14 Jan 2014

Summer Report: local papers

8:43 am on 14 January 2014

Tuesday's headlines: Long-lost wedding ring which recently resurfaced in a Dunedin; drugs found in suitcase by grandmother; total fire ban in Thames, Coromandel and Hauraki.

NZ Herald

'Gran finds drug stash in luggage' is the headline in The New Zealand Herald.

Gillian Rodgers, 74, from Auckland opened her suitcase on Saturday for a trip to Blenheim, four years after her last overseas trip, to discover $50,000 worth of amphetamine in a side pocket.

Dominion Post

The Dominion Post says the warmest winter on record, dramatic storms and a nasty drought punctuated one of the hottest years in more than a century.

Two centres recorded their highest temperatures on record: Masterton, and New Plymouth.

Climate scientists say temperatures will continue to rise, with 2013 the third hottest year since records began.

Waikato Times

The Waikato Times reports the north Waikato is drying out, prompting fears of another drought. The Thames Coromandel District appears to be the worst hit, where the council and neighbouring Hauraki District Council have imposed a total fire ban for the summer.

The Press

The Press reports that a silver watch given to Leo Lipp-Neighbours by his family on his birthday was at the centre of police raids trying to discover the fate of the missing Nelson teenager.

The Canterbury University engineering student, was last seen in Nelson in January 2010.

Investigators were acting after they received new information about the case.

ODT

'Wedding Band goes full circle' is the headline in The Otago Daily Times.

Mystery surrounds the movements of a long-lost wedding ring which recently resurfaced in a Dunedin garage, nearly 30 years after it went missing during a rugby match at Hancock Park.

Ian and Pieternella Shore, were stunned to receive an email from a stranger at the weekend, asking if they were the owners of a piece of jewellery they had thought was lost forever