Sunday Star-Times back issues from April 1998:
Broken dad's anguish
Apr 05, 1998; ... Coroner calls for shake-up -------------------- ACORONER has made a raft of recommendations for improvedmaternitycare after finding a woman bled to death after delivering herstillborn baby at North Shore Hospital.The death of Amale Moore (38) followed a series of ...
Raped girl has baby
Apr 05, 1998; ... AN 11-year-old rape victim has given birth to a baby girl sheconceived at the age of 10. Clinical director of gynaecology at Auckland's MiddlemoreHospitalDr Ian Brown said he did not know of another New Zealand mother asyoung. Social workers are counselling her and the baby ...
`I'm just a ferret fanatic'
Apr 05, 1998; ... FOLLOWING in Noah's footsteps, most animals are content to go twoby two. But in Rachel Wills' case there is a bit of a scramble whenit comes to getting her 17 ferrets into their cages. Whether it's relaxing on a mini hammock, rolling around onnewspaper or chewing a piece of meat, ...
Midwife branded a monster after a life of helping others
Apr 05, 1998; ... TURN TO NEWS 2 HUTT midwife Jean O'Neil says she has been portrayed as a monsterwhen she has spent all her life caring for people. In an exclusive interview -- the first since the Nursing Councilprovisionally found her guilty of professional misconduct -- the 42-year-old ...
Tourist too cheeky
Apr 05, 1998; ... ACHEEKY English tourist faces being deported or jailed afterpinching a policewoman's backside. Jason Woolfenden (33) was charged with indecent assault afterpinching a woman he thought was a traffic warden ticketing a car inQueenstown a week ago. She wasn't amused -- and he was ...
Drug tests catch 35% of inmates
Apr 05, 1998; ... THIRTY-FIVE per cent of prisoners have tested positive for drugsin the first month of the new random testing programme -- promptingCorrections Minister Nick Smith to call for further crackdowns onprison security. Two per cent of the prison population -- 130 prisoners -- ...
All things considered, it's not our fault
Apr 05, 1998; ... KIWIS, kowhai, the ratio of sheep to humans; there are so manyunique things about this country, most of them boring. But we dohave one fascinating point of difference. None of us, no matter what we do, no matter the scale of thedisaster, is ever responsible. In this country the ...
Maree on a high with tower power
Apr 05, 1998; ... MAREE Bunce had climbed more than 800 steps yesterday before sheasked a marshal on the stairwell how many runners were in front ofher. "I couldn't believe it when she said I was the leader. I suddenlythought I'd better get my skates on and hurry it up," said thenational ...
BRIEF - SECONDARY EDUCATION
Apr 05, 1998 ... SECONDARY schools are to be warned to clamp down on drunkenpupilsafter teenagers took to the bottle to celebrate the end of the MaadiCup rowing regatta. Pupils as young as ...
BRIEF - HELICOPTERS
Apr 05, 1998 ... CHOPPER CRASH: Four people escaped serious injury when ahelicopter crashed near Taihape yesterday. The Hughes 500C had ...
BRIEF - ROAD ACCIDENTS
Apr 05, 1998 ... WILD RIDE: A 21-year-old has been charged with three drivingoffences when a car crashed after attempting to elude police ...
BRIEF - DROWNING
Apr 05, 1998 ... TEEN DROWNS: A 13-year-old boy drowned after jumping into OakleyCreek in ...
BRIEF - WINE
Apr 05, 1998 ... TOP WINE: The Central Otago Gibbston Valley winery's pinot noirhas taken top prize at the 48th Liquorland Royal Easter Wine ...
BRIEF - ASSAULT
Apr 05, 1998 ... STICK-UP: Police are seeking two Maori or Polynesians whothreatened three ...
BRIEF - TRAFFIC OFFENCES
Apr 05, 1998 ... COSTS CASE: The Wellington City Council unnecessarily prosecutedaman over a $10 parking offence he had already owned up to, the HighCourt said ....
BRIEF - RADIO ENTERTAINMENT
Apr 05, 1998 ... RADIO HEAD: Jon Pinch is the new chief executive of Radio Networkafter the resignation of acting chief ...
BRIEF - FISHING
Apr 05, 1998 ... JOBS GO: Nelson fishing company Sealord is to cut 50 managementand clerical jobs ...
Party's over on buses
Apr 05, 1998; ... Get a drink licence, charter passengers warned -------------------- ATIPPLE down the back of the bus will soon be a thing of the past-- unless you're prepared to fork out $55 for the pleasure.Bus and Coach Association members are about to get tough on busbooze cruises, ...
