The Press back issues from June 2001:
Production resumes at Stockton mine
Jun 01, 2001 ... Full production will resume at Solid Energy's Stockton opencastcoal mine today after a month-long shutdown for major alterations.New mine contractor Henry Walker Eltin will also take over today.While the mine was closed, the main aerial ropeway transport systemwas shortened from 7.7km to ...
'Trapped' crash victim was just sleeping
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sleep has proved to be both a curse and a saviour for an Ethletonfarmer. The 38-year-old man fell asleep at the wheel 4km south ofDomett about 1am yesterday. His vehicle left the road and came torest in a culvert. The police were alerted to the crash about fourand a half hours later, and ...
Prisoners break out of van
Jun 01, 2001 ... Three Christchurch prisoners are still at large after they fledfrom a police van taking them to prison. Four men, who had been to court, escaped just before noonyesterday after forcing the rear door of the van as it drove downMemorial Avenue. Only one was recaptured, near ...
Back-up role for sewage ponds
Jun 01, 2001; ... Rangiora's oxidation ponds will take on a new role when the newsewage treatment plant begins operation in 18 months. Waimakariri services manager Ken Fox said the new mechanicalnutrient removal plant would treat effluent at a much faster ratethan oxidation ponds. This did ...
Salvation Army tipped as provider
Jun 01, 2001; ... The Salvation Army has been recommended as the palliative andhospice care service provider to the Nelson-Marlborough DistrictHealth Board in Marlborough. The recommendation was announced yesterday after a two-yearinvestigation by the Marlborough Health Trust's project team ...
Schools fight toilet tax plans
Jun 01, 2001; ... Nelson schools are fighting a proposal to fund sewage disposalwith a pan charge instead of the current land-value-based drainagerate. The Nelson City Council has included the pan charge in its annualplan and will make a final decision after hearing public submissionsnext week ....
Fire Service change bid to attract women
Jun 01, 2001 ... WELLINGTON -- The Fire Service is changing the way it recruitsstaff to try to entice more women into the male- dominated service. The old entry tests were unfair, and excluded some communitymembers, national recruiting manager Russell Wood said in theservice's internal Star ...
Smog city smokes on; Council steps back from solid-fuel ban
Jun 01, 2001; ... The campaign to banish smog from Christchurch has stalled afterEnvironment Canterbury's decision to "take the foot off theaccelerator". Councillors voted eight to six yesterday not to receive a draftair plan aimed at phasing out solid-fuel home heating inChristchurch over the ...
Move to China will cost jobs at PDL
Jun 01, 2001; ... Hundreds of PDL's Christchurch staff will be affected as thecompany moves 30 per cent of its electrical production to southChina. Some staff will lose their jobs, and many others will have toreapply for their jobs as the company reorganises the remainingproduction at PDL ...
Jury still out in picket trial
Jun 01, 2001; ... A High Court jury retired overnight without reaching a verdict inthe manslaughter trial of Derek Paul Powell. The decision to hold the jurors at a hotel overnight came about8.45pm, when they had been considering their verdict for 9 1/2hours. They are expected to continue their ...
Chocolate: a metaphor for love
Jun 01, 2001; ... Football is to men what chocolate is to women. These words were the inspiration for best-selling author JoanneHarris' sensuous novel, Chocolat. "My husband said this to me whenhe was trying to explain the significance of football," she told anaudience at The Press Books and Beyond ...
PM's team tackles Maori issues
Jun 01, 2001; ... A high-powered team of Government ministers is canvassing ideasand listening to concerns of Christchurch's Maori. Prime Minister Helen Clark and an entourage of 10 seniorministers were kept busy with a full day of community engagementsyesterday, and will talk directly to Maori ...
Pledge to maintain surgery
Jun 01, 2001; ... Patients promised surgery at Christchurch Hospital will stillreceive it, despite growing financial pressure for the hospital tocut services. All hospitals are reviewing elective surgery plans after theGovernment announced that hospitals will receive only a 0.4 per centfunding ...
