Book launch not covered

What lengths must a girl go to, to be recognised as newsworthy by our local media?

It seems you need to be celebrating 50 or 60 years or more, or be outstanding in sport, committing a crime or doing a public protest.

And yet this week the South Waikato Tokoroa-bred girl, Marianne Elliott, chose to return to her hometown for the launch of her book, Zen Under Fire. Our local news media were nowhere to be seen.

Not just any book, but an incredible book on her personal experiences of being a human rights lawyer, peacekeeping with United Nations in the war-torn country of Afghanistan.

Marianne Elliott’s book launch on Tuesday night in Tokoroa was a wonderful moment for our region to be proud. You could put a random bunch of 10 people together and I wouldn’t mind betting that Marianne’s achievements on her own would be more than that bunch of 10 collectively.

The choices she has made with her life and where it has taken her were truly an inspiration to all who heard her. You realise that one person on their own can indeed make a difference in this world.

It absolutely staggers me that our local media chose not to attend and cover this event featuring a woman who has a heart and love not just for a war-torn country like Afghanistan but also for Tokoroa. MA Baldwin

Putaruru they mention the cost of vandalism. Take a walk along the banks of the Matarawa from the YMCA to Cullen Crescent if you wont to see vandalism. Most legal, some not legal. All at the instigation of our council. These two pictures I am forwarding show Tokoroa infrastructure waiting to be destroyed by willow trees falling and destroying them. One is a pump station, the other a sewage and water pipe. These are within metres of the truck tyre fiasco. These two structures may not be utilised but a broken sewer pipe over a stream is not a good look.

Where does vandalism begin and neglect start? R Freeman

Tokoroa