Latest news with #FirstUp
Scoop
a day ago
- Business
- Scoop
Nicola Willis To Ask Fonterra About High Price Of Butter
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will be asking Fonterra about the high retail price of butter in New Zealand. Willis told First Up it didn't seem quite right that butter seemed to be cheaper in Australian supermarkets. The price of a block of butter is now 120 percent higher than it was a decade ago, Stats NZ says. In the year to June it was up 46.5 percent to $8.60 for a 500g block. At her regular meeting with the dairy co-operative on Tuesday evening she would be discussing what gets added to the cost by retail brands, including Fonterra's Anchor, and at the wholesale level. "My frustration has been when you sometimes go on to an Australian supermarket website and see that butter appears to be cheaper there than in New Zealand, that doesn't seem quite right. So that's exactly the conversation I want to have." "They'll have the opportunity to set out their case." It was well understood the main driver of prices for dairy products was international demand and pricing, Willis said. "But competition at the retail level does seem to have an effect on price, because organisations like Costco choose to have a really low price point on that product to get people in the door and the ultimate winner of all of that is the Kiwi shopper. "So I'm talking to Fonterra about what they're seeing in terms of the supermarket pricing behaviour, what the margins are." In May, Costco Auckland's special pricing saw queues out the door. Federated Farmers dairy chair Karl Dean has urged retailers to lower prices quickly when costs go down, and said there was probably very little Fonterra itself could do. "To put in it in perspective, there hasn't been any new players onto the domestic market in the last 10 years in terms of butter, other than the likes of Westgold - Westland have got their very premium product," he told Morning Report last week.
Toronto Star
14-07-2025
- Climate
- Toronto Star
The waterfront's missing transit line + Police search for suspect in ‘brazen' Hamilton shooting
Good morning. This is the Monday, July 14 edition of First Up, the Star's daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox. Toronto and GTA residents are waking up to a hazy morning. Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement last night as smoke from forest fires in Northern Ontario blows in. Here's how you can breathe safe today.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Erik Karlsson could be the key for the Toronto Maple Leafs as Morgan Rielly struggles on the power play
Erik Karlsson could be the key for the Toronto Maple Leafs as Morgan Rielly struggles on the power play (Image Via Twitter) Going into this offseason with big decisions to make in re-tooling the special teams, Morgan Rielly has failed the power play despite being already locked into a huge contract worth $60 million. Ex-NHLer Carlo Colaiacovo has set forth the possibility of trading for Erik Karlsson as the answer. Karlsson's experience and service as the power-play quarterback will, of course, offer a much-needed uplift to the Leafs in the absence of Mitch Marner, who was previously doing the ticking of that box. Carlo Colaiacovo's prime suggestion: Erik Karlsson in for Morgan Rielly at Toronto Maple Leafs ' top power play — KidKool4U (@KidKool4U) Carlo Colaiacovo, a former Leafs defenseman, now a media analyst in the Toronto area, has ignited some discussion with his provocative proposal: trade for Erik Karlsson to revitalize the team's stagnant power play. Colaiacovo was talking on the "First Up" podcast. He stated how the Leafs do not have a defender right now that possesses the ability to effectively quarterback a power-play unit, and that was a void Karlsson could plug immediately. Last season, the Maple Leafs tried to put forward Mitch Marner in the position of power-play quarterback, thereby sitting Morgan Rielly, who was in his eighth year of a $60 million contract. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like So sánh mức trượt giá: Hợp đồng tương lai (CFD) Bitcoin vs Ethereum IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo With Marner no longer on the roster, the issue of setting an ideal candidate that commands the top unit is now again in the spotlight. Karlsson's offensive ability on the blue line and his bargain-basement one-year term make him an obvious trade target, according to Colaiacovo. Karlsson, now 35, came off a very productive year in Pittsburgh, putting up 53 points in 82 games. On paper, Karlsson remains a long-term 7-figure signed contract defenseman initially signed by the San Jose Sharks; however, with just one-year left on that contract, Toronto has the opportunity to acquire him for a much lower cap hit. Meanwhile, the Leafs made a splash by trading veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Henry Thrun. Reaves, the enforcer, entered last season on his last year of a three-year, $4.05 million deal, with barely any impact throughout the previous season. Mike Grier, GM, mentioned Reaves' attributes of experience and toughness while Denmark complimented his positive influence in the dressing rooms of the multiple teams with which he has been affiliated: Rangers and Blues. Also Read: Anthony Stolarz may be closing in on a massive extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs With Mitch Marner out of the equation and Morgan Rielly still not locking the power play down, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in desperate need of a solution. Karlsson may just be it. Whether or not the team heeds Carlo Colaiacovo's advice, we all know the mere discussion is a breath of fresh air into Toronto's offseason storyline. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Manika Batra's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 3. Watch Here!
