Latest news with #OperationSpotlight
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Two decades of inspiring arts and community connections in Kerikeri
What started as conversations between two committed locals became Operation Spotlight – a six-year fundraising campaign that raised $7.5 million through community effort. The 200 local contractors and tradespeople who brought architect Martyn Evans' design to life created something lasting. That distinctive roofline, the 400-plus seat auditorium: the workers built a facility that would cost more than $100m today. The $20m investment the community and funders made was significant, but the returns have been substantial. Then Prime Minister Helen Clark with Kerikeri Civic Trust chairman Doug Turner, outside the new $7.5 million entertainment and event centre in August 2005. The venue is named The Turner Centre in his honour. Turner died in 2024. Since opening, the centre has hosted more than 4000 performances, workshops, exhibitions, meetings and community events. It is home to more than 35 community groups who access discounted venue hire subsidised by commercial bookings. Last year, we were able to offer 10,000 free or pay-what-you-can tickets for 42 events – including 5000 for tamariki and rangatahi throughout the Far North. A scene from the Sound of Music, as performed by Kerikeri Theatre Company at the Turner Centre in 2021. Our anniversary concert is really a celebration of the incredible creative talent we have in Kerikeri and the Far North. Troy Kingi brings his unmistakable songwriting and considerable mana to the evening. Kerikeri Theatre Company will present an entertaining and specially written radio play, and actor Willi Henley will perform a piece by Rowan Atkinson. The Bay of Islands Singers – our 60-strong mixed-voice community choir who rehearse here every Monday – will perform several pieces including Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Bandwidth Riot - Smokefree Rockquest Far North winners; Luke Lawler, Jack Laird (front), Alistor Fairhurst, Freddy Jarman Merv Pinny, who has built a global following while remaining thoroughly local, will perform. His songs have achieved over 30 million streams across platforms. We're also excited to showcase the talent of the future with Bandwidth Riot, the youth band who won the Smokefree Rockquest Far North finals. Their performance represents the emerging creative energy in our community and a group of rangatahi who have come through the Be Free music mentoring programme that happens every Tuesday afternoon at the Turner Centre. Ngāti Rēhia Community Kapa Haka Group will present work from their eight-week kapa haka programme, held at the centre and led by Rawi Pere. Kerikeri songwriter Taylah Barker of Fly My Pretties will join these local acts on our stage and help us mark 20 years of the Turner Centre's contribution to our community. This programming approach reflects our strategic vision – developed in consultation with our community and guided by Ngāti Rēhia – 'Te Ranga Toi Waka': to be the waka that weaves together the arts for our community. Doug Turner and John Dalton's vision of a purpose-built cultural facility has evolved into something more comprehensive – a hub for Far North creativity and community connection. Gerry Paul has been the General Manager of the Turner Centre in Kerikeri since moving there three years ago. We're celebrating two decades of supporting local talent, of programming that connects people across cultures and generations, of arts experiences that matter. This is what happens when a community invests in cultural infrastructure and programming. This venue continues to serve its purpose, adapting and growing with the community it represents. American singer, Kerikeri resident, and president of the Kerikeri Theatre Company, John Oszajca, will perform an original song infused with his distinctive Americana flavour. I'll be taking the stage myself alongside Dusty Burnell. We're two-fifths of T-Bone, and there's something fitting about Burnell being part of this celebration – he remembers fundraising as a teenager at Okaihau College in the early 2000s, when this dream was still taking shape.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- BBC News
Staffordshire Police patrol M6 to stop summer crash spike
Motorway patrols have taken place along the M6 to try to tackle a summer spike in operation near junction 13 in Staffordshire on Wednesday saw five police forces involved and targeted drivers carrying abnormal loads or at risk of causing Chris Moss, from Staffordshire Police, said the roads were particularly busy in the summer months with an increase in both haulage and holidaymakers."The days are brighter, they're longer so you've got more opportunity for people to get out on the roads and for hauliers to be moving heavy loads as well," he said. Officers from the Midlands and the north-west teamed up for Operation Spotlight, working with officers from other highways suspected of breaking the law were pulled over to be questioned and their vehicles examined. James Scorgie's lorry was pulled over but, after checks, both vehicle and its 40-tonne load were found to be fully compliant and the driver said he welcomed the action. "If this machine fell off and landed on a car, people aren't going home at the end of the day. This way it just means that we all run safely," he said. The action was part of a national police campaign to tackle the so-called fatal four causes of road crashes: Speeding, driving under the influence of drink and drugs, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
