong wind warnings and flood warnings remain in force for much of the main island of Viti Levu.
New Zealand, which yesterday gave $100,000, is giving its aid through the independent Fiji Red Cross.
Meanwhile as economic losses mount, military coup leader and self appointed prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama launched an international appeal for money to be paid into a bank account he controls.
"Commodore Bainimarama said any amount could be deposited and all contributions would be acknowledged," the government statement said.
Commodore Bainimarama yesterday appealed for funds worldwide and cited his "National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation" account as the place to deposit it."
New Zealand and most regional governments refuse to recognise the Bainimarama regime which seized power in a military coup in December 2006.
"The funds collected will supplement Government's contribution under the National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation Programme.
Hundreds of New Zealand tourists remain stuck in tourist resorts.
Fiji's sugar crop, the third major export income earner behind tourism and international mercenary and security work, is believed to have suffered severely with the storm as much of the crop was waterlogged.
Since the floods started last week at least eight people have been killed and 9000 forced from their homes.
Keen golfers Stu Pedley and Murray Kuzman from Wanganui said their evacuation from Fiji's flood-struck Denarau Island at the weekend was like a "mini Dunkirk".
"There was no way anyone could get through on the road, even in a four-wheel-drive truck.
"There was no way anyone could get through on the road, even in a four-wheel-drive truck."
The island resort, mostly built on reclaimed land, was under two metres of water.
"It was a huge brown sea of water. .
Overnight on Wednesday, the rain started, and it fell solidly without a stop for two and a-half days.
The heavy rain flooded the roads and there was no way local staff could get to work in the hotels and resorts.
The men said Nadi Airport was chaotic, with thousands of tourists trying to arrange flights out of Fiji.
Only when in the air did they both fully realise the enormity of the devastation.
But despite everything the Fijian people kept smiling, Mr Pedley said.
"They just smiled through it all. They said the rain will stop," he said.
The Fiji government has declared a state of emergency in the western districts that were the hardest hit and are also home to most of the country's international resorts.
Tourists still at resorts were advised by the National Disaster Office to hunker down in preparation for more rough weather.
"There's another depression heading toward Fiji within the next two days and that will bring an additional threat," Aisea Qumihajelo, the acting chief of disaster management, told Associated Press.
– with

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Climber survives 50m tumble

The Thursday, 08 January 2009

A climberslid 30 metres down an ice sheet and then smashed into jagged rocks at such a speed his friends thought he was dead.
To their amazement, Hamish Stace, 20, got to his feet. .
"They couldn't believe it when I stood up.
He was climbing down the mountain with three friends and was attempting a controlled slide down an ice sheet when he came to grief."
Mr Stace was plucked off the side of Marlborough's Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku by the Westpac rescue helicopter in a daring high-altitude rescue on Tuesday evening.
The Blenheim man slid 30 metres and bounced across the rocks for another 20 metres before coming to a stop.
"I just remember trying desperately to stop, but I was out of control," he said.
Helicopter crewman Dave Greenberg said they found Mr Stace at a height of 2300 metres.
The group called emergency services when they realised Mr Stace was too badly hurt to reach shelter by nightfall. Our paramedic was able to step off the helicopter on to a rock, and walk 500 metres up to where he was located.
"Unfortunately, given the wind, we were unable to winch him up. His friends said he hit the rocks at great speed and were afraid he might be dead, so they were amazed to find him conscious, and with minor injuries.
"He's a lucky man.
"I was unbelievably lucky, I can't believe I don't have any broken bones," he said from his home yesterday, where he was recovering."
Mr Stace was flown to Wairau Hospital in Blenheim and treated for dozens of small cuts, including one in his hand that needed stitches, and deep bruising in his back, buttocks and legs.
Mr Stace was full of praise for his rescuers.
At 2885 metres high, Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku is the highest peak north of Aoraki/Mt Cook. The pilot was amazing. "I'm just so thankful they were awesome."