Big bill in docs' subsidy dispute
Apr 05, 1998; ... THE Health Funding Agency may be forced to pay out more than $1million in compensation to doctors denied subsidies by North Health,in the biggest case of indirect discrimination so far found by thecourts. Last year the High Court found a Northern Regional HealthAuthority policy ...
Stalker fear at height of affair
Apr 05, 1998; ... FOUR months after the very public break-up of her relationshipwith broadcaster Paul Holmes, Fleur Revell has revealed she wasscared the man jailed for attempting to rape her four years earlierwould come looking for her again. He had just been released from prison at the time news ...
Plaster cast no handicap for high-flying skater
Apr 05, 1998; ... ROLLERBLADING champion Sinclair Grant may have a broken arm, buthe's still got a few smooth tricks up his sleeve for the nationalskating championships in Auckland this Easter. Seventeen-year-old Grant broke his arm in pursuit of the perfectback flip six weeks ago, but still went on ...
Sex charge fails when cop retires
Apr 05, 1998; ... APOLICE sergeant who dealt with a married woman staying at awomen's refuge and later had sex with her, retired as his bosseswerepreparing to take disciplinary action against him. The woman had been assaulted by her husband and was staying at arefuge when a sergeant contacted her ...
Labour set to drop its higher tax plan
Apr 05, 1998; ... LABOUR is poised to abandon its plans for a new higher tax ratefor top income earners, party finance spokesman Michael Cullen hassignalled. "You can't go into an election saying there are going to be largetax increases to any income level," said Dr Cullen. Last election the ...
2000 appeal education cuts
Apr 05, 1998; ... MORE than 2000 parents have appealed the Ministry of Education'sdecision to exclude them from special needs funding and IHC saysmanywho have qualified will still end up with considerably less support. Only 6000 of the 13,500 who have applied for grants from the On-going ...
Grieving family angry at English
Apr 05, 1998; ... THE family of a man who died suddenly on Friday night pleadedwithHealth Minister Bill English five weeks ago to get him into hospitalfor a heart bypass. Colin Morrison (42) was found dead on his Riverton dairy farm, inSouthland, after he had gone deer shooting. Mr ...
Prem baby parents need help
Apr 05, 1998; ... Doctor: Parents need help -------------------- ASENIOR New Zealand paediatrician is calling for paid leave forparents whose babies are born prematurely, saying they are unfairlydisadvantaged by the extra care their children need.Christchurch paediatrician and School of ...
Police tactics wrong
Apr 05, 1998; ... Injured survivor relives fatal crash -------------------- POLICE got it wrong when they tried to stop a runaway driver in afatal car chase in Hamilton last month, according to the innocentpasserby who was seriously hurt in the ensuing smash.The driver of the car, Stephen ...
Injured Sir Tim gets back in the air again
Apr 05, 1998; ... IRREPRESSIBLE aviator Sir Tim Wallis has been back in the airagain, but his wife is keeping a lid on the extent of his time atthecontrols. Sir Tim (59), who received severe head injuries when he crashed aSpitfire two years ago, has dabbled at the controls of a Cessnaduring ...
Hospital still has problems, say doctors
Apr 05, 1998; ... CHRISTCHURCH Hospital's senior doctors are appealing to HealthandDisability Commissioner Robyn Stent to help with ongoing problems atthe hospital. On Friday, Mrs Stent asked the doctors who blew the whistle onsafety breaches in 1996 not to seek re-election to the executive ...
Drug stand not personal
Apr 05, 1998 ... The nun who took her former pupil -- Health Minister Bill English-- to task over drug funding agency Pharmac's subsidy reductions hasbeen overwhelmed by offers of medicine from other ...
BRIEF - CONTESTS-GENERAL
Apr 05, 1998 ... FAST WORK: David Fagan has won his 12th North Island Shearer ofthe Year ...
BRIEF - REDUNDANCY
Apr 05, 1998 ... JOBS LOST: More than 20 Wellington State Opera House staff havelost their jobs after the building was sold to the St James TheatreTrust ....
BRIEF - ASSAULT
Apr 05, 1998 ... PARTY CALL: Upper Hutt man Jamie Leggat is in WellingtonHospital's intensive care unit with serious head ...
BRIEF - TAXATION
Apr 05, 1998 ... TOUGH LINE: Inland Revenue is telling Nelson householders whocannot pay their tax on time to sell their homes or take out ...
BRIEF - HOMICIDE
Apr 05, 1998 ... KILL CLAIM: A 54-year-old Palmerston North man has been committedfor trial for attempting to murder his nine-year-old ...
