Latest news with #HawkesBay
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Dog's bite pulls Wairoa great-grandmother off mobility scooter
Carol Stewart was left with horrific injuries after a dog pulled her off her scooter in Murraee Street, Wairoa. Inset: The dog that attacked her has been euthanised. Photo: Supplied A great-grandmother screamed for help and prayed that dogs in attack mode wouldn't go for her face as one sank its teeth into her arm and dragged her off her mobility scooter. Carol Stewart, 63, was flown to Hawke's Bay Hospital with serious bite wounds to her legs and arms after the attack on a Wairoa street just before 2pm on Tuesday. The bites on her arm will require skin grafts. From her hospital bed, she told Local Democracy Reporting she had been complaining for "weeks" about roaming dogs in the area. Wairoa District Council said its staff had impounded two dogs following the attack on Murraee Street. They have since been euthanised. Wairoa mayor Craig Little said the council had "zero tolerance" for dogs that attack. "All dog owners need to be responsible for looking after their dogs to prevent random attacks like this, which can be life-changing for the victims, their families and those involved," Little said. "We need our streets to be safe for everyone. We also need to remember that while it is dogs that attack, it is the owner's responsibility to ensure their dogs are secured and kept under control at all times. "You know if you have a vicious dog. Why do you keep it?" Carol said when she saw two dogs coming at her, she "knew there was no getting out of it". She managed to shoo the first one away. "But the second one was in full flight straight at me. I used my leg to kick it one away, but then it latched onto my arm and was throwing its head from side to side. "I'm by no means a small person, but it dragged me to the ground. "All I could think of as I screamed for help, was please don't go for my face. It was horrific. "The pain was out of this world. I'd rather give birth." A neighbour heard her calls for help and came running. "I could see he was thinking, 'how am I going to get this dog off her?' "He grabbed its tail and pulled. When it let go, it turned to attack him and then suddenly just ran off." Carol called her daughter, Rebecca, immediately after the attack in a delirious state. "I couldn't understand what had happened, but my partner drove me to her," Rebecca said. "Then he took our car to scare the dog off as it was hanging around down the street. "He ended up sliding into a ditch and crashing the car. The police arrived, towed the car out and then came down to where we were." The car was written off. Rebecca said an ambulance had been called, but the police helped Carol into their ute and drove her to Wairoa Hospital. She was later flown to Hawke's Bay Hospital. Carol said one of the dogs, the one she had shooed away, had been on her property "numerous times" and she had made complaints about it to Wairoa District Council. Carol said she was fortunate her five-year-old great-grandson wasn't with her. "I pick up my great-grandson from school. But for some reason on Tuesday, I got to the school and realised I was more than an hour early. So I was on my way home when the dog attacked me." She says there's "no way in hell" she's going out on the streets again on her scooter. She said roaming dogs in Wairoa were out of control. "It's beyond words that people even have menacing dogs. If it had been a kid that was attacked, they would be dead." She said the dog's owner had since come to see her in hospital. "I wasn't going to see him, but then I thought it would be a good idea for him to see what his dog had done. But typical of me, I ended up feeling sorry for him." Carol said she was unsure what the skin grafts will involve or how long she will be in hospital. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Music licenser chasing up hundreds of businesses for playing music in the workplace
All commercial businesses, including offices and trade sites, are required to pay a licencing fee, with any music played for non-personal use. (File photo) Photo: Eric Nopanen / Unsplash A music licensing organisation is chasing up hundreds of businesses a week asking them to pay-up for the tunes they are using, so that artists get what they are owed. OneMusic licences certain music for use in commerical settings like pubs, club, offices, hairdressers, gym and factories, nearly anything outside of personal use. Charges vary, playing the radio in a factory with 72 workers would cost $49 a month for licence, a gym with 500 members would pay about $104 dollars a month. OneMusic Director, Greer Davies told Checkpoint music licencing had been around for a while, and the company saw a huge lack of awareness from businesses. "It comes down to a lack of education and so our team are continually contacting businesses to educate them about the use of music and their legal requirements for music creators." "OneMusic's been around for 13 years but music licencing existed prior to that as well, and it's an it's an education that we need to take people on." Davies said they were speaking to hundreds of different businesses a week, aiming to educate them about the licencing programme. One of those business owners was a Hawkes Bay florist who told Checkpoint she was called by OneMusic to see if she was paying licence fees , which she wasn't. Francie Croy said she listened to the radio on her phone out the back of her Waipukurau shop, but the music licensing organisation told her she must buy a licence or turn the music off. "No one out front of the shop can hear it, but she said to me that I would still have a licence to have to do that because sometimes Newstalk ZB plays music." She said after the phone call she was sent another email from OneMusic. "It was a certificate thing, saying this is confirmation that you have advised us that you do not play music in your business and will not play music represented by this place. "It includes television, radio stations, apps, digital music services, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, CD's, DVD's, Blu-ray, vinyl and cassette tapes, and the list goes on." Croy said she had no idea that being charged for playing music at her business was even a possibility. All commercial businesses, including offices and trade sites, were required to pay the licencing fee, with any music played for non-personal use. Although the licence covered a large variety of circumstances, Davies said they had a specific focus on a group of businesses. "Our current focus is educating business owners across hospitality, retail, service providers and exercise." Croy said she was shocked by the request from OneMusic, which a few other businesses in the area also received. She said it seemed unlikely that someone from OneMusic had visited her small store in Waipukurau, and thought they must be sending random emails. Davies said the company had representatives visiting shops to vet whether they were playing music