Latest news with #Colville
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
"We know who's who, and if it's addressed wrong, still gets to them"
Post Office volunteer Peter Sander, sorting mail at the small Colville post office. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round The mail always gets through in one of New Zealand's remotest regions, thanks to some dedicated volunteers who run the local post office. While rural mail services are shrinking, Colville, in the north-west of Coromandel Peninsula, has a thriving mail service based in the small community's original post office, with a band of volunteers taking turns behind the counter and sorting the mail. Even if it's just "Mike the Man" for an address, someone will know who it is, according to volunteer Peter Sander. "It's quite hard case at times. "We know who's who, and if it's addressed wrong, still gets to them." Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeart , or wherever you get your podcasts . Sander used to run a holiday camp in the district, not far from Colville, which consists of a volunteer-run general store and community hub serving a 1500-strong community all the way up to Port Jackson in the north. Volunteering has been an important part of his life, he told Country Life . "Sometimes we'll only get one or two customers in a day … buying stamps or whatever, but that's okay." New Zealand's postal system underwent sweeping changes in the late 1980s and many small post offices closed. But not Colville's, thanks to the locals. With a limited rural delivery service, they saw the need for a hub where people could pick up their parcels, mail could be sent, and visitors could buy stamps or a postcard. Sander, standing by the post boxes at the post office. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round "The local people thought, hang on, because they started it right back in 1896, started with telecommunications, and then later on they wanted three times a week mail delivery, because there was a lot of gold mining and farming done in the area." Sander said right from the early days, the community was involved in setting up the post office, even milling the timber from White Star Station, a local farm, pit sawing and carting the timber and raising money to pay for the building works too. "They've got a paddock there that's named the post office paddock." The Colville post office sells stamps and memorabilia, catering for locals and visitors alike. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round Visitors are interested in the history of the place, Sander said, and it's a centre for much more than just post. "They come in and read the information, sign the visitor's book, and they can't believe what we do here. We show them the old scales, and we used to have a thing here saying what to do if you get held up with a gun from the old days." Volunteers also run the incorporated society which is behind the service. It earns a small amount of income from 10 percent of stamp sales and donations. The post office volunteers sort the mail and serve customers. It's been volunteer run since 1986. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round "Everything's tracked and electronic, we do that, and we've got to scan it all and track it through. "We get about $1000 a year or something, which is enough to buy a can of paint. Occasionally, people will come and give a nice donation for us to hold their mail for them, because they've gone away for a month or so. So they might put 10 or 20 bucks in the donation box for us to do that. "That's how community works." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
24-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Pike River survivor Daniel Rockhouse convicted after assaulting uncle at grandmother's funeral
When the West Coast mine exploded in November 2010, Rockhouse was about 1km underground. He was thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious. When he woke, he battled his way through toxic carbon monoxide fumes to reach safety. He came across workmate Russell Smith along the way and pulled him clear of the deadline mine. The pair were the only two to survive the blast. Twenty-nine other men - including Rockhouse's brother Ben - were killed. In 2015, Rockhouse was awarded a New Zealand Bravery Medal in the New Year honours for his heroic actions. Colville spoke to the Herald about the assault. He explained that before his mother died, she had requested a private funeral with only family and a couple of close friends in attendance. On the day, a number of others turned up, and Colville and another sibling approached them to advise that the service was private. Colville said Rockhouse seemed to take exception to that and 'started making a scene'. Things became 'a bit heated', and he called the police. He said that while he was on the phone, Rockhouse punched him. 'He hit me on the steps of the church, and I went down. He hit me hard, he's a big boy. I went down the steps to check my nose because I thought he might have broken it… and next thing, he hooks me one. 'I stumbled back, I was a little bit confused…. then I think he hit me another four times.' Police arrived soon after and arrested Rockhouse. Colville sustained two black eyes and a serious injury to his nose, which he says he needs to see a specialist about. Rockhouse appeared at Christchurch District Court the next day, charged with assaulting a person in a family relationship. At his second court appearance on February 21, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of common assault. Judge David Ruth convicted Rockhouse and ordered him to pay $200 to Colville for emotional harm. Colville was not in court for the sentencing. He said he had been told he 'did not need to go' by the police. 'I got a phone call from a lady from the courts saying Daniel's been in court, he's been convicted, and he's got to pay you $200,' he said. 'It made me wild. I have never been so wild in my life.' Colville wanted to attend sentencing so he could speak about the effect Rockhouse's actions had on him. 