Two a penny

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An associate of the father who allegedly carried out the now-infamous balloon boy hoax to promote a proposed reality show is wanted for questioning after e-mails surfaced showing the two had discussed a similar stunt months ago as part of a public relations campaign for the program.

Investigators said they want to interview Robert Thomas, a Denver man who claimed Richard Heene had told him he was planning a media stunt to promote a proposed reality show. Thomas, a self-described researcher, sold his story to Gawker. Thomas said the show would feature Heene as a mad scientist who carries out various scientific experiments.com and provided the Web site with e-mail exchanges between him and Heene.Gawker.”This will be the most significant UFO-related news event to take place since the Roswell Crash of 1947, and the result will be a dramatic increase in local and national awareness about The Heene Family, our Reality Series, as well as the UFO Phenomenon in general,” according to a copy of the show’s proposal provided to the site by Thomas.com editor-in-chief Gabriel Snyder confirmed the New York-based Web site paid Thomas, but declined to say how much for the story billed with the headline: “Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax.Messages left for Thomas by The Associated Press were not returned.”Snyder said Thomas was planning to meet with investigators Sunday night, though sheriff’s officials did not return messages seeking confirmation.com story that the plan he knew about did not involve Heene’s children.Thomas, 25, said in his Gawker.The drama played out on live television to millions of viewers worldwide.The alleged stunt temporarily shut down Denver International Airport, and the National Guard provided two helicopters in an attempt to rescue 6-year-old Falcon Heene, who was believed to be inside the flying-saucer shaped homemade balloon that hurtled more than 50 miles across two counties. When the balloon landed without the boy, officials thought he had fallen out and began the grim search for his body. When the balloon landed without the boy, officials thought he had fallen out and began the grim search for his body.”"We certainly know that there’s a conspiracy between the husband and wife, you’ve probably seen some of the e-mails and some of the things on the Internet suggesting that there may be other conspirators,” Alderden said. Alderden said the stunt two weeks in the planning was a marketing ploy by the Heenes, who met in acting school in Hollywood and have appeared on ABC’s reality show “Wife Swap. Alderden didn’t name the media outlet but said it was a show that blurs “the line between entertainment and news.Alderden said documents show that a media outlet has agreed to pay money to the Heenes with regard to the balloon incident.”Let’s call it (my statement) short of speculation that a media outlet was in on the hoax, but let’s not discount the possibility,” he said.”It wasn’t clear whether the deal was signed before or after the alleged hoax, or whether the media outlet was a possible conspirator.com had not contacted the Heene family or offered them money for their story, referring to Alderden’s reference to a deal being struck by a media outlet.In an e-mail Sunday to the AP, Snyder said editors at Gawker.The parents weren’t under arrest, the sheriff said.”No, that wasn’t us,” Snyder said. Federal charges were also possible. Federal charges were also possible.The most serious charges are felonies and carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Alderden said they would be seeking restitution for the costs, though he didn’t have an estimate.The cost for just the two military helicopters was about $14,500 ($NZ19,785).As Alderden told reporters Sunday that the whole thing was a hoax, the Heenes were shopping for snacks at Wal-Mart, where Richard Heene told thehe was “seeking counsel.”"This thing has become so convoluted,” Heene said, tears welling in his eyes. He said his wife was holding together better than he was.The couple’s attorney, David Lane, issued a statement later Sunday saying the Heenes were willing to voluntarily turn themselves in to face charges. Lane said he advised the family against making public statements.Once investigators got a good look at the “flying saucer” they determined that the thin mylar balloon covered with foil and held together with duct tape would not have been able to launch with the 37-pound-boy inside, according to Colorado State University physics professor Brian Jones.Other parts of the story, including whether the 6-year-old had been hiding in the rafters of the family’s garage during an intense five-hour search also weren’t true, Alderden said.”For all we know he may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park,” the sheriff said.The sheriff said all three of the Heenes’ sons knew of the hoax, but likely won’t face charges as a result of their ages. The oldest son is 10. One of the boys told investigators he saw his brother get in the balloon’s box before it launched.Alderden said Heene, a 48-year-old storm chaser, inventor and self-described amateur scientist, has a high school education and most recently earned a living by laying tile.Alderden said investigators had an “aha” moment that the story was a hoax when Falcon turned to his father during a CNN interview Thursday and said what sounded like “you had said we did this for a show” when asked why he didn’t come out of his hiding place.On Friday, Falcon got sick during two separate TV interviews when asked again why he hid.Alderden said they didn’t question the family Friday because they wanted to keep the family’s cooperation by maintaining the appearance that they believed their story. . No charges were filed.Alderden said officials tried Saturday to persuade Mayumi Heene, 45, to go to a safe house, but she declined.Alderden said the children were still with the parents Sunday and that child protective services had been contacted to investigate their well-being. On “Wife Swap,” Heene was portrayed as erratic, at one point throwing a glass of milk on a participant on the program.”Clearly, from all indications, Mr. Heene has somewhat of a temper,” Alderden said.The producer of “Wife Swap” said it had a show in development with the Heenes but the deal is now off. TLC also said Heene had pitched a reality show to the network months ago, but it passed on the offer.

