Two a penny

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Western Bay of Plenty District Council is trying to snuff out smoking outdoors with a smokefree policy targeting 30 of the district’s beaches.

They include the popular holiday spots of Waihi Beach, Maketu and Athenree – and the towns of Katikati and Te Puke.

Western Bay of Plenty District Mayor Ross Paterson said council hoped the policy would raise awareness of antipathy many people now have toward smoking in public areas.

“But it is a strong affirmation by this council to support a smokefree environment and to empower people to ask someone who is smoking to please stop,” he said.

“This is not a ban – council has no intention of taking any action against people for smoking in public spaces.”

Mr Paterson said he did not believe there would be any problems with the policy on the beaches.

“If we can raise the public’s awareness of the dangers of smoking on our children, young people, the environment and our communities in general, then I believe we are fulfilling our role as a responsible local authority. .

The policy was initiated by the Bay of Plenty Public Heath organisation Toi Te Ora.

Feedback on the policy was positive and only a couple of people had questioned how it would be enforced, he said.

Council staff had last week recommended the council make all council public facilities, except beaches, smokefree.

While 23 local bodies in New Zealand already have adopted smokefree policies, Western Bay was only the third to include beaches under its policy, the other two being Opotiki and Gisborne. This was unanimously backed by the council’s policy and planning committee, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.

But councillor Sam Dunlop moved another option be adopted, which included beaches in the list of smokefree public spaces.

Most people the paper spoke to in some of the affected areas supported the move, but many questioned how it would be policed.

Most people the paper spoke to in some of the affected areas supported the move, but many questioned how it would be policed.

A quick phone survey of residents in Waihi Beach and Maketu echoed those sentiments.

“You only have to go up to Tauranga Hospital to see it’s not working,” he said.

“But how the hell do you monitor this? Really what you are saying is people are just asked nicely not to smoke but can do so if they want?”

Associate Health Minister Health Tariana Turia commended the council on its policy.

One Waihi Beach resident, who asked not to be named, said while he smoked, he could see the advantage of making beaches smokefree.

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“Banning smoking in public spaces not only makes it harder for smokers to light up but it helps reduce youth uptake of smoking,” she said

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An Auckland man killed a young newly-wed, left a family man severely injured and just missed four cars when he drove drunk for hours in a bid to end his life, a high court jury has been told.

Police allege Tony Allan Worrell, 50, murdered Katie Powles, 26, when he deliberately drove his Nissan Bluebird into her caronLinwood Ave, Karaka on June 3, 2008.

She diedthree hours later in hospital from massive internal injuries.

Worrell is also charged with resulting in grievous bodily harm toKaraka man Brett Robinson, 42.

Powles had married her boyfriend of nine years, mine worker Darren Powles, just four months before her death.

Mr Robinson had been driving his two young sons home from soccer practice at the time – both were unharmed in the crash.

Worrell allegedly purposely ploughed into a car driven by Mr Robinson leaving him with serious leg and pelvic injuries.

Worrellfacesfourfurther chargesof attempting to cause intentional damage, which relate to him trying to collide with four separate vehicles prior to the fatal crash.

In her opening addresscrown prosecutor Kirsten Gray told the Auckland High Court the accused was “no stranger” to suicide attempts. .”

On the day of the crash, Worrell had just returned homefrom hospital following an earliersuicide attempt.

“It appeared the accused had wanted to end his own life that night.

Earlier thatday Worrell had visitedone alcohol store three times and numerous witness, including several service station attendants and a member of the public, hadthought the accused was so intoxicatedthey rung the police.

By 5pm that evening he was drunk and after having an argument with his wife got in his car and drove off into the night, Ms Gray said.

Later in the evening Worrell drove directly at four separate cars, crossing the centre line and making no attempt to swerve, Ms Gray said.

Later in the evening Worrell drove directly at four separate cars, crossing the centre line and making no attempt to swerve, Ms Gray said.

Mrs Powels never regained consciousness.”

Worrell collided head on with Mr Robinson’s car, resulting in it to roll and land in a ditch,

Mrs Powels’ car was behind Mr Robinson’s vehicle and she too collided with Worrell.

Members of the emergency services discovered empty beer bottles in Worrell’s car and a full can propped between his legs, the court was told.

Theend result was a “scene of complete carnage”, Ms Gray said.

