Latest news with #Polynesian
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Transport And Infrastructure Committee Opens Inquiry Into Ports And The Maritime Sector
Parliament's Transport and Infrastructure Committee has formally launched an inquiry into the nation's ports and the maritime sector. The committee is acutely aware that, as an island nation with a trade-dependent economy, efficient and competitive ports and marine industries are essential to sustaining economic growth and prosperity. Andy Foster, chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee said: 'From the first explorers, Polynesian and European, the sea has always been vitally important to New Zealand. We are a trading nation. Our ports are critical to exports and imports alike. Having myself visited most of our ports already, I am very aware of the diversity of our ports. They are of widely differing scale. They have different functions in the national maritime system. They compete and they collaborate. They serve quite different regional economies, and have varying maritime focus, and both unique and shared opportunities and challenges.' 'The committee is aware that the Government is very focused on lifting productivity and economic performance. That is essential to lifting every New Zealanders standard of living. To this end, through this inquiry we will be seeking opportunities to help raise the performance of our ports and maritime sector and therefore help benefit our export producers and importers alike.' The committee has established this Inquiry to examine the current state of play, challenges, and future opportunities within the ports and maritime sectors. This includes key connections to the ports' respective land and maritime hinterland economies, their transport connections and inland ports. The committee intends to meet with key players and interested parties across the sector and to undertake site visits as appropriate to further its understanding. Public submissions are also being called from interested individuals and organisations. Public submissions will be open for six weeks and will close at 11.59pm on Sunday, 13 July 2025. The committee's intention is to follow up on submissions where these will add to our understanding of the sector. terms of reference. Make a submission on the inquiry by 11.59pm on Sunday, 13 July 2025.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Here's why Puka Nacua was excused from Rams' first OTA for a 'pretty cool opportunity'
Here's why Puka Nacua was excused from Rams' first OTA for a 'pretty cool opportunity' Nacua had a trip planned with his mom months ago, so he was excused from Day 1 of OTAs Puka Nacua was absent from the Los Angeles Rams' first day of OTAs on Wednesday, but it's not anything that caught the team off guard. In fact, Sean McVay knew for months that Nacua wouldn't be able to attend the start of OTAs. After the team's first practice on Wednesday, McVay shed some light on the reason for Nacua's excused absence. He said the receiver had a 'pretty cool opportunity' to travel with his mom, which Nacua has shared photos and videos of on his Instagram story recently. Nacua was getting back on Wednesday, which is why he missed practice, but he'll be participating in everything moving forward. 'Oh yeah, this was months ago,' McVay said. 'He's traveling with his family, pretty cool opportunity. Got to be able to go travel with his mom. He was getting back today. He'll be here so he's done a great job of communicating a couple months ago.' One of the places Nacua posted on Instagram during his travels was Samoa, which is a special place for him being of Samoan descent. Though he grew up in Provo, Utah, he's proud of his Polynesian heritage so traveling back to where his family is from was likely incredible for him and his mom. Now that he's back in Los Angeles, expect to see Nacua on the field with his teammates again. Follow Rams Wire on X, Facebook and Threads for more coverage!
