Two a penny

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Jamaica has joined England as a genuine threat to netball’s traditional powerbases at next year’s Commonwealth Games by stunning the Silver Ferns 53-50 in Kingston today.

The winners capped a glorious week to celebrate the sport’s 50th anniversary in Jamaica, notching just their second win over the Silver Ferns in 44 attempts.

And it comes just four days after completing an equally rare one-goal victory over world champion Australia.

Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken, who also watched her side require extra time to deny England on this trip, admitted a bridging of the gap was a concern 12 months out from New Zealand’s title defence.

The world No 4 Sunshine Girls shared both series , an ominous development that suggests the gold medal match in India next October will not automatically be a trans-Tasman affair.

“It’s not just about Australia any more,” she told .

“The reality is we need to prepare for three different styles going into Commonwealth Games – England, Jamaica and Australia. .”

Jamaica’s compelling second quarter propelled the game beyond the Silver Ferns’ reach as they outscored to world No 2 13-5 – confining shooters Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia to just six attempts. You get someone like Romelda (Aiken) one day then a moving circle with (Australians) Sharelle (McMahon) and Susan Pratley.

“We lost a bit of our courage and our willingness to work off the ball.

“We lost our drive on attack, they tightened up (defensively), we made a few errors and suddenly we’re examining at only six attempts in that quarter – we can’t win games on that,” Aitken said.”

Aitken said different umpiring interpretations – the local official gave the Jamaican circle defenders more leeway – knocked New Zealand off kilter though it was not an excuse. Jamaica really upped the pressure and we got distracted, we didn’t stick to our structure.

The Silver Ferns started impressively, skipping out to a six-goal lead midway through the opening stanza at the National Indoor Stadium.

The Silver Ferns started impressively, skipping out to a six-goal lead midway through the opening stanza at the National Indoor Stadium.

Van Dyk shot a perfect 16 from 16 to the main break but the Jamaican duo had the luxury of making nine more attempts – an imbalance that engineered a 27-21 advantage for the hosts.

Jamaica then wrestled the initiative by ruling the 15-minute period to halftime – clogging the supply lines to van Dyk as the Silver Ferns’ passing accuracy deteriorated.

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Four glaring van Dyk misses in the third quarter and concerns over the Jamaican umpire when she controlled New Zealand’s shooting end prompted Aitken to pull her ace shooter (19/23) for the more mobile Paula Griffin in a bid to erase a four-goal deficit on the home stretch

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Animal control officers are applauding a dispute tribunal decision in which a Gisborne man successfully sued a farmer for more than $5000 after his car was written off when it hit a calf.

The case set a precedent, said Wairoa District Council animal control officer Des Jane.

The young man’s car hit a black Angus calf on State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Nuhaka about 8pm on April 10, while he was travelling to Gisborne. .

He did not swerve to attempt to avoid the animal because it would have resulted in rolling the car, further endangering his life and those of his four passengers.

The Nuhaka farmer who owned the calf was ordered to pay $5386 to cover the damage to the car. It was just fortunate no one was seriously injured or killed in the crash,” he told the tribunal.

The police report on the accident said it was not the first time there had been cattle on the road in this area and “it was only a matter of time before an accident like this was going to happen and somebody was going to be killed”.

Although it was common practice in the area to fence cows and calves with seven-wire fences, recently-weaned calves needed extra steps to be taken to stop them from escaping.

The calf had been recently weaned and the disputes tribunal found the Nuhaka farmer negligent because he did not take all reasonable steps to ensure adequate fencing.

Mr Jane said wandering stock in the district was a problem.

“Recently-weaned calves can be very unsettled and although they would not generally stray from their mothers (who were in the next paddock) they can be unpredictable and skittish,” the tribunal judgement said.

This case would be a wake-up call for farmers, he said.

Council animal control and the police spent a lot of time and effort getting farmers to improve their road fences and ongoing roadside fencing surveys had resulted in farmers being issued with notices to improve the standard of fences.

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Relief looks in sight for motorists whose cars remain stuck on the snow-covered Napier – Taupo Road, with police saying it should re-open by 3pm this afternoon.

Around 100 cars remained stuck on the snow-covered Napier – Taupo Road and several hundred people have spent a second night in makeshift accommodation after a heavy snowfall cut off State Highway 5.