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Worrell’s lawyer Matthew Goodwin said he client did not dispute that several “truly unfortunate” events had occurred when his car had crossed the centre line on the night of June 3

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A man’s body has been found in chilly Lake Tekapo after three people on a fishing trip disappeared last night.

The body was discovered close to Motuariki Island in the South Canterbury lake at 7.

Three men, all from Timaru, left Tekapo about 11am yesterday for a day of fishing.30am by the Westpac Rescue helicopter, police said.

The men were reported missing last night about 10. When they did not return a family member went searching for them, Constable Brent Swanson from Tekapo police said.An Iroquois helicopter from a close toby military camp began searching with night vision equipment and discovered their semi-submerged boat about 3.30pm.The boat was about 50m offshore from the entrance of the Cass River, about halfway up the lake on the western side.30am, police said. .

The Iroquois carried on searching for several hours but could find no sign of the occupants.Police said there were 18 Land Search and Rescue members and three local boats assisting in the search.

– with THE TIMARU HERALD

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A second prison officer working at Wellington’s Rimutaka Prison has been arrested on drug charges.

Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews said the prison guard had been arrested under the Misuse of Drugs Act. .

“This second arrest should send a very clear and strong message that corrupt and illegal behaviour will not be tolerated in our prisons,” Mr Matthews said.

In June this year, a senior prison manager, Jeffrey Mark Reid, 43, was arrested and charged with selling cannabis to inmates. There is always the possibility of corrupt practices occurring within the system, he said.

He said it was disappointing such action had to be taken, but the department was confident the overwhelming majority of officers were honest.

In August a female prison officer was suspended on full pay, accused of having an affair with a violent criminal.

TVNZ also reported more arrests were imminent, following the investigation into one of the country’s largest prisons.

She was one of five Rimutaka staff suspended at that time – two years after a spate of staff problems prompted a more than 15-month inquiry into corruption at the prison.

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Mr Matthews said he could not provide further details on the arrest as the case was before the courts

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Air New Zealand will slash its cheapest fares on regional routes, where it has a monopoly, by up to 23 percent from Monday.

Spokesman Bruce Parton said lower fares would stimulate travel and tourism as the economy recovered from recession. There will be no change to the cheapest fares between the main centres, which chief executive Rob Fyfe said were “at rock bottom”. The change was welcome.

Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock said he had long argued that Air New Zealand fares out of Hamilton were significantly higher than main-route fares. Most people fly in and out to Wellington.

Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman also welcomed the discount, saying: “Woodbourne is a difficult airport for Air New Zealand.

“It costs about $150 for a very short one-way sector.”

Air New Zealand intends to battle budget rivals Pacific Blue and Jetstar for the lucrative business traveller between the main centres, by cutting the cheapest flexible fares by an average of 32 percent, and allowing free flight changes on the day of travel. The short journey is not reflected in the fares.

A Flexi-Plus fare between Auckland and Wellington falls from $319 to $199.

Its fare categories will be cut from three to two: Smart Saver, aimed at leisure travellers, and Flexi-Plus, at business travellers.

Air New Zealand appeared to be preparing for competition on the Wellington-Queenstown route, where the cheapest fare drops from $116 to $99.

House of Travel retail director Brent Thomas said Pacific Blue and Jetstar would probably respond by reducing top fares.

But Mr Thomas said the cuts were unlikely to last long as the market recovered and the airlines tried to recoup losses.

But Mr Thomas said the cuts were unlikely to last long as the market recovered and the airlines tried to recoup losses.

Reusable baggage tags will be introduced, allowing frequent travellers to pick up bags at regional airports as they step off planes rather than at a collection point.”

Air New Zealand cut fares by up to 30 percent early last year but clawed back an average of 13 percent as the price of fuel rose.

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Former New Zealand rugby league player Paul Whatuira has reportedly been hospitalised pending a mental assessment after he was arrested in connection with two assaults in England.

English media are reporting that 28-year-old Paul Whatuira now playing for Huddersfield Giant’s in the Super League was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning following a ”bizarre sequence of events” which reportedly left two men with serious facial injuries. .Giants managing director Richard Thewlis told the BBC that Whatuira had the club’s “full medical support”.”Paul and his family have the full medical support of the club available to them at this difficult time,” Mr Thewlis said.Whatuira, originally from Wainiuiomata, played for the Warriors the Melbourne Storm, Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers in the Australian NRL, winning a premiership with the Tigers in 2005. “The club is upholding its duty of care to provide the best possible environment to help Paul,” he said.He represented the Kiwis 10 times between 2004 and 2006 before moving to the Super League.

