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Passengers see fuel pour from plane
By TOBY ROBSON Monday, 09 February 2009
Rattled passengers were told not to take photos as fuel streamed out of the wings of an Air New Zealand jet bound for Los Angeles.
Flight NZ6, with 365 people on board, was forced to turn back about 20 minutes after leaving Auckland on Saturday night when the pilots were unable to retract the landing gear.
"People were pretty calm, but there were a few nervous moments there when they started dumping fuel," a passenger told The . They were telling people to stop taking photos, I'm not sure why.
"It looked like it was raining down, it was streaming from the wings.
"They said that was why the plane was vibrating so much, as a result of the drag of the landing gear," the passenger said."
The pilot told passengers a sensor in the cockpit had gone off and that they were going to dump fuel before returning to Auckland. "We flew around for about an hour then they landed again."
Another passenger, David Duignan, told Radio New Zealand many people applauded when the plane landed safely. .30pm and returned to Auckland 90 minutes later.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the plane took off at 7. The aircraft landed without incident. "Following standard procedure a local standby was declared. Engineers are currently inspecting the aircraft. Engineers are currently inspecting the aircraft.
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Air New Zealand put the passengers up in a hotel for the night, shouting them pizza for dinner, and most left for Los Angeles in the morning
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Neighbours see woman stabbed to death
– Tuesday, 27 January 2009
A woman has died from stab wounds and her partner is in hospital under police guard after a domestic incident in Dunedin witnessed by horrified neighbours.
Police said the 21-year-old woman died from stab wounds following an incident in suburban St Kilda last night. A man, who police say was her partner, was in a stable condition in Dunedin hospital and under police guard.
Mr McGregor said there had been five 111 calls and police were particularly interested in speaking with those callers.
No-one else was being sought in relation to the stabbing, however, police were seeking further witnesses to help with their inquiry.
Detective Senior Sergeant Steve McGregor said 36 detectives and police staff were working on the case.
"While we have already spoken with a number of people and are continuing to do so today, we are also keen to hear from anybody else who may have witnessed the events surrounding this incident, which involved an argument and physical altercation on Bay View Road shortly after 9pm last evening," he said.
It is understood that the stabbing was sparked by a domestic incident and the man's wounds were self-inflicted.
"She was covered in blood.
A neighbour described seeing a woman running down a road covered in blood with a man chasing her. . .
"Another guy from the house tried to stop him .I saw a guy chasing the girl down the middle of the road," he told The Otago Daily Times. . ."
The witness said the man stabbed himself three or four times in the chest, collapsed, then got to his feet before stabbing himself again. then he just started to stab himself.
The woman was understood to have gone to a neighbouring house to seek help.
Another neighbour said the woman had blood pouring from her arm as she ran along the road.
No-one else was being sought in relation to the incident.
When police arrived they moved crowds away from the scene and set up a cordon.
Members of the public with any information should contact them, he said.
Mr McGregor said police were setting up a caravan near the address at the Kings High School end of Bay View Road.
– with
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A post mortem was due to be carried out today
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Mangere fire victims still seriously ill
Thursday, 08 January 2009
/The
FLORAL TRIBUTE: Flowers outside the burned Mangere house, in memory of the four children who died there.
Twovictims of a fire that killed four children remained in hospital with serious burns as the mother of two of the children who died flew to Auckland to join the grieving extended family.
Mr and MrsEvile were burned as they tried frantically to rescue their trapped children from the house but were beaten back by the intense heat, blinding smoke and flames.
Fetu Evile, 39, who lost a daughter and grandson in the Mangere house fire on Tuesday, was discharged from hospital yesterday but her husband, Misi Evile, 50, is still in a stable condition in Middlemore Hospital.
Yesterday, police named the children who died.
Mrs Evile's 19-year-old son, who was also caught up in the fire, is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
The fire started when a pot of hot oil used to cook chips was left on the stove and burst into flames, which spread rapidly through the small brick house.
They were Mrs Evile's 15-year-old daughter Brenda Simati, her one-year-old grandson Tyreece Simati, and Mr Evile's two daughters, Taua Evile, 11, and Mia Evile, 8.
She planned to visit her daughters at a Mangere funeral home and also wanted to visit the scene of the fire.
The mother of the Evile sisters, Helen, arrived in Auckland yesterday from Christchurch, where she lived with the girls.
The girls had been staying with their father for the holidays. Yesterday a tribute of soft toys and flowers was placed outside the charred shell of the house.
Mr Ponifasio said MrEvile had to undergo surgery for a second time yesterday.
Life Church pastor Lui Ponifasio said it was possible their bodies would be taken back to Christchurch for burial.
Mrs Evile's 19-year-old son was having difficulty breathing and his face and back were badly burned. He had burns to the back of his head, torso and legs.
The fire had prompted 30 residents who lived nearby to ask the Fire Service to install smoke alarms in their homes.
Mr Ponifasio said family members were still traumatised by what had happened but were getting over the initial shock.
Despite findings by Fire Service investigators that there was no evidence that working smoke alarms were installed in the Sau house, Mr Thompson said he had twice visited the house in the past 10 years. .
