Two a penny

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A prominent Nelson oral health expert is calling for the region to lead New Zealand in banning soft drinks in schools and making them a sugar-free zone.

Dr Roby Beaglehole last week released a book he co-wrote on the worldwide state of oral health to mark today’s World Oral Health Day.

Schools needed to ban soft-drink vending machines and sugary drinks from tuckshops and Nelson parents needed to mobilise and demand headmasters act, in an effort to improve the entire country’s oral health, obesity and diabetes statistics, he said.

Published by the World Dental Federation, The Oral Health Atlas is aimed at policy-makers and governments in an effort to encourage prevention of dental decay, rather than treatment. However, schools say they are still sticking to the guidelines.

In February, the Government scrapped the school food guidelines, a move Dr Beaglehole described as a “retrograde step”.

Principals Federation president Ernie Buutveld said schools made “quite large strides” when the guidelines originally came into force.

Waimea College, Motueka High School and Nayland College all said they had healthy food policies that banned sugary drinks and lollies.

“There hasn’t been a step backward, and nobody is reimposing unhealthy options.

“Since that’s changed we’re not aware of any schools that have said `whoopee’ and have gone back to what they were doing previously,” he said.

They would have to balance that pressure with what their local community expected, he said.”

He said schools needed to be aware of the danger of succumbing to pressure from food manufacturers.

“In New Zealand schools touch wood there aren’t many that have that type of distribution mechanism.

“I wouldn’t like to encourage them to bend to the will of a company who’s marketing vending machines.

“If we’re going to improve the quality of the food our children eat we’re going to need to do it across New Zealand, not just in pockets where schools have taken the initiative,” she said. .

“Often when a teenager turns up for a checkup I take X-rays and I can tell they drink a lot of sugary drinks straight away,” Dr Beaglehole said.

Dr Beaglehole, who works at Advanced Dental and for Nelson Hospital, said he noticed a big difference in tooth decay rates, particularly in teenagers, when he moved to Nelson from Wellington two years ago.

. Soft drink companies had “open slather”, he said, and there were no restrictions on them

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New Zealand navy dive ship Manawanui has left for Tonga to help in the recovery operation following the Princess Ashika sinking as the number missing from the disaster rose to 85.

The inter-island ferry is believed to have been carrying 141 people when it sank on Wednesday night. . It would not arrive in Tonga until Friday, and would return to Devonport if a suitable vessel could be found closer to Tonga.

Prime Minister John Key said the Manawanui had sailed from the Devonport naval base about noon as a incident measure to support rescue and recovery efforts.

New Zealand and Australian dive teams arrived in Tonga overnight and were today conducting a survey of the recovery site using an underwater search vessel.

“She will support the Royal New Zealand Navy’s operational dive team and the Royal Australian Navy divers to carry out recovery of victims from the submerged ferry, the Princess Ashika,” Mr Key said.

Mr Key said he was extremely concerned, and saddened, to hear that up to 85 people might now be unaccounted for after the sinking — up from 33 initially unaccounted for.

“The New Zealand Government remains in close contact with the Government of Tonga and we are ready to provide whatever assistance we can.

“This has been an extremely distressing time for the people of Tonga, and New Zealand’s thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have died and who are missing,” he said.

SEARCH RESTRICTED

New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ) will this afternoon hand control of the search for survivors of the Princess Ashika sinking to Tongan authorities.”

The Tongan government had asked for a disaster victim identification team from New Zealand, and the police were considering that request, Mr Key said.

RCCNZ was collating the search data and preparing to hand co-ordination of the rescue over to the Tongan police, he said.

RCCNZ search and rescue mission co-ordinator Geoff Lunt said poor weather was restricting the air force Orion’s ability to search safely, and it would be withdrawn this afternoon.

“Despite an intensive search over the last 3-1/2 days, there has been no new information or any further sign of survivors from the ferry,” Mr Lunt said.

“Despite an intensive search over the last 3-1/2 days, there has been no new information or any further sign of survivors from the ferry,” Mr Lunt said.

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A man caught fire after police used a Taser on him as they responded to reports of petrol sniffing in a remote desert community in Western Australia.

Ronald Mitchell, 36, was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital for burns treatment following a confrontation with police who were called to a house in Warburton, 1540km northeast of Perth on Monday.

A known petrol sniffer in the Aboriginal community, Mitchell ran from the house at the officers carrying a container believed to contain fuel and a cigarette lighter, police said.

“An officer then deployed his Taser,” police spokeswoman Susan Usher said.

He was asked to stop but continued running toward the officers.”

The policeman was struck on the head by rocks thrown by an 18-year-old woman while trying to help the man, Ms Usher said.

