Latest news with #Halberd
Newsroom
23-07-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
Auckland's new cemetery dead and buried
Auckland Council has withdrawn its bid to forcibly acquire land in west Auckland for its much-needed new cemetery to replace Waikumete – stymied by iwi consultation failures and possible fast-track housing. The council told Land Information NZ and the Environment Court this week it is abandoning its attempt under the Public Works Act to compulsorily purchase land at 1080 State Highway 16 at Reweti, northwest Auckland, for the urgently needed cemetery. A report to Thursday's policy and planning committee says the council expects some public criticism because of the costs it has sunk so far in trying to secure the site, the first choice of 45 on an initial list formed years ago. From a shortlist of five, the council has been trying to buy the land for almost three years. The report, by Taryn Crewe, the council's general manager of parks and community facilities, says there remains an 'extreme shortage' of burial space in the west of Auckland. Waikumete, at Glen Eden, is the country's largest cemetery but has paused sales of adult burial slots for two years. The Reweti and owner Halberd Holdings had first refused to sell, then objected to the mandatory deal under that act, sending the matter to the Environment Court. At the court, local mana whenua groups objected, complaining the council had failed in its duties to consult on the cemetery plan. Federated Farmers also objected. The last straw for the council seems to have been Halberd moving to apply under the Fast-track Approvals Act for a green light to build houses on the land, with backing from the mana whenua groups. The council report says once that was known the council offered to withdraw the application if Halberd declined to seek costs from ratepayers, an offer which was accepted. Officers accept the consultation with mana whenua groups was deficient and say that was not realised until too late, after the Public Works Act compulsory acquisition demand was made. This increased the risk of not securing Resource Management Act approval to enable a cemetery on the land – which had been picked after considering essential cemetery pre-conditions such as soil types, flood plains, gradient, groundwater levels and the proximity of streams and rivers. 'Council staff met with mana whenua over the past few months to try to resolve their objections, but were not successful,' the note to councillors says. 'Taking all relevant factors into account, particularly the good faith relationships with our mana whenua partners, the decision was made not to proceed.' The fact the new land use under a likely Fast-Track Approvals Act application would involve a 'large number' of residential dwellings also weighed on the decision to abandon. As well, delays caused by court action and RMA objections could impact the urgent need for more burial spots in coming years. 'Council staff remain committed to continuing good faith engagement with mana whenua partners and progressing the urgent need to acquire land for cemetery purposes in northwest Auckland.' The report does not say if the other four properties shortlisted back in 2022/23 would still be available and pursued. RNZ reported in March that Waikumete Cemetery had paused the sale of adult burial plots until 2027 – when an additional 800 burial plots are set to be created. It quoted Crewe saying if the Reweti replacement fell over, there were other options. 'If something happens along the way where we weren't able to purchase that particular piece of land, work has been done to identify other areas,' Crewe said. 'But they're not the type of property we want compared to this one, we'd had to go back to the drawing board again and start that process again with other landowners.' He said legal issues had slowed the acquisition of new burial land. 'From the 2022 decision with the committee we hoped we could have progressed things with a willing seller and willing buyer way quicker, but that's just the nature of the process.'
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Progress Update on Halberd, Athena GTX and Athena Telemedicine Partnership, LLC Joint Projects
The US Government Granted Athena GTX a $2,866,000 Final Development Contract Award! JACKSON CENTER, Pa., March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Halberd Corporation (OTC: HALB) partnered with Athena GTX on a profit-sharing agreement over a year ago. This enabled Halberd to utilize Athena's expertise and experience in dealing with the federal government. Of the two technologies associated with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)/Suicide Ideation for which we chose to pursue government funding, Athena's success via the WatchDawg® Pilot Study was chosen to lead the Suicide Ideation treatment project, while Halberd, via the successful Mississippi State University initial animal tests, leads the TBI mitigation nasal spray development program. The website we established to do the hard work on market development and FDA clearance for our LDX adjunct treatment program is indeed now part of the Athena Telemedicine Partnership, LLC (ATP). That partnership involves the pharmacy, nutraceuticals, yoga/meditation, unique, wearable monitoring, and psychological therapists combining to service veteran mental health issues and suicidal ideation. This approach is significantly better, has been thoroughly documented as to clinical efficacy, and has permitted the filing of a provisional patent application based on the previous pilot study results. Finally, we are currently seeking near-term funding to execute the FDA clearance plan for LDX, including both a 30-50 participant Phase 1 clinical trial and then a 100-150 participant Phase 2 study. We are also awaiting key demographic studies with the indigenous American tribes both here in the continental USA and in Alaska. The rates of mental health issues, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation are very large in these demographic areas. These all are focused on obtaining the required safety and efficacy data for we need to get an FDA clearance via an expedited program this year. In light of government funding delays, we are negotiating with the private funding sector to support our ongoing work. Our plan for commercialization of our LDN+/LDX PTSD/Suicidal ideation treatment product is to move to compounded pharmacy formulations under the appropriate compounding laws, until FDA clearance for the proprietary LDN+/LDX combined drug is achieved. After finishing a comprehensive government and commercial market assessment, we discovered that the projections for potential commercial applications are significantly higher than originally thought. Concurrently, Halberd continues to lead the work with Mississippi State University on the TBI therapeutic nasal spray. In addition to pursuing government contracts, we have begun planning for Phase #2 animal studies. This nasal spray technology product is believed to require a longer-term development process, but we believe this product could offer an even greater market potential. We have pending government contract awards in this technology product and have completed critical proposals to support this work. We hope to hear positive response to our petitions shortly. On the positive side, the Athena GTX team was awarded a $2,866,000 final development contract for their work on their Smart Autonomous Critical Care System (S-ACCS). Two additional awards are now pending; one on the Athena GTX WatchDawg software patient-provider portal, and one on the Nasal Spray with the Halberd/Mississippi State University team. We recently submitted two of four new proposals to SOCOM for the technologies we are working on. This has our entire teams looking forward to even more contract awards for our combined technologies. To get the latest on Halberd's exciting developments, subscribe by submitting this form.( For more information please contact: William A. Hartman Mark Darrah, PhD Chairman, CEO, President, Halberd Corp. CEO Athena GTX mmdarrah@ support@ Twitter:@HalberdC About Athena GTX, GTX is a certified DoD small business with Corporate Headquarters in Johnston, Iowa. Athena focuses development on wearables and highly mobile, wirelessly connected monitoring technologies, and transitioning those to key markets to meet unmet needs of first responders worldwide. Wireless Patient Monitoring – Athena GTX connects patient and provider About - Athena GTX® Inc. About Halberd Corporation (OTC PINK: HALB), is a publicly traded company on the OTC Market, and is in full compliance with OTC Market reporting requirements. Since its restructuring in April of 2020, Halberd has obtained exclusive worldwide rights to three issued patents and has filed 22 related provisional, PCT, or utility patent applications to enhance its value to its stockholders and to attract the interests of potential development partners. Halberd's policy for responding to individual shareholder questions is to be responsive, while refraining from providing information which relates to or could compromise any information pertaining to trade secrets or that may otherwise compromise our competitive advantages. Simultaneously with such disclosure or potential disclosure, Halberd will make the responsive information public through a tweet, press release or some other form of social media/mass media communication. Certain statements contained herein are 'forward-looking statements' (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). The Company' cautions our readers that statements, and assumptions made in this news release constitute forward-looking statements and makes no guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties and associated estimates made by management. Actual results could differ materially from current projections or implied results. Halberd Corporation undertakes no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this news release. (C) 2025, Halberd CorporationSign in to access your portfolio
