Jennifer Stott #26 05:51 pm Aug 13 2010

Good to see that teenagers are being acknowledged for positive reasons. All too often we hear negatives, this creates stigmas.

Jules #25 05:22 pm Aug 13 2010

What a beautiful story. I love them all, the lady who fell off the scooter, the two boys and their mum. She is obviously proud as punch too, saying the good news of the boys actions were like a thousand dollars to her. Bless them all.

JESS #24 05:20 pm Aug 13 2010

I love that young people still help others it totally warms my heart! what great boys :o)

Rosie333 #23 04:50 pm Aug 13 2010

What great kids, so nice to know they're out there!

karla #22 03:25 pm Aug 13 2010

FINALY A NICE STORY!!! Good on ya boys!!!!

Simon #21 03:23 pm Aug 13 2010

That's the sort of news we should be seeing. Good work boys. Keep it up.

Julie #20 03:15 pm Aug 13 2010

What a heartwarming story when the news is often flooded with teens "off the rails and violent". Excellent work Petelo and Tevita - you should be very proud of you actions, as should your parents. A nice fell good story for a Friday - it's not all doom and gloom out there!

R #19 03:09 pm Aug 13 2010

we need more stories like this, rather than the drugs, death and crime that seems to flood our news media these days. Good to hear something like this for a change

Holey #18 02:50 pm Aug 13 2010

Maaaaaaaaate Well Done Nice positive story for a change

n #17 02:48 pm Aug 13 2010

Good on you two!!

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Jax #16 02:44 pm Aug 13 2010

Awesome!!

Obzen #15 02:42 pm Aug 13 2010

Tehe $5, dont spend it all at once boys. Good stuff tho, I wonder how many teens would just point and laugh as the pass by.

Grant T #14 02:41 pm Aug 13 2010

Good on ya boys. 'shot

barry cooke #13 02:39 pm Aug 13 2010

well done we all need a hand sometimes

Shell #12 02:29 pm Aug 13 2010

Well done guys! Obviously intelligent young lads.

big_ry #11 02:29 pm Aug 13 2010

We need less doom and gloom and violence in our media and more stories like this! Excellent!

capital gal #10 02:07 pm Aug 13 2010

Thank you Stuff for running a story that can remind everyone that there are good people, especially kids, out there

JV #9 02:02 pm Aug 13 2010

Shot boys!

mello #8 01:58 pm Aug 13 2010

Well done to the two young men who helped someone in a timne of need. Pat yourselves on the back, boys.

Renee #7 01:55 pm Aug 13 2010

What lovely boys. How fortunate for Mrs Hassan to be halped by such genltmanly young men. They are a credit to their families. Thanks stuff.co.nz for displaying some good news.

Charles #6 01:44 pm Aug 13 2010

It is so refreshing and wonderful to see such lovely acts of kindness and courage from youngsters like them when there is so much news that kind of brings you down, robberies, murder, etc etc. This just goes to show that there is also alot good in a whole lot of people. good on you guys!!

leo #5 01:29 pm Aug 13 2010

Kodus to these young heroes....

May good things come your way....Mom and Dad must be very proud of you both.....

Dave #4 01:29 pm Aug 13 2010

Top effort lads!! We all need people like Petelo and Tevita! Top blokes, what if they hadn't been there? Good story to put up, we all need more Petelo's and Tevita's!

Karlos #3 01:23 pm Aug 13 2010

Awww that was a nice story for a Friday - Good on ya lads!

Obelix #2 01:21 pm Aug 13 2010

Well done Tevita & Petelo, you are great men in the making.

rob #1 01:18 pm Aug 13 2010

Good on you guys , awesome stuff . . . well done !

Teen cousins rescue elderly scooter rider

An 87-year-old woman is calling two teenagers heroes for rescuing her after the mobility scooter she was riding slipped down the side of the footpath and landed on top of her.

Gloria Hassan said she was going back to her room at Bethsaida Retirement Village in Litchfield St about 5pm on Friday afternoon last week after visiting her husband, who lives round the corner in Weld St in another part of the village.

The wheel of her scooter dropped down the side of the footpath. She was thrown off as the scooter rolled and landed on top of her. "Not a soul was about", she said this morning.

She could not get up and was lying on the grass verge for what seemed to be about half an hour before cousins Tevita Kaloni, 14, and Petelo Kaloni, 13, found her on their way home from Marlborough Boys' College.

"They're young gentlemen – I don't call them boys any more," she said.

"They were scared stiff and frightened, but they had the courage to help an elderly woman."

Mrs Hassan was so thankful she wrote a letter to Marlborough Boys' College principal Wayne Hegarty and gave them a $5 reward.

Petelo said he and Tevita did not think twice about helping Mrs Hassan by picking up the scooter and helping her back up.

Mrs Hassan, who has artificial knee and hips joints, was not injured in the fall.

When The Marlborough Express spoke to Petelo's mother, she said he had not told her about the incident.

"It's like a thousand dollars to me that they would do something like that," she said.

Mrs Hassan's husband Lawrie said the two did a marvellous job.