Scoop
07-07-2025
- Automotive
- Scoop
How Effective Has The Road Cone Hotline Been?
More than 650 reports have been made to the road cone hotline within its first month, but how effective has it been on the streets of Auckland? It is lunchtime in central Auckland, and the Wellesley Street Upgrade project is well underway. One day it will be a connection to the City Rail Link - but right now there is construction noise and a bright orange line of road cones. "We work around here, so it's been like this forever. Just used to it now, but looking forward for them to go away," a woman who was heading out for lunch told First Up. Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke Van Velden announced significant shifts to rebalance WorkSafe's focus last month, kicking off with a road cone hotline. On the streets of Auckland, attitudes towards the hotline - which is actually an online form - were mixed. Some welcomed it. "I've been tempted (to report)," said one person. "I think there are way too many of them (road cones), I think they are overused." Some opposed it. "There's an excessive focus on road cones. They are a sign of progress, I love progress so I have no problem with excessive road cones." Some were not sure whether that was the solution to their problems. "Auckland has a lot of road works, but I don't know if I would call a hotline." Since launching in June, the hotline received nearly 400 valid reports in week one, 126 in week two, 71 in week three and 70 in week four. Road controlling authorities say The digital hotline collects complaints and sends reports to road controlling authorities. Among all road controlling authorities, Auckland Transport received the most complaints, with nearly 200 reported. Auckland Transport group manager for road corridor access Tracey Berkahn said she was not surprised. "I think that's fairly expected because we're the largest city, we've got the most people and we've also got quite a lot of development going on. So there are a lot of work sites." Berkahn said investigating all of the complaints had created quite a bit of extra work for her team of six, but it had led to improvements. "We had one particular case in Albany where it was in a business area where there was a piece of electrical maintenance work being done. We had diggers and generators and tools on site. But when we went out, we realised that the site probably had about 30 too many cones. The work site was larger than the plan what's submitted to us for approval, and we talked to the site supervisor and they removed about 30 cones to make that site smaller, to be less disruptive on the businesses and the motorists in the area." Berkahn said on an average day, there were 2000 active sites in Auckland. Among the 200 sites investigated from the hotline reports, 30-40 percent of them had either too many or too few cones. "Quite often when we go out (to investigate), we find where the customer thinks there are too many cones, it might be that there's been a lane created for pedestrians. And if you're driving past in a car, all you can see are orange cones. But if you're walking down that lane as a pedestrian, you're much safer because you're kept away from the machinery on the work site and the cars on the road are kept away from you." Berkahn said Auckland Transport had an existing cone reporting system, but the hotline generated greater public awareness. "The one thing that I would like listeners to understand is that it's been really positive having this relationship with WorkSafe and being able to contact customers about their queries and explain sometimes why those sites are necessary and how they're providing safety." Wellington City Council received 57 complaints in the first week but after a month that had dropped to just 8. The council declined to be interviewed but in a statement said they believed complaints had fallen because the novelty of the hotline is wearing off, and that no cones has been removed due to a hotline report. Meanwhile, Christchurch City Council has received 40 complaints. In a statement, transport operations manager Stephen Wright sid while they found most of the sites were compliant, any issue that needed to be addressed by the contractor were discussed from an education approach in the first instance, but it was up to the contractor to decide whether the cones were needed or not. NZTA, who received the 140 complaints, did not respond to First Up's request for comment. Word on the streets Back on the streets, Temporary Traffic Management workers were split on whether the road cones themselves - and the hotline - worked. "I think