Kawakawa's King's Theatre will host the national Flash Fiction Northland workshop on Sunday, starting 1pm, followed by afternoon tea and readings of flash fiction, including winning Northland entries. Participants should take a draft of their story, on a laptop if possible.
Crash victim named
A man who died after the vehicle he was driving went off the road and through a farm fence has been named by police. He was 50-year-old local Towai man, Shane Whatarau, also known as James Munro. Police were called to the scene on Ford Rd about 2am on Saturday. The vehicle had been discovered off the road and the Serious Crash Unit had examined the scene.
Missing woman named
A woman still missing after she is thought to have fallen from a dinghy while fishing near Matauri Bay has been named as Jana Marie Travers, 45, from Kaitaia. Travers was last seen around 4.30pm on June 11 with her dinghy located by searchers about 10.30pm that night. It was upright and drifting off the southern end of Matauri Bay about 4km from where she was last seen. Her jacket was also found floating in the water. A major search by land, sea and air the following day of 20km of coast plus the Cavalli Islands failed to find any further trace. A rāhui remains in place until further notice from Takou Bay in the south to Opounui Pt in the north. The head of Northland Search and Rescue, Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe, said a Northland Coastguard Air Patrol plane had carried out a search every day this week. Another search by air and water was planned on Friday, weather permitting.