Police said they expected the Naiper – taupo Road to re-open at 3pm.

A further 30 centimetres of snow was expected to fall in parts of the central North Island last night and today.

State Highway 1 was closed last night between Turangi and Taihape because of the bad weather, however authorities have re-opened a section of the road south of Waiouru this morning.

MetService had issued warnings of heavy snow down to 600 metres in Tongariro National Park and on the Napier – Taupo Road as early as Saturday morning.

But the road closures came too late for more than 600 motorists who took to the roads only to become stuck in the snow.

Taupo Mayor Rick Cooper, who drove a bus to ferry motorists back to Taupo, said roads should have been closed a lot earlier, preventing the mass strandings of vehicles.

“People were very scared and frightened, many, including the elderly, had a horrific night.

“Rescuing 600 people on a horrendous night in blizzard conditions should not have had to have happened,” he said.

“It was a freak occurrence which was significantly worse than we anticipated for this time of year,” he said.”

New Zealand Transport Agency national state highways manager David Bates said road crews had been aware of the forecast but were caught out by the large amount of snow which fell in a short time.

“We are very sorry many motorists became trapped.

“We had the equipment and crews to keep the road open as long as we could but a massive temperature drop around 2pm swamped our trucks and equipment. It would have been a scary experience for all. . The forecast is for more snow, which could delay the road being opened.

The road may not be fully cleared till late today.

Emergency services sprang into action when a civil defence emergency was issued late on Sunday after 668 motorists became stranded.

About 130 cars remained on the Napier – Taupo Road overnight.

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A further 56 people were rescued on the Desert Road by the army and taken to Waiouru

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New Zealand’s provincial rugby players have been itching to get behind a good cause, and it’s fair to say they’ve found one and it’s growing on them.

Beards are back – well they are on the Air NZ Cup scene anyway as the nation’s footy players go hirsute in the name of a cause they believe is worth a little discomfort for.

In case you’ve been wondering why there are so many bearded rugby players running round in the Air NZ Cup these days, well it’s all about raising awareness for the NZ Blood Service and the NZ Leukaemia and Blood Foundation.

McPhee had decided to go a bit old school and grow a beard for the season, and Stevenson suggested they should get a good cause behind it.

It started with an impromptu discussion between pioneer whiskers-grower Jack McPhee of North Harbour and Sky Television’s popular rugby colour man Scotty ‘Sumo’ Stevenson, and soon developed into a fully grown “Beards for Blood” campaign.

“The support’s been fantastic,” said Stevenson. With Harbour already having an association with the Blood Service, it was decided to get a bit of a national theme going to raise awareness in the area of blood donation and also to provide some support for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation which deals with serious blood-related illnesses. “Just about all the teams in the competition have now got at least a player or two with a full beard on supporting the cause.

“What is impressive is how many boys have said ‘yep, we’re in’.”

The idea is that around the last week of the regular season the beards will get the chop, and hopefully some money, and awareness, will have been raised for the cause.

Northland and Manawatu have adopted the concept team-wide, but Stevenson said selected players from Harbour, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago had also got behind the concept. It shows how community minded they are, and how tuned in they are for something as important as this,” added Stevenson. .

Stevenson said the drive was about raising both awareness and money. That saves lives. That saves lives. Honourable mention also went to Cory Jane’s “pretty boy” effort at Wellington, while Stevenson felt the less said the better about what Northland’s Karl Haitana had come up with.”

Stevenson felt early contenders for most impressive beards in the competition included McPhee’s Ned Kelly-inspired look, some fairly lush growth from Doug Tietjens of Manawatu and a typically solid effort from Canterbury’s Corey Flynn.

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Robin Bain’s brother has broken his silence to insist Robin was a “loyal, peaceful and thoughtful” man and “no killer”.

In an article published in this week’s Listener, Michael Bain, of Wellington, wrote of how the good names of David Bain’s parents Robin and Margaret, two sisters Arawa and Laniet, and brother Stephen were vilified during David Bain’s retrial, The Otago Daily Times reported.He said the extended family found the retrial difficult to accept because none of those against whom the “hearsay” allegations were levelled were alive to rebut them.