“The man caught alight and the officer immediately went to the man’s aid, putting him on the ground and smothering the fire with his bare hands. .

He has been charged with assault to prevent arrest and possession of a sniffing substance, Sgt Clifford said.

Mitchell sustained third degree burns to 10 percent of his body and was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital for burns treatment, police spokesperson Graham Clifford said.

Two other people at the house were also charged with possessing a sniffing substance.

The 18-year-old woman was charged with two counts of assaulting a public officer.

– AAP

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Ms Usher said the matter was under investigation to determine the full circumstances of the incident

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An elderly man has been dragged to his death after his foot became trapped as he attempted to get off a train in the Auckland suburb of Newmarket.

The man, who was believed to be in his 70s, slipped as he was getting off the train at the Newmarket station.

His foot became stuck and he was dragged for several metres by the train until it stopped just under the Newmarket Broadway overbridge, police said.15pm.

Emergency services and Ontrack workers arrived at the scene shortly after 1.

Newmarket Business Association chief executive Cameron Brewer said he had never had any complaints about the safety of the temporary platform on Kingdon Street at Newmarket station.

Police and rail workers were removing the body this afternoon.

“It has been operating for over 18 months, since the old station was decommissioned. . In fact people have been calling for the platform to be made permanent because it has been working well,” he said.

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Climate, travel and unity in Sydney talks

By DENISE McNABB and TRACY WATKINS – Monday, 02 March 2009

Climate change, stimulating tourism and a single economic market are high on Prime Minister John Key's agenda during a two-day visit to Sydney.
He is at his first annual bilateral prime ministers meeting with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
On turning the Tasman into a domestic market for travellers, Mr Key said work had been going on for some time.
Mr Key said after arriving yesterday afternoon with his wife, Bronagh, that both countries were working through climate change legislation and there was potential to advance common rules on emissions trading.
"Why wouldn't you want to make that a painless experience?"
He would also talk to Mr Rudd about differing rules and regulations in business and other sectors such as banking.
Australia was New Zealand's largest tourist market, with a million tourists a year.
The meeting between Mr Key and Mr Rudd follows a breakthrough free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and the Asean countries Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia and Burma.
Today, Mr Key will continue his meeting with Mr Rudd and other Australian ministers before lunch with the Trans-Tasman Business Circle.6 billion in trade.
Asean, New Zealand's third-largest export market, has grown 121 percent since 2000 and is worth $4.
Trade Minister Tim Groser said the deal provided for 99 percent of New Zealand's trade to key Asean markets being duty free eventually. Globally, it accounts for more than $2 trillion.
While important in monetary terms, the deal is also important in the signal it sends at a time when governments are under pressure to wind back the liberalisation of trade, to protect jobs and industries.
Labour's trade spokeswoman, Maryan Street, said even with the global downturn, the "sheer volume" of consumers in Asean markets made it an important deal for New Zealand. .
Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny said it sent a signal that free trade, not protectionism, was the best way to respond to the economic crisis.

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"[They] are talking up the benefits to the primary production sector, citing quite fanciful predictions of the likely returns", she said, but they were downplaying the impact of the deals on the services and manufacturing sectors

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‘Powder keg’ prisoner recaptured

Friday, 13 February 2009

An escaped prisoner has been caught in central Hamilton after three weeks on the run.
Arai Hema, 30, was caught last night. He disappeared from a work party at Auckland Prison on January 22.
Hema was a long-term inmate who had reached the point where he was under consideration for parole and his motivation for escaping baffled police. Police dogs tracked his scent to a nearby road where they believe he was picked up by a waiting vehicle.
Hema is serving an 11 year sentence for the attempted rape of a 16-year-old Napier girl and the attempted murder of 76-year-old Bruce Butler, who attempted to intervene.
He was due to be eligible for parole in September next year. .
However, he was regarded as a minimum security prisoner prior to his escape.
He was also serving a further six years for attacking prison guards in 2004.

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The best and worst of it

The Friday, 30 January 2009

It's the best of times and worst of times for Kiwis as interest rates come sliding down.
Borrowers, including those shut out of the house market for years, are rubbing their hands as lower mortgage payments beckon. "It's fine by me, it's great.
Porirua home owner Bria Hayward, whom The profiled yesterday, was stoked to see Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard slash rates by more than expected.
"I'm just going to wait."
After paperwork problems stymied her and partner Justin McArthur's attempt to get a fixed mortgage last week, economists' predictions for further cuts have made her think again."
Their bank, ASB, dropped the floating rate to 6. Anything's better than 8 per cent, but I've spoken to our [bank] manager and he's advising us to wait, so I think we're just going to stay on our floating rate. The couple had been paying about 7.9 per cent yesterday.
But the rate cut is not such good news for superannuitant Peter Redfearn, who has savings in a two-year bank deposit that earns about 8 per cent interest.45 per cent.
Though Mr Redfearn, of Seatoun, president of the Wellington South East branch of Grey Power, believed his deposits were big enough to see him through recession, he said he might have to cut back on his penchant for travel. Similar term rates offered yesterday hovered around the 4 per cent mark. .
"You start getting into the bit of capital you've got and have to start thinking outside the square. I suspect we're going to have to lump it. "I can't see any other realistic way of helping the economy. He also thought he might spread his money around different banks that offered different options."
Although rates were diving, he still planned to pull money out of investment companies and put them into banks soon, he said.