DIARY
Jun 01, 2001; ... Skinny dipping NEW ZEALAND-born actress Pam Ferris, of Darling Buds of May fame,says that in Hollywood people are going for plastic surgery at 23."Personally, I am going to wait until there is enough spare skin tomake a handbag and matching gloves." Best of the birds ...
Clearly a conversation killer with a message
Jun 01, 2001; ... Actors wearing gas masks visited cafes and bars alongChristchurch's Oxford Strip yesterday to promote the World Daytheme, Let's Clear the Air. Bar and restaurant workers make up adisproportionately high number of the New Zealanders killed eachyear by second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoke ...
There's hope, say survivors of massacre
Jun 01, 2001; ... Hundreds of Christchurch teenagers sat in stunned silencelistening to the heartfelt stories of survivors of the ColumbineHigh School massacre. The group of seven Columbine High School students spoke at apublic youth meeting at the Spreydon Baptist Church last night. Theyhave ...
Supervisor crushed
Jun 01, 2001 ... A man has been killed while unloading a truck semi-trailer at aChristchurch transport yard. Blair Grant Gibson, 30, a yardsupervisor, died instantly ...
Injured boy stable
Jun 01, 2001 ... A boy, aged nine, is in a stable condition in ChristchurchHospital after being hit by a car at Redcliffs. Police ...
Victim named
Jun 01, 2001 ... Police have named the Christchurch motorcyclist killed in a crashat Chaneys underpass, just north of the city, on ...
Cock-a-doodle drill din
Jun 01, 2001; ... The sound of pneumatic hammers in the small hours has TomCaldwell hopping mad. The Colombo Street resident has been woken three times by theheavy machinery of Telstra Saturn's contractor, and he says he hashad enough. "These guys start up at 8pm and finish at 6 the next ...
Winter returns to 'normal'
Jun 01, 2001 ... Weather forecasters are telling shivering South Islanders whatthey already know -- winter has come early. Metservice chief forecaster Rod Stainer said May snowfallssuggested a return to the more normal type of winters experienced inthe mid-90s. Mr Stainer said New Zealand ...
Drug slipped into drinks
Jun 01, 2001 ... A man who secretly slipped morphine into beer he gave to twogirls aged 11 and 12, almost killing one and making the otherviolently ill, has been jailed by a Christchurch District Courtjudge. Judge Neil Hattaway said he could not fathom what made processworker Reginald Shamus ...
Fixing Air NZ's woes
Jun 01, 2001 ... The spectre of the koru being swallowed by the kangaroo will beanathema to most New Zealanders. Yet Qantas seems serious in itsinterest in buying a majority holding in Air New Zealand. Any Qantasbid would require Cabinet approval. The Government faces some toughdecisions if it is going ...
Youth justice facility
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--Is it a great "victory" when a wealthy community shirks itsresponsibility to society by using the leverage obtained from livingin a marginal electorate? Few will accept that legal issues were theprime factor here. The proposed land title was searched and the sitewas chosen from 30 ...
Youth justice facility
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--I applaud the Government's decision to axe the plan to builda secure youth justice centre at Mandeville. I do not question thenecessity for the unit. But what is wrong with using the oldTempleton Centre estate? When more and more pressure is being put on Government ...
University funding
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--Political action is rarely universally accepted. Many peoplesupported the 1981 Springbok tour. Many were also pro-nuclear.Interestingly, it is difficult to find these people now. A letter (May 29) rightly pointed out that not all members of theuniversity supported the closure ...
Poison spill
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--The recent serious chemical spill on State Highway 1 southof Kaikoura highlights the danger of carrying chemicals by roadtransport. Such vehicles pass through towns and populated areas,putting many lives at risk, plus putting other road users in danger. If chemicals ...
