Tasman Nelson Moves Out State Of Emergency
The Notice of Local Transition period, under Section 94B of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, takes effect at 4.47pm today (17 July 2025) and ends on Thursday 14 August 2025 unless it is extended or ends before then.
Mayor King says it was unbelievable that we would face two massive back-to-back emergencies like this, but we did. He's offering his thanks to all the agencies, community groups and volunteers who had supported the Nelson Tasman Emergency Management response for the second time.
"These two events have a tested us to the maximum and the effects will be felt for a long time across our region. While we are moving from a state of emergency, this transition period means that support continues to be available to those affected.'
We now have a team focusing on the recovery process which will take time.
Tim King says we understand that as the enormity of this event sinks in, people could be feeling overwhelmed dealing with getting their lives and properties back into some semblance of normality.
"I want to offer heartfelt thanks to everyone involved, particular those in our community who have supported and continue to support their friends, family and neighbours.'
Group Recovery Manager Steve Manners will now assume responsibility for the local transition period.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
A researcher warned people to be sceptical of the FBI files as director Hoover ‘wanted dirt' on King
A lone audio file released yesterday includes part of a law enforcement interview with Jerry Ray, one of James Earl Ray's siblings. In a statement, officials said the published documents had 'never been digitised and sat collecting dust in facilities across the federal government for decades'. Many of the pages have been rendered almost illegible by time and the digitising process. There were random and wide-ranging accounts of the investigation and search for Ray, including hundreds of news clippings, tips from the public, accounts of Ray's forays into dance classes and locksmith school, and his fondness for aliases drawn from James Bond novels. David Garrow, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning King biography as well as a book about the FBI's spying campaign on him, said his initial review led him to conclude that there was little of public interest in the files, much of which had already been disclosed. 'I saw nothing that struck me as new,' he said. In 2019, Garrow published an article that recounted claims he had found in FBI documents released in relation to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Those claims include accounts of King witnessing an alleged rape in 1964 in a Washington hotel room where he had been staying. It is unclear from the documents, which do not appear to be included in the current tranche, who is making those claims. Garrow was criticised by some historians for elevating incendiary assertions that were part of an FBI smear campaign, without corroborating evidence. The FBI wiretaps and other surveillance were part of an effort to uncover damaging material on King, which the agency hoped to leverage in its campaign to derail the Civil Rights Movement. Tapes and transcripts from that surveillance are part of what remains under seal, though summaries and other related material had been released previously. A federal judge last month denied a Justice Department request to unseal the surveillance records two years early. King had a well-documented history of extramarital relationships. Still, some experts and King's family have expressed doubts about the veracity of some of the contents of those previously released documents, particularly when it comes to the more provocative claims about aspects of King's romantic and sexual life. Those details, they said, could be more reflective of official efforts to undermine the civil rights leader's reputation than of reality. 'You've got to read this carefully and don't take it at face value,' said Larry Sabato, the director of the Centre for Politics at the University of Virginia, who was reviewing the new documents yesterday with his own team of researchers. 'I'm sceptical of anything I read from FBI files about MLK,' he said, adding that he suspected that agents inflated or manufactured material to please J. Edgar Hoover, the agency's longtime director. 'He wanted dirt on MLK and his movements and his associates.' King's surviving children, Martin III and Bernice, argued in a statement yesterday that their father had been 'relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign'. The children beseeched researchers and the general public to view all of the material from the government's files in the context of their father's contributions to American society. 'We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint and respect for our family's continuing grief,' they said. Trump Administration officials have been in contact with King's family, but it remains unclear if his relatives were given the right to request redactions of the newly released material. In a news release announcing the document upload, the Administration quoted Alveda King, King's niece and a high-profile supporter of Trump, who praised the Government for providing transparency. 'The declassification and release of these documents are a historic step towards the truth that the American people deserve,' she said. As a candidate last year, Trump vowed to release files related to Kennedy's 1963 assassination, and the 1968 murders of Robert F. Kennedy and King. The Kennedy documents, released in March, contained little new information about the assassination itself. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Rick Rojas and Glenn Thrush Photographs by: George Tames ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
CNMI's delegate seeks clarification from US Treasury on use of federal tax revenues
, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The delegate for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to the United States Congress, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, has formally asked the US Treasury to clarify how fedeal taxes generated in the territory are being utilised. Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds sent a formal request to US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent seeking clarification. According to Section 703(b) of the CNMI's Covenant with the US, federal income taxes and other federal revenues derived from sources in the CNMI needs to be returned to the local government. In her letter, King-Hinds raised concerns that significant tax revenues linked to federal activity in the CNMI are not being returned to the local government as the Covenant provides. She pointed specifically to recent Department of Defence construction projects on Tinian totaling more than $153 million. Despite the scale of federal spending, the CNMI government received only $87,000 in reported tax revenue. "This provision was included in the Covenant to ensure that when activity happens in the CNMI, the returns from that activity are shared with the CNMI," she said. " "The people of the Northern Marianas and our government should see the benefit of economic activity occurring in their islands, especially when it is federally funded." Section 703(b) outlines a range of federal taxes that are to be paid into the CNMI Treasury, including income taxes derived from the CNMI and taxes on goods produced or consumed in the Commonwealth. King-Hinds noted that the provision applies regardless of where a contractor is headquartered, so long as the income is derived from work in the CNMI. "Nearly five decades after this language was adopted, we still do not have clear implementation of this section," she said. "As more federal funding and contract work flows into the CNMI, the question of how those revenues are treated under the Covenant is increasingly urgent." King-Hinds is requesting that the Department of Treasury clarify its interpretation of Section 703(b) and determine whether income taxes collected on work performed in the CNMI, particularly by off-island contractors, are appropriately credited to the CNMI government. She also indicated that if legislative steps are needed to reinforce the Covenant's requirements, she is prepared to work with Congress to advance those changes. "This is a practical issue with real consequences for the CNMI's ability to operate and plan for the future," King-Hinds said. "The Covenant will only endure if we remain committed to upholding its terms and ensuring its provisions are followed, including making certain the CNMI receives the revenues it is owed. I appreciate Secretary Bessent's attention to this request and look forward to a constructive dialogue on how we can ensure the Covenant is implemented as intended." During a recent CNMI House of Representatives hearing, Rep. Marissa Flores said the CNMI only collected a mere $87,000 in fees and taxes from $153-million worth of military activities in the Northern Marianas. Flores shared that data, which she said was shared at a recent meeting with the military, at the end of the House Standing Committee on Ways and Means budget hearing from the Department of Finance (DOF) last 9 July. "Why are we not collecting? What is the problem?" Flores asked DOF and the Division of Revenue and Taxation. "All this military build-up is happening…Are you collecting tax on developer's tax at all with the military?" she added. Division of Revenue & Taxation director Daniel Alvarez responded, "I do not believe the military projects fall under developer tax. I would probably have to confirm that with legal." Flores said the CNMI also needs to monitor how many military developers are being brought in because the island does not have the workforce. "We're losing money in that area. So many projects came and left, and we're only charging on the construction tax. Again, which is another problem, because now we know that they're bringing in their construction material," she explained. The lawmaker recommended that DOF have an increased presence on Tinian. Finance Secretary Tracy Norita later clarified that it has been a long-standing issue. "This is a conversation that has been going on between the municipality of Tinian and my office and [Department of Public Works] on who's going to assess the tax. "We've received information from DPW, I believe they've asked for [the Attorney-General's] opinion on whether they can assess the tax. To this day, I don't believe they're assessing it because there is no legal authority to assess the developer's tax on the military projects. "And so at this point, I believe it's legislation that's required to specify what exactly is exempted from the developer tax, whether it's a military project with an independent contractor or only military projects that are conducted by the military themselves," Norita added. "So again, it goes back to the legislation and the authority for DPW to assess the developer's tax." DPW Secretary Ray Yumul said they submitted an internal Legal Services Request form to the CNMI AG a few months ago but have not received a response.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Trump releases Martin Luther King assassination files
The US Justice Department has released more than 240,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., including records from the FBI, which had surveilled the civil rights leader as part of an effort to discredit the Nobel Peace Prize winner and his civil rights movement. Files were posted on the website of the National Archives, which said more would be released. King died of an assassin's bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, as he increasingly extended his attention from a non-violent campaign for equal rights for African Americans to economic issues and calls for peace. His death shook the United States in a year that would also bring race riots, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations and the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump's administration released thousands of pages of digital documents related to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and former president John F. Kennedy, who was killed in 1963. Trump promised on the campaign trail to provide more transparency about Kennedy's death. Upon taking office, he also ordered aides to present a plan for the release of records relating to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and King. The FBI kept files on King in the 1950s and 1960s - even wiretapping his phones - because of what the bureau falsely said at the time were his suspected ties to communism during the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union. In recent years, the FBI has acknowledged that as an example of "abuse and overreach" in its history. The civil rights leader's family asked those who engage with the files to "do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family's continuing grief," and condemned "any attempts to misuse these documents." "Now more than ever, we must honor his sacrifice by committing ourselves to the realization of his dream – a society rooted in compassion, unity, and equality," they said in a statement. "During our father's lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the family, including his two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, said, referring to the then-FBI director. James Earl Ray, a segregationist and drifter, confessed to killing King but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998. King's family said it had filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in Tennessee in 1999 that led to a jury unanimously concluding "that our father was the victim of a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers and unnamed co-conspirators, including government agencies as a part of a wider scheme. The verdict also affirmed that someone other than James Earl Ray was the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. Our family views that verdict as an affirmation of our long-held beliefs." Jowers, once a Memphis police officer, told ABC's Prime Time Live in 1993 that he participated in a plot to kill King. A 2023 Justice Department report called his claims dubious.
