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They will respect your forthrightness, if not look for another electrical contractor that offers you better prospects. A certified electrician means longevity, an electrician certification will set you aside, uncertified electricians are two a penny
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Neighbours of a Newtown property where police are investigating a death were woken by screaming early earlier today.
Police were called to the scene by the ambulance service at 5.50am.
Jana Meyer lives next door to the property, which is believed to be a halfway house for mental health patients and drug rehabilitation.
They have closed off a section of Mansfield St between Rhodes and Roy Streets.
“About 5am we heard screaming,” she said. She said she was woken by noise the house early earlier today. “It sounded like a haka.”It doesn’t look too good.”
Lyle Bassett, 26, who lives at the property police are investigating, said he felt lucky he spent last night at his girlfriend’s place. They say it’s a halfway house but to me it’s a family house. It’s a safe place.”It is believed around 15 people live at the property on the corner of Mansfield and Horner Streets, which is monitored by a caregiver at night. We all look after each other.
Police said the area would be closed “until further notice”. .
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Further information would be released later earlier today, she said
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In an ironic twist on Mapua artist Roger Griffiths’ protest withdrawal of his $190,000 savings in $20 notes from Westpac yesterday, the money was today back with Westpac.
Mr Griffiths deposited the cash at the Nelson Building Society in Richmond, but because NBS banks with Westpac, it has deposited the money there.
“Westpac clears our cash for us.
NBS general manager Ken Beams said today it did not hold huge amounts of cash.”
He appreciated the irony. It is better to sit in an account earning interest, and that’s where it will be now.”
Mr Griffiths said today he had no idea that would happen next. “It’s ridiculous, really.”
However, he would not move the money again, and did not think his protest had been a waste of time, because of the support he had received. .
Mr Griffiths withdrew the money yesterday in protest at not being given an $80,000 mortgage on a $385,000 Mapua property because as an artist he did not have a regular income.
Westpac declined to comment on the return of the money to its coffers.
After nationwide publicity, Mr Griffiths has been overwhelmed with support through hundreds of emails, phone calls and comments posted online.
Westpac said it had required Mr Griffiths to provide evidence of his ability to meet regular repayments, but the information was not provided for it to assess.
“It’s nothing against Westpac, it’s the principle of the thing. He rated it the best day of his life.
He estimated that 90 per cent of the comments he received were positive towards his stand. I felt badly treated,” he said today.
Comments on stuff.
“Hopefully, Westpac will take that on board and change their customer relations,” Mr Griffiths said.nz included “Shame on you Westpac” and “This guy is my hero”, while others called it bank-bashing.co.”
Mr Griffiths has not closed his Westpac account.
Westpac media relations manager Craig Dowling said today: “We are extremely sensitive in this environment to the attention banks are getting and the need for us to do things appropriately and work with our customers, and we intend to ensure we take that approach.
Mr Griffiths said he was no longer seeking to buy the property, which was a private sale, as it had now been sold.
Mr Griffiths said he was no longer seeking to buy the property, which was a private sale, as it had now been sold.
Mr Beams said that if Mr Griffiths applied for a mortgage from NBS, he would be treated like any other customer.
Mr Griffiths said he just wanted to get back to painting.
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Hamilton Zoo’s newest arrivals are “a doddery old couple” who’ve been together for years, and have moved to the Waikato for their retirement.
The zoo this week welcomed siamang gibbons Iuri, a 30-year-old female, and 25-year-old male Itam, a retired breeding couple who had been residents at Auckland Zoo since the 1980s.
The siamangs, who mate for life, arrived at Hamilton Zoo on Wednesday, and have been settling in to an enclosure near the rowdy lemurs. Auckland Zoo primate keeper Michelle Mudford said the “regular ritual” was a sign the pair were growing more comfortable in their new home.
Iuri and Itam engaged in a noisy “song duet” when the Times visited yesterday. “They’re pretty good at cuddling together to keep warm.
Miss Mudford said although Iuri and Itam have been used to Auckland’s warmer climate, they would soon become acclimatised to Hamilton’s chilly winter mornings. It always becomes normal for these guys, whatever situation they’re in. “They’ve been together about 23 years now, and are hard to separate.”