.His stint at Huddersfield has been successful on the field with Whatuira taking the awards for top try scorer, most metres gained and coaches player of the year last year

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An inquiry has been opened by Acting Chief Coroner Garry Evans into the death of Aisling Symes.

Two-year-old Aisling’s body was recovered from a storm drain early yesterday, a week after she went missing from a house in the Auckland suburb of Henderson.

Mr Evans said an inquest into the cause and circumstances of her death would be held later.

Inspector Gary Davey said police found the woman yesterday and had spoken with her overnight.

Meanwhile, police have spoken to the mysterious Asian woman they sought during the investigation.

Mr Davey refused to reveal what the woman told police, only saying “she is no longer part of our inquiries relating to Aisling’s disappearance”.

He was “satisfied” she was unable to help police with the case and had officially ruled her out of the investigation.

He conceded the police search had caused some concern amongst the community but had been “a necessary part” of trying to find Aisling.

“We sincerely thank all the many members of the public who have delivered messages, beautiful cards prepared by children, flowers and other tributes,” he said. .

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Many of the messages had been brought to the Henderson police station and police and the Symes family appreciated the gestures, Mr Davey said

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NZ Bus will lift its lockout notice and resume services on Thursday morning “as a gesture of good will”, if the unions stop strike action and agree to reach a settlement, the company says.

But parents and school children still face another day of disruption tomorrow as a lockout of about 900 bus drivers in Auckland continues.

A statement from the company said it would remove the lockout notice but only on the “proviso that by 1:30pm tomorrow the unions also lift their strike notice and agree to work with the facilitator to reach a ratified settlement”, NZ Bus operations general manager Zane Fulljames said.

No NZ Bus services have run since then and the disruption became greater yesterday on the first day of the fourth school term. .

Students and around 80,000 other commuters have had to find alternative transport to get to school or work.

The Auckland Combined Unions will meet with their members tomorrow at 11am to discuss developments.Most travellers had coped by switching to trains, taking buses provided by other companies, car pooling or using their own cars.An offer by the drivers to drive pupils for no pay was rejected by the company as “at best misguided and is at worst mischievous”.But yesterday, with pupils returning after the school holidays, many of the buses used for public services last week were switched back to school routes.co.Frustrated passengers have been told to go to the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (Arta) website maxx.Arta spokeswoman Sharon Hunter said it had scraped together a skeleton bus service and the trains into the city were packed.nz for alternatives.She said the daily subsidy of $160,000 paid to NZ Bus had been suspended while the buses were not running.She said the daily subsidy of $160,000 paid to NZ Bus had been suspended while the buses were not running.”If this dispute is not settled, I will be calling on Arta to start the process of terminating the existing contracts and finding someone else who will deliver the services that Auckland expects and pays for.”Like any commercial contract, NZ Bus contracts can be terminated for non-performance,” Mr Lee said.”If we terminated NZ Bus completely then we’d leave a 700-bus gap overnight, and we couldn’t do that to the public,” Ms Hunter said.”However, Arta spokeswoman Sharon Hunter said it would take up to two months to terminate the contract and it would be impossible to replace the bus service in that timeframe.

.NZ Bus spokeswoman Megan McSweeney said Mr Lee’s comments were “not helpful”

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New Zealand will play Australia in the Champions Trophy final in Centurion after the Black Caps beat Pakistan by five wickets in this morning’s semi-final.

New Zealand secured passage through to the decider thanks to a match-winning partnership between Grant Elliott and skipper Daniel Vettori at the Wanderers.The all-Antipodean decider is likely to add spice to the final given what is on stake for both sides at SuperSport Park.The Kiwis reached their victory target of 234 with 14 balls to spare after Elliott (75 not out) and Vettori (41) combined for a 104-run stand for the fifth wicket.New Zealand will also be out to make history by becoming the first side to win the tournament twice, having won the 2000 edition in Kenya.Australia are aiming to become the first country to successfully defend the Champions Trophy title following their win in India three years ago.The Black Caps also finished top of their group, and have now notched three successive wins, over Sri Lanka, England and Younus Khan’s side.Australia topped their pool group and beat England by nine wickets in Friday’s semi-final in Centurion.Australia will hold a light training session on Sunday (local time).Australia’s players had the day off on Saturday after their demolition of England, when captain Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson both scored unbeaten centuries.Akmal 55) v New Zealand 234-5 (G.

