Aiomai Nuku-Tarawhiti says she was asked to leave Farmers Tauriko and labeled as an undesirable by a staff member. Photo / Andrew Warner.
Aiomai Nuku-Tarawhiti says she was asked to leave Farmers Tauriko and labeled as an undesirable by a staff member. Photo / Andrew Warner.
The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2021. Here's what made headlines in November.
December 2
Some teens involved in a major riot in which they trashed a youth justice facility near Rotorua have admitted their roles in the offending.
Oranga Tamariki says some of the damage caused to Te Maioha o Parekarangi (Youth Justice Residence) south of Rotorua is still to be fixed and resulted in some of the youths being forced to stay elsewhere.
The incident has sparked comment from a Rotorua rehabilitation programme leader, who says the youths were clearly mixed up while they were there to be inflicting that kind of damage.
Te Maioha o Parekarangi (Youth Justice Residence). Photo / NZME
December 4
Sitting in the sunshine at a Mt Maunganui cafe, sipping coffee with his mum, Duax Ngakuru looked like any other bloke on his summer break.
It was December in 2017 and Ngakuru was staying nearby in a $1000-a-night holiday home he had rented with his wife, children, and their maid, where they celebrated Christmas a short walk from one of New Zealand's most popular beaches.
This trip was a homecoming for the 37-year-old Rotorua native, who had risen through the ranks of one of Australia's most notorious motorcycle gangs, the Comancheros, to allegedly become a major figure in the international drug trade.
A Rotorua drug dealer who tried to pretend he had a "smorgasbord" of drugs because he was stocking up in case there was another lockdown has been sent to jail.
Aaron Bradley, 50, from Rotorua, has been jailed for four years and nine months after admitting 10 charges relating to possessing, selling and importing drugs including GBL, methamphetamine, LSD and cannabis.
It was revealed during his sentencing in the Rotorua District Court on Monday that police tapped his phone, which revealed the extent of his drug dealing.
Contractors have broken ground on a new 197-home lifestyle village in what has been described as the largest single consent issued for Rotorua in the past two decades.
The new Freedom Lifestyle Villages development, at the Ngongotahā end of Pukehangi Rd, is designed as a lifestyle village for people over 50 who are looking for a more secure and modern style of living, Rotorua Lakes Council said in a statement this morning.
It was expected that show homes would be opening to the public by mid-2022, with the first residents expected to take occupancy by the end of 2022.
Contractors have broken ground on a new lifestyle village along Pukehangi Rd. Photo / Supplied
December 9
Tony Herbert isn't a drug user but he got involved in an elaborate $4.2 million cannabis growing syndicate because he didn't want to experience poverty again.
Herbert has now been jailed for five years for the role he played in being one of the masterminds behind the large-scale cannabis growing operation.
It involved the running of bogus companies and stealing power to grow premium crops of cannabis inside industrial warehouses in Rotorua, Taupō and Hamilton.
Rotorua city leaders have mixed emotions about the move to the orange traffic light setting at the end of this month.
Cabinet announced yesterday that the Lakes district would move to orange at 11.59pm on Thursday, December 30. Taupō, Kawerau, Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki will also shift to this setting on the same day.
A heartbroken and tearful Rotorua teenager has spoken out about the hurt at being called "undesirable" by a staff member who asked her to leave Farmers at The Crossing in Tauranga on Saturday.
Aiomai Nuku-Tarawhiti, 15, and her Tauranga cousin, Shae Brown, 25, say they feel humiliated at being the subject of what they say was ''racial profiling'' by a Farmers staff member who, they said, told them they looked like they were going to steal something.
The staff member then turned to the 15-year-old and told her she looked "undesirable".
While both individuals held their own in conversation, and did not hesitate in correcting one another or clarifying a point, their bond and closeness were obvious.
David and Brita Swears have been married for 60 years. Photos / Laura Smith
December 20
Family violence, drink driving, health problems, broken relationships, debt and gambling could increase if buy now, pay later schemes are used to buy liquor, some believe.
But those offering the schemes say the onus is on the buyer to manage their purchases and only buy what they can afford.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment had been seeking feedback on the relative benefits and costs of buy now, pay later schemes. Consultation closed on December 16.
Afterpay is available in-store and online at a small selection of premium, bespoke vendors. 2021. Photo / GettyImages
December 26
Nahne Marsters shouldn't be here.
It was January when a doctor told her she had stage-four gallbladder cancer which had spread to her lungs and liver. She had months to live and the likelihood of seeing Christmas was 13 per cent. She was offered palliative care.
But Marsters refused to give up. She was, and is, a fighter. In March she told the Rotorua Daily Post she didn't want sympathy and armed with the mantra of "positive vibes only" she was on a mission to "kick cancer's butt".
