June 16th has become the 'unofficial' celebration of everything West Michigan, and specifically Grand Rapids, as a nod to the area code 616 for the city and much of the metro area. This year the Grand Rapids Hip Hop Coalition and Grand Stand Pictures are throwing a party to celebrate Grand Rapids on 616 Day.
Tony Wall12:18, Jun 04 2021
Tony Wall/Stuff
Storm clouds have been brewing over Tauranga as ugly racist incidents tarnish the city s reputation.
OPINION: Is it possible for a city to be racist? Probably not, but Tauranga is giving it a fair crack. Having grown up in Christchurch, where acne-faced skinheads used to roam the streets looking for victims of colour, I now find myself living in Tauranga, where a not-insignificant portion of the blue rinse brigade find it acceptable to boo and insult a woman giving a Māori welcome at a public meeting. Recent headlines have brought shame on this city by the sea.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan (Image: AAP/James Ross)
We’ve had so many royal commissions of late two into Crown Resorts, aged care, bushfires, veteran suicide, banking, mental health, family violence, pink batts, trade union governance, Lawyer X, etc that it’s not such a great leap to call for a decent independent examination of one of Australia’s leading sporting institutions, the AFL.
That was the conclusion I reached after reading Michael Warner’s stunning new book,
The Boys’ Club, which was launched by Hawthorn president and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett last week.
Warner is the grandson of legendary war correspondent Denis Warner and his father is Nick Warner, one of Australia’s most decorated defence, intelligence and foreign affairs mandarins of the past 20 years.