The Algerian activist Ahmed Zaoui, who fled to New Zealand in 2002 seeking refugee status and eventually gained citizenship in 2014, is back in the news! He has been arrested again in Algeria (where he has been living) for his outspoken political views. His New Zealand lawyer said Zaoui expected our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to help sort this out as he's a NZ citizen. No doubt our generous government will be footing the bill. Unbelievable!! J.E. Hansen

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letter/ahmed-zaoui-back-in-the-news

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As one of the most interesting elections in recent history nears its climax the level of doubt seems to be increasing and there are even fears the outcome could be a hung Parliament or require a second election. With five days to go, political polling suggests that National — which is l

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/editorial/distractions-aplenty-as-we-head-to-polls

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The region's rescue helicopter team started last week with a maintenance flight to Hawke's Bay and ended it with bad weather that hampered flying. But the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter still managed a schedule of five rescue missions from last Monday. At 5.30pm on the Monday, the team responded to a medical event at Whakaki. The patient, in a critical condition, was flown to Gisborne Hospital. While the aircraft was in Hastings for maintenance the region was covered by affiliated, out-of-zone rescue helicopters.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/hectic-thursday-for-rescue-chopper-team

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Re: Art in lights. Thank you to those who organised this. What a spectacular sight. I especially loved the four large pieces depicting clouds. They were magnificent but there was no information about the artist, not even in the booklet. Whoever you are, thank you for their magical colours and mystical atmosphere. I stood in front of each of them for a long time. Heather van Wyk

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letter/art-in-lights-a-spectacular-sight

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Former Gisborne Boys' High student Jamison-Gibson-Park, clearing the ball under pressure from All Black Scott Barrett in a test match last year. Picture by Derek Morrison/www.photosport.nz Gibson-Park competing for his school at the 2005 East Coast-Hawke's Bay inter-school cross-country champs. Picture from Herald files

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/here-come-jamo-and-the-irish

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Gwynne Dyer If you are wondering why Hamas launched its all-out assault on Israel on Saturday, I wrote it here last week. 'The Arab world has basically abandoned the Palestinians to their fate, whatever that may be. Six Arab countries have established diplomatic ties with Israel and several more, including Saudi Arabia, are on the brink of doing so.' Hamas's leaders desperately want to recover the de facto veto that Palestinians once had on the concessions other Arabs make to Israel, and this is the only way they might get it.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/column/hamas-wants-israel-to-wreak-its-vengeance

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Tairāwhiti has 20 active cases of Covid-19, according to latest figures from Te Whatu Ora. Up to midnight Sunday, Tairāwhiti had recorded 39 deaths and a total of 25,301 cases. Equivalent figures for New Zealand were 3566 active cases, 3376 total deaths and 2,474,005 total cases since the pandemic began. As at midnight on Sunday,  230 Kiwis were in hospital with Covid and another four in ICU. Te Whatu Otra has reported 23 deaths — one from Northland, five from Auckland region, one from Waikato, one from Bay of Plenty, one from Hawke's Bay, three from Mid Central, two from Wellington, one from Nelson Marlborough, five from Canterbury, one from West Coast and two from Southern.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/covid-deaths-in-tairawhiti-at-39

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Māori ward councillors in Tairāwhiti have spoken candidly about their first year in governance, highlighting cyclone recovery as a key challenge. On October 8 of 2022, five councillors were elected by Maori roll voters for Gisborne District Council's newly formed Māori ward. Local Democracy Reporting reached out to the contingent, who opened up about the highs and lows of the current term. Rawinia Parata, of Ruatoria, said the past year had forced the entire region to confront climate change, which was now affecting people's everyday lives.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/first-year-as-maori-ward-councillors-challenging-educational-enjoyable

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A new Jobs and Skills Hub has opened in Gisborne to help people find work, access training and support the post-cyclone rebuild. 'Cyclone Gabrielle had a devastating impact on the Tairāwhiti community, and over the next couple of years we'll need more than 2000 workers who can repair and rebuild the region's damaged infrastructure,' Ministry of Social Development (MSD) director of employment programmes Amy Henare said. 'The hub will help make it happen,' she said.'We need people who can do anything and everything — from repairing damaged fences to fixing up pipes and roads.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/wanted-people-who-can-do-anything-and-everything

