Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The hospitality industry is uniting for a collective ‘lights out’ moment and they hope it'll help avoid them going dark for good.Businesses will switch their lights off for two minutes to express concerns about immigration policies.They say there's a desperate need for overseas workers and visa extensions.Pre-Covid, about 30 per cent of the industry was made up of migrant workers.Owner of Monsoon Poon in Wellington Mike Egan told Kate Hawkesby they're not asking for much.“They can just look around and go well, ‘this could be the reality one day’.. We’re an important part of cities, towns and villages.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's fair to say this year's Olympics, which start this month, will be different to others.Athletes will feel increased stresses and pressures, travelling and competing in an event during a worldwide pandemic.But another factor will be the spectators.The smaller than usual crowds are not allowed to cheer, sing, chant, give handshakes or hug but must sit quietly.Sports psychologist Sara Chatwin told Kate Hawkesby the lack of cheering may affect individual athletes differently.“I dare say, the athletes I’ve worked with, they don’t rely on crowd support, because you’re just as likely to get support as you would the nay-sayers.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Regular saliva testing for staff at New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine facilities could be underway in weeks, which aims to strengthen the country's border against Covid-19.Asia Pacific Health Group (APHG) was awarded a Ministry of Health contract in May to provide virus surveillance testing through saliva samples from staff at New Zealand's MIQ sites.Testing at the border has been a contentious issue, punctuated by revelations in April that an infected Grand Millennium security guard wasn't tested for six months, even though he was meant to be tested fortnightly.As at June 28, 161 MIQ workers were overdue for a test.Auckland's Grand Millennium MIQ facility. (Photo / File)It was estimated between 6000 and 20,000 saliva tests would be done per week.Early indications were MIQ workers would submit a sample every second day when the programme was rolled out in the coming weeks, following a prototype in Christchurch last week.Voluntary saliva testing had been offered at MIQ facilities since January but

A snapshot of the scale, lays bare the geographic spread of New Zealand's meth problem.The New Zealand Herald's obtained two years of wastewater test results that police have used to monitor consumption of illegal drugs around the country since late 2018.Analysis shows small towns with high levels of deprivation - including Kaitaia, Opotiki and Wairoa - have been saturated - recording weekly per capita consumption more than double the national average.Herald reporter Jared Savage says police are using the data to provide funding for community groups tackling the issue."For example, provide extra social workers or other support and funding for resources that they can have this wrap-around holistic approach to families that might be struggling."Savage says rehab centres, counselling services and other resources across the country are already very low, but almost non-existent in smaller towns.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If I had a dollar for every parent contacting me about the state of things at Starship, I could make a large donation to the Hospital.It's dire in there at the moment. There’s a severe lack of funding, staff, beds, you name it, they’re screaming out for it.I just can’t fathom how the country’s only specialist children’s hospital can be so over run and in such dire need… and yet the government does nothing. I know it’s a DHB issue, and that model's questionable to say the least in terms of the way it handles funding, but it still doesn’t make sense to me that it can get this woeful, and the only thing propping it up is private donors.Off the back of last year, a year when the government locked people up and shut people out, the inevitable result was hundreds and hundreds of babies and children untouched by bugs and sickness. The follow on from this of course is that their little immune systems never got exposed to anything, never got the chance to toughen up or protect themselves. So now, this winter, with an

Text by Danica Kirka, APEngland may soon abandon legal requirements for wearing masks, a government minister said Sunday as the nation waits for U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce plans for easing COVID-19 measures.Johnson is expected in the next few days to update England on “freedom day’’ — the plan to scrap the remaining restrictions on business and social interaction on July 19. British media widely reported that many requirements, including mask wearing, would also end.“We are going to, I think, now move into a period where there won’t be legal restrictions — the state won’t be telling you what to do — but you will want to exercise a degree of personal responsibility and judgment and so different people will come to different conclusions on things like masks,’’ housing minister Robert Jenrick told Sky News. “The prime minister will set out more details on the national policy on some of those restrictions in the coming days.”Some doctors have expressed concern about further easing of restrictio

