Bob LeFridge

Milton is a funny little place south of Dunedin. A rural service centre which is also home to the infamous Milton Hilton corrections facility.

For as long as I can remember, visitors were welcomed by large signs at either end of the town which read:

"Milton -- 'The Town of Opportunities'"

We always had a laugh as we passed those signs. "Milton!"

The Clutha District Council is refreshing town signs and while Milton now has a tasteful river scene with some elongated slender man standing on a shallow punt facing sideways across a river, it's apparently no longer a town of opportunities.

They dropped the strapline.

Will Milton ever recover?

https://archive.ph/mhnqw

#NZ #Milton #LostOpportunities

This is a highly unusual turn of events. A Nelson sexual assault trial has been abandoned after a jury exposed their "outdated misconceptions about women and sex."

A pre-trial ruling had been made that the complainant was not to be cross-examined on her sexual experiences or perceived sexual interest in others.

On the second day of the trial the jury asked the judge for clarification about "a belt the complainant had described and how it was attached to her clothing, as well as what shoe size she wore."

Her shoe size! Two hours later they followed up with more pure misogyny.

"How many times had she had sex with a man prior to this situation with Mr [suppressed]?” they asked, followed by, “Her underwear— is it a typical style and colour she wears daily, or only for special occasions?"

I wonder how many older white men were on that jury?

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/sex-trial-halted-after-jury-questions-underwear-sexual-history

#NZ #Nelson #Jury

Another day, another fast-track project which would normally have failed most environmental and planning laws has been rubber-stamped by the Luxon government's 'experts'.

This time it's the "Ayrburn Screen Hub" which will be plonked in Dalefield... one of the wealthiest parts of the Wakatipu.

On the surface it's a film hub and the financial viability of studios is always a dodgy one. However friends of friends who work for Winton have let slip that what they're really getting away with is building a 200 bed hotel in Dalefield.

Fast-track: producing results for donors which would otherwise have failed every test.

The only positive to this decision is the way it's pissing off the development's true blue, ultra-wealthy Speargrass Flat neighbours. This is what you get for supporting National & Act. Nya nya nya!

https://archive.ph/IPPEE

#Ayrburn #Queenstown #Dalefield #FastTrack

Helius Therapeutics, one of NZ's first commercial cannabis operations, has gone into voluntary administration.

NZ's regulatory environment is tough for medicinal cannabis producers. Helius' Cannaplus clinic will continue trading, presumably using imported product.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/589275/medicinal-cannabis-company-helius-therapeutics-shuts-down

#NZ #Cannabis #Helius

Herbs' front man Dilworth Karaka has died. A mighty totara has fallen.

R.I.P.

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/give-it-a-whirl-dilworth-karaka-interview

#NZ #Herbs

What do you get when you combine a shallow water table with super-intensified dairy farming? Poisoned drinking water.

Southland farmers are poisoning themselves, their children, their neighbours, their communities. And the regulator doesn't want to know.

A report commissioned by Environment Southland shows "widespread degradation of Southland’s drinking water" with dangerous levels of nitrates through almost all of the area's waterways.

However ES didn't release the report which was hidden amongst other documents. After the ODT started asking questions, ES put out a media release saying "the problem could take decades to fix" but oddly, they didn't mention dairy farming once.

Funny that.

https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/nitrate-%E2%80%98news-not-good%E2%80%99-southland

#NZ #Dairy #Nitrogen

For a feel-good story you can't beat the tale of Ken, Drick and Lamar. Three llamas modestly providing security for 600 sheep outside Auckland.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/lifestyle/ken-drick-and-lamar-the-sheep-security-at-auckland-s-ambury-farm

#Llama #NZ #GoodNews