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There are many, many reasons to grow wildflowers — besides from the fact they look gorgeous, wildflowers provide food and habitats for a diverse range of beneficial insects. Speaking for the vege gardeners among us, you can't have too many pollinators visiting your garden! Most of our favourite veges rely on insects to pollinate them. Native bees, honeybees, flies, hoverflies, butterflies and moths all adore flowers and if you can attract them into your garden you are creating a mutually beneficial gardening relationship.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/gardening/wildflower-magic

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Jason Heale, Maxim Institute It is easy to get caught up in the idea that being right is the most important thing. We're constantly bombarded with messages that tell us what to think and who to believe, and it can be challenging to remember that dialogue with those we disagree with is just as vital to the health of our society. Last Thursday, as Brian Tamaki and his protest against 'Agenda 2030' arrived in Wellington, people's minds drifted back to the three-week-long occupation of Parliament in 2022.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/column/talk-to-me-healing-nations-divisions

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In reply to Amber Dunn, 'Local authority doing job well'. Kia ora Amber. You are right, Council did need to repair the cracked sewerage pipe. They have sought to do it quickly and responsibly. The issue I raised was that the community needs confidence both that the discharge on to the beach is safe and that council's environmental regulatory function is working. That wasn't clear from how Council initially approached this. It's encouraging to see Council's Lifelines have informed Council's monitoring and enforcement team, moved the discharge date from the surfing comp dates and are to now undertake water quality testing before and after the discharge.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letter/standard-is-lifting-still-a-lack-of-independence

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Seven-year-old Viggo is back, ready to take you on another thrilling journey filled with beachside fun, fishing escapades, and lots of delicious ice cream. Hello, it's Viggo again. Since I last wrote we have had lots of adventures on our boat. Once we sailed with my grandmother who lives in Denmark to a beautiful beach in Greece. The beach had a cliff that was made out of clay with sand at the bottom. I made a castle out of clay on the sand. Plus there were no people so I could run wherever I wanted and splash as much as I wanted.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/travel/tales-from-the-tides

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Having had a passion for volunteering from an early age, Jenny Greaves, knew she had found the next niche in her career when she stepped into the role of manager at Gisborne Volunteer Centre 18 years ago. With a desire to promote and support the volunteer sector, she set about not only growing the centre but raising awareness about the benefits of volunteering in the community. That is coming to an end as Jenny is retiring and will leave with warm memories of her time at the helm. Gisborne Volunteer Centre was established in 2001 and was housed in the Red Cross rooms in Palmerston Road.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/collaboration-the-key-to-success-for-retiring-gisborne-volunteer-centre-manager

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Gisborne District Council is planning to implement full co-governance and has invited iwi on to a joint decision-making body 'with full powers of council'. The plans were detailed in briefing notes provided by the council to Cyclon

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/co-governance-talks-council-keen-to-magnify-voice-and-status-of-mana-whenua

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Gwynne Dyer In 1973, fifty years ago on Friday, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, coincided with Ramadan, the Islamic lunar month of fasting. But nobody raised an alarm in Israel when it was reported, two days before the Arab attack, that the Egyptian army had ordered its soldiers to stop fasting. After their overwhelming victory in the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israel smashed three Arab armies in a 'preemptive' attack and expanded its territory fourfold, the Israelis were almost unanimous in their contempt for Arab military capabilities — indeed, for Arabs in general.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/column/a-short-war-50-years-ago

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Enjoying festivities: Sophie Cairns with some of the people in the tribe from the Western Highlands Province at the Goroko Show celebrations. Picture supplied

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/lifestyle/setting-up-libraries-in-png

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Raglan surfers Luca Thompson and Alani Morse won the two major titles at the primary school surfing championships that finished at Makorori Beach yesterday. Morse retained the Year 7 and 8 girls' division title she'd won the previous year. For Thompson, it was his first win in the Year 7 and 8 boys' division. He had reached the finals at several events over the previous 12 months but never stepped up to the top of the podium. Almost 100 young surfers took part in the Sticky Johnson Primary School Champs.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/sport/first-surfing-comp-for-many

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Re: $3.83 million dollar bridge project at Kaiti Beach and proposed $6 million whare on Kaiti Hill. I absolutely agree with your sentiments 'Blew my socks off' ex Gisbornite, Gisborne Herald 23/9. The timing for this kind of spending is simply outrageous. We have so many outstanding issues following two years of pandemic and recent cyclones; folk still displaced from their homes, roads that need fixing, and many social issues to deal to. These problems cannot be sorted overnight. I'm not concerned about tourists having a great view of the bay.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letter/outrageous-timing