unlicensed. "These representatives carry out a range of tasks for us, some verifying music that's being played and identified the source of that music. They also check new businesses that may have opened in vacant locations that we've been unable to reach." She said the fees from the licence go towards artists to ensure they are paid for their music and OneMusic was partnered with APRA AMCOS and Recorded Music NZ, who pass the costs onto the artists. "Each of those organisations distribute the revenue that OneMusic earns on their behalf, but about 85 cents every dollar is distributed." Davies said for those that fail to pay for a licence there could be consequences, often resulting in fines. "Generally a business owner will understand the legal obligation and obtain the relevant licence, but reluctantly, if they don't, we will pursue and potentially end up in court." "The most recent court cases were in 2018 and 2019, and the damages were around about $15,000, $18,000." The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment said OneMusic licensed copyright works and MBIE did not have oversight of the scheme. It said businesses that play music for their staff and/or customers need a licence and the licensing fees paid are distributed to producers and recording artists. "If a business does not wish to pay any licensing fee to play music, they should not play music. To do so without a licence means the copyright owner may sue the business and award damages. "A business who wishes to dispute the terms and conditions of the scheme may make an application to the Copyright Tribunal. If the Tribunal determines that the licensing scheme is unfair it may order changes," it said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Music licensing organisation chasing up businesses
business music 32 minutes ago A music licensing organisation is chasing up hundreds of businesses a week asking them to pay-up for the tunes they are using, so that artists get what they are owed. A Hawkes Bay florist told Checkpoint she was called by One Music to see if she was paying licence fees, which she was not. Despite only listening to the radio on her phone out the back of her shop, the music licensing organisation told her to buy a licence or turn the music off. Onemusic Director, Greer Davies spoke to Lisa Owen.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Wairoa residents still distrust council a year after devastating flood
A year on from the devastating Wairoa flood, residents still fear for their lives when it rains. When the Wairoa River burst its banks on 26 June, 2024 it tore through more than 400 properties, causing $40 million of damage. The resilient rural community has rallied hard over the past 12 months , but the emotional toll of that awful day still lingers for many. Marie Tuahine was one of many who fled for their lives in the early hours of the morning. "It was quite traumatising. The panic of trying to get out and get the babies out, they had to be carried out because they would have drowned... the water was quite swift coming through here." Photo: Calvin Samuel Locals blame Hawke's Bay Regional Council (HBRC) for not opening a channel in the Wairoa river bar earlier, so the deluge could flow out to sea more easily . Instead, the swollen river could not empty itself into the ocean quickly enough and smothered the southern part of town. "I've been here over 50 years in this house and never seen anything like it before, and it's scary as, I mean, I could put up with an earthquake, but I couldn't put up with that," Tuahine said. An independent review of the flood later found the regional council lacked a plan and did not listen to locals. One of the report's conclusions was that if the crest of the river bar had been lowered, then the flooding may not have been as bad. Photo: Nick Monro People were only evacuated in time because an official was woken by her baby . The nightmare of Tuahine and her family's narrow escape still lingers, and when it rains the memories come flooding back. "I get quite emotional just talking about it because, you know, it all just comes back and you don't know. Every time it rains, you think, 'Oh God, have they opened the bar?' Because you just don't want this to happen again. I don't wish it on anybody." Rain events make her nervous, because she did not trust that the regional council had learned from its mistakes. "I don't have a lot of faith in the regional council, I think they're just all talk. They obviously don't give a shit about us because we've got our mayor, who's been fighting for us all the way, and we really appreciate that." Marie Tuahine's house in the Wairoa flood of June 2024. Photo: Supplied HBRC told RNZ it understood the event would have had lasting effects on people, and was working hard to rebuild that trust. The council said it had a new river management plan in place, and was also looking at options to protect the south side of Wairoa, which could include a more permanent positioning of the river mouth. "HBRC would welcome Crown input on where funding might come from for such a multimillion-dollar proposal," it said in a statement. The area of North Clyde had a $70m flood protection project underway, after it flooded in Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023. However, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little wanted to also see protection for southern residents, and was hoping HBRC would build a groyne in the river to help guide it out. "So once we get that, then the people on this side, the south side, can actually know that the mouth is always open," he said. Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell and Wairoa mayor Craig Little giving an update on the situation in Wairoa in June 2024. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel The mayor had written to HBRC, urging it not to be complacent. "We've still got a lot of work to do, don't think 'okay, that's behind us, we will move on now'. Everyone lives that every day in Wairoa. We've got to make sure it still stays up here so we never forget." Marie Tuahine's house in the Wairoa flood of June 2024. Photo: Supplied It was difficult for the town to move on when so many were still struggling to rebuild, with 83 homes yellow-stickered as many residents were uninsured and could not afford repairs. When RNZ visited Tuahine she was pleased to be back in her newly rebuilt home and was grateful she had insurance to cover the cost. However, her yard and driveway was still a mess from the flood, and the pensioner worried about how she would find the money to fix it. "Not only am I out of pocket, but the stress of it all - I'm trying to clean up on my own and not getting far. "A year on and I have a hell of a long way to go." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
One year on from Wairoa flood
local council 24 minutes ago It has been one year since the Wairoa River burst its banks, flooding hundreds of properties on the south side of town. Hawke's Bay and Tai Rawhiti reporter Alexa Cook reports.