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Some newer food truck options in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – As we get closer to warmer temps and summertime, many people might be looking forward to some street food within Sioux Falls. Los Bros Tacos opened just two months ago. You can find it on South Ellis Road serving up some authentic Mexican dishes. 'We've always enjoyed my mother's cooking. I like to cook like her so I want to share it, I suppose, with other people since we feel like it's a good mix of spices and fresh vegetables and meats,' Ramon Barraza, owner of Los Bros Tacos, said.' My mom's from Mexico so it's some authentic, home-cooked Mexican recipes from her mother and so on.' Barraza is looking forward to the summer months in the truck with his family. 'We're a family-owned business. I do this with my mom and my brothers and my own son,' Barraza said. Another food truck you can check out this summer is 605 Island Guy. This truck has been around a little longer, coming up on its one year anniversary, but it does offer something newer to the area with it's Hawaiian and Polynesian flavors. 'Bringing the island flavor to South Dakota but with different twists here and there,' Nefu Mageo, owner of 605 Island Guy, said. Mageo used to run a restaurant at Lake Madison before taking to the streets. 'I love it, I love it. It's giving me the joy that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want and yet you got your kids with you, you family working with you. It's the best thing there is,' Mageo said. You can find him at various spots during the week and at some summer events. 'Just come out and try the different flavor of island style and, you know, I bring a different island vibe to food trucks around town here. So, just something different if you want to try something different,' Mageo said. Another new food truck option in Sioux Falls this summer comes from a familiar name — Valentino's has opened a truck to go along with its restaurant. You can keep up with many of the area's food trucks through the online street food finder. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
A knee injury cost Steelers' Troy Fautanu his rookie season. Hitting reset wasn't easy
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The moment when Troy Fautanu's rookie season came to a painful halt is seared into his brain. Asked to relive it on Wednesday after a rainy organized team activity, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle lifted his massive right hand and pointed toward one of the far end zones in the fields tucked behind the club's practice facility. It was a Friday in late September. The 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft was coming off the first start of his career in Week 2 against Denver, fully healed from a sprained left knee that forced him to miss most of the preseason. Fautanu trotted onto the practice field with the rest of the offense for a series of 2-point conversion drills called 'seven shots.' Fautanu backpedaled to set up in pass protection when his right knee 'got caught up in the ground weird.' The rest of his 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame kept moving. His leg did not. The result? A tear in the ligament designed to keep the knee stable. Season-ending surgery soon followed, with lingering doubts about whether he could make it back not far behind. 'There were a lot of nights where you can't really see the light on the other side of the tunnel,' Fautanu said. It wasn't just the daunting physical rehab, but the emotional toll that came along with it. He knew as a first-round pick, that his job was to get on the field as quickly as possible. Now that was gone. He had already bought tickets for his family to come watch him play. Now they would hop on planes to watch him stand on the sidelines in sweats instead of on the field in his No. 76 uniform. For a player of Polynesian descent who counts Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu as one of his role models, and who had never really been hurt before and now found himself recovering a couple of thousand miles from home. It felt extraordinarily difficult in the moment. Looking back now, he believes it was also one of growth. He realized — with the help of nearly daily phone calls with his mother, Ma, — that he needed to stop trying to fast-forward to the end and lean into the healing process instead. 'I would say I was my biggest enemy sometimes, thinking about the future when really I had to just lock into what was going on that day," Fautanu said. 'But I felt like once I did lock in and really just focus on the day to day, I really like turned a corner on my recovery.' The Steelers feel confident enough in Fautanu's recovery that they have finally executed a long-gestating plan to have Fautanu start at right tackle with Broderick Jones — their top pick in 2023 — moving to left tackle. (The real beneficiary of Fautanu's misfortune may be Dan Moore Jr., who held down left tackle all of last season when Jones was forced to stay on the right side with Fautanu out. Moore signed a massive four-year deal with Tennessee in March.) The plan is to bring Fautanu along slowly. It's a plan Fautanu is fully on board with, though he'd be lying if he wanted to throw caution to the wind when that familiar adrenaline spike hit the first time he lined up when OTAs began on Tuesday. 'Once I took that first rep, it's like ... 'I don't want to get out. I don't want to want to get out,'' Fautanu said with a laugh, covering his mouth briefly after uttering an expletive to punctuate his point. 'So yeah, it's also like trying to be smart, but I'm a competitor, man. I love being out there.' So do the Steelers, who have invested heavily in the offensive line in recent years while their search for a franchise quarterback continues. If all goes as planned, Jones and Fautanu will serve as the bookends, with second-year center Zach Frazier in the middle, flanked by second-year guard Mason McCormick and veteran Isaac Seumalo. Fautanu doesn't think it will take long for the group to gel, in part because they're already 'super tight,' a bond that firmly took hold last fall as he navigated an uncertain path back to the field that was for more daunting than he anticipated. It wasn't fun. But it might have been necessary for someone who believes everything happens for a reason. 'It made me more hungry than I already was, and I was pretty damn ready to play,' he said. 'But yeah, I mean those nights sitting in my room like man, am I gonna come back, this, that and the other. There's a whole lot of thoughts going through my head, but at the end of the day I made it through and I feel like that's what made me stronger. That's what's going to make me and feel me to play the best that I can for this team."
