Latest news with #Dunedin
RNZ News
an hour ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Dunedin schoolgirl wins golf World Champs
A Dunedin schoolgirl has annihilated her rivals to walk away a winner at a golf tournament in Northern Ireland. Nine-year-old Joanna Ke lifted the trophy for her age-group at the world Champion of Champions tournament - with an eight shot advantage over the second place getter. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Warning after three injured trying to sort fires in Dunedin homes
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Three people have been badly injured in separate attempts to remove a burning mattress, dryer and pot of oil from their Dunedin homes. Fire and Emergency said they were lucky not to have been killed by the fires in recent weeks, with one person asleep in a house without working smoke alarms. Otago risk reduction advisor Matt Jones said people should not try to deal with fires themselves. "These people have sustained serious injuries, but we were fortunate to not be responding to fatal fires," he said. "Let this be a reminder to people that if a fire is bigger than a football, then you can't put it out. You must get out and stay out. That means closing the door to the room if safe to do so, getting everyone out of the house and calling 111. Let the firefighters do their job and put the fire out safely." Jones said the mattress fire was caused by a vape's battery overheating while charging on a bed. "That caused a very intense, hot fire inside the mattress," he said. "The person attempted to remove the mattress three times, but this put themselves and others in danger, not only from the fire, but from the toxic smoke being emitted. "Everything in that house can be replaced, except for the people inside. People should never risk their lives to save their property - it's just not worth it." The home did not have working smoke alarms, Jones said. "It was just fortunate the person arrived home when they did as there was another person asleep inside the house at the time," he said. FENZ recommended having working smoke alarms in all bedrooms, hallways and living areas and a three-step escape plan.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Golf: Dunedin golfing prodigy Joanna Ke wins world title, aged nine
New Zealand golfer Joanna Ke. Photo: Champions of Champions Dunedin schoolgirl Joanna Ke has annihilated her rivals to win the under-nine girls title at the world Champion of Champions golf tournament in Northern Ireland. Joanna finished a staggering eight strokes clear after the three-round tournament played over 27 holes at Lough Erne in County Fernmanagh. The nine-year-old had rounds of 36, 38 and 39 over the three days to finish four-over par. The tournament, which drew 260 junior golfers from 40 countries, had nine age-group categories. Joanna, who was born in China and attends Columba College in Dunedin, has been coached for the past two years by Otago professional Shelley Duncan. Duncan posted about the win on Instagram. "Awesome effort. Tough weather conditions on Friday, super proud of her." Joanna, who plays off a 12.9 handicap, gained entry into the world championship after finishing second at an Australian tournament. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Teen appealing conviction over stabbing of of Enere McLaren-Taana
The scene of the attack. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton The teenager who killed a Dunedin high school student is appealing his conviction and sentence. The now 14-year-old was found guilty of the manslaughter of 16-year-old Enere McLaren-Taana and sentenced to three years and three months in prison at the High Court in Dunedin last month. He was granted permanent name suppression, but Justice Osborne declined to discharge him without conviction despite acknowledging he might get deported. The Court of Appeal confirmed paperwork had been filed, but it could not share the grounds of the appeal. During his sentencing, the judge told the defendant that aggravating factors included carrying and concealing a long knife, that McLaren-Taana was unarmed and there was nothing to suggest he was threatening the defendant's life. Enere McLaren-Taana Photo: Facebook screenshot He acknowledged Enere McLaren-Taana's family pain and grief after losing a "young man of great promise" who was loved. After the sentencing, the victim's father said he didn't think the sentence was long enough. John McLaren told the court in his victim impact statement that Enere's death was "soul-crushing", saying he would never forget seeing his son on a trolley at the hospital and hearing his mum scream.
Otago Daily Times
14 hours ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Making the cut for colourful growth
Garden staff member Tom Myers looks at Cotinus Coggygria 'Royal Purple' at the Dunedin Botanic Garden. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH In the thematic area that runs along the boundary of Great King St we have changed the bark pathway to a hard surface as it can get quite boggy, especially in the winter months which made it difficult for wheelchairs/mobility scooters. At the same time, we narrowed the path in some areas to create more garden border which is noticeable with the extension to the autumn theme area which opens an opportunity to bring in new plants, so watch this space. You will notice there has been a lot of pruning in the past month. In the colour/variegated foliage theme, several shrubs have been pruned very hard, such as the Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea', B. thunbergii 'Rose Glow' and Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' has been pollarded back to the main framework. This technique will also be used on some of the shrubs in the autumn theme, especially the Cornus species that are grown for their coloured stems. The main principal behind this is to encourage a lot of new growth in spring that intensifies the colour of the shrubs by creating a large amount of foliage in a smaller area. The same has happened to Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus' and Weigela 'Florida Variegata' where we sacrificed the flowering to gain the leaf colour intensity of the shrubs. The next area for an uplift will be the area of the fragrant/scented theme on either side of the pedestrian walkway off Great King St where several plants have seen better days. As collection curators we are always mindful plant borders/collections are the botanic garden's shop windows, so they do need changing or rearranging to keep luring people back. Next time you're visiting, head to the themes collection to see what changes you can spot. David Askin is the themes collection curator at Dunedin Botanic Garden.
