19 Feb 2013

Morning Report: local papers

6:48 am on 19 February 2013

Tuesday's headlines: Death of radio legend Kevin Black; University of Otago first year students welcomed to Dunedin as new citizens and not tourists; woman arrested for being drunk and disorderly on a horse.

NZ Herald

The New Zealand Herald leads with three sons of anti-violence campaigner Hinewhare Harawira facing charges over an assault on a boy. Police allege the three men chased the boy, aged 12, to his house before assaulting him and taking some of his possessions.

Radio legend Kevin Black has died suddenly at his Remuera homes following a suspected heart attack.

The Waikato Times

The Waikato Times reports on a new study that found a link between television watching as children and criminal behaviour as adults.

The study, part of a longitudinal study into 1000 children born in Dunedin in 1972-73, found that increased television watching led to antisocial behaviour.

And the paper has a photo of Reuben Andrews, 14, who is the envy of his classmates after managing to catch a ball at the boundary ropes in the one day international against England.

Dominion Post

The Dominion Post leads with the mother of a teenager who almost died after an accident near Napier in June last year, receiving a bill from the New Zealand Transport Agency for over $13000. The amount was to cover the cost of contractors, traffic control and cleanup for the four hours the road was closed.

And the paper has more on the study linking television watching to criminal activity, saying the risk of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood increased by about 30% with every hour children and teens spent watching TV on an average weeknight.

The Press

Under the headline "Schools: Joy and despair", The Press has Monday's announcement by Education Minister Hekia Parata that seven schools will close and a further 12 will merge to create six.

But the paper asks given that 12 other schools have been given a reprieve were the months of uncertainty and pain necessary?

And the paper reports on an intoxicated woman who was arrested for being drunk and disorderly on a horse. The woman rode the horse to Revingtons Hotel in Greymouth and tethered it outside before offering rides to other patrons.

ODT

The Otago Daily Times leads with a midwife in Queenstown facing a charge of professional misconduct after a "cluster" of errors including leaving the mother without cutting the umbilical cord or delivering the placenta and not clearing the baby's mouth and nose of mucus.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull is pictured welcoming first year students to the University of Otago - saying they are new citizens and not tourists.