The Press back issues from April 2000:
Chocolate bars recalled
Apr 01, 2000 ... Cadbury Confectionery is recalling a batch of 45g Cadbury Crunchchunky size bars because some contain small pieces of wood. Cadburyscientific services manager Mike Crashley said the ...
SummerTimes Pandemonium steels into autumn
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sun, music, and a larger-than-life Marilyn Monroe featured in theChristchurch City Council's SummerTimes concert in Cathedral Square.Brett Painter, left, Jeremy Finn, Roanna Cooper and the rest of theeight-strong local ...
Pensioners get pay rise, high earners pay more
Apr 01, 2000; ... More than 400,000 pensioners will get a pay rise today, but theApril fools will be the high earners who start paying more tax. Married superannuitants will get an extra $21.42 a week as a raftof changes affecting New Zealanders from April 1 takes effect. However, more than ...
Worker sniffy over acronym
Apr 01, 2000 ... Brian Green says his new job title stinks. The Christchurch City Council employs Mr Green to cruise thestreets seeking wind-blown heaps of leaves that are causing problemsto residents, motorists, and pedestrians. When he finds a problem, he calls in the council trucks to ...
Secret deal in sex case; Navy rating gets payout
Apr 01, 2000; ... Former navy rating Larissa Turner has received a secret payoutfrom the Defence Force for sexual harassment, and an admission ofresponsibility that is unprecedented. The Defence Force has paid out an undisclosed sum after MsTurner's complaint to the Human Rights Commission about ...
Rugby fans show true colours
Apr 01, 2000; ... Christchurch bars, hotels, and motels were buzzing yesterday asrugby fans prepared for tonight's sold- out Super 12 clash betweenthe Canterbury Crusaders and the Otago Highlanders. Thirty-two thousand spectators have bought tickets for the gameat Jade Stadium. Many motels ...
Scrapping coal ban 'bad for respiratory patients'
Apr 01, 2000; ... Scrapping a coal ban places the heating needs of people on lowincomes ahead of respiratory patients, a Christchurch doctor says. Asthma and Respiratory Foundation medical director Ian Town saida Canterbury Regional Council committee's recommendation against acoal ban and other ...
Bells toll for sons
Apr 01, 2000 ... The bells that rang for Todd Stewart and Danielle Sheets on theirwedding day held a special significance. Mr Stewart's father, Sir Robertson Stewart, donated the bells tothe Christchurch Cathedral in the late 1960s. A proviso of the donation was that his sons would be allowed ...
Clark backs cut to TV presenters' pay
Apr 01, 2000; ... Prime Minister Helen Clark says the money paid to top TelevisionNew Zealand presenters makes her pay look like "petty cash". Ms Clark, whose $216,300 salary is less than a third of what PaulHolmes is paid, said yesterday she fully backed the move by TVNZchairman Ross Armstrong to ...
Presentation on draft plan
Apr 01, 2000 ... The Christchurch City Council has invited business leaders toquiz council staff about the draft annual plan. A council spokesmansaid staff would hold a ...
Festival director quits
Apr 01, 2000 ... Joseph Seelig, the artistic director of New Zealand Festival2000, is stepping down. He will be replaced by the festival'sexecutive director, Carla van ...
Eighty claims after quakes
Apr 01, 2000 ... Eighty claims for damage worth $200,000 have been lodged with theEarthquake Commission after earthquakes in the lower North Island onThursday. A tremor at 2.27am measured 4.2 on the Richter scale, ...
Charge after boy's death
Apr 01, 2000 ... An 18-year-old unemployed Tauranga man has been arrested andcharged with reckless driving causing the death of a 12-year-old boyon a pedestrian crossing two weeks ago. He will appear ...
Endeavour popular
Apr 01, 2000 ... More than 1200 people visited the Endeavour during its first openday at Lyttelton. Captain Chris Blake said 400 primary schoolchildren who had visited the ship yesterday had been well-behaved."The noise level was quite high and a lot of them were chargingaround the ...
Attempted-murder charge
Apr 01, 2000 ... A 19-year-old Papakura student has been charged with theattempted murder and aggravated robbery of bashed Auckland waiterStephen Byrne. He will appear in the Auckland District Court ...
Diary
Apr 01, 2000; ... . Bus fuss . SEVERAL CHRISTCHURCH primary schools must have felt a little putout at a national TV channel's prime-time news item. The itemextolled a scheme for walking children to and from school whichAuckland's Gladstone School had just adopted. The item ...
Council may move house
Apr 01, 2000 ... Costs of upgrading Christchurch's Civic Chambers in Tuam Streetmay lead the city council to seek new quarters elsewhere. Council property manager Rob Dally said a report was beingprepared for the council on the need to upgrade the building and thecosts that would be involved ....