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As one who over the years has dabbled in high yield tourism, your front page headline  'i-Site bombshell' got  my attention. At last sanity was going to prevail and the i-Site was going to be given back to those tourism operators  that are not only in the tourism  business, but their past track record shows they  actually know about promotion and marketing etc. Alas, here we go again, Words like, 'An exciting opportunity for the tourism sector'. Not spoken by a recognised mover and shaker in the tourism business, but by a representative of a trust, whose track record in bringing in extra tourists to this region, past and present, can only be described as dismal.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letter/alas-here-we-go-again

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The Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust started with modest hopes for the charity auction it hosted at the weekend, but its supporters came out in force. Held at Farmers Air Showgrounds Park Event Centre on Saturday, the 2023 Bayleys EHRT Annual Charity Auction raised a 'spectacular' $104,050 to help fund critical work done by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter. 'It's been a tough year for our community, especially for many of you in the farming sector, so we had kept our expectations low,' EHRT chair Patrick Willock told the more than 325 guests at the sold-out event.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/eastland-helicopter-rescue-trusts-charity-auction-raises-spectacular-104k

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Torrential rain like Cyclone Gabrielle fell across the district in the past two days, causing widespread surface flooding and rivers to rise to warning levels. The  downpour on Sunday night overloaded the capabilities of the city's sewerage system, and the district council had to open the emergency valves and release sewage into the Tūranganui River at the Gladstone Road bridge. The Medical Officer of Health, river users and others who  might be affected were notified, and signs posted at swimming and recreation sites.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/river-of-rain

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With over 25 years of experience in hair and make-up and a master's degree in Applied Indigenous Knowledge, Bianca Fallon has seen a huge need for rongoā Māori medicine in her business. Rongoā Māori is traditional Māori healing, incorporating herbal remedies, physical therapies and spiritual healing. 'They are coming to me for hair and make-up, but it ends up being about something else. Particularly after lockdown, clients have been coming in and they have mental health issues,' Fallon said. In 2022 ACC began offering rongoā Māori services for all injured New Zealanders, to help them rehabilitate from a covered injury.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/local-focus/connecting-with-rongoa-maori-to-help-clients

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My son came to me at age 11 and said she felt like she might be a girl. At the time I felt a number of emotions but a big one was fear and anxiety for her future. When I read some of the recent letters in the Herald, I feel that same sense of fear and anxiety. I wonder if perhaps at the heart of some of the letters is fear too. Fear of the unknown; of something outside their experience and therefore their understanding. I would like to think that the writers of those letters are good, kind people who when given the opportunity to understand what the life of someone who is transgender, and their family, looks like they may feel a little reassured.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letter/our-wonderful-daughter

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The Trust Tairawhiti Rescue Helicopter has flown seven missions since last Wednesday. On March 29 the chopper crew responded to a trauma in Tokomaru Bay, where the on-board critical care flight paramedic assessed and treated the patient, who was flown in a stable condition to Gisborne Hospital. 'Many thanks to the whānau who brought our patient to the park for uplift, and the nurse who cared for the person until we arrived,' said a spokeswoman for the service. The next day the crew were called to two medical events, one in Matawai, and in the other they flew a patient from Gisborne Hospital to Waikato Hospital.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/busy-time-for-rescue-chopper

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A Gisborne woman living with terminal cancer fears she will 'die prematurely' if proposed changes to the country's medicine legislation go through, limiting her ability to import a 'miracle' drug. Theresa Zame was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in June 2022 and was given nine months to live. She is at the end of that prognosis but her health has significantly improved, thanks to Tagrix — an unfunded medication she imports from Bangladesh via a humanitarian business. Under the Therapeutic Products Bill, which is before the Government's Health Committee, Theresa will no longer be allowed to import medication.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/new-bill-will-put-miracle-cancer-drug-out-of-reach

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‘I'M LIKE A BIRD': Greer Newman, with a little help from a trampoline, gets airborne among hanging birdhouses at the Aurora Education Foundation's Enviro Well-Being Day at Eastwoodhill Arboretum. Pictures by Rebecca Grunwell YOU ARE HERE: Ella Kirby inspects a map of Eastwoodhill during the Seek and Go orienteering challenge. TEAMWORK: Jasmine Graham and India Gill go through a list of things to find in the Seek and Go orienteering game at Eastwoodhill Arboretum.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/news/attending-to-wellbeing-at-eastwoodhill-arboretum

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