In the 2009 Budget, the National Government announced an 80% cut in the funding provided to schools throughout New Zealand to run night classes or Adult Community Education (ACE).

In 2010 all school ACE funding will be replaced with a new approach that reinvests approximately 20% of current school-based ACE funding to re-focussed priority areas, such as literacy and numeracy. It is likely that there will be only a small number of schools receiving ACE funding for 2010 and beyond.

– Budget 2009 Fact Sheet [PDF, 42 Kb], available on the TEC Website

In essence, this decision will spell the end to over 100 years of night classes in New Zealand, and somewhat unsurprisingly the Community Learning Association through Schools organisation has organised a march tomorrow (Tuesday 4th August) in protest. 

(unrelated protest photo via KiwiFrenzy On Location)

Join the march against the funding cuts to ACE, leaving from Wellington High School (from Gate 4 at 249 Taranaki Street) at 2.15pm.  March down Taranaki Street, along Dixon and Victoria Streets, through Manners Street into Willis Street, down Lambton Quay, and arrive at Parliament around 3pm.

A few weeks ago, when we went to talk to Snapper, one of us mentioned how many people we see using cards still fastidiously wrapped in their original clear plastic wrapping.

We thought that, just like the plastic couch covers your house-proud aunt never ever did remove from her new lounge suite, these wrappings need to be torn off, and the card within liberated and made personal.

Well, it now turns out that thanks to Craft 2.0, the solution to this problem is at hand. It involves you.

Craft 2.0 are running the Smarten Your Snapper competition. All you need to do is make some sort of nifty cover, holder, or cosy for your Snapper card (or Snapper USB) and enter it into the competition for a chance to win a new Snapper card pre-loaded with $100. In addition, you could win a table at the next Craft2.0 at the Dowse, giving you a place to market your creation.

Full details are on the Craft 2.0 website, together with a couple of starter ideas.

Get busy: competition entries close on September 1 August 27!

There was proof today that provincial rugby can still actually get pulses racing: it just requires a giant inflatable Log o’ Wood and a typical Wellington day. Some sort of promotion was going on in Civic Square, when a cheeky gust did what [insert name of provincial team that you actually give a monkey’s about] has always longed to do: grabbed the Ranfurly Shield and whisked it away.

For some reason, there were only modest crowds to be endangered by the marauding trophy. Other than a macabrely gallows-like structure for a "test your passing skills" game, the only victims appear to have been a mother and child who were bowled over, and with any luck just momentarily dazed.

Luckily, there was a smattering of other passers-by ready to rush in and help subdue the quivering giant beast. If only the actual rugby were this exciting!

Wellington’s "ol’ faithful" taxi-cab company Combined (or Wellington Combined Taxis to give them their full title) have gone through a bit of a transformation in the last 12 months or so.

With the arrival on the scene of new "green" player Green Cabs (about whom we have written — and been witness to some controversy — in the past), I guess they were faced with the choice of adapting, or get added to the bottom of the endangered species list.

Happily (for them, us, consumer choice AND the planet that we share) they chose the former.

Read on after the jump to find out what they have been up to..

[EDIT: comments were inadvertently disabled on this post, but they are now enabled.]

According to a story in the Dom Post today, a Greater Wellington regional council report up for debate this week suggests closing the least-used stations in the region (Muri and Kenepuru stations on the Paraparaumu line).  Council transport and access committee chairman Peter Glensor said the council and KiwiRail would decide early next year whether to close Muri station, and would consider the future of Kenepuru.

[Slideshow via hadleywood’s album of Wellington Railway Stations]

Apparently while passengers make about 16,000 trips on the Paraparaumu line each day, only 26 people use Muri during morning peak-travel times and 22 use Kenepuru.  That’s not a lot, and its easy to understand the argument behind ditching them.  However, in these times of climate and environmental concerns, it’s hard to get behind the (potential) closures. 

[more after the jump]

Strike Session with Adam Page is about halfway through its run at Downstage. Strike is a long-standing New Zealand-based percussion group, and they’ve teamed up with Adelaide multi-instrumentalist Adam Page for this show. 

After the jump, kumaras, mirimbas and old car parts.

Recently the gals over at Pretty Pretty Pretty ran a poll to settle the age-old argument about which of the Conchords is prettier – Bret or Jemaine. Bret won that round, but now that Jemaine has been nominated for an Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, that means he’s at least the sixth funniest actor on telly, and Bret isn’t. Right? 

Oh, and they were also nominated for Best Comedy Series. Good for them.