Young all-rounder lashes Black Caps
Apr 01, 2000; ... So New Zealand cricket coach David Trist reckons there are noalternative top-order batsmen to those under-performers we have atthe moment. Wrong. In Springs Road, Hornby, there lives a classy right-handed No.3batsman. He is technically correct and in hot form. Mitchell Shaw ...
Cup replica fails to sell
Apr 01, 2000 ... A greenstone replica of the America's Cup has been pulled fromits Internet auction site after failing to sell. A spokesman forUpper Hutt-based company ...
Blakie may have been held in Chch
Apr 01, 2000; ... Police are looking more closely at the possibility Timaru murdervictim Lisa Blakie was held captive in Christchurch. Police this week announced they had found the driver of a 1982Mark 5 Cortina in which Ms Blakie, 20, was given a lift on February2. She had been hitchhiking ...
Lease issue may force tower to be shifted
Apr 01, 2000; ... Telecom may have to shift the new Bryndwr cellphone tower becauseit was built on a car- park without the consent of the store ownerswho lease the land. On Monday night 40 residents gathered at the tower's WairakeiRoad site, defying police requests that they leave without ...
Chch demands action on smog
Apr 01, 2000; ... Christchurch residents say they want action on smog now. An informal poll conducted by The Press in central Christchurchyesterday found that most of those surveyed were in favour ofimmediate action to end winter smog. Accountant Symon Holmes, 23, said he was disappointed to ...
$25,000 for victim
Apr 01, 2000 ... AUCKLAND -- A man who lost an arm when it was crushed in anindustrial accident will receive $25,000 from fines totalling$36,000 awarded against his employer, Fletcher Challenge SteelGroup. Judge David Harvey said in the Otahuhu District Court yesterdaythe company's ...
Checks urged on 60 former Chch landfills
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sixty former rubbish landfills in Christchurch should be examinedfor possible contamination of groundwater, say consultant engineers.Tonkin and Taylor in 1998 reviewed and assessed all 114 closedlandfills in the city, for the city council. A further study earlythis year identified 60 of ...
Bus-exchange work ahead of schedule
Apr 01, 2000 ... Work on the Christchurch bus exchange is ahead of schedule andbelow budget. A report to the city council this week said that withnearly two thirds of the tender prices determined, the project washeading for a potential saving of $133,000. The council had approved$19.6 million for the bus ...
Results soon from army mishap probe
Apr 01, 2000 ... The result of the army's investigation into an accident during atraining exercise that injured three soldiers will be known nextweek. The soldiers were injured on Thursday by shrapnel from agrenade fired during a live- ammunition training exercise in theNelson Lakes area. Two of ...
Gown and glory for graduands
Apr 01, 2000; ... Proud parents cooed over their gowned sons and daughters as morethan 500 Christchurch Polytechnic students lined up for graduationyesterday. It was the largest graduation the polytechnic has held since itbegan holding ceremonies for its degree status courses in 1995. Two ...
Soldiers quit civilian jobs for E Timor
Apr 01, 2000; ... Many South Island territorial soldiers have been forced to quittheir civilian jobs so they can go to East Timor next month with theregular army. The news has disgusted New Zealand First defence spokesman and MPRon Mark, who intends taking the issue up with Defence Minister ...
Wilson calls for employer input on new bill
Apr 01, 2000; ... The basic policy and framework of the Employment Relations Billare not open to negotiation, says Labour Minister Margaret Wilson,but employers need to let the Government know how it can best befine-tuned. The bill, now before a select committee, is due to become law byJuly. It ...
Cardiac controversy 'not over yet'
Apr 01, 2000; ... The Crown's $450,000 settlement of a long- standing row overcardiac services in Christchurch is equal to a third of the fundsraised by the Canterbury Cardiothoracic Unit Appeal in the last fiveyears. On Wednesday, Health Minister Annette King announced that an out-of-court ...
Big push for school sport
Apr 01, 2000 ... Greater community involvement in school sport is a great idea,but there has to be something in it for the community, says Aranuisports academy manager Harry Westrupp. Education Minister Trevor Mallard, speaking at the launch of theHillary Commission's new Sportfit strategy for ...
NZ world's best-kept secret - Neeson
Apr 01, 2000 ... NELSON -- New Zealand is the world's best-kept secret, actor LiamNeeson says. Neeson, who recently appeared in the film Star Wars: The PhantomMenace and was an Oscar nominee in 1993 for his leading role inSteven Spielberg's Schindler's List, strolled largely unrecognisedthrough ...
