The Press back issues from August 1996:
July was dripping, dank, dreary, and dull
Aug 01, 1996 ... Christchurch was treated to a sunny winter's day yesterday whileweather forecasters rued one of the most dismal months on record. Metservice southern forecast manager Hayward Osborn said Julybegan and ended with clear sunny days, but in between the weathergave city dwellers every ...
Multiple killer Milat spent 3 years in NZ
Aug 01, 1996; ... Ivan Milat, the Australian serial killer convicted of murderingseven young backpackers, spent three years in New Zealand in theearly 1970s. Milat, 51, a roadworker, was convicted last Saturday and sentencedto life imprisonment for murdering five women and two men, agedbetween 19 ...
Youths held for days in police cells
Aug 01, 1996; ... Youths have spent up to two weeks in the Christchurch centralpolice station's cells waiting for room at Social Welfareinstitutions, police say. Police, the judiciary, and Commissioner for Children LaurieO'Reilly are concerned about young people being held in police cellsfor ...
NZ First predicts demise of super. accord
Aug 01, 1996; ... The Government's decision to soften the superannuation surtaxdespite objections from an accord partner will spell the end of thatmulti-party agreement, says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. The Government introduced to Parliament yesterday legislationraising the surtax ...
Demand on rates tipped to soar; Arts centre support worry for critics
Aug 01, 1996; ... Demands for ratepayer support for school facilities will sky-rocket after the Christchurch City Council's decision to back aperforming arts centre at Burnside High School, critics of the movesay. A special rates-setting meeting of the council yesterday agreed toprovide $500,000 ...
Hornby windows target of attack
Aug 01, 1996 ... About 20 windows in Hornby have been broken by someone firingwaste metal from a slingshot. Police in Hornby are concerned not only about the damage, but alsothat someone will be hurt. About 20 windows, worth between $7000 and $10,000, have beenbroken in ...
Hundreds of Kaikoura residents at heated rates meeting
Aug 01, 1996; ... More than 400 Kaikoura residents packed a public meeting in theMemorial Hall last night to voice their anger over the proposedKaikoura District Council rates increase. The rates increases will hit tourism operators and farmers themost, with some businesses faced with an increase of ...
Lesson in love in a class of its own
Aug 01, 1996; ... A doctor at Christchurch Women's Hospital found an inventive wayto propose to his girlfriend yesterday. With a little help from deputy principal Trish Andersen ChrisThurnell got pupils of Linwood Intermediate involved when he askedAnna Weir to marry him. Hidden away in a ...
A hovercraft to hone a teenager's skills
Aug 01, 1996 ... Waipara teenager Nath'n Trethowen takes his two-seater hovercraftfor a test run on an irrigation dam on Sunday. The 18-year-old ...
CHE, Chch cardiologists reject claims
Aug 01, 1996; ... Christchurch cardiologists and Canterbury Health have rejected asincorrect and misleading statements made by the SouthernCardiothoracic Institute about its own facilities, and about theviability of a heart unit at Christchurch Hospital. The institute denies that the information is ...
Clinicians back safety assertions; Memos released to support claims
Aug 01, 1996; ... Exasperated by claims that patient safety problems at ChristchurchHospital are being exaggerated, senior clinicians have released memosto substantiate some of their concerns. The clinicians believe the reorganisation of Canterbury Healthnursing services in February has compromised ...
Drivers make it easy for thieves police
Aug 01, 1996 ... Many drivers are making it easy for thieves to break into theircars, Christchurch police say. Police have been kept busy with a spate of thefts from cars parkedaround the inner city. Constable Andrea Johnson said some areas were particularly popularwith opportunist thieves ....
Factory staff locked out
Aug 01, 1996 ... About 50 workers at Pacifica Seafoods (Christchurch) Ltd,Riccarton, were locked out when they arrived for work at 5.30amyesterday. The day before they walked off the job in protest at the lack ofprogress in their employment contract talks. Members of the United Food, ...
