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Art wrecko
The Monday, 15 December 2008
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ART WRECKO: this collection of wrecked cars, washing machines, lawnmowers, oil drums, tyres, weedeaters, breadmakers and other dumped rubbish is art. Journee des barricades, 2008 was created by British artists Heather and Ivan Morison across Wellington’s Stout St yesterday as part of Massey University’s One Day Sculpture project.
Journee des barricades, 2008 was created by British artists Heather and Ivan Morison across Wellington's Stout St yesterday as part of Massey University's One Day Sculpture project.
Itlooks as if it could be the scene of a disaster movie, but this collection of wrecked cars, washing machines, lawnmowers, oil drums, tyres, weedeaters, breadmakers and other dumped rubbish is art.
This work was set up early on Sunday and was to be cleared by early today. The initiative, supported by Wellington City Council, allows for artworks to be exhibited for 24 hours. . Its creators are used to making public sculptures in 2006, they set up a truck spilling its load of 25,000 flowers across Bristol city centre
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Attack on goat shocks family
By FELICITY ROOKES felicity.rookes@tnl.nz – Wednesday, 10 December 2008
BRADLEY AMBROSE/
WOUNDED: Wayne Trethewey soothes his family’s pet goat Mordecai after the animal was attacked during a party at the weekend.co.
Mordecai was found bloodied and dazed by owner Michelle Trethewey tethered outside their home on Auroa Rd, near Kaponga, early on Sunday morning.
Heartlessthugs held a Taranaki family's pet goat down and hacked one of its horns off with an axe in a brutal weekend attack. "At first I thought he had been scared and gone under the bush, got caught and lost the horn – then I saw the bloody axe lying beside him," Mrs Trethewey said.
"The neighbours had a huge party the night before and had been doing burn-outs up the street right next to where he was tethered," she said.
"They had an axe and looking at the horn it's not certain whether they chopped it off or just grabbed the horn and held his head, ripped it off and twisted it," husband Wayne said.
Mordecai looked like he had been held down on the ground and someone had used a lot of force to rip the horn off.
"We have had him since I was two, it was pretty upsetting knowing someone did something like that," Michaela said.
The sharemilkers' 15-year-old daughter Michaela was heartbroken when she heard what had happened.
"There were cars everywhere, there would have been 100 people at the party.
Mr Trethewey and his family are disgusted and suspect partygoers are the perpetrators of the vicious assault. The road was left in a mess with bottles and cans everywhere. They were rowdy and a lot of them looked under age.
Police questioned the neighbour who claims to have no knowledge of the incident." Mr Trethewey said.
The stub and the other horn were tied with bailing twine by the vet to stop the bleeding.
Yesterday, Mordecai was subdued, his stub is bandaged, his eye swollen and his coat matted with dry blood.
"We have had him for 13 years and he was the children's pet, it has been very upsetting for them.
Mr Trethewey wants to find the people responsible."
While Mordecai is a hardy animal, the family credits his longevity with a solid diet of fresh fruit. It's a pretty horrible thing to do to the poor goat. . Oranges also need to be chopped as he doesn't like the skin, he's very fussy," Mrs Trethewey said.
Jane Lawrence, president of South Taranaki SPCA, said ripping or cutting a goat's horn off would be excruciating for the animal.
"There is living tissue in there, people don't realise that just because the horn is hard, that there is actually nerves and tissue at the base of the horn and it really hurts them. To do something that mindless is cruelty, it really is," Mrs Lawrence said.
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Every drop counts in fuel-saving rally
The Wednesday, 26 November 2008
ROSS GIBLIN/
THRIFTY RACE: Racing car driver Greg Murphy and his Holden Astra are competing in the Energywise Rally from Auckland to Wellington, which gives first prize to the most fuel efficient vehicle.
Every drop of fuel counts for Trish Kilburn as she and her husband, David, push their vehicle into place during the Automobile Association's EnergyWise Rally.
The pair pulled up to Wellington's Queens Wharf yesterday, only to find they were parked in the wrong spot. "It can come down to just the tiniest amount," Mr Kilburn said.
Rather than start their Hyundai Santa Fe turbo and waste precious diesel, they opted to use muscle power to move it.
"I'm examining way ahead, trying to spot anything that could get in the way," she said. His wife is navigator during the four-day, 1626-kilometre-rally from Auckland to Wellington and back, which aims to find the most fuel-efficient cars across several classes.
The Kilburns were second out of three cars in the big leisure class after day one, using 4.
Also among the 59 cars and 118 drivers taking part was Kiwi motorsport legend Greg Murphy, who swapped his V8 racecar for a 1.7 litres of diesel per 100km.
As a competitor in the compact class, keeping his pedal off the floor was a breeze.9 litre Holden Astra."
After day 1 of the rally, he was sitting seventh out of 16 cars in his class, using 4. "I certainly spend a lot of time cruising from A to B around Melbourne, so it's pretty similar to that.6 litres of diesel per 100 km.6 litres of diesel per 100 km. .
The two-tonne BMW 730Ld was fifth out of six cars in the large luxury class, at 6.
The rally finishes in Auckland tomorrow.
"Most cars have a `sweet spot' where they'll just flow along, so it's just a case of finding that," driver Colin Briscoe said.