McDonald's coffee craving driver has BMW seized
A driver desperate to enjoy a cup of McDonald's coffee has had their vehicle seized after being stopped by police in King's Lynn. It happened at the Pierpoint Retail Park on Wednesday, when a BMW driver was stopped by officers from the Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team. The driver was uninsured and travelling with an expired provisional licence, but insisted their journey - to pick up a takeaway coffee from McDonald's - "was an emergency". The driver was stopped at the Pierpoint Retail Park, near a McDonald's restaurant (Image: Google Maps) The driver was then reported and his vehicle was seized. READ MORE: Man caught driving at 111mph on A47 at Terrington St John It comes amid Operation Spotlight, a crackdown on the 'Fatal Four' motorist offences of speeding, using a mobile phone behind the wheel, not wearing a seatbelt and drink and drug driving. A BMW was seized by police at the scene (Image: Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team) The force is currently targeting major roads across Norfolk with focused patrols and increased vehicle checks. These tactics also aim to disrupt organised crime gangs and maintain the safety of drivers in the county.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
Warning to drivers after road deaths increase
A startling increase in fatal road collisions recorded in Essex has prompted police to issue a warning ahead of the Easter weekend. So far this year, there have been 22 road deaths in the county, compared with 12 during the same time period in 2024. Adam Pipe, the head of roads policing for Essex Police, said he had "never seen this level of trauma and death" in his 25 years at the force. He said there had been an enormous increase in drug driving offences recorded this year - with 375 arrests made up until the end of March. "Drug driving is an enormous problem for society and policing," he told BBC Essex. "I don't think people fully appreciate the legislation." The force was called to two fatal collisions on the A120 near Braintree on Wednesday. Four students died after their car collided with a building in Colchester on 1 February, and on the same day, a nine-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother died after a crash in Basildon involving the e-scooter they were on. "There is no other part of public life where we would tolerate this level of death and injury." Essex Police wants to achieve zero road deaths over the course of a year by 2040. The force has signed up to a month-long campaign called Operation Spotlight, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs' Council. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Mother pays tribute to children killed in crash Inquest told of injuries to four students in crash Essex Police
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
Warning to drivers after road deaths increase
A startling increase in fatal road collisions recorded in Essex has prompted police to issue a warning ahead of the Easter weekend. So far this year, there have been 22 road deaths in the county, compared with 12 during the same time period in 2024. Adam Pipe, the head of roads policing for Essex Police, said he had "never seen this level of trauma and death" in his 25 years at the force. He said there had been an enormous increase in drug driving offences recorded this year - with 375 arrests made up until the end of March. "Drug driving is an enormous problem for society and policing," he told BBC Essex. "I don't think people fully appreciate the legislation." The force was called to two fatal collisions on the A120 near Braintree on Wednesday. Four students died after their car collided with a building in Colchester on 1 February, and on the same day, a nine-year-old girl and her 16-year-old brother died after a crash in Basildon involving the e-scooter they were on. "There is no other part of public life where we would tolerate this level of death and injury." Essex Police wants to achieve zero road deaths over the course of a year by 2040. The force has signed up to a month-long campaign called Operation Spotlight, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs' Council. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Mother pays tribute to children killed in crash Inquest told of injuries to four students in crash Essex Police