Fears aired on anti-mining bill; Firms argue against restrictions
Aug 01, 1996; ... New legislation prohibiting mining in protected areas wouldhasten, and possibly end, the mining industry on the West Coast, theparliamentary planning and development select committee was toldyesterday. The committee was sitting in Greymouth to hear submissions on theCoromandel ...
Hall packed for views on rest-home services
Aug 01, 1996 ... TIMARU -- About 200 people packed the Caroline Bay communitylounge on Tuesday night to register concerns about the assessmentprocess for people requiring rest-home or home-care services. A panel of health officials, including Robyn Mellor from theSouthern Regional Health Authority ...
Health officials find no unsafe CHE practices
Aug 01, 1996 ... Health officials who looked into claims of unsafe practices atCanterbury Health found no evidence, but did raise ``seriousconcerns'' about the state of relations between managers andclinicians. The report of the Ministry of Health review team, andcorrespondence between Canterbury ...
MP `unrealistic' in proposal for mobile CYPS care
Aug 01, 1996 ... RANGIORA -- Social Welfare Minister Peter Gresham was being``irresponsible and unrealistic'' in suggesting that the Children andYoung Persons' Service could provide an effective mobile service forNorth Canterbury based in Christchurch, a PSA organiser, MikeCunliffe, said ...
NZ contractors should look towards Asia, McKinnon says
Aug 01, 1996; ... New Zealanders should get into the booming Asian contractingmarket says deputy Prime Minister, Don McKinnon. Speaking at the opening of the Contractors' Federation conferenceat the Christchurch Town Hall, Mr McKinnon said New Zealand'scontractors could do well in ...
Science prize for Chch girl
Aug 01, 1996; ... Laura Joyce stung her arms repeatedly with nettle until red weltsand scars broke out all over. Soon she will have to do it again, allin the name of science. The Rangi Ruru fourth former won over-all first prize in theCanterbury Westland Science Fair last weekend. Her project, ...
Service may expand
Aug 01, 1996; ... BLENHEIM -- Wellington-based Vincent Aviation is looking atextending its DC3 scenic flights to Marlborough because of problemswith turbulence over Wellington. The high rate of cancellations has led the company to look atcrossing Cook Strait to avoid the turbulence at low levels ...
Ski-field development plan for Twizel
Aug 01, 1996 ... TIMARU -- A ski-field and ski village development estimated tocost $40 million is planned for Twizel by a combined Oamaru andAuckland company. Duncan Skifields Development Ltd has been formed by Oamaru lawfirm Berry and Company, and consulting engineers Beca Carter Hollingsand ...
Flood plan seriously flawed _ engineer
Aug 01, 1996 ... The Canterbury Regional Council's Waimakariri River floodplainmanagement plan is seriously flawed, a consultant engineer yesterdaytold a council meeting hearing submissions on the plan. Civil engineer Terry Lustig, representing the Waimakariri DistrictCouncil and Canterbury Golf ...
Hospital food workers face pay, job cuts
Aug 01, 1996; ... The 136 union staff of Christchurch Hospital's food service fearthe contracting of the service to a private company will lead tolower wages -- if they get a job. Canterbury Health, the Crown health enterprise for the hospital,announced yesterday that P and O Food Services would ...
Alliance seeks ombudsman
Aug 01, 1996; ... The Alliance has called for the appointment of a broadcastingombudsman after Fay Richwhite executive and National Party activistMichelle Boag's resignation as a Television New Zealand director. Broadcasting spokeswoman Pam Corkery said the Alliance wouldappoint an ombudsman in its ...
NZ First pledges $87m a year on export policy
Aug 01, 1996 ... New Zealand First would spend $87 million a year on an exportpolicy designed to ensure the State played a more active role in thesector. One of the big-ticket items would be an export credit guaranteescheme which would have injections of $50m a year for the next ...