Rail centre
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--Rather than continuing to act as developers' lackeys andspending our money on needless and unnecessary projects such as theproposed Blenheim Road deviation, the council should pursueenvironmental enhancements for the benefit of ratepayers. Accordingly, the purchase of the ...
Irrigation plan
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--I was interested to read (May 15) of plans to use LakeColeridge and the Selwyn and Rakaia rivers to create a storage lakefor the Central Plains irrigation scheme. I have long believed that a similar opportunity exists withinChristchurch city. There are vast areas of untapped ...
Bus service
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--I read that businesses in the Arts Centre and the Square donot like the presence of buses. Who asks patrons where they want togo and how they want to get there, for example the hospital? Thosecomplainers would do well to consider that the buses bring inthousands of customers and ...
Rotting houses
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--The problem with rot in houses is plainly simple. There isjust not enough money in the building industry any more. Clientsexpect cheaper and cheaper prices from contractors, who have lostskilled tradesmen to overseas markets ....
IN A FEW WORDS
Jun 01, 2001 ... * Thanks for your considered editorial on the perennial subjectof school rankings. There is a simple answer here and it lies inmaking the statistics more reliable, rather than suppressing them.For instance, the existing pass numbers are compared with the totalnumber of pupils who sat ...
LETTER OF THE WEEK
Jun 01, 2001 ... Sir--So the Government intends to extend student loans toconvicted prisoners in our jails. Having struggled for 12 years to achieve my tertiary educationwhile working full time and raising a young family (so I would notbe a burden to taxpayers) I find this development incongruous ...
Rates-rise warning to peninsula residents
Jun 01, 2001 ... Higher roading costs will force a rates increase on BanksPeninsula residents. Increases in the cost of bitumen and fuel wouldlead to an "unavoidable" rates rise, Mayor Noeline Allan warned."Our budgets are based on the best information available at thetime. Other councils around ...
Going global in land of milk and money
Jun 01, 2001; ... With deregulation of the dairy industry looming, South Islandfarmers see the prospect of a New Zealand-wide group as the best wayto fight overseas competition, but others fear it will create amonopoly run from Auckland. Thirty years ago, two old- fashionedmilk tankers would slosh away ...
Govt gives $250,000 to war vets' home
Jun 01, 2001 ... A one-off Government grant of $250,000 has taken the RannerdaleWar Veterans Home a step closer to raising the $1 million needed toupgrade its facilities. The grant, announced by Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton,brings the total raised by the Rannerdale Charitable Trust in ...
Chch Orbiter bus energy award winner
Jun 01, 2001 ... Christchurch's Orbiter bus service has won the transport sectionof this year's Energy-Wise awards for getting people out of cars andon to public transport. Environment Canterbury developed the service, provided by privateoperator Leopard Coachlines and using Ashburton- built ...
Hokitika gears up for street racing
Jun 01, 2001 ... Hokitika will be at full throttle on Sunday for the town's firststreet motorcycle racing, Thunder in Westland. Eighty-nine ridersand 130 bikes from throughout the South Island, and several from theNorth Island, will compete in 24 races in circuits of the centralbusiness district ....
Mandeville feeling 'part of problem'
Jun 01, 2001; ... Corrections Minister Matt Robson has criticised the Mandevillecommunity for shunning young offenders. Mr Robson said he was saddened by community opposition to ChildYouth and Family's proposed youth justice facility in NorthCanterbury. "Their reaction that it's somebody ...
Prisoners break out of van
Jun 01, 2001; ... A Christchurch prisoner is at large after four men fled a policevan taking them to prison. The men, who had been to court, escaped just before noonyesterday after forcing open the rear door of the van as it drovedown Memorial Avenue. Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Dalzell ...
Police step up search for injured tramper
Jun 01, 2001 ... NELSON -- Police and search and rescue staff have stepped uptheir search for injured tramper Karl Sorensen in the ruggedKahurangi National Park south of Motueka. Last night, the searchers said there had been no change in thesituation. Yesterday, a further seven three-person ...