But Bain campaigner Joe Karam said Michael Bain did not know his dead brother, Robin, well enough to say publicly he was not a killer.

Bain, 37, was cleared of murder the five members of his family in June after a retrial in the High Court in Christchurch.”It is nice that he loves his brother but I think he is in denial, really.Mr Karam said Michael Bain had seen his brother less than six times in more than 20 years before the killings.”The evidence was very clear he (Robin) was in a seriously declining mental condition.

Bain had spent 13 years in prison after originally being convicted in 1995 of the killings in the family’s Every Street home in Dunedin a year earlier.”Mr Karam led the battle to take the case to the Privy Council in England which led to the retrial and not guilty verdicts for David Bain.”We, his family, knew him to be a man of integrity and a good and faithful husband to Margaret and an excellent father to his children.Michael Bain said the family rejected the allegations levelled at members of the Dunedin family, particularly Robin Bain, as “totally out of character, speculative and disbelieved”.”He was a calm, loyal, peaceful and thoughtful man who deserved to grow old surrounded by the love of his family.”Robin was no killer.”I remain honoured to be his brother.”I remain honoured to be his brother.Little attention had been paid to the others killed, whose futures were also “brutally and tragically snatched from them”.Since the Every St killings, much “media hype” had focused on David Bain, including attempts to divert attention from him to Robin Bain.”David is able to enjoy his new-found freedom, but we haven’t forgotten those who were never given a chance and now are unable to defend their reputations, or to enjoy any future at all.”For us, their loving brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins, the end for each remains as unimaginable and horrifying today as when we first heard the news.

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Dunedin’s mayor and city MP Pete Hodgson want the controversial Undie 500 rally out of Dunedin for good.

The rally once more descended into chaos last night, with Dunedin police forced to wear riot gear and use pepper spray to disperse student mobs. .The annual Undie 500 event, organised by Canterbury University engineering students, involves a pub crawl from Christchurch to Dunedin, in cars worth under $500.The 70 officers took about two hours to disperse the students.Hodgson, who represents Dunedin North, told Radio New Zealand it’s time to put a stop to the event. This is the third consecutive year the rally has led to disorder.Mayor Peter Chin said the Undie 500 isn’t welcome in Dunedin, and suggested the Canterbury students trash their own city instead, RNZ reported.Last year’s official Undie 500 was cancelled after rioting in the city resulted in 69 arrests the previous year.The event has previously caused headaches for Dunedin police left to control riotous behaviour at the end of the trip.Most of last night’s action centred in the three blocks around Castle Street, with mobs setting furniture and piles of rubbish on fire in Castle and Leith streets, Dunedin Area Commander Inspector Dave Campbell said.However, an unofficial version of the event still ran and 30 arrests were made after another round of disorder.Flying bottles hit two or three other people, who had to be taken away by ambulance for treatment.One officer was hit in the head and knocked down with a hurled bottle, and would have been seriously injured if not for his helmet, he said.Mr Campbell said there would be a boosted police presence this weekend and anyone arrested would gain a criminal record, due to a no-diversion policy.Mr Campbell said there would be a boosted police presence this weekend and anyone arrested would gain a criminal record, due to a no-diversion policy.They faced a variety of charges, ranging from disorderly behaviour and breaching the liquor ban to wilfully setting fire to property.Most of those arrested were Otago University students, Mr Campbell said.”We are happy we have been able to stabilise the crowd without exerting our authority too much,” he told the Otago Daily Times.The officer in charge of the police response, Inspector Alistair Dickie, said they had chosen to take a softer approach this year and were relatively pleased with how things turned out last night. We are pleased at the moment.”We could have sparked something here.”

. Hopefully, I don’t eat my words

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A New Zealander has set a new land speed record in Utah this morning.

Dean Veale, 44, from Kaukapakapa, north of Auckland, set the new land speed record – for the 1650cc A-G class of motorcycles – at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

With the existing record for the class standing at 191. He was riding “White Elephant”, his special construction Hayabusa engine motorcycle.5mph (311.593mph (305kph), Veale confirmed his initial record breaking run yesterday with a backup run this morning (local time) that set the new record at 194.

This morning’s conditions were apparently near perfect for the record setting run.2kph). .

A statement released this morning said Veale had been concerned something might force him to have to repeat his runs.