Scores: Pakistan 233-9 (U. 12th man: Gareth Hopkins.Elliott 75 not out)

Teams: New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (capt), Brendon McCullum, Aaron Redmond, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliot, Neil Broom, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Ian Butler, Shane Bond. 12th man: Misbah ul-Haq.Pakistan: Younis Khan (capt), Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Naved ul-Hasan, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal. Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND). Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Ian Gould (ENG).

Scoreboard: Pakistan Innings Mins Balls 4s 6sI NAZIR c Taylor b Bond 28 43 40 6 0K AKMAL c Redmond b Butler 24 68 35 2 0S MALIK c Taylor b Butler 2 13 7 0 0Y KHAN c Taylor b Vettori 15 35 23 1 0M YOUSUF b Mills 45 100 78 3 0U AKMAL lbw Vettori 55 83 62 7 0S AFRIDI c McCullum b Butler 4 11 4 0 0N UL-HASAN c Guptill b Vettori 8 16 8 0 1U GUL c Broom b Butler 6 8 8 1 0M AAMER not out 19 30 20 4 0S AJMAL not out 14 25 17 2 0Sundries (6lb 5w 2nb) 13Nine wickets for 233Fall: 46 (Nazir), 61 (Malik), 69 (K Akmal), 86 (Khan), 166 (Yousuf), 181 (U Akmal), 183 (Afridi), 192 (Gul), 198 (ul-Hasan). Third Umpire: Daryl Harper (AUS).Batting time: 224 mins.Bowling: K Mills 10-0-46-1 (2w), S Bond 10-1-54-1 (1w 1nb), I Butler 10-0-44-4 (2w), J Franklin 8-0-33-0 (1nb), D Vettori 10-2-43-3, G Elliot 2-0-7-0. New Zealand Innings Mins Balls 4s 6sB McCULLUM c Afridi b Aamer 17 19 16 1 1A REDMOND c & b Ajmal 31 84 55 5 0M GUPTILL c ul-Hasan b Gul 11 21 10 1 1R TAYLOR b Afridi 38 88 61 1 2G ELLIOT not out 75 130 103 5 1D VETTORI st K Akmal b Ajmal 41 77 42 3 0N BROOM not out 3 3 4 0 0Sundries (2b 6lb 6w 4nb) 18Five wickets for 234Fall: 22 (McCullum), 43 (Guptill), 71 (Redmond), 126 (Taylor), 230 (Vettori). Overs: 50.5-0-48-1 (1w 1nb), S Ajmal 8-0-39-2 (1w), S Afridi 10-0-41-1 (1w), S Malik 3-0-9-0 (1w).5-0-48-1 (1w 1nb), S Ajmal 8-0-39-2 (1w), S Afridi 10-0-41-1 (1w), S Malik 3-0-9-0 (1w).Batting time: 215 mins. .5.Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Ian Gould (ENG).Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND).Third Umpire: Daryl Harper (AUS).Result: New Zealand won by 5 wickets

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A West Coast man who fled into the Grey River after a car crash today remains missing despite intensive searches.

Constable Sean Judd said Andrew David Lorimer was last seen running towards the river after the 3.30pm crash at Taylorville, 12km northeast of Greymouth.”No further contact has been made by Mr Lorimer and fears are growing for his safety as time goes on.”Shortly afterwards (he) contacted his girlfriend by cellular phone stating he was actually in the river,” Mr Judd said. .”An extensive search involving local land search and rescue teams, four dog handlers, two inflatable surf rescue boats, a kayak team, coast guard personnel, the Solid Energy Rescue Helicopter and police had failed to find any sign of him.It was possible Mr Lorimer had made it out of the river and was avoiding police.”At this stage we do not necessarily need to know where he is; only that he is safe,” Mr Judd said. Anyone with information was asked to contact the police.

.Another person in the crash also fled but was found at a nearby address