BRIEF - RAIL ACCIDENTS
Apr 05, 1998 ... LINE DEATH: A man was killed after a goods train ran over him ...
BRIEF - DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR
Apr 05, 1998 ... TRESPASS: Museum "Madonna" protester Ian Bernard Gemmill (53), ofRaumati, has been convicted of trespass for refusing to leave theMuseum ...
Referendum fiasco bodes ill for PM
Apr 05, 1998; ... THE Government's parliamentary defeat over the Auckland RegionalServices Trust referendum means serious damage for the coalition andJenny Shipley's leadership, says Auckland University politicalscientist Raymond Miller. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will also suffer a loss ...
Police cells taking prison overflow
Apr 05, 1998; ... JAIL overcrowding has forced remand prisoners to stay in policecells more often than expected, leading to a blow-out in the prisonbudget. The Department of Corrections has an agreement with police toholdremand prisoners when normal jails are full and pays an average of$130 a ...
Cutting speed sank Wahine, says sailor
Apr 05, 1998; ... KEN McLEOD grasped control of the Wahine and was soon locked intothe rockiest ride of his 40 years at sea. As quartermaster, it wasthe Shetland Islander's duty to guide the inter-island ferry fromthehead of Wellington Harbour to the berth on April 10, 1968. It was a familiar ...
Big Joe's ferry tale
Apr 05, 1998; ... Survivor recalls family's day of horror -------------------- THESE days mum calls him Big Joe. But he is more familiar to NewZealanders as young Clarence O'Neill, a picture of despair, anenduring image of the Wahine tragedy.Drenched and distraught in an oversized orange ...
Apology too long coming
Apr 05, 1998; ... THE family of a woman who died at Christchurch Hospital says itisdisappointed the hospital's apology was so long coming. Bridget Garnett (22) died in June, 1996, and her sister Lisa saidthough she welcomed Health Commissioner Robyn Stent's report, therewere aspects of her ...
Many hospitals aware they would fail service quality checks
Apr 05, 1998; ... HOSPITALS throughout the country are failing to sign up forquality checks because they know they're not up to scratch, saysBarbara Donaldson, head of the New Zealand Council on HealthcareStandards. "One large crown health enterprise said it knew it would fail ifit came to us for ...
Look at unit's role, says Labour
Apr 05, 1998; ... LABOUR health spokeswoman Annette King says the Government shouldreview its reliance on an influential Crown monitoring body. Her comment follows Health and Disability Commissioner RobynStent's report on Canterbury Health, which criticised the roleplayedby the Crown Company ...
Shipley: I did my best to find answers
Apr 05, 1998; ... KIM NEWTH examines the fallout from Health Commissioner Robyn Stent's damning report into patientsafety at Christchurch Hospital--------------------PRIME MINISTER Jenny Shipley said she "tried and tried" to get tothe bottom of patient safety issues at Christchurch Hospital ...
Lifesaving chips pointless, says SPCA
Apr 05, 1998; ... AMOVE by a branch of the SPCA to introduce animal microchipimplants, which would save many animals from being put down, ispointless says its chief executive. Two weeks ago the Nelson SPCA introduced the scheme where for $45owners can have their pets implanted with a microchip the ...
Million drivers caught
Apr 05, 1998; ... Spy camera trial may go nationwide -------------------- THE number of speed camera tickets issued has broken the millionmark as police decide whether to extend a hidden camera trialnationwide.Since speed cameras were introduced almost five years ago, 1.1million tickets have ...
Riding helmet safety probe
Apr 05, 1998; ... Ministry receives 65 complaints from pony clubs -------------------- CONCERNS over the safety of a riding helmet have sparked aMinistry of Consumer Affairs' investigation.The 1000-member Bay of Plenty Pony Club is disputing the safety ofthe Aintree Eventor Series V helmet ...
Edinburgh festival stage for reformer's jail tale
Apr 05, 1998; ... IN 1966, John Yelash and his good friend James K Baxter went tothe Justice Department with an 80,000-word proposal for preparingprisoners for the outside world. Mr Yelash's idea was for prisoners to eventually move into flatsso they could spend some time living with people and ...
Fickle El Nino rocks lone pine
Apr 05, 1998; ... EL NINO has been blamed for many things -- now it's copping flakfor the declining health of One Tree Hill's iconic pine. The tree was attacked with a chainsaw by Maori activist MikeSmithin 1994, and while arborists said there was "no need for alarm", theeffects of El Nino could ...