'I actually wrote a victim impact statement, thinking that's what police wanted. They weren't interested,' he said. 'They didn't want to know… I just got flogged off.' Colville slammed police and Judge Ruth, saying his nephew was given 'special treatment' and 'got away with' serious offending while he was ignored and 'shut out' of the justice process. 'Basically, they let him off. It's unbelievable. I just think it's unacceptable,' said Colville. 'It was a pretty serious incident… I didn't have a hope in hell of defending myself. And for him to get a $200 fine… is a bit of a joke. ' On April 15, the Herald made an application for Judge Ruth's sentencing notes. A response has not been received. Advertise with NZME. Colville was sent a copy of the document, spanning just two paragraphs. On the day, Judge Ruth told Rockhouse he'd read material submitted to the court from defence lawyer Kerry Cook ahead of the hearing. He did not elaborate further. 'I am generally aware, as are most people, of the problems that have faced you and your family have faced over a number of years,' the judge said. 'I have amended the charge down to (common) assault, having regard to all of the features in this case and Mr Cook's submissions. 'You are now convicted and ordered to pay $200 by way of reparation for emotional harm to the victim. That can be paid within the next 24 hours. For the various reasons I have touched upon - that is the only sentence imposed in this case.' Colville said before the assault, there had been 'no beef' between himself and Rockhouse. There had been conflict between Colville and his siblings over some family issues, but he never considered that there was any tension with his nephew. Rockhouse also noted 'longstanding family politics' in the lead-up to the assault that 'provide context to what happened'. 'These are private issues. These family issues date back years,' he told the Herald. 'The victim did not deserve to be punched… I am sorry, and I regret what happened. 'I pleaded guilty and the issue was resolved in court in February. I accepted the judge's decision and my punishment, and wish to have no further interaction with the family member involved. 'I wish to move forward with my life and put this in the past, where it belongs.' Colville said he was 'very disappointed' and felt let down by the justice system. 'He basically just got away with it. He did not need to do that sort of thing. I don't see why he should get away with what he did just because he's a Pike River survivor,' he said. 'It just shows me that when people get held up high, they can go around doing what they want. I don't think that's right. That's why I have spoken up - I want people to know this happened and that Daniel needed to pay for what he did, but he got away with it. 'The police let me down a lot... He didn't just beat me once, he hit me several times and he gets away with it. He just gets to back to Aussie and carry on.' Canterbury Metro Area Commander Inspector Lane Todd said police applied to amend Rockhouse's charge down to common assault. 'This was based on a number of factors, centred around the Solicitor General's Prosecution Guidelines. These include the likely expected sentence if convicted, the level of violence shown, and the practicalities of a trial balanced against its likely outcome,' he said. 'We are comfortable that this matter was properly assessed, and that relevant legal considerations and guidelines were followed. 'The matter was then taken through the complete court process right up to an appropriate legal resolution.' Todd was not able to substantiate Colville's claim police told him he did not need to attend court. 'However, in general, it would be unusual for a victim to attend such a hearing, and if they did, there is no ability for them to participate in it,' he said. 'It is possible that a victim in this instance may be told by the officer in charge that there was no requirement for them to attend. The decision-making process was conveyed to the victim in this case.' Todd said there were avenues available to those who want further support following the court process. 'As well as those who may wish to make a complaint,' he said. Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 19 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
U.S. tribes bolster caribou recovery and restoration in British Columbia
May 17—NAKUSP, British Columbia — Six years after the last wild caribou in the Lower 48 was relocated to Canada, conservationists and Inland Northwest tribes see a glimmer of hope less than 100 miles north of the border. Nestled by a hot springs resort near Goat Range Provincial Park, some woodland caribou cows of the southern mountain population are about to give birth in the safety of 6-hectare enclosure guarded from predators by a high-voltage electric fence. The 10 adults and one yearling make up the female portion of the Central Selkirk herd, estimated at 25 animals two years ago and now the southernmost surviving group of the endangered species. A herd size of 200 is considered healthy and self-sustaining. Wildlife biologists and volunteers for the Arrow Lakes Caribou Society located and captured the caribou in the mountains near Nakusp by helicopter in late March. Some of the caribou are expected to give birth by early June and will be released in late July. Now in the fourth year of the maternity pen project, organizers see signs of modest success where other attempts have failed. The population has held steady and improved slightly since 2022, when seven females and one yearling were captured. Five calves were born in the pen last year. The Arrow Lakes Caribou Society, a Canadian nonprofit based in the village of Nakusp, aims to rehabilitate the herd by working with local stakeholders to protect their habitat. "The immediate concern is to just arrest the extirpation of these animals," said Hugh Watt, president of the society. Extirpation, or local extinction, continues to creep north from the U.S. border. Conservation efforts are a long way from restoring herds that have already been lost, Watt cautioned. "The idea is to take strong action to stop the decline and hopefully reverse