Peters, TVNZ chairman in tit-for-tat over political ties
Aug 01, 1996; ... New Zealand First leader Winston Peters set his sights on theremoval of Television New Zealand chairman Norman Geary yesterday,launching a stinging attack on the National Party over its links withthe broadcasting company. Mr Peters told Parliament that National's connections to ...
Produce prices in comparison
Aug 01, 1996; ... A recent ``Consumer'' magazine survey of grocery prices foundsubstantial differences between the cheapest and most expensivesupermarkets in Christchurch. The magazine compared the prices of a sample trolley load ofgroceries at seven supermarkets in the city. The cheapest load ...
Smaller classes in city schools
Aug 01, 1996; ... Many Christchurch high schools have reported reduced rolls andsmaller classes in a survey by ``The Press''. The Government has increased staffing levels since ``The Press''survey in 1992. The effect on class sizes is most marked in State, suburban, co-educational schools ...
Reefton couple's OSH ordeal ends
Aug 01, 1996; ... A traumatic 10-month ordeal, which included facing criminalcharges, has ended for a Reefton couple. Kevin and Dorothy Williams came up against the reality of the newOccupational Safety and Health Act when a Task Force Green employeeon their property fell ill after spraying gorse ...
Vegetable prices against trend
Aug 01, 1996; ... An oversupply of vegetables and their relatively low price maylead some growers to switch to other more profitable cropping optionsthis season, says Vegetable and Potato Growers' Federation (Vegfed)president Max Lilley. The current poor prices for vegetables were against the ...
Venison demand behind board's stag-kill request
Aug 01, 1996 ... In an unusual move, the Game Industry Board has recommended thatdeer farmers quickly kill at least 10 per cent of their velvetingstags. It comes as the processors' venison schedule hit a record high of$9 a kilogram this week. Board chairman Richard Riddiford said New Zealand ...
Growers to vote on move
Aug 01, 1996; ... Merino woolgrowers will vote on whether to change the way theyelect directors to Merino New Zealand at its annual meeting inSeptember. The electoral system has been under review, with an independentreport by Price Waterhouse commissioned to investigate the options. MNZ legal ...
Merino campaign aims high
Aug 01, 1996; ... A new brand to promote New Zealand merino wool will be positionedat the expensive end of the market, where it will be linked with topinternational designer labels, says Merino New Zealand chiefexecutive John Brakenridge. MNZ is registering the brand, which will be launched at its ...
New weapon tackles weed
Aug 01, 1996; ... A new biological control for broom is establishing itself in NewZealand, says a Lincoln biological control researcher, PaulineSyrett. The biological control insect is a psyllid, arytainillaspartiophila. It feeds on the foliage -- both the stems and theleaves -- of broom. It joins ...
Organisation releases details of $3m budget
Aug 01, 1996; ... Merino New Zealand will have a budget of almost $3 million in the1996-97 year, its share of total income from the merino sector of$5.6 million. The organisation opened its books last week as part of its promiseto be accountable to growers. Funding is flowing to MNZ since theJuly ...
CRIMEWATCH
Aug 01, 1996; ... Burglaries Overnight on July 23 and 24, The Wardrobe in Worcester Street wasburgled. Clothing taken included a handmade purple satin dress, aleather patchwork skirt, and a double studded black leather belt. A cash box from one of the poker machines was stolen when theLinwood ...
SEA, AIR, RAIL
Aug 01, 1996; ... VESSELS IN PORT Toanui, Oil Berth. Novonikolsk, No. 3 West. Dorada, No. 4 West. Sunshine Amazon, Cashin Qy 2. ARRIVED Sunshine Amazon (5.30am), 18,936, Valparaiso. Frost No. 3 (6am), 12,383, Tauranga (Scales). Spirit of Freedom ...
Bankrupt for trial over contracts
Aug 01, 1996 ... A Christchurch bankrupt and former insurance agent never intendedto pay monthly premiums ranging from $600 to $11,500 into twosuperannuation contracts, the Christchurch District Court was toldyesterday. Alan Morrison Wilkie, 53, a salesman, was before a depositionshearing into ...