Miss Mudford, who worked with the siamangs for several years, said they were “a doddery old couple, like you see walking down the road”, who stuck close together and often showed their affection with a bit of canoodling. . They are pretty active, and still play, but just not as often as younger ones would. “It’s all gone a lot better than expected, and they’ve settled in really well.
Miss Mudford was pleased with the ease of their introduction to Hamilton Zoo. They’re pretty people-friendly, and they’ve got a nice little corner of the zoo all to themselves. They’re pretty people-friendly, and they’ve got a nice little corner of the zoo all to themselves
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Police are advising motorists to be extra vigilant as snow and ice blanket roads around the country.
State Highway 1 in the central North Island has been reduced to one lane after a truck and trailer unit carrying beer and food overturned in icy conditions about 2km south of Waiouru overnight.
“Traffic can still get through but there’s obviously going to be hold ups around there,” he said.
A crane was being brought in to help clear the road, central police communications Inspector Steve Darroch said.
Roads around the South Island were also treacherous, a police southern communications spokesperson said.
The truck driver escaped with minor injuries.
The intersection of SH1 and SH87 at Mosgiel was “really slippery” as was the road heading out the airport, he said.
Three Mile Hill in Dunedin has been closed and the southern motorway was covered in snow “but should be alright if people drive sensibly”.
Snow also closed Dunedin Airport, and 10 flights were cancelled, upsetting the plans of hundreds of travellers.
Snow, black ice and sleet closed roads and forced schools to shut around the South Island yesterday.
The MetService predicted Dunedin would be slightly warmer today. .
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Boy made to clean toilet as punishment
– National Homepage -
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A two-year-old boy taken from his parents for his own safety ended up with a family living in a crowded caravan with no door.
The toddler, who has not been named, spent more than a week living in a “run-down caravan” attached to a garage.
However, after an investigation into the Canterbury toddler’s living arrangements, Child, Youth and Family (CYF) decided removing him from his carer was not warranted.
“He was placed with his mother’s sister in 2007, at the age of five months.
CYF southern regional director John Henderson said the child was taken from his parents because of “ongoing and serious family violence, and multiple stints in prison for both parents since his birth”. The caravan was old and run-down.”
A CYF report written by duty social worker Brett Blockley, dated February 12 this year, said the boy had been living “in a caravan for a week and a half now”. “It was attached to a garage.”
A section headed “home environment” said six people were living in the caravan. The caravan does not have a door and opens into the garage.
The report also noted that the two-year-old “appeared to be healthy” and “developing well” and “it will need to be ensured that this arrangement is only temporary, as it would not be sustainable in the long period”.
However, the caravan was described as “adequate in the summer months”.
“We did receive a notification about the child’s living conditions.
Henderson said the child and foster family had moved from the caravan into more suitable accommodation. Whilst living in a caravan is not ideal, we determined it was safe and secure and did not, in our view, warrant uplifting this toddler and causing him more distress. Whilst living in a caravan is not ideal, we determined it was safe and secure and did not, in our view, warrant uplifting this toddler and causing him more distress.”
Henderson said the foster family had been forced to move several times. . Repeated attempts by the mother to discover their whereabouts has forced the family to move six times in the past 12 months.
“Due to ongoing safety concerns, it has been deemed necessary to keep the foster family’s residential location confidential.
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“One of the things that is becoming a concern with regards to care is that the benchmark has shifted from `is this providing the best possible environment for children’ to `is this adequate?”‘
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Mike O’Brien, of the Child Poverty Action Group, said that without all the facts, it was difficult to judge the case, but it “raised some concerns on a general level”…”
. if this child is one of six sharing a caravan in 2009, it’s a fairly minimalist standard
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Nine arrested after school fight
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Nine people have been arrested after a Hutt Valley High School student was attacked on a college sports field.
The three adults and six youths aged 14-17, all charged with unlawful assembly, were not associated with the college.
More than a dozen police officers were called after a series of fights broke out just before 3pm. They will appear in court tomorrow.
Inspector Geoff Gwyn, Lower Hutt Police Response Manager, said the group confronted a student about a previous altercation involving a friend.
One female student received a cut to her head when a rock was thrown into the melee.
"Scuffles broke out after 30 or so students went to aid their schoolmate.
