News in brief: Popular light festival Bling Bling Toi Marama in Kaikohe

Interactive glow-in-the-dark art was a huge hit at Bling Bling Toi Marama in Kaikohe last winter. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A light festival which proved a huge hit when it was first held last year is set to return to Kaikohe next week. Bling Bling Toi Marama is a free event on the former Kaikohe Hotel site on Broadway which features Te Ana Marama (The Light Cave), an interactive, glow-in-the-dark display of light sculptures built by residents and schoolchildren. This year's theme is Te Waonui a Tāne, or the world beneath the forest canopy. Prizes will be awarded for best glowing outfits; there will also be a night market and stalls offering warming kai. The event, which is organised by Ākau design studio, will be open nightly from 6-8.30pm from July 7-10. More than 2000 people attended last year with the queue stretching halfway down Broadway at times.

Help needed for tree-planting bee
Volunteers are needed to help at a Matariki planting day in Kawakawa's Hundertwasser Park on Friday. Anyone keen to lend a hand should gather outside Te Hononga library at 10.30am; bring spades, gumboots and drinks. A barbecue lunch will be provided. The trees, which have been donated by the community and Waka Kotahi, will be planted beside Waiomio Stream and the new cycleway route. The event is organised by Te Hononga Hundertwasser Memorial Park Trust.

Power out on July 13
People living between Kawakawa and Hūkerenui will be without power for much of the day on July 13. Lines company Top Energy plans to turn off the electricity supply at 9.30am and restore it around 2.30pm while crews carry out essential maintenance. The affected areas will include Waiomio, Towai and Hūkerenui, along with all surrounding side roads.

Record temperatures
Two places in Northland recorded the second warmest June temperatures since records began. According to Niwa, Whangārei's hottest day was on June 19 at 21.6C. The warmest was 22.6C on June 8, 1998. Records in Whangārei began in 1967. Kaitaia's hottest day was June 10 when 20.5C was recorded. The warmest since records began in 1948 was 21.6C on June 7, 1971.

Making Whangārei a safer place
Whangārei residents are invited to share their views about how the district can become a safer place at a hui this Sunday. Local MP Emily Henderson will host the crime discussion starting at 1pm in the Tikipunga High School auditorium.

Power outage being investigated
A brief power outage affected 22,300 businesses and homeowners in the Whangārei city area. Power went out at 11.06am yesterday and came back on three minutes later. The cause of the outage is being investigated.

Blue Honda Jazz link to missing man
Northland Police are appealing for sightings of a blue Honda Jazz as part of their search for a missing Northland man. Mark Gillard, 64, was last seen on Monday afternoon at his Tokerau Beach home in the Karikari Peninsula. A police spokesperson said Gillard was believed to be travelling in the family's vehicle - a late-model, blue Honda Jazz with the registration MYA14. Gillard's family and police were concerned about his wellbeing. Anyone with information can contact police on 105, and quote file number 210628/6384.