Kate MacNamara: Holiday roads are safer than we re led to think
1 Apr, 2021 04:00 PM
5 minutes to read
Is holiday driving any more risky than driving at any other time of the year? Photo / 123rf
Is holiday driving any more risky than driving at any other time of the year? Photo / 123rf
OPINION: The police will be out in force this Easter weekend in the name of safety on New Zealand roads and the Ministry of Transport has been cranking up its awareness campaign to promote safer driving ahead of the holiday.
So you could be forgiven for thinking that holiday driving is a risky business. It s not. At least there s nothing to suggest it s any more risky than driving at any other time of the year.
Letter: It took the dedication of many to save music in Ridgefield
March 11, 2021
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To the Editor:
I am compelled to acknowledge the many Ridgefield groups who have united in the challenge of teaching music in our district during COVID-19 this past year, in the face of so many hurdles that could have disrupted learning far more had they not thought outside the box.
Specifically, I want to point out the wonderful collaboration of the Ridgefield public schools music programs and teachers, as well as Ridgefield Music Matters - with the student-created Ridgefield Music Mentors program.
The RMM tutoring program was the brainchild of several students even before COVID began. As teachers and students were struggling last spring with the disruption to learning that is almost always in-person and hands-on, it was clear that this interruption in music would be detrimental to RPS students.
Kate MacNamara: Storm brewing for the Climate Change Commission
22 Feb, 2021 04:00 PM
5 minutes to read
Rod Carr, chair of the Climate Change Commission. Photo / Supplied
NZ Herald
OPINION:
At the end of January New Zealand s newly formed Climate Change Commission dropped a draft report of seismic proportions. The suite of proposals aims to sideline the main mechanism for reducing and offsetting New Zealand s man-made carbon emissions until now, the Emissions Trading Scheme. It would declare peak meat and dairy (our most valuable exports) and reduce livestock numbers from here.
And through a range of policy sticks, carrots and bans, it would have the Government reach into our living rooms and our driver s seats, dictating everything from how we heat our homes to how we get to work, in a slew of new, invasive, but surprisingly inexpensive ways.
Kate MacNamara: Trade talks between New Zealand and the UK get tougher
11 Feb, 2021 04:00 PM
4 minutes to read
How much market access will be offered to New Zealand exporters? Photo / 123RF
NZ Herald
OPINION: For years now, New Zealand and the UK have swapped flattery, neither one losing an opportunity to publicly coo about the promise of closer trading relations with the other. But in New Zealand, the warmth of that praise is starting to cool.
Last week, Trade Minister Damien O Connor welcomed British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss confirmation that she would formally seek admission to the Pacific Rim trading group, the CPTPP.