there's too many of them and it's a great idea there is an 0800 number," a worker with four years' experience in site management told First Up. "I think that (the hotline) is an overkill. There isn't a problem unless it's blocking a car park or it's limiting businesses to customers. Now I think the problem is people like myself are kind of bending those rules - more cones have been putting out than what's needed and some don't pick up their gear after they've finished their site. But then the other flip side to that coin is gear getting stolen, so therefore what was safe before was not safe anymore because there weren't enough cones. "If it weren't for people like me, people would be driving into trenches and driving into holes," a TTM manager with more than 10 years of experience told First Up. RNZ asked another worker how he would feel if I took half of the cones away from his site. It was a definite "no" from him. He said sometimes when pedestrians saw a gap between the cones they would try to cross the road, and the closely lined up cones kept pedestrians safe and made sure they followed the rules. WorkSafe said the road cone hotline will be reviewed at the end of the year.
Toronto Star
18-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
John Tory's eyeing a return to city hall + Internal data shows wide gaps in pregnancy rates at fertility clinics
Good morning. This is the Wednesday, June 18 edition of First Up, the Star's daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox. It looks like we're in for an extra-hot start to summer in Toronto. Here's what you need to know. And here's the latest on John Tory's potential return to city hall, what data reveals about Ontario fertility clinics, and why a Toronto man is stranded in Iran. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW DON'T MISS John Tory is weighing a city hall comeback Insiders say Tory is eyeing a 2026 mayoral run. Here's what we know. Edward Keenan: Could we see Olivia Chow vs. John Tory in next year's Toronto mayoral race? Here's what it might look like Mayor John Tory steps down from office after admitting he had relationship with staffer Internal data reveals stark contrasts in pregnancy rates at fertility clinics Here's what the data — which patients don't have access to — reveals about clinics' success rates. Disturbing errors at Ontario fertility clinics destroy couples' baby dreams years after province abandoned oversight plans This Toronto man is stranded in Iran Hossein Khodabakhsh travelled to Tehran to visit his sick mother. Now he's stuck. The Latest: Israel strikes Tehran for a sixth day as Iranian casualties rise WHAT ELSE French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Tuesday. LUDOVIC MARIN AFP via Getty Images World leaders were unable to convince Donald Trump to sign a joint G7 declaration of support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to take questions from international journalists. Donald Trump said Canada will get a 'much better deal' if it becomes the 51st American state. David Olive: National unity is at stake in the war of wills between Carney's energy dreams and Smith's pipeline populism. This formerly homeless man is teaching kids how to heal from trauma — with improv. The cop who assaulted Brampton teen Chadd Facey is set to be sentenced today. A gang of 'stupid criminals' allegedly tried to steal a car from Doug Ford's driveway. Meanwhile, Ford voiced support for a man who allegedly shot a gun to ward off attempted carjackers. Eglinton Crosstown LRT train operations have been transferred to TTC. Here's what comes next. A real estate investment firm bought an aging, 'luxury' apartment building in midtown. Here's what happened next. Wine sales at the LCBO fell as U.S. imports to Canada plunged 94 per cent. Shellene Drakes-Tull: Here's why that crass sticker on your bumper can snowball into something darker. POV The Blue Jays were maligned for sending Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno to the Diamondbacks. Two years later, both teams are happy with the trade. CLOSE UP Members of the Florida Panthers celebrate their victory over the Edmonton Oilers with a final score of 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena Tuesday. Mike Carlson Getty Images SUNRISE: The Florida Panthers celebrate their second straight Stanley Cup victory. The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final last night. Here's Bruce Arthur's take on another loss for a Canadian team. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@ I will see you back here tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