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The first time was to install smoke alarms and the second was to replace batteries
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Pregnant paraplegic woman clamped at mall
By and KIM THOMAS – Thursday, 20 November 2008
STACY SQUIRES/
UPSET: Meika Reid was so upset to have her car illegally clamped at Eastgate Mall, just days before the birth of baby Jaimie, that she began having false contractions.
A heavily pregnant paraplegic has had her car clamped at Christchurch's Eastgate shopping centre, despite the vehicle displaying a valid mobility-parking permit.
Meika Reid, 35, said she then had to endure a 2 1/2 hour stand-off with a "rude and aggressive" warden, and started having false contractions during the incident this month.
"It was just crazy and it turned into quite a stressful situation that did not need to be," said Reid, who gave birth five days later.
The warden's bosses told him to remove the clamp and in doing so, Reid said he tore the bumper and a piece fell off her car causing more than $500 damage.
The incident was one of three involving mobility-parking disputes at Eastgate. .
The Government is now investigating regulating wheel-clamping companies.
Social agencies are also considering legal action after "overzealous" parking wardens ticketed an elderly Canterbury woman with a valid mobility-parking permit at Northlands.
The Ministry of Transport is considering the move after what it calls "apparent exploitative activity" by some wheel-clamp operators nationwide.
Thompson, who had suffered two broken ankles, had her vehicle clamped despite displaying a valid permit.
In another incident at Eastgate, Carolyn Thompson fell foul of New Zealand Wheel Clamping Company wardens.
He said the warden watched him park and get into his wheelchair.
In the third incident at Eastgate, tetraplegic teacher Rob Macdonald's vehicle was clamped and given a $150 ticket last Saturday because his permit had expired.
The Papanui High School teacher said he understood why the warden ticketed him but felt it showed a lack of compassion and flexibility for people with disabilities.
The Papanui High School teacher said he understood why the warden ticketed him but felt it showed a lack of compassion and flexibility for people with disabilities.
Motorists can go to the Disputes Tribunal to object to wheel-clamping penalties.
It is investigating whether regulation is required as there is none in place covering the right to clamp or move vehicles parked on private land.
The company's national operations manager, Ali Dzaferic, said yesterday it did not target disabled people.
Most Christchurch malls contract the New Zealand Wheel Clamping Company to monitor their private parks. "Yes, it is a difficult job we do but a rewarding one from positive feedback we receive every day.
"We monitor mobility parks on private property throughout New Zealand on a card-display basis," he said.
The company would not comment on individual complaints."
He said contractors could use discretion but had clear guidelines and boundaries within which they had to operate.
The group's involvement was prompted by a woman in her 80s whose car had been clamped at Northlands because her permit had slipped from the dashboard when she left the vehicle.
Grey Power Christchurch president Colin Taylor said it was considering legal action against the company. "I think it's very wrong. "I think it's very wrong."
The Canterbury co-ordinator for a national lobby group, the Disabled Persons' Assembly, Karim Baradi, said it was collecting complaints about clamping companies.
The assembly planned to discuss the complaints with relevant companies but wanted the industry to be better regulated.
CCS Disability Action, which issues 97,000 mobility permits nationwide, supported calls for regulation.
National development manager Peter Wilson said it could minimise confusion and misunderstanding.
He had received some complaints from CCS members about the New Zealand Wheel Clamping Company but said there had not been many. Eastgate manager Graeme Roberts was unavailable for comment.
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Hunted man nabbed
By MICHELLE DUFF – Manawatu Standard Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Manawatu Standard
CALL OUT: A man handed himself after police received calls about a man wielding a gun in Palmerston North.
A slug gun-wielding young man sparked an armed police callout in Palmerston North last night before handing himself in at a cordon less than half an hour later.
Police set up a road block stretching between Malden and McGregor streets in Milson Line about 6.
Senior Sergeant Brett Amas, of Palmerston North police, said a call had been received from an address on Milson Line, where the man was involved in a domestic incident.30pm, after it was reported a young man could be on the loose with a slug gun.
But the man then ran out the back entrance of the property, and his family feared he had taken another slug gun with him out onto the street, Mr Amas said.
It appeared the man had produced a slug gun during the argument, which was then wrestled off him by a family member.
"It was removed by a family member, but it was believed he may be in possession of another one. Charges had not yet been laid last night. .
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Festival-goer faces bus theft charge
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
A ToastMartinboroughreveller was left with more than just a hangover after allegedly stealing a bus, only to crash it moments later and fall flat on his face in front of security guards.
Sunday's festivities, which drew 10,000 wine and food lovers, were drawing to a close when the man commandeered a Transit bus at Martinborough Square after its driver got off to talk to a supervisor, police said.
With six people still on the bus, the man jumped into the driver's seat and took off, Sergeant Caroline Watson said.
The bus hit a traffic bollard, ripping it from its foundations.
The bus was driven around Martinborough Square, but the man at the wheel – who was said to have drunk his fair share of the 12,666 bottles of wine swilled that day – failed to take a corner.