Tomahawk hold-up
Apr 01, 2000 ... HAMILTON -- When a man calmly walked into Alison Grimmer'sHamilton service station, placed a bag on the counter and said "fillit up", she considered saying no. When he pulled a tomahawk from behind his back and smashed itinto the counter, she changed her mind. A shaken Mrs ...
Attack brings suspensions
Apr 01, 2000 ... TAURANGA -- Six Tauranga Boys' College students have beensuspended after a 13-year-old was allegedly bashed until he wasunconscious. All the suspended boys are believed to be in Year 10. Police haveconfirmed they are looking into the incident. The mother of the boy who was ...
Time for the glad rags as St Winifred's parties
Apr 01, 2000 ... Lesley Butler, left, has a grand old time visiting her mother,Alice Harper, at the St Winifred's Hospital and Rest Home gardenparty, a dress-up occasion for residents and their families to brushoff their ...
Winning Oscar hilarious, says Wellingtonian
Apr 01, 2000 ... WELLINGTON -- Winning an Oscar was a hilarious experience, NewZealand's latest recipient says. Film editor and former Wellingtonian Justine Wright was part ofthe group that won the documentary feature section at this year'sAcademy Awards in the United States this week and loved ...
Witnesses to Square robbery sought
Apr 01, 2000 ... Police are seeking two witnesses who helped a man who was robbedin Cathedral Square early on Thursday. Constable Tony Lake, of the Christchurch police, said a 55-year-old man was accosted by a man in his early 20s. The alleged offendertook off with a sum of money but was followed ...
Minister backs power ombudsman call
Apr 01, 2000 ... Energy Minister Pete Hodgson has endorsed calls for anelectricity ombudsman, saying the position could ensure thatconsumers get a "better deal" from power companies. Mr Hodgson told the Energy Trusts of New Zealand conference inWellington yesterday ...
Triathlete critical after collision
Apr 01, 2000 ... Tauranga triathlete Mark Furlan, seriously injured when he wasknocked off his bicycle on Tuesday, is in critical condition aftersurgery to remove a blood clot from a leg. Mr Furlan, 39, a ...
Few patients using schizophrenia drug
Apr 01, 2000 ... A schizophrenia drug with potentially fatal side-effects isprescribed to few people in New Zealand, the Health Ministry says. Swedish doctors have warned of a potentially fatal side-effect ofClozapine after it ...
Barrytown rata proves a winner
Apr 01, 2000 ... A Christchurch Polytechnic student is a joint winner in thestudent section of a nationwide photographic competition showingthat the South Island has native rata worth boasting about. The second-year photography student took part in the competitionrun by Project Crimson, a ...
Warden stole toothpaste
Apr 01, 2000 ... WELLINGTON -- A highly regarded prison warden ended a spotless 12-year career in the prison service after stealing several tubes oftoothpaste, the Wellington District Court was told. After several court appearances, four other theft charges againstthe 49-year-old guard were ...
Govt avoids dispute
Apr 01, 2000; ... The Government is staying out of the dispute between cereal kingDick Hubbard and his workers despite the potential embarrassment toits industrial law plans. The dispute, which saw workers picket his Mangere factory thisweek, has been seized upon by the Government's opponents as ...
Govt-funded checks exclude Europeans
Apr 01, 2000 ... HASTINGS -- A hepatitis and diabetes testing programme availableonly to non-Europeans is prompting allegations of racism from angryEuropeans denied tests. A testing caravan has been outside a Hastings supermarket forseveral weeks. A small sign near the door states the ...
Shipley dismisses poll result
Apr 01, 2000 ... National leader Jenny Shipley is unconcerned by her party's poorperformance in post-election opinion polls. The latest poll, by the National Business Review, put National'ssupport at just 27 per cent, its lowest level since the poll begannine years ago. It follows other polls ...
Peters slams foster policy
Apr 01, 2000 ... WELLINGTON -- New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has calledAssociate Social Services Minister Tariana Turia's policy to placeall foster children with kin "prejudiced" against Maori children ifit costs them a better upbringing in a pakeha family. Mrs Turia faced a ...
Teacher takes leave after classroom fights
Apr 01, 2000 ... WHANGAREI -- A Northland teacher is on stress leave after twoclassroom incidents, one involving a student with a carving knife,at Whangarei Boys' High School this month. Murray Hemsley took leave after a March 21 classroom fightbetween two boys in his third-form special- needs ...
Call to merge universities
Apr 01, 2000 ... WELLINGTON -- New Zealand should merge its eight universitiesinto three to avoid becoming a Third World country, the CrownResearch Institute says. New Zealand's best university -- Auckland -- was 33rd among Asianand Pacific universities in a survey by Asiaweek magazine, ...
