A woman charged with kidnapping after an incident at the Paihia ASB in November has once again been denied bail. Billy-Joe Witehira, 35, of Paihia, appeared in the Kaikohe District Court last week charged with kidnapping, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a pistol, and discharging a firearm. She was arrested shortly after an incident in which a Paihia business owner was allegedly forced to withdraw money from an ATM. Her partner and alleged co-offender, Cayne Martin-Brown, 22, was seriously injured in a crash at Moerewa later the same day. Witehira's request for electronic bail was declined and she was further remanded in custody to appear in the Whangārei District Court by audio-visual link on March 9.
Water restrictions lowered
Level 3 water restrictions in Kaitaia and Kawakawa-Moerewa have been reduced to level 2. The move follows significant levels of rainfall across much of the district last week, combined with more stable water flows recorded in Kaitaia's Awanui River and Tirohanga Stream near Kawakawa. Far North District Council infrastructure general manager Andy Finch said this is good news for both communities, which have been operating under level 3 water restrictions since January. However, he asks that households and businesses keep conserving water where possible.
Power outage hits homes
A power outage on Friday affecting almost 300 households from Ngataki, on the Aupōuri Peninsula north of Kaitaia, up to Cape Reinga was not related to the earthquake or tsunami threat — but Top Energy staff were unable to head north to start repairs until the warning was lifted. The outage was caused by a fault on the Te Kao feeder just before 11am. By 6pm on Friday only one household was still without power.
