News briefs from across Northland

A woman who had to be pulled from the surf at Taupō Bay is loaded into the Northland Rescue Helicopter to be flown to hospital.

A woman was flown to hospital in a serious condition after being pulled from the surf at a Northland beach yesterday. Rescue workers were called to Taupō Bay, 20km east of Mangonui, about midday. The Northland Rescue Helicopter flew the woman to Hospital after she was attended to by St John staff at the beach.

Fight at beach house

The occupant of a beach house in Northland was stabbed in the arm and leg with a piece of broken glass after a man allegedly broke in and started a fight. Senior Sergeant Ryan Gray said the bach at Ohawini Bay, just north of Oakura, was broken into about 5.34am yesterday. A male, who was holidaying at the house, was woken, and when a fight broke out he was allegedly stabbed twice. The male who broke in drove off in a vehicle while the injured man was driven to Whangārei hospital by his partner. It was while he was at the Accident and Emergency department the other male's vehicle was spotted as he had also required medical attention. Police were called and were speaking to a man they believed was involved.

Driven-off car not yet found

The whereabouts of a purple Honda Fit stolen from Mobil in Kamo on Saturday is still unknown. It belonged to Whangārei builder Kereama Bedggood-Noa and was stolen when he left keys in the ignition and his cellphone in the car when he went to pay for fuel. His family is requesting public assistance in locating the car which is the only vehicle Bedggood-Noa's family owns. Police have obtained surveillance footage from the service station and investigations are continuing.

Aucklander wins Lotto

The winner of a $1 million Lotto bought from Countdown Dargaville was an Auckland woman. She won the lucky Bonus ticket while checking her regular Lotto ticket last week while visiting family in Dargaville for Christmas. She handed her Lotto ticket to her partner to check and he came back with $180 and a Bonus Ticket, which she thought was a pretty sweet win just before the holidays. The winner said she would take her time to decide how the win was to be spent.

Tobacco tax to rise

Smokefree services are expecting a rush of people contacting them with the tax on tobacco rising by 10 per cent again today. The tobacco tax has risen by 10 per cent on January 1 for the past five years and every time it leads to more people wanting to quit the habit. Northlanders wanting to quit can contact: Toki Rau Stop Smoking Services Northland 0508 TOKI RAU (0508 8654 728), www.tokirau.co.nz, www.facebook.com/SmokefreeTaiTokerau or Quitline 0800 778778 for free advice on quitting. While 19.1 per cent of Northlanders smoke - the highest rate in the country, which averages 15 per cent nationally - it's down from the 24 per cent who smoked in the mid-1990s.