In a few words
Apr 01, 2000 ... America has arrived in New Zealand. My wife and I first visitedNew Zealand in 1980, and we loved everywhere we went. On our secondvisit I thought you (New Zealand) should ban American TV. Afterreading your online paper about your graffiti and your crime Ibelieved I was right. It is like ...
Crusaders
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--Crusaders did not have late 20th- century hand-wringing,politically correct behaviour as their ideal. But then, neither domost New Zealanders. S.Urlich and A.D.Chadwick, in their sour attacks on Christianityand Europe, are determined to see none of the adventure, ...
Crusaders
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--The Crusaders, with connotations of religious persecutionand ethnic cleansing as a symbol of Canterbury ... Recent letters tothe Editor from horrified readers about the image Canterburyprojects through this parallel of Crusaders and Cantabrians leave meamused. How do these ...
Coal ban decision
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--Let's make life cheaper. If we accept the argument that wecannot have clean air because it would be too costly for poor peopleand too draconian a measure, why not extend the idea further. Let usbe allowed to throw our slops into the streets, as was done ...
Energy
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--Lloyd Taylor (March 21), in speaking of the importance ofexploring for more gas, and the discovery of a promising field,overlooks the fact that we could substantially reduce our need formore fossil fuels, which induce climate change, if only we would useenergy more sensibly ....
Sticker campaign
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--It may have escaped the attention of all the politicallycorrect do-gooders, that the 25 stickers are in fact illegal. LTSA rule number seven says: "Unless otherwise required by law,stickers or labels may be applied to glazing if they ...
Julian Lloyd Webber
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--I was disappointed to read your reviewer's comments (March20) about the Julian Lloyd Webber concert. She complains that his playing lacked expression. However, theaudience obviously thought otherwise -- witness the applause thatwent on and on after he had finished. The ...
Defence
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--I deplore the decision not to buy F16s and know of a greatmany others who are also gravely concerned. New Zealand is a small country and vulnerable. We depend on ourallies, Australia, America, and Britain, for collective defence andmust pull our weight in proportion to the ...
Smog rules, OK?
Apr 01, 2000 ... Residents and visitors to Christchurch face the bleak prospect ofanother smoggy winter, without the consolation that a coal ban isimminent. A committee has surprisingly said that the coal fire banproposed by the Canterbury Regional Council should not proceed. Alsoin doubt is the planned ...
Work for dole
Apr 01, 2000 ... Sir--The National-led coalition Government introduced the "workfor the dole" scheme apparently as a means of motivating people andgetting them ready for work. Doubters questioned the motivationbehind this scheme. National categorically denied that this schemewas about being tough on the ...
National giant awakes
Apr 01, 2000; ... Relatively quiet since the November election, the Centre-Right isshowing signs of a revival. For four months the question could be fairly asked: just whereare the Opposition parties of the Centre-Right? Since the November27 election both National and ACT New Zealand have given ...
Man left brain-damaged; Mother jailed for fraud; Man pleads guilty to threatening woman; Driver bashes man after crash
Apr 01, 2000 ... A neighbourhood fight which has left a man brain-damaged hasresulted in jail for his attacker. Lyndon Hamish Hurst, 21, who admitted a charge of intentionallyinjuring, was jailed for 18 months yesterday after appearing forsentence before Judge Stephen Erber in the Christchurch ...
Attacker's victim unarmed, jury told
Apr 01, 2000 ... A man who said he attacked another in self-defence was in factattacking an unarmed man, the District Court has been told. Craig Ruane, for the Crown, said the accused, Wei Hua "Craig" Li,had earlier watched a man taking a weapon from the complainant. No-one else had testified ...
Net music offer sounds sweet
Apr 01, 2000; ... Christchurch's first Internet investment, EstarOnline, next weekissues investor documents for a $10 million capital raising. The company stands out in the torrent of new Internet companies,an electronic version of the gold rush. EstarOnline, set up less than a year ago, sells ...
Brierley gains stripped
Apr 01, 2000; ... Huge volumes of index-related selling in Brierley Investments Ltdhave overturned most of its long awaited price gains. Fresh from an anomaly which had its shares listing in Singaporeon Thursday at the equivalent of about NZ74c, BIL closed in NewZealand yesterday at 39c, an 11c ...
Kiwi slips as 'buyer finishes his work'
Apr 01, 2000 ... WELLINGTON -- The New Zealand dollar slipped a third of a US centat one point, but dealers were unfazed, putting it down to the buyerprimarily responsible for the kiwi's surge this week finishing hiswork. The currency closed yesterday just off its lows, at US49.62c fromUS49.83c ...
Pohukura-1 gas flows
Apr 01, 2000 ... Pohukura-1 has flowed gas at a stabilised rate of 3.4 millioncubic feet a day from the first of two zones to be tested in thewell. Condensate flowed at the ...