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
A knee injury cost Steelers' Troy Fautanu his rookie season. Hitting reset wasn't easy
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The moment when Troy Fautanu's rookie season came to a painful halt is seared into his brain. Asked to relive it on Wednesday after a rainy organized team activity, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle lifted his massive right hand and pointed toward one of the far end zones in the fields tucked behind the club's practice facility. It was a Friday in late September. The 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft was coming off the first start of his career in Week 2 against Denver, fully healed from a sprained left knee that forced him to miss most of the preseason. Fautanu trotted onto the practice field with the rest of the offense for a series of 2-point conversion drills called 'seven shots.' Fautanu backpedaled to set up in pass protection when his right knee 'got caught up in the ground weird.' The rest of his 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame kept moving. His leg did not. The result? A tear in the ligament designed to keep the knee stable. Season-ending surgery soon followed, with lingering doubts about whether he could make it back not far behind. 'There were a lot of nights where you can't really see the light on the other side of the tunnel,' Fautanu said. It wasn't just the daunting physical rehab, but the emotional toll that came along with it. He knew as a first-round pick, that his job was to get on the field as quickly as possible. Now that was gone. He had already bought tickets for his family to come watch him play. Now they would hop on planes to watch him stand on the sidelines in sweats instead of on the field in his No. 76 uniform. For a player of Polynesian descent who counts Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu as one of his role models, and who had never really been hurt before and now found himself recovering a couple of thousand miles from home. It felt extraordinarily difficult in the moment. Looking back now, he believes it was also one of growth. He realized — with the help of nearly daily phone calls with his mother, Ma, — that he needed to stop trying to fast-forward to the end and lean into the healing process instead. 'I would say I was my biggest enemy sometimes, thinking about the future when really I had to just lock into what was going on that day,' Fautanu said. 'But I felt like once I did lock in and really just focus on the day to day, I really like turned a corner on my recovery.' The Steelers feel confident enough in Fautanu's recovery that they have finally executed a long-gestating plan to have Fautanu start at right tackle with Broderick Jones — their top pick in 2023 — moving to left tackle. (The real beneficiary of Fautanu's misfortune may be Dan Moore Jr., who held down left tackle all of last season when Jones was forced to stay on the right side with Fautanu out. Moore signed a massive four-year deal with Tennessee in March.) The plan is to bring Fautanu along slowly. It's a plan Fautanu is fully on board with, though he'd be lying if he wanted to throw caution to the wind when that familiar adrenaline spike hit the first time he lined up when OTAs began on Tuesday. 'Once I took that first rep, it's like … 'I don't want to get out. I don't want to want to get out,'' Fautanu said with a laugh, covering his mouth briefly after uttering an expletive to punctuate his point. 'So yeah, it's also like trying to be smart, but I'm a competitor, man. I love being out there.' So do the Steelers, who have invested heavily in the offensive line in recent years while their search for a franchise quarterback continues. If all goes as planned, Jones and Fautanu will serve as the bookends, with second-year center Zach Frazier in the middle, flanked by second-year guard Mason McCormick and veteran Isaac Seumalo. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Fautanu doesn't think it will take long for the group to gel, in part because they're already 'super tight,' a bond that firmly took hold last fall as he navigated an uncertain path back to the field that was for more daunting than he anticipated. It wasn't fun. But it might have been necessary for someone who believes everything happens for a reason. 'It made me more hungry than I already was, and I was pretty damn ready to play,' he said. 'But yeah, I mean those nights sitting in my room like man, am I gonna come back, this, that and the other. There's a whole lot of thoughts going through my head, but at the end of the day I made it through and I feel like that's what made me stronger. That's what's going to make me and feel me to play the best that I can for this team.' ___ AP NFL:
