The number of 14 and 15 year olds who have tried cannabis has fallen by more than a quarter; and Porirua City Council is facing a nearly $2 billion bill to bring its water network up to scratch over the next two to three decades.
1.Doctors fear the coronavirus Covid-19 will hit New Zealand at the same time as the winter flu season, stretching health services and hospitals to breaking point. Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, said the so-called “winter surge” was now “the new normal” in many hospitals.
2.Roger Stone, long-time adviser and ally to President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail. Stone, 67, was found guilty in November on seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering.
3.The number of 14 and 15 year olds who have tried cannabis has fallen by more than a quarter. Statistics published in the New Zealand Medical Journal show in 2018, only 14 percent of Year 10 students have taken the drug – down from 19 percent in 2012.
4.A Tauranga iwi leader says gangs are misunderstood by many people. The comments by Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley come amid a spate of shootings and deaths in recent weeks.
5.The MP Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Meka Whaitiri is adamant that whoever severely abused a four-year-old in Hastings must speak up and be held to account. The child remains in Starship hospital suffering brain damage and other injuries and three weeks later the police still don’t know what happened.
6.Porirua City Council is facing a nearly $2 billion bill to bring its water network up to scratch over the next two to three decades. City Councillor’s were delivered the news by Wellington Water in a close door meeting yesterday.
7.The investigation into a deadly gun attack in Hanau is focusing on whether others knew about or helped organise it, Germany’s federal prosecutor says. The suspect shot dead nine people “of migrant background” at two shisha bars on Wednesday evening local time. He and his mother were later found dead in his flat.
8.Heavy rains fell in Milford Sound this morning as bus convoys prepare to take tourists through the partially reopened track. Met service meteorologist William Nepe says forecasters were keeping a close eye on the area.
9.Crusader fans are getting a chance to update their old jerseys with the team’s new logo. The Canterbury Super Rugby franchise retired its knight sword logo in November because of its association with medieval Christian campaigns against Muslims.
