Two people were injured when a ute crashed into the back of a rubbish truck in Whangārei yesterday afternoon. Police and other emergency services were called to Ngunguru Ford Rd at 3.17pm on Monday after reports of the crash, about a kilometre from the intersection with Ngunguru Rd. Ngunguru Ford Rd was blocked for almost an hour while the scene was cleared. Police attended and located two people with moderate to serious injuries. They were being treated on scene before being transferred by ambulance to hospital.

Meet the Candidates in Kerikeri
Far North voters have a chance to meet their mayoral candidates at a public event in Kerikeri this evening. [TUES 13 SEPT]All nine candidates — Jaqi Brown, Ann Court, Clinton Dearlove, Kevin Middleton, Joshua Riley, Kelly Stratford, Moko Tepania, John Vujcich and Rachel Witana — have been invited to take part in Meet the Mayoral Candidates from 6pm in the Turner Centre auditorium on Cobham Rd. A cash bar and food will be available. The event is organised by the Turner Centre, the Pioneer and the Kerikeri Business Association. Another event at 6pm next Tuesday will cater to candidates in the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa General Ward and Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward.

Local Lotto wins
Two tickets sold in Northland each won more than $22,000 with Lotto Second Division on Saturday night. The tickets, sold on My Lotto and at Hammer Hardware Kawakawa, were among 14 nationally that each won $22,550. The winning Lotto numbers were 2, 10, 14, 17, 21 and 33 with the bonus number 35 and Powerball number 2. The Strike numbers were 17 02 10 33. Powerball was not struck on Saturday and is worth $17 Million on Wednesday.

Earthquake near Whangārei
A weak 3.5 magnitude earthquake hit 40km southeast of Whangārei on Sunday morning, but there were no reports of any damage caused. The quake, reported by Geonet, occurred at 11.54am on Sunday, with the epicentre 40km southeast of the city at a depth of 36.9km and about 15 km east northeast of Maungatūroto. Geonet said it would have led to very weak shaking, although it had not received any reports of people feeling the shaking, or any damage. The estimated seismic energy released by the quake was 1.1 x 1010 joules (3.12 megawatt hours, equivalent to 2.68 tons of TNT). Northland is generally regarded as the least seismically active region of New Zealand.