Mrs Hassan still uses her scooter to get around town, but said she had not forgiven it for treating her so badly.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 13/08/2010

BEN CURRAN/Marlborough Express

YOUNG HEROES: Cousins Petelo Kaloni, 13, left, and Tevita Kaloni, 14, with Gloria Hassan, whom they helped when she fell off her scooter.

Pupils, community help pay for fulltime teacher

The children of Ward School are happy to have Miss Shield as a fulltime teacher after helping to raise half her salary themselves in a fundraising concert.

The school raised $13,000 in a Stars in Their Eyes-type event to help raise funds for about half of Emma Shield's salary, because a slight drop in the school roll meant a drop in funding from the Ministry of Education.

The 48 children at the school are split into junior and senior classes, instead of the three classes last year.

The school has three fulltime teachers, including principal Willem Lampe, who spends half his time teaching and the rest on administration. Without the extra funding, one of the other teachers would have been only half-time.

Last year, the school had three fulltime and one half-time teachers. Mr Lampe said the school just dropped below the "magic number" this year, which meant the level of government funding decreased.

Both classes had pupils of different year levels, which was challenging for one teacher to cater for, he said.

Miss Shield had been teaching at the school part time earlier this year, and said she would not have been able to work full time if the board of trustees and parents had not helped raise the money.

"They didn't have to raise the money for a teacher, but they were able to because they got the community behind them.

"[Having the extra staff] is an advantage to the school and the kids," she said.

It is understood this funding top-up by school communities is not unusual. Marlborough Principals' Association president Bruce Pagan said a school roll could drastically affect staffing levels, especially in schools with 45 to 55 and 95 to 105 pupils.

Most schools in Marlborough had rolls this size, he said.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 12/08/2010

DEREK FLYNN/Marlborough Express

EXTRA BOOST: Teacher Emma Shield moved from part-time to fulltime teaching at Ward School after the community raised enough money to cover a funding shortfall.

Montessori class forced to close

The Montessori classroom based at Grovetown School will close at the end of this school term because it has too few students to attract enough funding.

Marlborough Montessori Education Trust chairwoman Tracy Bedford said the class had just four pupils and needed about 15 students to justify the $60,000 in teachers' salaries for another year.

The two specially trained teachers will also be unemployed after the last day of class on September 24.

One parent spoken to by The Marlborough Express said his child would join the other students at the school and another set of parents were looking at homeschooling their child.

Montessori is a teaching philosophy based on child-led learning, where children choose how much time they spend on subjects such as maths and English instead of following more strict plans made by teachers.

If there was more interest among parents about Montessori, the trust would look at starting the class again, Mrs Bedford said.

Interest in Montessori classes in the rest of the country was quite high in comparison to Marlborough, she said. She could not pinpoint why Montessori was less popular in Marlborough, but said many parents did not know what happened during classes.

"There's a lot of myth about it. Most parents think it's for bright kids or the not-so-bright kids, but it's for any child. It's just a different way of learning," she said.

"We [the trust] were trying to offer Marlborough a choice – that's the heart-wrenching thing."

The trust had a 12-month contract with the school, which would finish at the end of the term, and also used the school's spare room.

The class would continue if there was enough funding but money from the Ministry of Education and other grants were difficult to source, she said.

Grovetown Montessori teacher Genevieve MacDonald said she had hoped the class would fill up when the classroom opened last year, but had an inkling the numbers were not high enough to continue the class.

A meeting between the board of trustees and the trust would take place soon to discuss how parts of the Montessori programme could be included in the Grovetown School curriculum, she said.

Grovetown School will not be affected by the indefinite closure of the class.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 11/08/2010

Man admits vicious assault

A 19-year-old Blenheim man who hit another man with a rock in an unprovoked attack left his victim with a gash in the back of his head and needing medical attention, police say.

Shanon Eric George Takimoana admitted assault with a blunt instrument when he appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday. He was remanded for sentencing on October 11.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve Frost said Takimoana and two associates approached a group of six people in two cars at the railway station car park in Grove Rd about 3.15pm on July 4.

Takimoana and his associates tried to speak to a group of four girls sitting in one car, but the girls were not interested and drove away, he said.

Takimoana and his friends began to verbally abuse two men in the second car and both were punched in the face through the open windows, he said.

The victim got out of the car, but was still being assaulted by one of Takimoana's associates.

Takimoana picked up a rock the size of his palm, walked toward the victim and put him in a headlock so his associate could continue punching the man. Takimoana then struck the victim on the back of the head.

Takimoana did not give police an explanation for his actions.

The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 11/08/2010

Man sold tinnies to cover rent

An unemployed Dutch man living in Blenheim sold cannabis from his house to help pay his rent, police say.

Jim Jacobus Wilhelmus van Hoof, 36, appeared in the Blenheim District Court yesterday and admitted possession of cannabis for supply, selling cannabis, possession of utensils to smoke cannabis and receiving stolen items.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Jason Munro said police searched van Hoof's home on July 14 and found 107 grams of cannabis, including 13 pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes wrapped in foil, known as tinnies. The tinnies had a value of about $575, while the rest of the cannabis had a street value of about $200, he said.

