Sports Report – Lisa Blakie Murder Arrest – Baxter Murder – Indian Earthquake Extended Coverage

SPORTS REPORT: The Government has been handed a radical plan for NZ Sport. One proposal includes making the school day longer for time for games. Committee chairman John Graham says it is crucial that something is done to boost sport. Otherwise we will get more unhealthy. The report recommends creating Active New Zealand and giving the Minister a new name. The report wants more kids doing more sport in school. Trevor Mallard says habits are formed in the young. Active NZ would work on leadership and communication and we would get more medals as a result. The task force is not convinced that financial handouts to athletes will get medals however.

SPORTS REPORT REACTION: Reactions have been positive from sports figures but not from teachers. The NZEI says that all you would be doing was adding to teacher workloads, and teaching tired kids for longer. Triathlete Erin Baker supports the teachers reticence. Brian Lochore is keen on merging the Hillary Commission and the Sports Foundation but John Walker is converned about the name being too wishy washy. Everybody agrees the report asks the right questions.

LISA BLAKIE MURDER ARREST: The Police have charged a 31-year-old man with the murder of Lisa Blakie. Inspector Rob Pope made the announcement to cameras. The family of the murdered teenager are pleased to hear about the breakthrough. In February last year the body was found at the Porter River breach. Blakie had worked in a gang owned massage parlour. Lisa’s suitcase was found in late October but police would not comment on the significance of the discovery. The 16 member team have been busy over the last year.

BAXTER MURDER: The man accused of murdering Wellington jogger Margaret Baxter in Hastings has been charged with rape, deliberately running the woman down and kidnapping. Supporters of the accused attended the hearing. The man has interim name suppression after police did not oppose. The body of Baxter was found in the boot of a car. Police will not yet name the weapon found with the body.

EARTHQUAKE 1: A dwindling number of survivors are still being pulled from the wreakage following Friday’s earthquake in North Western India. Up to 100,000 people may have died in the disaster according to some estimates. A street is shown which 360 of 400 children who were processing from school died. 40 children were pulled alive from a collapsed lane. It is more than 72 hours since the lane collapsed and rescue work has only just begun. In other towns bodies are being burnt in the streets. There are no officials to coordinate recovery efforts because they are dead. Hospitals have also been destroyed. Indian soldiers have had some small successes.

EARTHQUAKE 2:Throughout the state of Gujarat homes have been destroyed. Survivors huddle by fires surrounded by rubble. Many have not received any assistance at all. Closer to the epicenter some teams are still working. In Anjar nearly every building has been destroyed. Mothers who survived are consumed with grief. Elsewhere a quiet dignity can be seen among the survivors. Two brothers cry as they farewell their father, their mother and sister were cremated yesterday. There is however a quite remarkable acceptance of what nature has done.

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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