"The group had been told to leave the college grounds earlier this morning but returned this afternoon and sought out the student," Mr Gwyn said. .
"This sort of violent behaviour is unacceptable and won't be tolerated by police or the college," hesaid
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‘Depressed’ accused fails to sway judge
– Sunday, 01 February 2009
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FLOOD OF TEARS: Alex Verne Patten, 44, has to face trial despite his lawyer’s plea that his emotional state made a court case difficult.
The lawyer for a "depressed" man facing serious drugs charges tried to have his trial aborted when he claimed his client was so unwell he broke down every time he tried to talk to him about the case.
Barrister Chris Comeskey dramatically illustrated his argument at the Auckland High Court on Friday by pointing at Alex Verne Patten, 44.
"This is as good as it gets.
He was crying and had his head bowed in court.
"I have never encountered anything like this before," Comeskey said of the emotional state of his client, who is charged with supplying methamphetamine and manufacturing the class-A drug. I'm not going to run a trial like that," Comeskey said.
He said being Patten's lawyer "was tantamount to representing someone who is asleep" and there was no way he could give evidence if he exercised his right to do so.
But Justice Hugh Williams said the trial, to start later this month, would go ahead.
A psychiatric report presented to the court confirmed Patten had a mental illness. It won't be an easy trial for anyone," the judge said.
"There will be trial problems that may need to be accommodated."
His decision prompted Comeskey to say he wanted to withdraw as Patten's lawyer. "I have considered all the issues and in my view the level of unfitness is not made out.
The judge told him the court would not allow that to happen.
The judge told him the court would not allow that to happen.
Comeskey agreed, but said he wanted a further psychiatric assessment before the trial began. He needs your expertise," Justice Williams said. . He said he would be seeking the assessment from a specialist the Crown agreed to.
Patten was charged with the two drugs counts, both of which carried maximum terms of life imprisonment.
Patten was arrested in 2005 as part of the four-month, multi-million-dollar Operation Leningrad, which included the arrest of several Highway 61 gang members and associates for alleged drug dealing.
Following the hung jury, in February, 2007, a second trial was scheduled for late last year but was aborted after Patten had a depressive episode.
But jurors in the 20-week trial could not reach verdicts on Patten's charges.
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Unfenced ponds ‘irresponsible’ but not illegal
By MATT RILKOFF – Tuesday, 13 January 2009
There is no legislation in place to prevent other children from drowning in unfenced farm effluent ponds.
Several farming representatives yesterday said not fencing ponds and sharemilkers' accommodation was highly unusual and irresponsible but acknowledged it was not illegal.
This was confirmed by the Taranaki Regional Council.
He said the council did issue fencing guidelines with effluent pond consents, but farmers were not obliged to follow them.
Director of resource management Fred McLay said although the council granted resource consents for such ponds, a successful application need only fulfil environmental obligations, not safety ones. The law under which we work is to do with environment quality, not health and safety," Mr McLay said. .
A spokesperson for the South Taranaki Council said it also had no jurisdiction over the ponds as the legislation it operated under only covered the fencing of swimming pools.
However the fencing of effluent ponds did come under guidelines established by the department for the provision of safety, health and accommodation in agriculture.
Taranaki Department of Labour manager Brett Murray said the fencing of the house fell out of its jurisdiction because it was a domestic setting, not a workplace.2 of these guidelines recommends the fencing of vessels and excavations containing liquids where practical.
Section 1.
Taranaki Federated Farmers sharemilker employers' section chairman, Bill Laurence, said the cost of not fencing them was greater than the cost of doing so.
Mr Murray said "practical" could include such factors as the cost of fencing.
"It's lunacy not to have a fence around a valuable asset like a pond.
"It's lunacy not to have a fence around a valuable asset like a pond. It really is common sense to protect your assets. Cattle will break the sides of the pond down and that cost a lot to fix and they may get diseases and things like that.
He said under section 119 of the 2001 Lower Order Sharemilking Agreement, a sharemilker's house must be securely fenced but he did not know what arrangement the parents of Summer Frank worked under."
Mr Laurence said while it was the owner's responsibility to fence the ponds, sharemilkers could make the fencing of ponds and/or their accommodation a condition of their work contract.