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Identity of Air New Zealand crash victims confirmed

– Thursday, 15 January 2009

Families of the New Zealanders killed in the Airbus A320 crash last November are expected to hold a service on a French beach this weekend before returning home with their loved ones.
Two Germans and five New Zealanders were killed in the crash into the Mediterranean off Perpignan in the South of France. Six bodies were recovered.
A judicial identification commission in France formally named the New Zealand remains as those of Captain Brian Horrell, 52, from Auckland, Christchurch engineers Michael Gyles, 49, and Noel Marsh, 35 and Civil Aviation Authority airworthiness inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, of Wellington.
Air New Zealand has the missing body was that of Auckland Air New Zealand engineer Murray White, 37.
The plane had been on a two-year charter to the German company XL Airways and was due to be returned to Air New Zealand when the crash occurred.
The two Germans have also been identified but their names have not been released. .
"We continue to be hopeful the ongoing search will deliver Murray back to us soon. "Whilst we know how important it is, and how much the families value getting their partners, sons and dads back, our hearts are heavy for the family of Murray White, who remains missing,” Mr Fyfe said.
The Pyrenees-Orientales Prefect, Hugues Bousiges, who represents the French Republic in the department, will head the ceremony with Deputy Prosecutor Jean-Pierre Dreno."
A formal ceremony is expected to be held in Perpignan tomorrow night New Zealand time.
The bodies will then be brought back to New Zealand for burial.
Following the ceremony the group will head to the beach at Canet-en-Roussillon, the closest point to the crash site off-shore.
Meanwhile, crash investigators at the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses in Parisare continuing this week to study data recovered from theaircraft's flight data recorders.
Meanwhile, crash investigators at the Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses in Parisare continuing this week to study data recovered from theaircraft's flight data recorders

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Firefighters battle big blaze in Auckland

Saturday, 20 December 2008

Up to 80 firefighters are battling a large blaze at an abandoned cool store building in Auckland.
The fire, at the Southdown Freezing Works building on Hugo Johnston Drive in Penrose, began just before 6pm.
The three storey building was engulfed in flames and the firefighters and support crew were working to control the fire from outside as it was not safe to enter the building, northern fire communications shift manager Mau Barbara told .
Fire service assistant regional manager Peter Wilding said the building was a "large complex comprising many old buildings".
It was reported nearby factories were being threatened by the blaze.
The old structure was unsound and firefighters were "firing water into the building" and using aerial trucks with ladders to get higher.
The fire was gradually spreading along the complex, he said.
An aerial truck arrived from Hamilton to help and other engines had been "shuffled around" to provide cover throughout Auckland.
They asked the public to stay away from the area.
Police said the area was blocked off from the intersections of Great South Rd and Vestey Drive and Great South Rd and Sylvia Park Rd.
No one was believed to be injured. .

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Frail patients treated after rest-home falls

– Saturday, 20 December 2008

Several frail patients required medical or hospital treatment the previous month after falls at a Christchurch rest home, nurses say. .
Experienced aged-care nurses say that number of falls is unacceptably high.
The woman was admitted to hospital and her family has refused to allow her back at Villa Gardens.
The family of a Villa Gardens resident has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner after the elderly woman was left alone for hours with a broken collarbone this month.
Villa Gardens had been the subject of two complaints to the Health and Disability Commissioner in a year, and the coroner is investigating the death of a male resident who was believed to have died of malnutrition.
The Canterbury District Health Board installed a temporary manager at the rest home in July after staff members contacted with concerns about levels of care.
The rest home did not return repeated calls from about the falls.
However, the system's flaws were revealed when the resident who was in hospital with a broken collarbone was ticked as being in her room.
understands Villa Gardens instituted a system where residents were checked hourly during the night.
The rest home had put in place a system to reduce falls, she said.
Health board planning and funding general manager Carolyn Gullery said the board was aware of the Villa Gardens falls tally.

. This included hourly monitoring of all residents, use of sensor mats for people with an identified fall risk and increased staffing at certain times in high-risk areas