National's Simeon Brown is fuming over a Human Rights Commission donation to the Mongrel Mob.Newstalk ZB has revealed the commission gave the Waikato chapter $200 as koha, after Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt spoke at the Mob's hui in May.Brown says its unacceptable any amount of taxpayer money is being donated to a gang."It's absolutely outrageous the Human Rights Commission is giving money to a criminal organisation. The Mongrel Mob were recently caught in a major transnational drug bust and gang bust. There's no way that any government department should be donating money to that cause"Brown says this is a kick in the guts to victims of crime, people who have been hurt by the Mongrel Mob, and it sends all of the wrong messages.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I feel bad for Mike King, not just him actually, but for every family he’s tried or is still trying to help and can’t get funding for.Yesterday the government told him they’re not funding Gumboot Friday to provide free counselling for young people struggling with mental health. I find this ironic given the government’s talked a big game on mental health, handed out 1.9 billion for it, acknowledged it’s a problem, say their work is ongoing, yet they’re not supporting this.It’s also ironic they can find the money to fund a cycle lane over the Harbour Bridge for a handful of Auckland cyclists, but they can’t find money for this. Likewise, they can throw 50 million at a slush fund to look for alternatives to cotton buds, but they can’t fund this. There are plenty of examples of money being printed and handed out from the Beehive and I’m just not sure how this one doesn’t make the cut.Our mental health stats are woeful. The government’s well aware of it, has had solutions offered to them, people with practical tan

The number of people studying nursing in New Zealand has stalled and is closing in on a decade low.The Nurses Organisation are concerned the mounting pressure on current nurses are keeping people from entering the profession.Dr. Sandy Richardson, College of Emergency Nurses chair, told Kate Hawkesby“It’s more what do we do with them once we’ve got them into nursing? How do we find placements for them when they’re training? And how do we find jobs for them when they’ve finished training?”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Britney Spears' father has asked the court overseeing his daughter's conservatorship to investigate her statements to a judge last week on the court's control of her medical treatment and personal life, which she called overly restrictive and abusive.James Spears emphasized in a pair of documents filed that he has had no power over his daughter's personal affairs for nearly two years.His filing says the court must investigate "serious allegations regarding forced labor, forced medical treatment and therapy, improper medical care, and limitations on personal rights.""Given the nature of the allegations and claims, it is critical that that the court confirm whether or not Ms. Spears' testimony was accurate in order to determine what corrective actions, if any, need to be taken," the documents said.The filings come a week after Britney Spears spoke for the first time in open court in the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years. She condemned those with power over her, saying she has b

Prince Harry and Prince William almost look as though they've buried the hatchet, putting on a united front to celebrate their late mother's 60th birthday early Friday (NZT).The feuding brothers smiled and laughed with each other as they arrived together at Kensington Palace, looking to be in high spirits as they greeted a small number of guests at the unveiling of Princess Diana's memorial statue.It was an emotional day for the family of Diana - who died in 1997 - with her beloved sons releasing a rare joint statement shortly after the ceremony."Today, on what would have been our Mother's 60th birthday, we remember her love, strength and character – qualities that made her a force for good around the world, changing countless lives for the better," it read."Every day, we wish she were still with us, and our hope is that this statue will be seen forever as a symbol of her life and her legacy."Britain's Prince William, left and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on w

More companies around New Zealand and overseas are letting staff pick their own working hours.Deloitte Australia is the latest big player to give it a go.One staff member is making the most of it by working two hours in the morning, surfing in the lunch break and then coming back to do another six.A dairy farm in Canterbury, Align Farms started the same thing recently.Align Farms CEO Rhys Roberts told Kate Hawkesby the flexibility has attracted workers from other industries.“That dairy farm actually just employed the head trainer at f45 in Ashburton, which is obviously a whole new skill set and diversity into the team. You’d argue we wouldn’t be able to employ someone of that calibre onto a dairy farm 12 months ago without that flexibility.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am just wondering how many parents are , like me, watching a generation of kids who don’t or won’t cook.And how much of this has been exacerbated by Covid?What I mean by that is, yes during lockdown people cooked from home more, but they also ditched the supermarkets a bit and got into meal kits and takeaways. We know this from a recent Herald survey which looked at life ‘post-Covid’ for Kiwis.Feels weird saying ‘post-Covid’ given we didn’t really have Covid here like other countries did, but also are we ever really ‘post-Covid?’ I think it’s something we’re going to have to live with forever. But this Lifestyle Survey by Colmar Brunton and the Herald found that how we eat has changed.I know for our family, a couple of our kids became hooked on Uber Eats. Easy, convenient, you can get what you feel like, you don’t have to leave the house, you don’t have to waste time cooking. There are no dishes.Our kids got dependent on it for their flat, it was the easiest solution to the ‘what to have for dinner’ questio