Resident finds wires crossed on power bill
Jun 01, 2001; ... Laurie Squires is perplexed. According to First Electric, she owes money for power she used ina house that she has not lived in for two months, and that has sincehad its electrical wiring ripped out. "It's so ridiculous you have to laugh," Mrs Squires said. The ...
Free parking plan attacked
Jun 01, 2001; ... Environment Canterbury says a parking strategy to revitalisecentral Christchurch is a backward step and should be abandoned. It has attacked Christchurch City Council plans to offer freeparking at three inner-city car parks, saying the policy would have"negative environmental ...
Medical info card could save lives
Jun 01, 2001; ... A new medical information card pioneered in New Zealand is beingtouted as a potential life-saver by the National Heart Foundation. The Global Safe card carries up to five pages of informationabout an individual's medical history on microfilm. About the size of a credit card, ...
City missioner seeks health board seat
Jun 01, 2001 ... Christchurch City Missioner Canon David Morrell will vie for aseat on the Canterbury District Health Board during inauguralelections in October. Canon Morrell is part of a five-strong teamnominated by Christchurch 2021 to contest the five metropolitanseats on the board. The others are ...
Corso volunteers locked out of building
Jun 01, 2001 ... Christchurch Corso volunteers have been locked out of thebuilding they have used as a base for more than 40 years, as abattle over its ownership intensifies. The National Co-ordinatingGroup, which runs Corso Inc, rejected the Christchurch branch'smembership last October and gave the ...
130kmh speeds in fatal Waikato chase
Jun 01, 2001 ... A 12km police pursuit in the Waikato which ended in the death ofa man reached speeds of 130kmh, police say. It is the first timepolice have released details of the chase that ended with the deathof Trevor Laurie Hobbs, 28. Mr Hobbs died when his car hit the Mangapiko Stream bridge ...
Police yet to name victim of crash
Jun 01, 2001 ... Palmerston North police are yet to name a man killed in a carcrash in the Manawatu. The 40-year-old man, from Masterton, was thesole occupant of the car which crashed into the back of a lighttruck which stopped in front of him about 8.20am on Wednesday. Police believe ...
Abandoned, ageing typewriter sparks bomb scare
Jun 01, 2001 ... An officer of the Christchurch-based bomb disposal squad placesan x-ray machine next to a "suspicious" suitcase during a bomb scarein Invercargill. Police cordoned off four inner city blocks andmoved students from a nearby hall of residence early yesterday afterthe suitcase was found ...
Plunder of native trees; Stop 'backyarders' plea
Jun 01, 2001; ... Protected West Coast forests are being plundered by illegalsawmill operators, and some of the timber could be ending up inChristchurch furniture. A West Coast sawmiller, who did not want to be named, said theGovernment's decision to stop logging State-owned native foreststhere ...
Nature had helping hand with beech
Jun 01, 2001; ... The red beech tree pictured in yesterday's Press report aboutWest Coast forests is a product of man's interference with nature,several observant readers point out. The photograph, given to the newspaper last year by Timberlands,is of a self-sown tree growing on gold-dredge ...
NZ woman indicted over death of 16-year-old son
Jun 01, 2001 ... WELLINGTON -- A grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, in the UnitedStates, has returned two indictments against a New Zealand womancharged in connection with the death of her diabetic son. Sirelli "Cheryl" Brewer, 37, was indicted on one count each offelony child neglect and arson ....
Rankin delighted as ruling goes her way
Jun 01, 2001 ... WELLINGTON -- Dumped Work and Income chief executive ChristineRankin is "absolutely delighted" at winning the right to have hercase against the Crown heard in the Employment Court. "Finally something has gone my way," she said yesterday. Ms Rankin is suing the Crown for more ...
