Cooper steps up
Northland Inc's general manager of Investment and Infrastructure, Vaughan Cooper, will be Acting CEO at the regional economic development agency from today after Dr David Wilson departed the role on Friday. Wilson, who has been Northland Inc Chief Executive Officer since September 2013, will continue to work with Northland Inc in a consultancy capacity and will maintain national leadership roles in regional economic development, including as a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) Independent Advisory Panel member, providing advice to the Government about PGF investment and funding. Northland Inc chairwoman Sarah Petersen said one of Dr Wilson's key achievements at the helm was the 2015 release of the Tai Tokerau Northland Regional Growth Study, which identified significant opportunities to grow employment and incomes in Northland. Cooper will be Acting CEO while the recruitment process continues for a permanent appointment.
Lotto luck at Paihia
A ticket sold in Northland earned its holder $300,000 in Lotto Strike on Saturday. The ticket, sold at Paihia Four Square, was the sole winner of the Strike First Division prize. Meanwhile four players, from Auckland, Hamilton, Marlborough and Greymouth, each won $250,000 with Lotto First Division while Powerball was not struck and will be $9 million on Wednesday. The winning Lotto numbers were 2, 3, 9, 13, 18 and 21, with the bonus number 33 and Powerball number 1. The winning Strike numbers were 2, 21, 18 and 13.
Doctors to strike again
About 120 junior doctors working in Whangārei, Bay of Islands, Kaitaia and Dargaville hospitals will stage their fifth strike in the middle of April that will run for four days. They will join hundreds of junior doctors throughout New Zealand fighting to preserve the existing clauses in their employment agreements. The New Zealand Resident Doctors and the district health boards will have another session of mediated bargaining on April 5 as directed by the Employment Relations Authority. The Northland DHB will again be forced to reschedule elective surgeries and outpatient clinics as a result of the four-day strike.