Van Hoof told police he sold the tinnies to anyone who went to his house to buy them, Mr Munro said.

Van Hoof had not been working for several weeks and had fallen behind on his rent and bills and sold cannabis to supplement his income, Mr Munro said.

Police also found five bottles of wine stolen from a warehouse by an associate and a pipe used to smoke cannabis.

Van Hoof will be sentenced on September 28. Judge Tony Zohrab said imprisonment was a "distinct possibility".

Teen remanded

A 17-year-old Kaikoura youth did not enter a plea when he appeared in court yesterday charged with possessing a firearm and theft of an animal after a stag was shot on a deer farm.

Dylan Mark Laugesen was remanded on bail to reappear in the Kaikoura District Court on September 10.

Two other men have also been charged in connection to the incident, on July 27, and both are scheduled to appear in the Kaikoura court on the same day.\

Cannabis charges

A 45-year-old Blenheim man admitted selling cannabis and possessing utensils to smoke cannabis after saying at first they belonged to someone else.

Mr Munro said police found 91g of cannabis, about $1000 cash and a pipe when they searched the house Anthony John Cruickshank shared with his ex-partner and two small children on April 7.

The cannabis was stored inside small plastic bags. Police also found a list of names and phone numbers, he said.

Cruickshank denied knowing anything about the utensils and said they must have belonged to his ex-partner, Mr Munro said. It was only after his ex-partner was charged that he said he owned the utensils.

Cruickshank was remanded for sentencing on October 11.

Explosives found

A Picton father did not know there was live ammunition in his house when police searched it late last month, his defence lawyer said.

Gordon Leonard Wainohu , a 39-year-old solo father, yesterday admitted possession of explosives and possession of cannabis.

Mr Munro said police found 11 bullets (.22 calibre) and four cannabis seedlings when they searched Wainohu's house on July 29.

Defence lawyer Tane Brunt said Wainohu did not know about the ammunition but accepted responsibility.

Judge Zohrab sentenced Wainohu to 75 hours' community work and ordered the destruction of the cannabis and ammunition.

Driving convictions

A 56-year-old man caught driving while disqualified for the fifth time was ordered "not to have anything to do with a car" for 12 months.

Grahame John Haines, a contractor, was also disqualified for six months and sentenced to 80 hours' community work.

Defence counsel Tane Brunt said Haines relied on a colleague to drive him to and from work because of a previous disqualification, but had stayed at work late and did not realise everyone else had left.

A 53-year-old community worker who caused a crash in Seddon admitted driving with excess blood alcohol. Ian Graham Doole, of Seddon, was disqualified from driving for nine months and ordered to pay a $430 fine and $130 court costs. Mr Munro said Doole crashed his car on Seaview Rd about 11.20pm on June 20. Tests showed his blood alcohol level was 156 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood (the legal limit is 80mg). Judge Tony Zohrab said his sympathy for Doole was tempered by the level of alcohol in his blood.

Harry Walter Joseph Griffin , 39, of Picton, excess breath alcohol of 767 micrograms per litre of breath (legal limit is 400mcg), third or subsequent offence; remanded for sentence on October 4.

Lucas Santana Calixto, 21, vineyard worker from Blenheim, 691mcg; disqualified for six months, 40 hours' community work.

Aaron Donald Wood, 39, airman of Seddon, excess blood alcohol of 107mg, third or subsequent offence; disqualified for 12 months and one day, 100 hours' community work, ordered to pay $93 fee.

The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 10/08/2010

Fresh funding welcome but barely enough

The Marlborough Community Law Centre has received funding for the new financial year, but will probably have to dig into its cash reserves to cover all its operating costs.

Centre manager Gordon Strang said he had been worried the centre would not receive as much money for the financial year beginning July as it had in the past.

However, the Legal Services Agency had confirmed the Blenheim centre would receive about $300,000, the same amount it received last year.

While this was good news, it did not take into account increased operating costs and the centre might have to use cash reserves to cover all its costs, Mr Strang said.

The centre had just hired two qualified lawyers to oversee case work for the 2500 people it served annually and there was a continual need to keep up to date with technology and the law, he said.

Mr Strang said the centre needed to spend money on training staff and buying more resources.

"What we don't want is stagnation. We can't afford that because the law is changing all the time," he said.

He expected requests for advice about the new police safety orders, which allow police to remove the abusive party in a domestic relationship from a house for up to five days.

People served with a notice by police might not know what they could do about it, he said.

"There's always a need to change. As society changes, the law changes and we have to as well."

The Legal Services Agency funds community law centres from interest earned from the money put in lawyers' trust accounts after sales of assets such as houses.

A fall in the number of houses sold last year reduced the amount of money it had to distribute.

Mr Strang said about $11 million was needed to run community law centres around the country, but last year the interest from housing sales provided only 30 per cent of that, and the government paid the rest.

The Legal Services Agency provides legal aid and assistance to people who cannot afford lawyers.

By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express

Last updated 12:00 06/08/2010