that and start growing the population again," Watt said. "You have to start somewhere, and that's where we're starting." Bringing woodland caribou back to the United States, whether through reintroduction or natural migration south, has generated international support for the Arrow Lakes project from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Native American tribes and private organizations. "It really resonates because it's within many people's recent memory that those animals were there," Watt said. "It's not like something that happened 100 years ago." The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation became a partner of the Arrow Lakes Caribou Society last year. Along with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the Colville Tribes support the project financially and with staff from their natural resources department. Nakusp, which sits on the east bank of Upper Arrow Lake on the Columbia River, is within the traditional homelands of the Sinixt Band, one of the 12 Colville tribes. Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson, who worked as a biologist for the tribes' fish and wildlife department before he became chairman, said the caribou were a traditional source of subsistence, and the tribes see it as their duty to care for the land. But beyond that, Erickson said, they have an affinity with the endangered species. "A lot of our native species are kind of like us as Natives," Erickson said. "You know, we were also hunted, unfortunately." Disappearance of the gray ghost Reindeer Express, a farm in Reardan, Washington, raises reindeer to join Santa at holiday events across the Inland Northwest. Although reindeer and caribou are technically the same species, they're not directly related to the endangered woodland caribou. Reindeer have been domesticated by the native Sámi of Scandanavia for hundreds of years, which has led to slight genetic differences. The "rein" in reindeer implies their domestication, Reindeer Express owner Ed Bernhardt said. Bernhardt's animals were sourced from a farm in Oregon, and from Alaska, where reindeer were introduced from Russia in the 1800s as native caribou dwindled. Woodland caribou are a subspecies, distinct from their tundra counterparts by larger hooves that allow them to snowshoe over deep snowpack. They live in smaller herds and migrate vertically through steep terrain rather than long distances, and feed on tree lichen. The British Columbia Caribou Recovery Program estimates there are about 4,000 southern mountain caribou remaining. Caribou once lived not only in the Inland Northwest, but were also found in the Great Lakes region and New England when Europeans arrived. In Idaho, their range extended as far south as the South Fork of the Clearwater River — about the latitude of the Washington-Oregon state line, according to their endangered listing in the Federal Register. Caribou were believed to be extinct in the southern Selkirk Mountains by the 1930s, but tracks discovered in the '50s led an Idaho Fish and Game biologist to trace and eventually photograph them, The Spokesman-Review reported at the time. The herd was estimated to have 75 to 100 in 1959. The creatures remained elusive as their numbers ebbed again, earning them the nickname "the gray ghosts." Complicating matters, the herd tended to migrate north and south of the border throughout the year. By the time they were added to the endangered species list in 1983, the herd was down to about 25 members. Attempts to supplement the herd with "transplants" from herds in British Columbia introduced about 100 caribou to North Idaho in the late '80s and '90s. But pressures from the caribou struggling to adapt to their new environment and the systemic pressures against their habitat persisted. Their population dropped from 46 in 2009 to 27 in 2012. Wildlife biologists believed they were hunted by wolves. The Selkirk Caribou International Technical Working Group, a multiagency coalition including federal and local governments, tribes and first nations, made a last-ditch effort in 2018 to build a maternity pen in the Darkwoods Conservation Area near Ymir, B.C. The attempt was thwarted by unseasonably deep snowfall that overtopped the fence. "We were getting frustrated with the lack of effort and care," said Ray Entz, wildlife director of the Kalispel Tribe's Natural Resources Department, which spearheaded the project. "But by then it was just too late." The following year, Canadian officials captured the last surviving member of the South Selkirk herd near Creston, B.C., and moved her farther north to another maternity pen by Revelstoke. The adult female integrated into the Revelstoke herd at least until her radio collar stopped working, Entz said. It's possible, though unlikely, that individual animals may have wandered into the United States since then. "They don't call them the gray ghost for nothing," Entz said. But at a population level, they are certainly gone. Calving season in the maternity penAmong several options considered, experts concluded that a spot just meters away from Nakusp Hot Springs was the overall best location for a new maternity pen. Thick woods and a nearby stream deaden the sound, and it hasn't been an issue over the years, said Frances Swan, director of the Arrow Lakes Caribou Society. The bigger challenge is keeping an eye out for predators: bears, cougars, wolves and wolverines. Security cameras and traps, including a booby trap with bear spray, are set up nearby. A grizzly has been lurking lately. Within the electric fence, the pen is surrounded by a tall black tarp. Only staff shepherds are allowed inside to replenish feed in a manger. The shepherds oversee the day-to-day operation of the pen, working in shifts. Most of the work involves keeping track of each caribou from a lookout tower and documenting their health and habits. One of them, Sam Legebokow, said she enjoys the quiet solitude. "It feels magical to hear them," she said. "As they walk, you can hear their tendons snap." When the calves are a few weeks old, the herd will be released directly from the pen into the woods. Swan hopes to double the pen size later this summer. Indigenous stewardship In 1956, the Canadian government declared the Sinixt Indigenous people extinct. Their descendants survived, however, in Washington state, where many of them were forced south onto the Colville Reservation in the late 1800s. The territory of the Sinixt, also known as the Lakes Band, ranged from Kettle Falls in Washington to the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River north of Revelstoke, B.C. The area overlaps neatly with much of the southern mountain caribou range. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2021 that the Sinixt have constitutionally protected hunting rights on their ancestral land after Rick Desautel, a member of the Sinixt Band, killed an elk in a ceremonial hunt near Vallican, B.C., in 2010. The Sinixt Confederacy has since opened an office in Nelson, B.C., focused on natural resource conservation. "The stewardship of all natural and living things within our territory is our responsibility as a Native people — to take care of the animals because they take care of us," said Richard Whitney, director of the Colville Tribes' Fish and Wildlife Department. Whitney, who is named after his uncle Desautel, said it is better to address the underlying threats to endangered species by improving habitat rather than intervening. "It's unfortunate it is to the stage where maternity pens are needed," he said. "Interactions with humans is not the goal, but it is kind of a last effort to save them before they are lost even farther north." Both Whitney and Jarred-Michael Erickson, the chairman of the Colville Tribes, said they hope one day the population can return to a level where the caribou can be sustainably hunted again. "The tribes see first foods as medicine," Whitney said. "That is a medicine that our people haven't had for decades." Restoration outlook The caribou recovery faces many obstacles that led to their decline in the first place: habitat destruction from overdevelopment, roads and logging, climate change, encroaching predator populations that are out of balance, high-impact recreation and poaching. It's an uphill battle as caribou reproduce slowly, one calf at a time. The Arrow Lakes Caribou Society plans to shift more effort to habitat protection and recovery. Swan said the grassroots organization is unique because it has local buy-in from stakeholders with an interest in the land, including loggers and recreationists. The mountains near Nakusp are a popular destination for snowmobiling and heli-skiing. Throughout the year, an app tracks the herd's radio collar data and notifies recreationists what areas are off limits. "It's a flexible system where you can still have openings when caribou aren't in the area," said Swan, whose background is in forestry and land management. "I think it's a good modern way of dealing with things rather than just saying this entire huge area is closed." One other maternity pen still operating in British Columbia, north of Prince George, is a source of encouragement. "They started at the same population numbers that we have basically and now their population has grown significantly," Swan said. The Linfitt Pen released 21 female adults and 18 calves last summer. "So it does work," Swan said. James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Head Start program in Frederick County unaffected by federal funding freeze
Despite concerns across the country about federal funding for the school-readiness program Head Start, the YMCA of Frederick County's Head Start program is operating normally and fully funded. On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump's budget office issued a memorandum that required federal agencies to stop distributing federal funds and to review that the programs were consistent with Trump's policies. Head Start is a national, federally funded program that works to ready low-income infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children for school. In Frederick County, the Head Start program is operated through the YMCA of Frederick County. A memo dated Jan. 29 later clarified that funding for Head Start and other programs, such as programs for rental assistance and small businesses, would not be paused. Across the country, Head Start programs reported last week that they could not access a government website to obtain federal grants. Chris Colville, CEO and president of the YMCA of Frederick County, said in an interview last week that the county's Head Start program was unaffected by the funding freeze. She said the program is fully funded and services have not been disrupted. The YMCA of Frederick County operates the Head Start program at five locations in the city of Frederick. The full-day school-readiness program provides breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack during classroom hours and serves children ages 3 to 5, according to the YMCA of Frederick County's website. More than 150 children are enrolled in Head Start, according to Colville. They live in Frederick County and are not currently students of Frederick County Public Schools. Colville said that hen the initial memo that froze federal funds was released, "there was a bit of confusion" and were "some inconsistencies with the messaging in terms of what was happening." She said the organization had questions about if the Head Start program could continue without government funding, or if the program would have to be suspended. "So, we were kind of working on a Plan B. What does that look like if the funding doesn't continue?" Colville said. "But, right now, what I've told my staff is we're taking it one day at a time." She said the organization did not have any issues applying for or getting its Head Start program funding processed. Colville added that there are still challenges to running any program, and the organization is still concerned about "how any of the funding, even on a state level," could affect its services. "We're going to continue to provide the best program that we can, hoping that people understand the importance of this program and what it provides to the community," she said.
