Southland village proposes cat ban

August 28, 2018

A Southland community, Omaui, is proposing a ban on all new domestic cats, in the hope of protecting other wildlife in the area.

Biosecurity operations manager Ali Meade said the positive impact on the environment would be huge. Meade said trail cameras record cats and the damage they’re doing to the native flora and fauna.

There would be number of rules and regulations in place to monitor cat ownership in the area. Domestic cats will need to be microchipped and neutered. And once a cat dies, it will not be able to be replaced.

Omaui is located between Invercargill and Bluff.

NASA launch Sun probe

August 30, 2018

NASA has successfully launched its mission to send a satellite closer to the Sun than any before.

The Parker Solar Probe rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, on Sunday evening.

The probe is set to become the fastest-moving manmade object in history.

Its goal is to provide data about the Sun’s behaviour.

It is the first spacecraft to be named after a living person – astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 91, who first described solar wind in 1958.

What will the probe do?
The probe aims to dip directly into our star’s outer atmosphere, or corona.

It will zip past Venus in six weeks and make the first rendezvous with the Sun a further six weeks after that.

Over the course of seven years, Parker will make 24 loops around our star to study the physics of the corona, the place where much of the important activity that affects the Earth seems to originate.

The probe will dip inside this tenuous atmosphere, sampling conditions, and getting to just 6.16 million km from the Sun’s broiling “surface”.

It will also be the fastest human-made object ever, travelling around the Sun at speeds of up to 690,000km/hr. That is the same as traveling from Tokyo to New York in one minute.

Australian worker overpaid by $500,000

August 30, 2018

A worker in Australia has been paid more than 100 times their normal salary because of a decimal point in the wrong place.

The worker was meant to get a salary of A$4,921.76 but instead found A$492,176 (NZ$537,000) in their account.

The mistake was reported by the territory’s auditor-general who put it down to human error.

The honest worker didn’t spend any of the extra money and returned it four weeks later.

He would have returned it earlier but he was based in a remote area of the Northern Territory and had to travel to a bank.

Hmmmm…….. what would you do?

Meet New Zealand’s best pie makers

Tauranga’s Patrick Lam, is officially the king of New Zealand pies.

Last week he won has won his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award with a roast pork and creamy mushroom pie.

He has won the award more than any other competitor nationwide in the competition’s 22-year history.

He won the supreme award again in 2004 and 2009, with his creamy bacon, mushroom and cheese pie. In 2010 and 2016, his bacon and egg pie took out the top award.

As well as winning the supreme award, Lam’s roast pork and creamy mushroom pie also won the gourmet meat category.

Lam received a cheque for $7500 and a trophy, plus $1000 for each of the three gold awards he won in the bacon and egg, gourmet meat, and chicken and vegetable sections.

The competition featured 5491 other pies from around New Zealand

Jacinda Ardern returns as PM on Thursday

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will officially return from maternity leave early tomorrow (Thursday).

In fact, she will officially be Prime Minster again at midnight tonight, when Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters leaves the country.

However, she will not return to Wellington until next week. She will travel to Wellington on Saturday with her partner and baby and set up her family in the Prime Minister’s residence at Premier House.

Her Thursday return will come exactly six weeks after giving birth to her daughter Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford in June.

World ‘Cat of the Year’ announced

Theo, a cat from Worcestershire in the United Kingdom has been announced as Cat of the Year.

A panel of judges selected Theo for the top prize at the National Cat Awards, run by the Cats Protection League, at London’s Savoy Hotel.

Theo saved his owners’ life by keeping her awake when she suffered a blood clot.

Paramedics said without Theo’s actions, owner Charlotte Dixon may not have woken up again.

Unfortunately Theo, aged eight, died a week before the ceremony. However, he was still awarded the award.

Ms Dixon said: “All cats are amazing but I owe my life to Theo.I’m devastated that he’s gone but I’m so proud of him for winning”.