Northland news in brief: Stranded whale flensed; and another email scam

A whale that stranded during lockdown has been flensed by a team who had to endure a "ripe" smell. Photo / Barry Caldwell Ngatiwai Trust Board

Stranded whale flensed
The Ngatiwai Trust Board posted on Facebook that the whale had stranded five weeks ago on a remote beach near Ngahau Bay in Whangaruru. The team of Hori Parata, Te Kaurinui Parata, Poai Neha, Blake Te Kata, Jaycee Tipene-Thomas, Sylvia Wano, Aotea Parata, Ngariki Ngatai, Melissa Brown and Christopher Haika completed the flensing of a tohorā, southern right whale, this week. "The conditions and weather were perfect for this difficult mahi, and with the taonga having been lying here for over 5 weeks, to say the smell was ripe would be an understatement," the post said.

Scam email
Just days after Northland Cricket Association was victim of a sophisticated email scam, another Northland outfit has been targeted by the scam. The Northern Advocate received an email yesterday purportedly from New Zealand Home Loans – Whangarei South asking the paper to pay an invoice. It had the correct contact details for the company's new business consultant Ralph Correa. But it was the exact same format to one the paper received supposedly from the NCA at the start of the week. Correa said it's "100 per cent a scam" that has been sent out to about 12,000 people. ''With me being a JP it's gone out to an extensive list, including the police and officials in Wellington, and I've been receiving numerous calls about it,'' he said. ''Don't click on the link (in the email) and just delete it.''

Environmental Awards
The Northland Regional Council will present its 2020 Whakamānawa ā Taiao - Environmental Awards via its Facebook page at 7.30pm on Thursday next week. Each award winner will be individually acknowledged.

Skatepark fire
Kerikeri firefighters were called to the skatepark almost across the road from their station after an attempt to set fire to a wooden seat about 10.15am on Friday. They extinguished a smouldering item of clothing and notified police.

Driver ditches crashed car
The driver of a car which crashed on Waimate North Rd, near Kerikeri, about 1.40am on Friday fled on foot before emergency services arrived. The vehicle came to rest on its side in a ditch. Bottles and drug paraphernalia were scattered around the crash scene, a firefighter said.

Dog regos due
Whangārei District Council is reminding dog owners to re-register their dogs by August 1, as all registrations expire on June 30. If registered after August 1, fees increase significantly. All dogs older than three months must be registered. There is a slight increase in fees. It's $68/$101 late fee for standard dogs; $54/$80 late fee for desexed dogs; $53/$68 late fee for working dogs; and $102/$152 for dangerous dogs. Service dogs are free. Replacement tags cost $6. Puppies pay 1/12th the relevant fee for each complete month remaining in the registration year.

Lines upgrade
Northpower is replacing power poles, fitting new hardware and upgrading power lines on Onerahi Rd, from Old Onerahi Rd to Sorrento St, next week. From Monday, June 15 to Friday, June 19, 9am-3pm, there will be shoulder closures, but a two-way traffic flow will be retained throughout the week. There may be short periods where a single lane on Onerahi Rd will be required. At those times a detour will divert traffic. Traffic management will be in place.

21 days with no new Covid cases
The Ministry of Health says it's now 21 days since the last new case of Covid-19 was reported in New Zealand, and there are no active cases in the country. NZ's total number of confirmed cases remains at 1154, which is the number reported to the World Health Organisation. The combined total of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1504. The number of recovered cases is 1482, and there are no additional deaths to report.