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LATEST:
A hunter who was missing in the Southern Alps south of Nelson has made his way to safety, say police. .

He had been hunting alone off the Rotoroa Track while other members of his party hunted the western side of the lake, said Senior Sergeant John Maxwell of Nelson Bays Search and Rescue.

A dog team followed what was believed to be Mr Manson’s foot prints, which led south toward the Sabine Hut.

Mr Manson had hunted the area previously but was ill prepared for the conditions, he said.

The Nelson Search and Rescue helicopter was also called in but was hampered by the inclement weather.

Search and rescue tracking staff continued to brave the conditions into the early hours of Sunday morning before the search was called off, Mr Maxwell said.

About 30 people took part in the search earlier today before Mr Manson walked to safety himself.

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US President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation. . Obama’s name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said.

“Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics.”

The committee said it attached special importance to Obama’s vision of, and work for, a world without nuclear weapons. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play,” the committee said. Former President Jimmy Carter won the award in 2002, while former Vice President Al Gore shared the 2007 prize with the UN panel on climate change.

Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919.

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.

The Nobel committee received a record 205 nominations for this year’s prize. Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel’s death.”

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel’s guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel’s guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change

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A Northland school is determined to open next week for its 42 students despite a fire that destroyed its hall and staff room.

The fire at Whangaruru School, north of Whangarei, began at midday Thursday and ripped through a block of buildings.

No one was injured in the incident.

While the blaze, which is believed to have started in the staff room, was so intense that it blistered the paint on the close toby classroom, the school’s three classrooms remained largely intact.

She hoped it could be on Monday, but that depended on when the scene of the fire could be secured.

Principal Petina Stone said today that she was in discussions with contractors over when school would resume for its 42 pupils.

Ms Stone described what had happened as devastating for both the school and the community, which also used the hall. .

“It’s an historical building that has been lost to the whole community,” she said.

The block dated back to the 1950s, when it was part of a secondary school.”

School board vice-chairman Henry Haika, who is also a volunteer fireman, said locals would band together to ensure that what had been lost was rebuilt.

“The whole community had come together with wonderful support, which I want to acknowledge.

The fire is the second blow for the school in a month, after an Education Review Office report criticised the quality of teaching there and said most pupils were underachieving in class.

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A minder for the Department of Labour’s chief executive is necessary to sort out the “shambles and mess” at the immigration service, Prime Minister John Key says.

An Auditor-General’s report released this month said the service, part of the Department of Labour, was focused on processing as many visas as possible without worrying about quality.

“This meant that staff who were under pressure to meet quantity targets had incentives to approve visas and permits, rather than decline them,” the report said.