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Key casts doubt on a quick recovery
and TRACY WATKINS – Tuesday, 25 November 2008
US rescues Citigroup with $37b in capital
Apec leaders pledge to reform lenders
World finances discussed at Apec
Prime Minister John Key doubts the world financial crisis can be solved within 18 months.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru, ended yesterday, with the 21 leaders pledging to "take all necessary economic and financial measures" to resolve the crisis.
But immediately after the meeting, Mr Key appeared more pessimistic, describing the goal as "aspirational".
"We are convinced that we can overcome this crisis in a period of 18 months," the leaders said in their final communique after two days of talks. It depends on a number of different factors. "I don't know whether it will be 18 months or not.
Mr Key said it was "one thing to talk; it's another thing to deliver."
The global financial crisis, described by the Apec leaders in their communique as "one of the most serious economic challenges we have faced", dominated the talks.
"There is a real commitment and unity across all 21 economies that we will be not taking a protectionist view, that we will be spending more money and working hard to try to find other answers. . "That is a lot of money to try to get this thing resolved," Mr Key said."
The United States was pledging a stimulus package worth US$2trillion, while China is offering its economy US$600 billion.
A commitment by Apec's leaders to restart stalled World Trade Organisation talks could be a huge fillip to the economy.
He has promised legislation before Christmas fast-tracking tax cuts and did not rule out bringing forward other spending to help to kick-start the economy. They also pledged not to put up any new trade barriers within the next year. Leaders directed their trade ministers to meet in Switzerland next month and asked them to reach an agreement on restarting the stalled Doha round.
But some of the biggest players at the WTO, including European Union countries, are not members of Apec.
Mr Key said a breakthrough would be a "very important step", and Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson said success at Doha "will be the proverbial magic bullet for the economy".
The pact was covered in talks between Mr Key and Mr Bush yesterday, with the first round of negotiations pencilled in for early next year.
Outgoing US President George Bush, meanwhile, pledged to press for a trade pact involving the US, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore Australia and Peru – the so-called trans-Pacific trade pact, which has potential to open up America's lucrative domestic market to New Zealand's agricultural exporters.
Labour leader Phil Goff, the former trade minister, said he was confident, however, that a change in US administration would not diminish US enthusiasm. But there is concern that president-elect Barack Obama may not share Mr Bush's enthusiasm for free trade. "They need to be [there] and the trans-Pacific is the pathway into the Asia-Pacific market.
"They know this is the most dynamic and fastest-growing market in the world," he said.
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Calculus exam heavy going
The Wednesday, 19 November 2008
HEAVY GOING: Genevieve Krefft balances a hefty calculus text book on her head – "symbolising my defeat". The 17-year-old had just come from her level-three calculus exam yesterday.
Asked about her chances of passing, she said: "Let's hope so.
Seventeen-year-old Genevieve Kreftt, a year 13 Wellington High School pupil, said she ran out of time during the tough three-hour calculus exam, which she was just happy to put behind her."
There may also be an additional reason why some pupils are finding exams tricky. I don't want to predict anything.
Deputy chief executive Bali Haque said the papers were checked several times, but errors occasionally slipped through. .
The calculus exam had a set of brackets missing on a formula sheet while the biology exam wrongly labelled a graph on movement of larvae in relation to high-tide times. "Where an error occurs in an exam paper, candidates will not be disadvantaged," he emphasised.
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Police hunt for suspects in New Plymouth homicide
By GLENN McLEAN – Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Up to four people are being hunted by police as prime suspects in the death of New Plymouth man Peri Niwa.
Dozens of young people, thought to be aged between 17 and 25, are believed to have been at a "text" party on Blagdon Rd at the time leading up to Mr Niwa's death early on Sunday morning.
It is believed several partygoers chased Mr Niwa down a long driveway on Squire Pl.
Several of those partygoers are believed to have got into a violent confrontation close to the Blagdon shops with a group that included Mr Niwa, 31, who was found dead with a single chest wound at an address in Squire Pl just after midnight.
A short time later he was found dead by his friends.
"There are possibly up to four, it could be more," Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward said last night.
Mr Coward confirmed Mr Niwa's death was being treated as a homicide.
While police say a number of people at the party had come forward, there are still a large number that have yet to be spoken to and had not made themselves known. ESR scientists have finished their work at the house.
Police continued to work at the Squire Pl property yesterday.
Mr Coward was releasing few details about the post-mortem, other than to say Mr Niwa had suffered a single wound to the chest.
Mr Niwa's body was removed from the house overnight on Sunday and taken to Palmerston North for a post-mortem examination.
"We know there were a lot of people around.
Police continued to canvass neighbours in the Blagdon Rd area yesterday and were urging anyone with information about the party or saw anything that night to contact them.
They have ruled out any gang connection to the death. We think there was up to 50 people at the Blagdon Rd address," Mr Coward said.
Shop owners and residents in the Blagdon area say there has not been any major trouble in the area and were surprised to hear about the homicide investigation.
The has spoken to Mr Niwa's family who did not want to speak publicly until they knew more details about what had happened and had the results of the post-mortem.
"They were false alarms but there were a lot of people around," he said.
One business owner, who did not want to be named, was called back to his shop several times late on Saturday night to deal with an alarm activation.
Apart from a small amount of graffiti, the shop owner could report little trouble occuring in the area in the past few months.
He believed most of the groups of people gathered close to shops were aged between 18 and 25. .
"There is no history of any sort of this stuff occuring around here, so I'd put it down to an isolated incident.
This was not the case.
This was not the case.