The driver then allegedly tried to run but tripped and fell, directly in front of a passing car of security guards. The man continued driving along Kitchener St before ramming a bus-stop sign, Ms Watson said. .
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Ratima victims say keep him in
Thursday, 13 November 2008
The family of those killed in Raymond Ratima's murderous rampage have made a rare public appeal for the killer to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The Parole Board has ruled, in a decision released yesterday, that Ratima will not be given the chance to apply to be freed from prison for another three years.
The meeting, according to family, was not to right the wrongs – but to explain what he had done and get a sense of any remorse.
It also revealed that one family member had sought a face-to-face meeting with Ratima, but "unfortunately nothing has happened".
Ratima was jailed for life in 1992 after being found guilty of killing seven people, including three of his children, in Masterton. .
Noeline Tepu, whose son Bevan, 21, grandson Stephen, 3, and unborn grandchild were among the victims, has spoken out for only the second time since the killings.
Three years gives the victims' families relief from having to go before the board each year to fight Ratima's release but does not go far enough for some. There is not a day goes by when another of our children or our grandchildren do not remember or are reminded. "This man destroyed our lives.
Since his parole period came up, the families affected have fought year after year to prevent Ratima's release. Why should he be freed when he has ruined everything?"
Ratima also killed Bevan Tepu's partner Nicola Ferguson, Nicola's brother Phillip Ferguson Jr, 14, and his own children Piripi, 7, Barney, 5, and Stacey, 2.
"It is not fair on the kids – the young ones who have been brought up with it.
Mrs Tepu, at the hospital beside her ailing husband for the past 28 weeks, said her family remained tormented."
. It is talked about at school and in the community each time and they are affected
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‘Boobs’ parade ends at Parliament (+pics)
By MICHAEL FOX and CLIO FRANCIS – Friday, 07 November 2008
NICKI PARSONS/The
BOOBS IN CAPITAL: The controversial Boobs on Bikes parade took to the streets of Wellington today.
Boobs at Parliament
View photos (Caution: nudity)
Thousands of people thronged the capital's central business district today for the inaugural Wellington Boobs on Bikes parade.
Naked News presenter Lisa Lewis, clad in snug a Lions uniform, was seen on the back of a ute, courting attention amongst the throng of expectant bystanders.
Onlookers and amateur photographers jostled for prime viewing positions and most seemed to be enjoying the views of 20 topless females on the back of bikes.
"It should happen more often.
Onlooker Liam Cain, 19, said the parade was "fantastic, bro".
Construction workers at the Supreme Court stopped work and wolf-whistled in excitement as the half-naked passengers roared past."
Along the parade route, a cross-section of society could be seen making the most of the occasion including schoolboys, businessmen, mothers with prams and the South Korean girls Under-17 soccer team.
David and Suzanne Jackett were also impressed by the parade and said they were already looking forward to next year.
Green MP Sue Kedgley campaigned forlornly on Lambton Quay, holding a Greens placard, as the attention of the crowd instead focussed on the main event.
Suzanne said she had also enjoyed it and had taken plenty or photos for keepsakes.
"Auckland has had it for years and its time that we caught up – and it was a lovely day for it," David said.
Parade organisers defied orders from the Office of the Speaker not to enter Parliaments grounds, in spite of a heavy police presence.
"I wouldn't mind sitting on the back myself but I'm a bit old now," she said.
Beehive staffers could be seen peering out the windows as the excited crowd stormed up the hill at Parliament to gain a good vantage point.
The models dismounted their bikes and walked side by side with organiser Steve Crow to the statue of Premier Richard Seddon where they posed for the cameras of the excited crowd.
When informed by that the parade, minus the bikes, had made it on to Parliament grounds, The Family Party leader Richard Lewis said it was"an affront to the traditional values of our country.
Porn Star Evan Stone, who participated in the parade, ventured on to Parliament's steps to the cheers of the crowd before being escorted off by security.
"He's waved his finger at the New Zealand public before and he'll do it again."
"It reflects the kind of guy Mr Crow is.
A spokesman from the Speaker's office told Crow all requests to use the grounds for commercial purposes were declined."
The Family Party had earlier this week laid a complaint with the Speaker's office about Crow's plans to take Boobs on Bikes to Parliament. .
Crow had previously told the the parade was a "freedom of expression" ride.
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Man charged with abandoning baby on Rotorua street
Saturday, 06 September 2008
A man will appear in court next week after allegedly abandoning a baby in Rotorua.
The Rotorua Daily Post reported the six-month-old boy was left in his pram on a city street about 1.
Acting Sergeant Steve Allpress said a member of the public found him, safe and well, with a bottle of milk and nappies in the pram.30pm on Thursday.
Mr Allpress said witnesses described the man's behaviour as distressed.
Mr Allpress said a man in his 30s was seen pushing the pram up Clayton Road before turning into Brookland Rd, then sitting on a fence before getting up and walking away, leaving the pram on a footpath.
A man charged with abandoning a child under six will appear in the Rotorua District Court next Thursday.
The baby and two other children, aged seven and eight, had been put into the care of Child, Youth and Family.