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Justin Rys out of jail, with big plans

Saturday, 03 January 2009

/The
WEIGHT ON: In his new personal training gym, Justin Rys teaches weight-loss and muscle-building tricks. He is full of ideas, from a prison-themed nightclub to a fat-burning cookie.

When bodybuilder Justin Rys stood in the dock and heard the judge sentence him to 10½ years in prison, it must have seemed as though his life was over.
But he spent his lag studying, having counselling, exercising using other prisoners as weights, and launching his Convict Gear clothing range.
The former Mr Oceania had enjoyed the trappings of success -fast cars, money, a competition-winning body and beautiful friends – a lifestyle that was peeled back in court to reveal a chronic drug addiction, body dismorphic syndrome, and a heart so damaged that medics gave him two years to live.
The staccato of hard house music throbs from the stereo as he moves between the weights in his new gym, gleaming at the temples and chewing on a protein cookie made by his partner.
Now he is out of prison wiser, clean, and, he says, more self-aware.
"Try one," he thrusts a cookie in our direction."
He is affable and well-mannered, a consummate self-marketer, offering the reporter and photographer a clutch of branded key rings and a bottle of thermogenic weight-loss tablets ("all legal", he laughs), which he created himself. "They taste too good to be good for you. He has started a personal training gym, teaching weightloss and muscle-building tricks.
Rys seems to have landed on his feet.
The incredible focus he once centred on his body has shifted to business. He has also launched a bodybuilding supplement range, and his Convict Gear clothes are selling fast. "If I focus too much on the other things, then I will start hurting my health. "If I focus too much on the other things, then I will start hurting my health.
He began bodybuilding 14 years ago. .
"I put on 15kg in the space of two months and thought maybe it was something I was good at. He was a 17-year-old sprinter, weighing 69kg, who started going to the gym after tearing a muscle.
When it became illegal in 2002, he gave up for a month, but it was too hard."
When he started using fantasy in the 1990s it was legal, a colourless, odourless liquid that was popular with body builders for reducing pain and countering the effects of ephedrine and steroids, and for helping them to sleep.
By the time he was arrested in 2004, he had a litre-a-week fantasy habit. He was addicted.
When Rys went to prison he was suffering cold turkey. He admitted 11 charges of importing the drug (relating to more than 200 litres of fantasy) and one of money laundering and was jailed for 10½ years, reduced to 7½ years on appeal. At his sentencing, the court was told research showed withdrawal from fantasy was worse than from heroin and cocaine. At his sentencing, the court was told research showed withdrawal from fantasy was worse than from heroin and cocaine.
In prison, he paid for his own drug and alcohol counsellor to visit and also sought psychological help. The court had been told he suffered from megarexia, an eating disorder where no matter how big you are, you see yourself as too small.
He started studying for a diploma in drug and alcohol studies, management, business studies and marketing, achieving As and A+s.
Rys worked out in the yard using inmates as weights, stacking two or three of the biggest guys on his shoulders for squats, getting them to lie on his back while he did pushups.
Last year, 2½ years into his sentence, he was freed.
"It was weird coming out, strange, because you didn't know what to do with yourself. You get so used to people telling you what to do."
His nine-year relationship, which had weathered his lag, ended when he came out, something he avoids questions on out of respect for his former partner.
He is contrite, says "I did the crime, I deserved to do the time", but now he wants to move on. His business seems to be doing well if his Jaguar is anything to go by ("You should see my plane – just kidding"). He is brimful of schemes, including a prison-themed nightclub and a fat-burning cookie. "It's totally possible. It makes me feel why haven't people done it before."
When asked if prison changed him, he pauses: "I think it did, actually, in a positive way. I think a lot more about other people where I think, beforehand, I was very much self-focused. Now I think a lot more about how things affect others."
Is he happy? "I feel good, but being happy for me is like I've totally achieved everything I want.
"I'm nowhere near where I want to be. This is just a start."
GIANT FALL FROM GRACE
The one-time Mr Big of the Wellington market was jailed for his part in the biggest fantasy conviction in New Zealand history.
The drug, smuggled from Romania and Moldova in wine bottles and vegetable cans, had a street value of up to $2.1 million. Better known as "Big J", Justin Rys was the kingpin of the trade in Wellington, police said. When he was arrested in December 2004, the market dried up.
With a personality as big as his physique, Rys came across as a gentle giant. But some who claimed to have bought drugs from him disagreed. He was "a manipulator and a control freak", one told The . "He does everything he can possibly do to get you to buy from him. It's exactly the same methods as a P dealer."
Rys spent his early childhood in Wales. He then lived in Palmerston North and Hastings, before going to St Patrick's College in Silverstream, excelling at rugby and soccer.
But he dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler and started pumping iron. He won the Teen Mr Wellington and its national equivalent. Four years later he was Junior Mr Australasia. He went on to claim the Mr Oceania and Mr New Zealand titles.
Rys publicly put his success down to discipline – the Les Mills gym in Cuba St became his second home – and a "high-protein, medium-carbohydrate and low-fat" diet. But in 2000 he was barred from competition for two years after refusing to provide a urine sample.
He promoted deer velvet and appeared to make a great living selling protein supplements. In May 2004 he was convicted of illegally importing growth hormones from China and given a six-month suspended sentence. Seven months later, he was arrested in Taupo.

