Hannah Gross suffered a traumatic injury as a child. Now she has proof that she suffers from brain damage.
Bay of Plenty Times is looking back at the stories of 2023. Here’s what made headlines in June
June 3
Hannah Gross is a medical mystery. Having suffered a traumatic brain injury as a toddler, no one has so far been able to account for her ability to function as a vibrant actress and photographer for most of her adult life.
Now 41, and with her condition deteriorating, she has finally found answers through Mātai Medical Research Institute. They are answers she wants to share in the hope they will help others. Kiri Gillespie told her story
Hannah Gross pictured now, aged 41, and as a toddler (inset) shortly after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Photo / Alex Cairns, supplied
June 9
It took police nearly an hour to respond to a call that a terrified man fleeing a group of gang members was hiding in a restaurant chiller after telling staff “they’re going to kill me”.
The restaurant’s manager, who did not want to be named, said three gang members chased the man into Nectar on The Strand about 3.30pm on June 1.
She and another manager stopped the pursuers from entering the business and locked the doors. They later found the “terrified” man cowering in the chiller, continuously saying, “They’re going to kill me”.
The incident follows a number of others in Tauranga’s CBD in which businesses say staff have been assaulted by people drunk or on drugs - and Nectar’s owner has described the state of the city as “a joke”.
Nectar restaurant on the Strand, Tauranga. Photo / Alex Cairns
June 22
Police are “out in large numbers” taking footage of reckless driving behaviour as hundreds of motorbikes, cars, utes and vans descend on the Bay of Plenty town of Whakatāne for the funeral for slain Mongrel Mob Barbarians president Steven Taiatini.
Acting Eastern Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Tristan Murray said police would be keeping a “strong presence” in the area in the hours to come.
“The registered owners of these vehicles will be identified, with a view to impounding vehicles doing burnouts and issuing infringement notices for other breaches of the Land Transport Act,” Murray said.
“In other instances of dangerous driving the owners will be charged and put before the court.”
Tauranga is a fast-growing regional city in New Zealand and the economic powerhouse of the Bay of Plenty. But behind the glitz and glamour, homelessness, violence, drug and anti-social issues run deep.
In June, the Bay of Plenty Times launched Poverty in Paradise, a series on Tē Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust which works at the coalface.
Tē Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust executive director Tommy (Kapai) Wilson. Photo / Alex Cairns
June 19
Tauranga commissioners have reluctantly agreed to an increase in residential and commercial rates but say the city is “going backwards” by not matching or bettering inflation - and they have signalled higher rates in the future.
The decision and comments were made at a Tauranga City Council meeting at which commissioners set the rates for 2023/24.
Commissioners agreed to a median increase to residential rates of 7.2 per cent, including water rates, and 18 per cent for commercial rates, excluding water rates.
For residential ratepayers, the median increase, excluding water rates, is 9.4 per cent.
Commissioner Stephen Selwood said this year’s rates were constrained by what had been set out in the Long-term Plan. While these increases were “the right thing to do”, the city could be paying in other ways if they were not increased more significantly in the future, he said.
Western Bay councillor Allan Sole, 72, now needs surgery after breaking his left leg in four places while inspecting a suspected malfunctioning drain near elderly housing units hit by flash flooding at Waihī Beach on May 29.
Sole, who represents the Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s Waihī Beach and Katikati ward, accepted an invitation from residents to inspect a culvert opposite the elder housing on Beach St.
Sole stepped on the piece of wood and it slipped beneath him.
“I took one step down ... the next thing I know, I sort of saw my leg going in a different direction to my knee.”
Western Bay of Plenty District Council councillor Allan Sole broke his leg in four places while trying to inspect a culvert in his ward of Waihī Beach. Photo / Alex Cairns
Invasive roadworks that “effectively barricaded” businesses from their customers for a year were delayed a month after “unforeseen changes” to Tauranga’s Cameron Rd futureproofing project.
Shorland Peugeot & Citroen general manager Evan Campbell said the company was told the work would take three months. In reality, it had been going for more than a year, with the most invasive part lasting eight to nine months, he said.
“The impact of that was significant, to say the least. I could use the word devastating,” Campbell told the Bay of Plenty Times.
“We were effectively barricaded from our client base with limited access [and] no parking access for clients.”
