More Top Stories
Top cop position advertised
7 December 2024
Police need numbers and bigger budget
9 December 2024
Niki Rattle: A call for stronger human rights protections
10 December 2024
Solid and Hazardous Waste Bill referred to Parliament committee
10 December 2024
DPM defends CIIC finance and travel policies
6 December 2024
Cook Islands has its first mosque
14 November 2024
CI Muslim opens up about her faith and journey
16 November 2024
RAC to address mosque legality
19 November 2024
I don’t expect much change: PM Brown on US Elections
6 November 2024
Fifth weekly Sydney flight to Rarotonga announced
23 October 2024
CIIC directors seek $350,000 in damages over defamatory claims
21 October 2024
Man found guilty of rape, burglary
24 September 2024
Tenants face water bill burden
8 October 2024
Concerns over Minister’s role in inmate work releases: PAC
5 October 2024
Tourism contribution set to surpass half-billion dollar mark
25 September 2024
Parliament Clerk sparks outrage over deep sea mining statement
23 September 2024
Deep sea dilemma: Cook Islanders weigh the cost of mineral riches
21 September 2024
Anxiety on the rise: Cook Islands faces mental health challenge
7 September 2024
Cook Islands deep sea mining poll sparks controversy
7 September 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Rising seas, rising costs: Climate impacts on Cook Islands economy
2 September 2024
Inflation eases but concerns remain
31 August 2024
Prime Minister defends $659,000 MPs travel bill
23 August 2024
Taxpayers foot $659,000 bill for MPs travel and allowance
22 August 2024
Corruption report exposes ‘bribe and sexual favours’
17 January 2023
PM Brown eager to hand over Forum chair role to Tonga
13 August 2024
ICI explains road works delay in front of old Sheraton site
10 August 2024
Housing crisis hits tourism industry
27 July 2024
MCI rejects ‘dark fleet’ label
3 August 2024
Challenging ‘rape culture’
8 July 2024
Opinion
Virtues in Paradise: The best present you can give
Christmas is nearly here, and there is so much to do – preparing for visiting family, finding gifts for the children, serving the church, writes Linda Kavelin-Popov.
Coconut trees, too much of a good thing
Coconut trees are often called the ‘Tree of Life’ in the Cook Islands and other Pacific islands because every part of the tree is useful. But too many coconut trees can be a problem.
The burglary murder... wrong man charged
OUR RECONSTRUCTION of the crime scene was that the deceased was woken up when someone walked into his bedroom.
Shootings wakeup call for all
Last week’s Vaimaanga shootings are a wakeup call for all of us.
When tragedy strikes, the virtues can help
I WAS visiting Rarotonga this week when the news spread that two people had been murdered. While on a work release programme from prison, Chris Rimamotu shot his former partner and her boyfriend. That night, he had a gun and a truck and was still at large. Most people went into lockdown mode, but a woman who lived in the village where the shootings occurred was weeping and wandering in a parking area, afraid to go home. The next morning, cornered in a house by police, the killer committed suicide. No-one, including the police, remember any act of violence like this happening before here in paradise. What happens to a community, especially a small community, when tragedy strikes? Make no mistake. Everyone is affected by a devastating event such as this; everyone. How do we as a community deal with the aftermath, the post-traumatic stress of fear, anxiety, grief, and feelings of vulnerability? Communities in North America have applied the healing tools of The Virtues Project, days or sometimes months after tragedy hits. In Pocatello, Idaho in 2006, beautiful 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart, known as one of the kindest and best loved girls in her class, was murdered by two classmates, who planned to kill many of their classmates. The two boys, who were friends of Cassie’s, confessed they did it to be “famous”. They are now serving a life sentence without parole. This profoundly shocked and shattered this small, very religious community. Yet, nothing except some immediate individual counseling had been done. We set up circles for the teens, families, and teachers to finally allow the healing tears and suppressed anger blocked until then, and helped to re-bond the painful rift between students loyal to the boys and others who were enraged by what occurred. There were sincere virtues acknowledgments and hugs bridging the gap. In Walkerton, Ontario, a toxic e coli outbreak in the community water system from farm run-off, killed seven people, and sickened thousands. The horrific discovery was made that it was the result of a cover-up by two untrained men who monitored the water system. The town, heavily dependent on tourism, withered. Family businesses were lost. Children had to be bussed to schools in other communities. It was like a ghost town. Finally, the interfaith church council decided to bring in the The Virtues Project. One mother who ignored the early warnings, bathed her children and brushed their teeth with the tainted water. She said guilt had kept her sleepless for months. Her first good sleep occurred after the healing circle. She
Calamity hits with cyclone force
Counsellor and CI News columnist Thomas Wynne examines the tragic events of this week and looks at ways in which the lives of the weak, the vulnerable, the mentally unwell and challenged can be improved.
Kicking off after the Futsal World Cup
HELLO READERS! I’m back!
A fresh look at Gospel's arrival
AS GOSPEL Day quickly approaches (it’s on Wednesday, October 26), sitting in church one Sunday here in Arutanga, the singing takes on that heavenly feel, as the songs just lap over and over,
No-one needs to be alone in their fight against cancer
THE SCENT of sausages and onions sizzling on the “barbie” wafted across the road, drawing me toward a long table covered with a pink cloth, tended by bank employees wearing pink.
The wonder of living in paradise
I DECIDED to do a random Virtues Pick for this column, and received Wonder.
Our land should not be a commodity
Today’s opinion column is written by Aitutaki counsellor Thomas Tarurongo Wynne, who this week explores the power of a connection to the land. Wynne is standing in for regular columnist, Norman George, who is in Colombia, South America. He is representing CIFA at the FIFA Futsal World Cup and will return to Rarotonga this month.
Weighty words need careful weighing up
WHEN SOMEONE we know says something about not wanting to live, make no mistake, it is a distress call, and it should be taken seriously.
Our 'brown economy' is a living, breathing treasure
AFTER A short drive through Areora, past plantations of ripe sun filled bananas and deep swampy Atiuan Taro, the path opened up to a picturesque bay, Matai Bay, the bay of my grandfather, his grandfather and those long before him.
The huge power of peace
“LET THERE be peace on earth and let it begin with me” are the words to a song often heard in Faith communities around the world.
Strange goings-on at parliament
MONDAY’S boycott of parliament by the opposition has an awful strained logic about it, if only in the mind of a Democratic Party theorist.
Here's how to change your life for the better
HERE’S A tip that will magically change your life for the better. It will lift your spirits and bring joy to everyone around you.
Fiji school visit food for thought
DRIVING along dusty roads, through a development project that we are told has been going on for three years, I struggled to see many workers working on the road as we scuttled past in our taxi.
Talking can help save lives
This article, written for CI News by the head counsellor of Punanga Tauturu Inc, Nga Teinangaro, should be required reading for anyone suffering from depression or worry and other issues.
Scene analysis pays off in outer island homicide case
This is the final episode in Rarotonga lawyer Norman George’s account of a murder case, in which he represented the defendant.
Prayer should be a two-way conversation
THE SACRED texts of many faiths tell us that prayer is conversation with God. This implies that it goes both ways.
Twists and turns of a murder case
This week’s column by Rarotonga lawyer Norman George takes up the story of how he successfully defended the accused in a high profile murder case on Mangaia in December, 2004.
Envy cooks a stew of nasty self-pity
THERE WAS such appreciative feedback about last week’s column on “The Green Eyed Monster” of jealousy, that I decided to write about its ugly step sister, envy, which is being jealous of what other people have.
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