A wailing siren caught my attention while driving in a busy city this week. You know how it goes – at first, it’s hard to determine what it is (fire, police, ambulance) or where it’s…
A wailing siren caught my attention while driving in a busy city this week. You know how it goes – at first, it’s hard to determine what it is (fire, police, ambulance) or where it’s…
University on the up In my column below, I wrote that Waikato University’s ranking of 250th in the QR global rankings of universities placed it sixth amongst New Zealand’s eight universities. That was wrong. It…
“You’ve never seen it miss this house, and miss that house, and come after you!” said Dr. Jo Harding, meteorologist in the 1996 movie Twister. This quote kept playing through my head while walking around…
After spending over a week in the field recording the damage inflicted by the 2021 Cumbre Vieja eruption in La Palma, I am now working long hours to go over the information we recorded. I…
The independent panel appointed to carry out a review into local government reform has released its recommendations. I agree with the panel’s summary of the challenges facing the sector including significant funding issues. These pressures…
Do ostriches really bury their head in the sand to avoid trouble, or to hide? Surely it’s a bit of a pointless method of escaping danger or predators, if they can’t breathe? Like our kiwi,…
Let’s start with some good news again this week. We have recently had a couple of car theft sprees. Fortunately, police located most of the vehicles very quickly. Two search warrants were executed. During the…
The almost indecent haste Waipā District councillors decided to continue with First Past the Post for the next two local body elections, given the woeful 39.65 per cent turnout at last year’s election, came as…
Our culture’s fixation with physical health, diet, nutrition and fitness has assumed such priority. Fair enough, if it’s kept in balance. A massive industry with ‘influencers’ and gurus has emerged expounding lists of things claimed…
As the weeks rush by we hurtle towards a national election. There is huge unrest politically, socially and economically and the various (can they be trusted) polls all have a material common theme with Labour…