Breach of non-molestation order admitted
Aug 01, 1996; ... RANGIORA -- A Rangiora man who yelled to a woman through aRangiora shop window that she was ``going to die'' and pointed hishand like a firearm at her was convicted on a charge of breaching anon-molestation order when he appeared in the Rangiora District Courtyesterday. John ...
Suspended prison term for `menace'
Aug 01, 1996 ... A man with a record of convictions for claiming refunds from shopson goods he had never bought there was given a six-month suspendedprison sentence in the Christchurch District Court yesterday. Judge Ray Kean said that Kim Barwell, 30, a sickness beneficiary,of Christchurch, had a ...
US immigrant granted right to appeal against removal order
Aug 01, 1996 ... An American man seeking the cancellation of a removal orderagainst him has been given another chance by a High Court judge toappeal against a decision by former Immigration Minister Bill Birch. The removal order was issued by the Ministry of Immigration onRussell Thomas Madlener ...
Sheepskin exports flourish
Aug 01, 1996; ... Natural Fleece Products (1994), a Christchurch-based sheepskinproducts and tannery firm, expects to boost exports 75 per cent to $2million this year. Ken Jackson, one of the private company's four directors, saysNatural Fleece's advantages stem from having a tannery, and ...
Chch firms buy diecasting
Aug 01, 1996 ... Two Christchurch firms have bought the local aluminium diecastingbusiness of the Fletcher Challenge subsidiary, Wiremakers, and willexpand it. Hamer Electrical Company, which imports, distributes, andmanufactures electrical equipment, has bought Wiremakers with ContexEngineers, a ...
Cultus waiting on Skull Creek
Aug 01, 1996 ... Cultus Petroleum, 25 per cent owned by Fay Richwhite Holdings,says any future exploration in the Skull Creek No. 1 well inVictoria, Australia, will depend on the evaluation of recent datafrom drilling there. In its quarterly report released yesterday, Cultus, listed on theNew ...
Engineers' strike to hit Telecom repair times
Aug 01, 1996 ... Repairs to cable faults in the South Island will take Telecomlonger to fix after the 24-hour strike by its engineers fromyesterday. Several hundred Engineers' Union members went on strike at noonyesterday for a day as part of the industrial action ``to up thepressure on the ...
Community mental health to get boost
Aug 01, 1996; ... Community mental health services will be the first to benefit fromextra Government funding soon to be allocated in the southern region. The Southern Regional Health Authority has to decide how it willspend its first instalment of $5.47 million, and said yesterday thatservices ...
Ferner, flute; Irons, piano
Aug 01, 1996; ... Lunchtime concert at the Music Centre featuring Anthony Ferner,flute, and Diedre Irons, piano, July 31 at 12.10 pm. Reviewed byAllan Francis. Crisp, clear, and contemporary: this is the Tony Ferner flute oftoday. Only two works provided the lunchtime concert. ``Duo for Flute ...
Southern success moves up to Chch
Aug 01, 1996; ... Just a glimpse at the menu of Little India Bistro and Tandoor isenough to tempt the curiosity and the palate of even the mostcautious diner. With restaurants in Dunedin and Queenstown firmly established,Sukhi Gill has responded to entreaties from regular patrons to bringhis ...
Ashburton records; cold, wet July
Aug 02, 1996 ... Ashburton had a cold, cloudy and the second wettest July onrecord, a research associate at Winchmore Meteorological Station,Robin Burton, said yesterday. Although July's 15.5cm of snow wasless than the 19cm fall in June, heavy frosts slowed the thaw beforerain set in regularly from then ...
Westland Laundry; wins quality award
Aug 02, 1996 ... The quality award of the West Coast Business Development Board hasbeen won for the second successive year by Westland Laundry Ltd. The award was presented to the company manager, Brent ...
Chch woman gets; Egyptian award
Aug 02, 1996 ... A Christchurch businesswoman has become the first New Zealander toreceive an award from the Egyptian Government for promoting tourismin the country. The managing director of Ancient Kingdom Holidays,Robyn Galloway, said the award presented to her this week was anhonour. ``It's the first ...