Only at that point did Veale relax, and revealed the purpose of a pipe which ran along the bottom left-hand side of White Elephant/

“Releasing the retaining clip and removing the custom made aluminium cap, Veale pulled a Bunnings umbrella from the pipe: ‘I’d been told it got hot here and didn’t want to sit in the sun and cook, so I packed some shade’,” the statement said. Extending his hand toward Veale the inspector offered his congratulations as he confirmed the record with the words ‘Welcome to the record books’.

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A woman left incontinent and walking with a limp after doctors took seven months to diagnose her symptoms says a report ruling in her favour is a hollow victory.

Kay Shirkey, 43, visited Radius Medical at The Palms eight times between March and October 2007 before doctors discovered that the pain, numbness and lack of coordination she complained of was as a result of a cervical disc protruding into her spinal cord.

She eventually had surgery in November 2007, but the injury left her numb down one side of her body and affected her internal organs, limiting her movement and leaving her incontinent.

Yesterday, the Health and Disability Commission found Radius Medical’s systems were inadequate for ensuring patients who made multiple visits had well-coordinated, good quality care.

ACC accepted her claim for compensation last year, ruling that her injury was caused by a delay in diagnosis and treatment.

In the report, expert adviser Stuart Tiller said Mrs Shirkey’s condition should have caused concern as early as May, but poor documentation and follow-up meant she did not see a specialist until four months later.

Mrs Shirkey saw five different doctors over the eight visits.

Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson was scathing in his ruling.”

Mrs Shirkey said although she was happy with the result, it did not help her at all.

“One has to ask, is this as good as it gets?

“If this is the face of modern primary medical care in New Zealand, it is not a pretty picture.

“Before I got crook I was playing netball and was outdoors . … It’s changed my life completely. It’s changed my life completely.”

She often wonders what might have been if she had been diagnosed earlier.

“I’ve got to physically catheter myself.

“He had the same thing as me, but he was diagnosed within three weeks and he’s back farming and having a natural life.

“I met somebody when I was having my operation in November 2007.

“I would like people, if they get fobbed off by their doctor, just to keep at it until they get the answers.”

Mrs Shirkey urged people to not give up on getting the right diagnosis if they suspected something was seriously wrong.

Expert adviser GP Keith Carey-Smith complimented the medical centre “for the obvious effort put in to improving practice systems as a result of this case.”

Mr Paterson’s report acknowledged the steps taken by Radius Medical to implement the recommendations and improve its systems in order to prevent similar events. In particular, instituting the position of Clinical Director, systems to improve continuity of care and follow-up referrals and results, and monitor ongoing quality of clinical care, are valuable improvement initiatives.”

“Clearly the complaint and the commissioner’s report have resulted in significant action to rectify identified issues, and put in place systems to reduce future error.

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Aucklanders may see the return of trams trundling along the Waitemata waterfront if the ARC gets its way.

The Auckland Regional Council is “examining into the feasibility” of a light rail or tram system along the Waitemata Harbour waterfront.

The Government’s decision to buy and redevelop Queens Wharf, with public spaces and a cruise ship terminal, added impetus to examining at public transport options, said ARC Transport and Urban Development Committee chairwoman Christine Rose.

Planners estimate when people stroll the so called Wynyard Quarter at the waterfront seven out of 10 trips will be taken on public transport, walking or cycling.

“Light rail or heritage trams should be considered in any public transport options for Wynyard Quarter and Quay St as part of the area’s redevelopment,” she said.

She said planning had not previously looked at the use of light rail, but the regional council wanted to put that up as an option.”

The feasibility study into light rail for the waterfront will provide information on the potential demand for light rail and how it was used in comparable waterfront cities.

“We are striving to add to existing heritage and character, and to enhance Auckland’s waterfront viability and experience for workers, tourists and Aucklanders at large.

A report to the ARC transport committee today said modern light rail trips were being used for peak hour commuting as part of transport networks throughout the world..

In Auckland, a loop linking Wynard Quarter, Quay St and Britomart could be part of a wider transport solution for the city.

Or they were used in short loops often aimed at tourists.

*What do you think of the proposal? below. Progress on the feasibility study will be reported back to the Transport and Urban Development Committee in November.

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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.