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First Christmas off in 35 years

By KATHERINE NEWTON Tuesday, 23 December 2008

CHRIS GORMAN/The
A DAY OFF: For the first time since he was 22, Life Flight Auckland’s Bruce Blanche will take Christmas off, swapping saving lives for a cruise from Auckland to Sydney on luxury liner Diamond Princess.

A yearis long enough for most of us to wait for the Christmas break, but Bruce Blanche has been waiting for 35.
For the first time since he was 22, the Life Flight Auckland crew member will take Christmas Day off, swapping saving lives for a cruise from Auckland to Sydney on luxury liner Diamond Princess. I really don't know what to expect.
"I'm very excited.
This year he decided it was finally time to take a break. .
Accompanying him on the cruise will be his mother and his son Jamie, 32, who has never had the chance to spend Christmas Day with his dad before.
His mother was as excited about the cruise as he was, Mr Blanche said.
The Diamond Princess leaves Auckland on Christmas Eve and arrives in Tauranga on Christmas Day, which Mr Blanche will spend with some old friends.
"Everyone ends up at my Mum and Dad's place, and Mum's said for the last year or two that it's getting too much. "She's over the moon because she doesn't have to do all the Christmas palaver.
Mr Blanche said he had seen nearly everything in his 35 years in the aviation industry."
The 12-day cruise will head south on Boxing Day, taking in the sights of Fiordland before sailing over to Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney.
No particular Christmas Day stood out in his memory, however.
No particular Christmas Day stood out in his memory, however. "To me, it's the perfect Christmas Day."
But this one he would treasure."

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Festival of light

The Saturday, 20 December 2008

ROSS GIBLIN/
PIECES OF EIGHT: As lights went up on Christmas trees around New Zealand, Moriah Kindergarten children Hamish Simcock, Solomon Emet and Miya Dring-Thorpe, all 3, were mesmerised by the candles on a menorah as part of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.

The Jewish kindergarten in central Wellington lit the menorah as part of celebrations for Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
The kindergarten's children, Jewish and non-Jewish, had been examining forward to Hanukkah for weeks, principal Heidi Greenwood said.
The festival celebrates the rededication of the temple of Jerusalem, where oil meant to last one day kept the temple flame burning for eight."
Traditionally, one candle is lit on each of the eight days of Hanukkah. "We do all the festivals and this one is an absolute highlight. . But as it begins tomorrow – after the last day of school – the kindergarten lit them all yesterday."

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"You often get feedback from the non-Jewish parents saying how their children have brought all these little things home and want to talk about it