Northland news briefs

State Highway 1 at Awanui was closed on Wednesday afternoon by a single-car crash.

Patient does a runner

A 35-year-old Doubtless Bay woman whose car ended up on its roof in the middle of State Highway 1 at Awanui on Wednesday afternoon was taken to Kaitaia Hospital twice, first by St John ambulance, then by police.

She discharged herself the first time, and was seen running along Matthews Ave. Police found her a short time later and returned her to the hospital for further treatment. Her injuries were not serious, according to police, while she refused to supply blood for alcohol analysis.

Police said the woman had been heading south just before 5pm when she overtook several other vehicles. When she returned to her lane she allegedly cut off the vehicle first in line, then crashed into the drain opposite Dick Smith Loop Rd. Her car flew about 2m into the air, rolling three or four times before coming to rest on its roof.

The driver is believed to have extricated herself, and walked to the ambulance.

Crash victim named

A woman killed in a crash after the vehicle she was in went off the road in Ruakaka has been named by police. The 27-year-old was Samantha Mani, of Ruakaka. She died in Auckland Hospital on Monday after being flown there in a critical condition on Saturday night. Two others in the crash on Peter Snell Rd were flown to Whangarei Hospital. Her death brings Northland's road toll to 13.

Golf gala dinner

The Waitangi Golf Club will host a three-course gala dinner, with wine matching, at Russell's Duke of Marlborough on Wednesday to raise money for the Starship Foundation and the Waitangi Pro-Am Golf Tournament. The guest speakers will be Steve Williams, former caddy to Tiger Woods, and another as-yet-unnamed sports star. For tickets ($2000 for a table of 10) email waitangigolf@xtra.co.nz or call (09) 402 7713.

Radio play in US

Waipu teen thrash metal band Alien Weaponry are continuing their campaign for world domination by having a song played on radio in the US for the first time.

The band, brothers Henry and Lewis de Jong, aged 17 and 15, and Ethan Trembath, 15, had their latest single Holding My Breath played on US hard rock station WSOU yesterday, and it will be played plenty more times in coming weeks, the station said. The song can be heard on 89.5 FM in the New York market and streamed everywhere via www.wsou.net.

Alien Weaponry will leave for Europe soon to play at some of the continent's largest summer metal festivals, including MetalDays in Slovenia and Wacken Open Air in Germany.