Fair read available at sale
Jun 01, 2001 ... Nelson bookworms should have a ball when the city's annualQueen's Birthday book fair opens tomorrow. Organiser Don Kurth said donations for sale, which raises fundsfor Founders Park, should see about 200,000 publications available. Last year the fair raised $35,000, but Mr ...
Plane-crash jury weighs evidence
Jun 01, 2001 ... PALMERSTON NORTH -- The jury in the manslaughter trial of formerAnsett Dash 8 pilot Garry Sotheran has adjourned to a motel for asecond night after almost 16 hours of deliberations without reachingverdicts. Sotheran, 45, of Christchurch, has denied four charges ofmanslaughter ...
Police convinced 'Roy' suspect does not exist
Jun 01, 2001 ... AUCKLAND -- The hunt for Marie Jamieson's killer is wide openafter police wasted hundreds of hours chasing a phantom suspect onthe word of a 15-year- old girl. The girl is the mystery informant who, through a lawyer, provideddetectives with a distinctive description of the killer ...
'Stupid' speeding costs man $1630 and licence
Jun 01, 2001 ... A salesman who drove at an "unbelievably stupid" 166kmh nearChristchurch Hospital has lost his licence and a wad of cash, butwas spared losing his $35,000 car. Rex Russell Cook, 27, pleaded guilty in the Christchurch DistrictCourt to driving at a dangerous speed along Riccarton ...
Jail term for sex with 'wrong woman'
Jun 01, 2001 ... A 54-year-old man, who allegedly continued with sex afterdiscovering he was in bed with the wrong woman, has begun a five-year jail term for rape. Justice McGechan imposed the sentence on Barry Leonard Melhopt, atradesman, after making significant allowance for the ...
Blaze 'too severe' to identify cause
Jun 01, 2001 ... A vehicle fire in which a Leeston man is accused of murdering hiswife damaged the four-wheel-drive so severely that a car expert wasunable to determine the cause of the fire, the Christchurch DistrictCourt has been told. The police allege that Kevin Lional Harmer, at the time a ...
Security firm fined for misleading adverts
Jun 01, 2001 ... The leading security alarm company has been fined more than$10,000 for using misleading advertisements in the Yellow Pages. Christchurch District Court Judge Edward Ryan said the finesagainst Signature Security Systems Ltd for advertising an alarm atone quarter of the true cost ...
'Idle chatter' in revenge talk
Jun 01, 2001 ... A jury has found four women not guilty of plotting to slash,kick, and "kneecap" a rival in revenge for a bar- room attack. Three hours after it retired, the Christchurch High Court juryacquitted the women on a charge of conspiring to commit grievousbodily harm on a fifth woman ....
Road race safety tape 'may have been moved'
Jun 01, 2001 ... INVERCARGILL -- Safety tape might have been moved after theQueenstown Classic Road Race track was signed off by officials andbefore an accident in which two spectators were killed, Judge PhilMoran was told in the Invercargill District Court. Evidence against four volunteer ...
Worker 'devastated'
Jun 01, 2001 ... A worker has been devastated by the amputation of his leg after awool-processing machine accident which could easily have beenaverted, the Christchurch District Court has been told. Occupational Safety and Health prosecutor Pip Currie said that 11days before Neville Simmonds, 60, ...
Monster of a sale all Queen's Birthday
Jun 01, 2001 ... Donnithorne Simms, Christchurch's Mitsubishi Motors dealer, isstaging a Monster Six-Day Sell-Out this Queen's Birthday weekend,with significant reductions on a huge range of vehicles. A wide range of late-model Mitsubishi cars, commercials, and four-wheel-drives are on sale, along ...
Kiwi leaves Boots to head Blis
Jun 01, 2001 ... A New Zealander heading home from the big British pharmaceuticalgroup Boots is joining Blis Technology as chief executive. Kelvin Moffatt will have the proceeds of a $6 million shareplacement to institutions to help develop Blis' anti-bacterialprotein discovery into a marketable ...