Diana memorial fund nearly half a million
Apr 05, 1998; ... NEW ZEALANDERS have raised nearly $500,000 for the Diana,Princessof Wales Memorial Fund. Dame Malvina Major, who chairs the recently established trustcommittee, said an announcement over whether the fund would be apermanent fixture would be made in the next few ...
Doctor calls for chaperons to prevent GP exploitation
Apr 05, 1998; ... CHAPERONS should accompany GPs during patient examinations toprotect doctors from exploitation, says recently retired New ZealandMedical Association chairman Dr Brian Linehan. And GPs could refuseto see troublesome patients who object to a chaperon being present. Dr Linehan said ...
Trust plans to change complex power board
Apr 05, 1998; ... PROPOSALS to restructure Mercury Energy's board have beensubmitted to the Government following Auckland's power crisis. Undera plan backed by Mercury's owners, the Auckland Energy ConsumerTrust, law firm Russell McVeagh would lose its stranglehold on thecompany and a new board of ...
Cancer families come forward after discovery
Apr 05, 1998; ... ANOTHER 35 members of the family which helped New Zealandscientists find the gene that causes stomach cancer have contactedresearchers since the ground-breaking discovery was announced lastmonth. And last week, four more families devastated by stomach cancersought help, prompting ...
Physio's feat with feet
Apr 05, 1998; ... IF Grant Plumbley could do one thing in his life it would be toredesign Irish dancing shoes. The Kiwi-born physiotherapist is responsible for the welfare of115 Irish Riverdance troupe members -- from 48 dancers to musiciansand wardrobe staff. After securing the job as the ...
Oil price rip off?
Apr 05, 1998 ... THE "bench mark" price of crude oil has now dropped by more than40% in the last five months. This has been matched by a 4.5% drop inthe retail price of petrol. How do the four "competitive" oil companies explain this? Theworld-wide price of crude ...
Anger over genetic food
Apr 05, 1998 ... SURELY it is astonishing that Parliament is considering refusingto make it mandatory that genetically modified foods carry labellingto this effect. Maybe genetically modified foods will turn out to be harmless,butat this stage nobody knows. None of the experts or big ...
On the inquisition
Apr 05, 1998 ... KEITH RANKIN'S whitewashing of the Spanish Inquisition (March 29)quoting unconfirmable minimum victims requires a brief review. As a transparent attack on Protestants he fails in his object totransfer guilt, in that the killings, whether few or many, werereligiously based with ...
Super and cut rates
Apr 05, 1998 ... CONTRARY to Christine Rankin's comment (March 29) that "allpeoplewho qualify for superannuation are able to get the same rates", thisis not so in many cases. While being interviewed at New Zealand House, London, in 1960prior to emigrating to New Zealand, I was informed both ...
Homophobe argument
Apr 05, 1998 ... IN response to "Help for Homophobes" by John Wallace (March 29),let's hope homophobia does become a thing of the past. A few pointsthough. It seems that gay hatred remains the last officially sanctionedform of prejudice. Gay men were the second largest group killed byNazi ...
Hope for art future
Apr 05, 1998 ... THE British Arts Council that arranged the Pictura Britannicaexhibition at Te Papa -- which included the Virgin shrouded in acondom -- has appointed a new chairman, a Mr Gerry Robinson. Mr Robinson's first action on his appointment was to demand theresignation of all the existing ...
Rushdie a warning
Apr 05, 1998 ... THE whole scenario of Madonna in the condom and the Last Supperwith the topless female Christ painting, has the farcical air ofsomething from 'Allo, 'Allo's Madonna with the big boobies --currently being repeated on television. Such publicity is not ...
Protests self-serving
Apr 05, 1998 ... WOULD the protesters against the current exhibits at Te Papa alsoprotest a display of Christian iconography on the grounds that itwould be offensive to atheists and even blasphemous to Muslims andJews? If not, then their argument that the present pieces offendingthemmeans Te ...
Vestal Virgins and chastity
Apr 05, 1998 ... THE remarks by Peter Harding about the Virgin Mary and the Bible(March 29) quite literally defy belief. In identifying the Virgin Mary as a Vestal Virgin he displaysnothing but ignorance about the Roman Empire and its territories. A Vestal Virgin was a person of the ancient ...
The world's population
Apr 05, 1998 ... IN defence of Catholic doctrine on birth control and abortion,Dean Mischewski (March 29) claims that population is not the biggestthreat to the continued habitability of the planet, because 11.3billion people -- the UN projection for 2100AD -- is "well withintheplanet's sustainable ...