Candles for Connie
Aug 02, 1996 ... Connie Woods, 10, meets a snowman and collects her candles for theSouthpower Parade of Lights to be held in ...
Europe at dancer's feet
Aug 02, 1996; ... A young Christchurch dancer who was adopted from a Thai orphanageas a baby is now well in step with the European ballet world. Kathleen-Malee Smith, 21, who has been holidaying in Christchurch,began dancing when she was five. ``My mother wanted everything for me. I owe ...
Explorer finds true fame
Aug 02, 1996; ... After more than 30 years of crawling through debris-filled tombsin suffocating heat, world-renowned Egyptologist Kent Weeks has morethan paid his dues for the fame that followed his discovery of thebiggest burial site yet found in the Valley of the Kings. However, having the news ...
Fisherman saved in 11-hour aerial rescue
Aug 02, 1996; ... A seriously ill fisherman was flown to Wellington Hospitalyesterday in an 11-hour aerial rescue operation from a ship north ofthe Chatham Islands. The fisherman was injured as he was welding aboard a deep-seafishing vessel, north of the Chathams, on Saturday. It is thoughtthe ...
Fleeing man left girls at burglary scene
Aug 02, 1996 ... A man who took his nine-year-old daughter and another girl on aburglary spree left the girls at the scene of a crime while he fledthe police, the Christchurch District Court was told yesterday. Michael James Ranginui, 32, unemployed, pleaded guilty to sixcharges of burglary at Hoon ...
Bomb hoax
Aug 02, 1996 ... Peak-hour traffic was disrupted in the Moorhouse Avenue areayesterday when police cordoned streets around the Big Fresh shoppingcentre after a bomb hoax. Senior Sergeant ...
Settlement possible
Aug 02, 1996 ... About 120 Engineers' Union workers at Connetics Ltd, a division ofSouthpower, who threatened industrial action last week ...
Seaman in hospital
Aug 02, 1996 ... A Russian seaman is in Buller Hospital after apparently drinkingmethylated spirits. He was transferred by boat from ...
New chief for Chch police
Aug 02, 1996; ... The captain of the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games team,Warwick Nicholl, has been appointed Christchurch district policecommander. He replaces Assistant Commissioner Paul Fitzharris, who waspromoted two months ago to commander of police region 5, which coversmost of the ...
Cave Creek compensation deal close _ lawyer
Aug 02, 1996; ... Agreement on a compensation settlement over the Cave Creek tragedymay be reached by next week, the Christchurch lawyer for survivorsand families of victims says. Grant Cameron said a proposal for a full settlement had been dueto be to put before the Crown Law Office yesterday by ...
Holiday guide for dogs
Aug 02, 1996 ... Being in the dog-house has new meaning for Pauline Wagner, ofPapanui. On September 1 she will publish the country's first guide toaccommodation for pets. Miss Wagner's ``The Complete Pet TravelGuide'' will provide ``everything you and your pet need to know abouttravel in New ...
Death tests awaited
Aug 02, 1996 ... Police have not yet established the cause of death of a man whosebody was found in a Linwood Avenue house on Wednesday. A policespokeswoman said yesterday that ...
Kiwi jet lacks back-up power; Airline chief executive says flights still `absolutely safe'
Aug 02, 1996; ... Kiwi Air is flying its Boeing 737 out of Christchurch without itsauxiliary power unit, and was until yesterday flying its A320 Airbusin the same condition. Flying the aircraft without a back-up power generator was askingfor trouble, a former Air New Zealand pilot, Les Page, said ...
Minister defends action on youth justice beds
Aug 02, 1996; ... The Minister of Social Welfare, Peter Gresham, says he isconcerned that youth offenders are having to spend up to two weekswaiting in Christchurch police cells for room at social welfareinstitutions. However, he has defended Government efforts to increase the numberof youth ...