The division was set up by the service’s former boss Mary Anne Thompson in 2005, who resigned last year after accusations of a conflict of interest in helping overseas family members gain residency.

The report found problems were worse in the Pacific Division than elsewhere in the service.

Ms Thompson is facing court action on fraud and dishonesty charges.

It was also alleged that she did not have a doctorate from the London School of Economics that many people believed she had when she applied for jobs earlier in her career. .

“This was a shambles and a mess left to us by the Labour Government,” Mr Key said said on TVNZ’s Breakfast programme.

The service last week reviewed its decision on 29-year-old Lithuanian tourist Jurga Skiauteris, so she and her family were allowed to remain in New Zealand until the birth of her baby.”

A person would be appointed to “ride shot-gun” and help change the immigration service, Mr Key said.

“Immigration is part of the Department of Labour so it doesn’t just have immigration to worry about it has ACC, it has employment law, it has a lot of different areas.

Dr Coleman told TV1′s Q+A show that the Auditor-General’s report was “very bad”.

He was confident Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman could “sort it”.

The problems meant some people may be in New Zealand who should not be and others with legitimate rights may have been turned away, he said.

The problems meant some people may be in New Zealand who should not be and others with legitimate rights may have been turned away, he said.

Two years was the “outside limit” for changes to be made and New Zealand to have “a superb immigration service”.

The cost and risks of separating the immigration service out of the Department of Labour were too high, Dr Coleman said.

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New MP excited about job, not the circumstances

– National Homepage -

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Funeral set for two brothers killed at Fox Glacier

Monday, 19 January 2009

The funeral of the two Australian two brothers killed in an ice fall at Fox Glacier will be held in Melbourne on Friday.
Ashish and Akshay Miranda were travelling with their parents Ronnie and Winnie at the time of the incident, which occurred after the two walked beyond warning signs at the Fox Glacier on January 8. .
The body of Ashish, 24, was recovered immediately but the body of Akshay, 22, was buried under hundreds of tonnes of ice.
The brothers' uncle, Cedric Miranda, told AAP on Monday that the funeral for the pair would be held at St Peter's Church, East Bentleigh, at 1pm local on Friday.
It still remains with the coroner in Christchurch but the family is expecting it to be released on Wednesday.

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Mother who had sex with boy fights for name supression

Friday, 16 January 2009

A Christchurch mother-of-two is continuing her fight to keep her name out of the media after admitting having sex with a 15-year-old boy.
Judge Stephen Erber refused to continue the suppression order when the woman pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court today.
But defence counsel Gilly Ferguson said there would be an immediate appeal to the High Court for continued suppression.
"The school term is about to go back," Mrs Ferguson said.
She said the 35-year-old woman did not seek suppression for herself but for her two daughters, aged 10 and 15."
However, Judge Erber refused interim suppression.
"It would be foolish to think that if her name is published her daughters would not be subjected to jokes and very cruel remarks.
"This offence carries 10 years imprisonment. Had the defendant been a male and the complainant female, I doubt very much suppression would have been granted no matter what the circumstances. It is not a minor matter.
Once the papers were filed, the name would remain suppressed until the appeal was heard in the High Court."
But because the appeal was being filed, he granted suppression until 5pm on Monday to allow the application to be lodged with the court. They could point to significant mental health issues, and there could be drug and alcohol problems.
At an earlier appearance, Mrs Ferguson said she was seeking medical reports on the woman.
She also said the woman had been told that because of the sensitive nature of her work, her employers could dismiss her if their name became public knowledge.
She also said the woman had been told that because of the sensitive nature of her work, her employers could dismiss her if their name became public knowledge. They then had sex.
Police prosecutor Al Manco said the woman had been at a Linwood address with the boy on an evening when they had alcohol and the party pills, benzylpiperazine (BZP). .
"The defendant was spoken to in October and admitted having sex with the boy.
Since the offence, she had sought help for alcohol dependency, he said.
She said the boy had helped himself to the BZP tablets and had initiated the sex.
He said he would not seek the report that would allow her to be granted home detention or community detention.
Judge Erber remanded the woman to March 6 for a pre-sentence report, a victim impact report, and sentence.