The Guardian
08-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Facebook is home to plenty of toxicity – but one Australian group shows kindness can go viral too
Naomi Colville said panic quickly set in when her neurodivergent daughter didn't come home after her first day of high school. 'My heart rate went up and I couldn't breathe,' she recalls. 'I thought, 'Oh my gosh, my 12-year-old daughter's in the wilderness somewhere', and I don't know where.' She was just about to contact police and send them a photo when her daughter walked through the front door, two hours late and completely unfazed. Colville's daughter had missed her bus stop, so she had walked several kilometres along the wrong side of the busy Surf Coast highway on a sweltering hot day. She later told her mum she planned to walk the whole way home – an additional 10km – to Geelong. But then a stranger, only known to Colville as Phoebe, pulled over, picked her stranded daughter up and drove her home. 'How many hundreds of vehicles were on that road for the three kilometres she was walking … how many cars actually drove past and thought, 'that's weird, well I'll keep driving',' Colville said. If drivers are concerned that someone is lost, a good strategy is to stop and ask if the person is OK, and even better to stay with them and call police. Still, Colville was very grateful her daughter was home – but she was in a bind. 'I didn't have any way of contacting Phoebe to say thank you,' she said. Instead, she posted an account of what had happened to a Facebook page called the Kindness Pandemic, with the 'hope the universe made it right with Phoebe'. 'It's comforting to know that the world is filled with humans who, when they see something not quite right or a person who might need help, step up,' she says.. The Facebook page, created in 2020 during the pandemic, now has over 520,000 members who continue to share stories of kindness. The founder of the page, Catherine Barrett, says she started it because people were becoming scared, anxious and aggressive during the pandemic and lockdowns. She recalls the stockpiling of toilet paper and a story of a supermarket cashier who had bruises up their arms. At its peak, Barrett says she was told by Facebook that Kindness Pandemic was the fastest-growing group in the world, sometimes gaining 50,000 new members a day. It grew so quickly the page glitched out, she says, prompting Facebook to assist. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion 'People came to our group because they were frightened and they needed each other, and we still do now.' Melissa Williams, who helps manage the page, says the power of social connectedness and its value to people is clear. 'It's more important now than ever,' she says. 'If lockdown taught us anything, it's how many people are experiencing social isolation and the detrimental effects that can have.' Williams runs the non-profit charity Positive Attitude Inc, originally formed to support men with HIV in the 1980s whose friends were 'dying all around them' and who 'didn't know how long they had'. Now, the charity coordinates free weekly lunches, with around 20 regular attenders, and a Christmas lunch. Those who come are mostly older long-term HIV survivors and for many it's a rare social outing, she says. 'We're like a family, their chosen family … they know we're a safe space for them, and they'll always get any support they need.' Another story shared in the Kindness Pandemic group is of a stranger mailing Sandy Roswell her lost wallet – with everything still in it. It reminded Roswell there are 'still honest and kind people out there'. The wallet was mailed a few months after it was lost, by which point Rowsell had accepted it was gone. 'It was a godsend, I couldn't believe it.'
