Honour for Murray
Northland Kauri captain and prop Krystal Murray won the Fiao'o Faamausili Medal to be recognised as the Bunnings Warehouse Farah Palmer Cup's Player of the Year, at the 2021 ASB New Zealand Rugby Awards this week. Another Northland player Tyla Nathan-Wong was a finalist in the Black Ferns Sevens Player of the Year category but lost out to Sarah Hirini, from Manawatu. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this year's awards were once again presented in a made-for-TV special on Sky, with awards presented to New Zealand's leading players, coaches, administrators, and referees.
Fatal motorbike crash
A motorcyclist died after a collision with a car in Dargaville on Thursday night. Emergency services were called to the intersection of Ranfurly St and Plunket St, near Dargaville High School, at 8.13pm where a car and motorcycle had collided. The rider was airlifted to Auckland hospital in a critical condition but died a short time later from their injuries. Police urged everyone to take extreme care on Northland roads this festive season. The Northland Serious Crash Unit is investigating the collision. The fatality marks the 30th on Northland's roads this year compared with 29 at the same time last year.
Water death
A person has died after boaties discovered them unconscious in the water along a popular stretch of coastline in the Far North. The person was found unresponsive floating in the water off the coast of Pukenui, near Houhora Heads, by occupants of a nearby boat shortly after 1pm Friday. The boaties pulled the person from the water and immediately started CPR while police and a St John ambulance rushed to the scene. Emergency services quickly took over after arriving but the person was unable to be revived. A police spokesman said inquiries were underway to identify the person and contact their next of kin. They were unable to make any further comment. The death has been referred to the Coroner.
Body recovered
Bay of Islands Coastguard volunteers braved Tuesday night's storm to help police recover the body of a man who died on his boat at Russell. Friends of the 52-year-old, who lived alone on his vessel at Matauwhi Bay, raised the alarm about 7.30pm. Senior Sergeant Phil Le Comte said police were ''very appreciative'' of Coastguard's help in transporting an officer to the boat, recovering the deceased and bringing him to Waitangi jetty where an undertaker was waiting. The man is believed to have died of a medical condition. Coastguard crew had been training in 2m swells and 40 knot winds when they received the call for assistance.
Access to council services
My Vaccine Passes are no longer required to access Far North District Council services at Te Ahu. This includes Kaitaia Customer Service Centre, Kaitaia Library, Far North i-Site and Museum @ Te Ahu. The change comes as a result of Te Ahu Charitable Trust's decision to provide only contactless services at the cafe. Passes are still required at the cinema and at venues for hire. Customers and frontline staff are still required to wear masks, maintain 1m distancing and use QR codes or a sign-in register.
