4 Oct 2011

Morning Report: local papers

6:54 am on 4 October 2011

Tuesday's headlines: Mystery ommission from phone book; voluntary redundancies sought at Canterbury University; merino ewes worth $40,000 have been stolen from Ribbonwood Station at Omarama.

NZ Herald

[The New Zealand Herald reports the Government and the Auckland Council are spending an extra $5.5 million on the Rugby World Cup to prevent a repetition of the problems experienced on the opening night.

A new fan zone will be built at the Wynyard Quarter, while the capacity of the fan zone at the Mangere Town Centre will be doubled.

And reporting on Dan Carter's media conference on his injury, the paper says his voice quivered as he told reporters "obviously it's pretty gut-wrenching".

The Waikato Times

The Waikato Times says the mother of a Ngaruawahia baby who died in suspicious circumstances is again pregnant. Chelsea Scott says she and her partner are fit people to be parents.

Police have investigated the death of six-month-old Serenity Scott from head injuries, but no-one has been charged over the incident.

And the paper talks to Jim Wright, 93, of Taupiri who has been living at the same address since 1938, but was left out of this year's phone book. The omission is as yet unexplained.

Dominion Post

The Dominion Post leads with the family of an RNZAF sergeant injured in a helicopter accident last year being excluded from a special briefing on the investigation into the crash.

Stevin Creeggan was severely injured in the crash at Pukerua Bay on Anzac Day last year, but his parents will not get the chance to see an early copy of the report.

Dan Carter is also on the front page, accompanied by a diagram of his torn muscle.

The Press

The Press leads on growing support for All Black first five eighths Colin Slade. The paper talks to former coaches and his mother about his development as a player.

And the University of Canterbury is calling for staff to take voluntary redundancy. The university is struggling to balance the books after losing students because of the earthquake. It's lost 25% of its first year students.

ODT

The Otago Daily Times leads with Dunedin's World Cup game at the weekend between Ireland and Italy being declared a great success. Some 100,000 people attended Dunedin's four Cup games.

A man has been charged with assault after a woman was declared dead in Balclutha on Monday, following a domestic incident.

And about 200 in-lamb merino ewes worth as much as $40,000 in total have been stolen from Ribbonwood Station at Omarama.