A set of professional conduct rules kick in today for New Zealand's lawyers.Enforced by the Law Society, the rules clarify the standards of behaviour expected of lawyers around clients and colleagues.Aotearoa Legal Workers Association director Harrison Cunningham says there are three key changes.He told Kate Hawkesby two are clear definitions of bullying and harassment.“And the third one is a lowering of the threshold for essentially when lawyers have to tell on each other.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the world comes out of the pandemic, the international luxury hotel market is heating up.After what would have been a difficult period for most, there's now going to be more pressure on hotels to push the boundaries, and try outdo each other.For the last few years, the Gevora Hotel in Dubai has been the world's tallest hotel.But, there is competition now with the J Hotel Shanghai Tower also claiming to be the highest hotel.General Manager of Gevora hotel in Dubai Jairaj Gorsia told Kate Hawkesby he can already see the signs that things are returning to normal again.“I guess part of the reason is people have been locked down so many months and have extra disposable income to spend, so I guess they want to splurge and have a god time.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's scepticism at predictions water bills could balloon to nine thousand dollars a year, if water services aren't consolidated.The services of 67 councils could be put into just four water entities, under the Government's reforms.South Canterbury mayors say they don't know where the Government's getting its numbers from.Timaru District Mayor Nigel Bowen told Kate Hawkesby he has his doubts about the figures.“It just looks like a marketing campaign; the data is coming out in a timely fashion that suits the government.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Cosby has been freed from prison after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction.In a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as "America's Dad," the state Supreme court ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby.Cosby, 83, has served nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence after being found guilty of drugging and violating Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era.Bill Cosby's Twitter account released this photo of the comedian inside jail earlier in his sentence. Photo / TwitterThe former "Cosby Show" star was arrested in 2015, when a district attorney armed with newly unsealed evidence — the comic's damaging deposition testimony in a lawsuit brought by Constand — brought charges against him days before the 12-year statute of limitations ran out.But the Pennsylvani

British police said Tuesday that they are investigating the circumstances around the seeming harassment and intimidation of England's chief medical officer by two men in a park in central London.The incident, which was captured in video footage and shared on social media, shows Prof. Chris Whitty struggling to get away from the pair, who appeared to be manhandling him while trying to take a selfie.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the "thugs" accosting Whitty, who has been one of the most prominent voices during the coronavirus pandemic."I'm shocked at seeing the despicable harassment of chief medical officer Chris Whitty," Johnson said. "I condemn the behaviour of these thugs. Our hard-working public servants should not have to face this kind of intimidation on our streets and we will not tolerate it."The 20-second video shows the two grinning men grabbing Whitty as they shout "Oi oi" and ask for "One photo please?" As the clearly perturbed Whitty attempts to walk away, the men try to grab him a

In the never ending battle of what we can and can’t eat, the one consistent evil these days appears to be sugar.And now a new study published by Frontiers in Neuroscience says ‘children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired as adults’.Cognitively impaired, that's serious.So just how much sugar are we eating?According to the study, children and adults in more than 60 countries have a diet consisting of more than four times the sugar recommended by the WHO. So the WHO recommends 25 grams a day, most of us are consuming 100 grams a day.The worse news is that over eating sugar leads to more general over eating. We tend to eat more processed food, the more sugar we eat.Long term sugar consumption ‘significantly boosts weight gain, elicits an abnormal and excessive stimulation of the nervous system and it also alters both episodic and spatial memory,’ the study says.This is similar, apparently, to what happens with attention deficit and hyperact

The Statue of Liberty is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world.And in an exciting week in New York, a second Statue of Liberty is arriving just in time for Independence Day.Like the original, the statue has been gifted by France, it is slightly smaller though, about one sixteenth the size of the original.President and CEO of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Jesse Brackenbury told Kate Hawkesby the logistics of moving such a piece across the Atlantic is considerable.”“It hasn’t been entirely straightforward, but it’s a lot easier than getting the 300ft version here. It did take a crane and a specialty crew and specialty company.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.