Wairoa District Council is backing a proposal to lower the local election voting age to 16, to improve New Zealand’s “embarrassing” voter turnout. The council put forward its view in a submission on the Electoral (Lowering Voting Age for Local...
Tairāwhiti Police encourage locals and visitors to make good decisions this holiday period. Generally, the Christmas period has delivered nothing significant in this region, police said. “We hope to see it stay that way into the New Year,”...
Boxing Day marked a special milestone for Gisborne man Bruce Smart, who turned 100 yesterday in a life he describes as long, happy and fulfilling. The centenarian — “Smarty” to his pals — was christened James Bruce Smart, but he has always...
Saturday’s weather provided perfect conditions for the pilots of two Tiger Moths which flew in formation over the city and bay. This picture was taken by Pete McCombe, who was flying one of the biplanes. The other Tiger Moth is NZ786 — an air...
The Crystal Symphony came calling on Saturday. The seventh cruise ship visit of the season to date was a success, according to the ship’s agent, who said the feedback he got from the passengers who came ashore was positive. The ship has a capacity...
Emergency services responded to two vehicle crashes on the East Coast at the weekend, resulting in three people being flown to Gisborne Hospital for treatment. In the first crash, mid-afternoon on Saturday, a car rolled on State Highway 35 near...
A person living in a house in Salisbury Road was treated by ambulance officers for the effects of smoke inhalation after a pot of food on the stove overheated on Saturday night. Fire and Emergency NZ were called to the house at around midnight...
Marilyn and “Lex” Lexmond and their family are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary today. The pair were married in 1958, in Gore (above). They first met when Marilyn was working as a post girl and she hand-delivered Lex a telegram...
A near-drowning, a motor vehicle accident, a trauma injury and four medical events made up a hectic Christmas list for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter in the week to the early hours of Boxing Day. Those were not the only rescues...
Swirling current at Makorori and strong rip at Wainui catch out beach-goers on Sunday and Monday.
2023 has been an exceptionally busy year for the team at the region’s electricity lines company, Firstlight Network. In March, Eastland Network became part of Clarus (formerly Firstgas Group), one of New Zealand’s largest energy groups.
The new Government has been urged to loosen visa rules for Vietnamese pilot cadets, so the pilot training industry can live up to its potential to invest up to $162 million a year into regional economies. Aviation NZ and Education New Zealand...
Gisborne-based Civil Project Solutions (CPS) is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this month. Since 2013, CPS has delivered over $1 billion of public and private works through civil project management and engineering services across Tairawhiti and...
Loren Sirl talks to Seymour and Helen May about why their work is their passion . . . Seymour May was destined to be a potter. As a child growing up on the family farm in Helensville, Auckland, one farming chore was to change cattle gates. Once the...
A summer romance in 1969 was the start of what was to become the Enterprise Aquatic Centre, with its associated Martin Swim Club and Enterprise Swim Team. Gillian Cowperthwaite talked to the faces behind the centre, Shona and Gary Martin, who met as...
Police called in surf lifeguards on Thursday night after two teenage girls were seen to be stranded on the river training wall between the Tūranganui River and Eastland Port. Police contacted the Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae surf club at about 7.30pm...
A public health warning not to collect and eat shellfish remains in place for the East Coast and Wairoa. The long-standing warning remains in place for the area from Cape Runaway down to Wairoa River mouth. People are warned not to collect or...
A stretch of State Highway 2 between Nicks Head Station Road and Maraenui Road will close most nights for three weeks from January 22 to February 9 to allow crews to safely resurface the road. The work was scheduled to take place this month but had...
Mayor Rehette Stoltz made a passionate shout-out about why people should come to Gisborne over the holiday season when she appeared on the NewstalkZB breakfast programme yesterday. She told announcer Tim Dower that while this has been a tough year...
The Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) alliance has been progressing a busy season of state highway road renewals on the East Coast, in addition to ongoing cyclone recovery and rebuild work. The road renewal work will continue until March, making...
A decades-long popular Christmas Eve family service returns to Holy Trinity Anglican Church this weekend. Covid has put paid to the service in recent years but on Sunday it will be back, complete with a real donkey. The service is mostly a Christmas...
The district’s kerbside rubbish collectors will be operating as usual over the festive season. Rubbish and recycling will be collected as usual on public holidays through the Christmas and New Year period, the council said. “So the guys can get...
A wooden train engine has been stationed in the Waikanae Beach playground for the summer. The custom play piece was created by Steph and Ben Millward from Cut Above Sawmilling and Furniture. The council says the playground item will be a temporary...
Gisborne Women’s Refuge representatives have collected the gifts left under the Christmas tree in the foyer of the Gisborne Herald. Every year the Gisborne Herald invites people to donate gifts for a nominated charity, and this year it was the...
The ninth annual Tauawhi No Violence Longboard Classic was held in early December at Northern Makorori, with 37 entrants competing across junior to over-60 grades. The event is the brainchild of Ian “Moti” Procter, who with his friends from the...
Waikaremoana Boating and Fishing Association is concerned about damage to the environment it says is because of management of the lake levels by Genesis Energy. The energy company runs the Lake Waikaremoana hydropower scheme. Association chairman...
Old Dogs New Tricks had just enough guile to beat Just For The Beers in the final of a six-a-side football competition organised by Gisborne Thistle. The score was 0-0 at the end of normal time at Childers Road Reserve on Thursday evening and Old...
As another year comes to a close, the New Zealand National Fieldays Society (NZNFS) has unveiled its Annual Report. While still faced with a number of financial challenges as are many in the sector, the analysis of Fieldays 2023 reveals...
Gisborne’s junior surf lifesaving athletes had some serious fun at the twilight carnival held at Waikanae on Thursday night and Santa was there! More than 120 youngsters from Dawson Building Midway, Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae and Riversun Wainui took...
A well-deserved summer break has begun for most people, with excitement building in households around the region as families gather and children eagerly await the gifts and whānau fun of Christmas Day. After a year of terrible weather in this...
Clive Bibby As the tumultuous year of 2023 draws to a close and while we turn our minds to a well-earned break with family and friends, safe from the constant battering that has made life almost impossible to bear, we have an opportunity to reflect...
Further to my earlier comments re the huge proposed rates increases, I note that much of this seems to have been decided — or should I say, predetermined — out of the public eye. Mayor Stoltz refers to “priorities . . . were determined by...
A big thank you to all the home owners who have lit up their homes for Christmas cheer for our citizens. It must have taken hours and days of your precious time to give so much pleasure to families at this time of year. The creativity and beauty...
While there is a lot of factual content in Patrick Cooper’s letter of December 21 (Unconditional surrender from Hamas, nothing less), it falls a little short of being objective or analytical. At the moment, from an analytical view only, it appears...