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Mother who had sex with boy fights for name supression

Friday, 16 January 2009

A Christchurch mother-of-two is continuing her fight to keep her name out of the media after admitting having sex with a 15-year-old boy.
Judge Stephen Erber refused to continue the suppression order when the woman pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court today.
But defence counsel Gilly Ferguson said there would be an immediate appeal to the High Court for continued suppression.
"The school term is about to go back," Mrs Ferguson said.
She said the 35-year-old woman did not seek suppression for herself but for her two daughters, aged 10 and 15."
However, Judge Erber refused interim suppression.
"It would be foolish to think that if her name is published her daughters would not be subjected to jokes and very cruel remarks.
"This offence carries 10 years imprisonment. Had the defendant been a male and the complainant female, I doubt very much suppression would have been granted no matter what the circumstances. It is not a minor matter.
Once the papers were filed, the name would remain suppressed until the appeal was heard in the High Court."
But because the appeal was being filed, he granted suppression until 5pm on Monday to allow the application to be lodged with the court. They could point to significant mental health issues, and there could be drug and alcohol problems.
At an earlier appearance, Mrs Ferguson said she was seeking medical reports on the woman.
She also said the woman had been told that because of the sensitive nature of her work, her employers could dismiss her if their name became public knowledge.
She also said the woman had been told that because of the sensitive nature of her work, her employers could dismiss her if their name became public knowledge. They then had sex.
Police prosecutor Al Manco said the woman had been at a Linwood address with the boy on an evening when they had alcohol and the party pills, benzylpiperazine (BZP). .
"The defendant was spoken to in October and admitted having sex with the boy.
Since the offence, she had sought help for alcohol dependency, he said.
She said the boy had helped himself to the BZP tablets and had initiated the sex.
He said he would not seek the report that would allow her to be granted home detention or community detention.
Judge Erber remanded the woman to March 6 for a pre-sentence report, a victim impact report, and sentence.

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Police probe mobility scooter death

Saturday, 25 October 2008

An elderly woman whose mobility scooter was hit by a car on a busy Christchurch road has died in Christchurch Hospital.
The daughter of Mavis Murphy, 77, said her mother was sensible about traffic, having lost a child in a road accident.50am on Tuesday.
Murphy's scooter was hit in Clarence Street, Riccarton, about 10.
Police are appealing for witnesses as they consider laying charges against the driver involved. She suffered a broken pelvis, broken leg, internal bleeding and other injuries, and died on Wednesday night.
She was "really sensible" about traffic because she had lost her five-year-old son in a road-crossing accident.
Murphy's daughter, Sue Gorton, said yesterday her mother was a scooter rider for several years.
"She was crossing the road in the best place to cross for that trip.
Murphy was going to her doctor when the accident happened, Gorton said. She would have made that trip so many times," Gorton said. She wasn't doing anything silly."
Police said a car stopped for Murphy as she set out from the footpath, but another coming in the other direction struck her further across the road.
"If I was with mum at that time, if I'd been making the journey with her, I would have been quite happy to do exactly the same thing.
Constable Peter Carrington, of the Hornby police, said he was concerned.
Gorton said the family wanted answers, and urged the witnesses to the accident to assist police. It's a road known to be busy. .
He asked people who witnessed the accident to contact police on 344 1800. There could be fault on both sides, but really she was there to be seen," he said. She had some health problems and depended on her scooter to get around, Gorton said.
Murphy was a mother of seven and a keen painter, writer and gardener.
"This is probably the worst thing I've ever had to cope with and I've had to cope with death before.
Her extended family, which includes several grandchildren and some great-grandchildren, are gathering for the funeral, although the date has not been set.

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