Uncorked: All the news that’s fit to print

Some weeks, news flows like the Taylor River toward Town Centre: steadily down the middle, skirting islets in the stream, and slowly along the overgrown edges.

Some weeks, news flows like the Wairau River through the Diversion outlet: swiftly and predictably.

Then there are weeks when news flows like Spring Creek in a storm … which needs no description to convey the image.

Guess how this week is shaping up? Hint: Think swift water. The biggest wave crashes on Friday when the prime minister comes to Blenheim. He is holding a public meeting at noon in the convention centre, which is bound to draw a crowd.

I have met a U.S. president in person (Bill Clinton at a journalism conference in 2006), stood 10 metres from another (Gerald Ford outside a hotel’s Presidential Lounge in the early 1990s) and in the same stadium as another (Ronald Reagan at a campaign stop in 1984).

When it comes to seeing a PM in person, I have just an abstract sense of what to expect; I imagine more formality but fewer cordons than a forum with our MP alone.

The site will have bustled with activity 48 hours earlier, too, with the Future of Work career fair for Marlborough college students. That will be another first for me, but at least I have a clearer frame of reference for it.

Look for me on Wednesday afternoon, either at the Marlborough Weekly table or around the room with a camera. If you have a news tip, please share it with me – I may not rush out immediately to pursue it, but I will note it for after I leave the building.

What else has bubbled up and percolated?

Well, since last issue’s article, the folks at Raupō collected even more signatures for the petition about the phantom fountain in Riverside Park. The tally crossed 400 people affixing their names on the pages. Next stop: Council.

Meanwhile, in the Taylor Pass, a former councillor and his neighbours have a separate source of ire. Council recorded an application for a quarry with estimated extractions of 40,000 tonnes per year. Only four properties in the immediate vicinity received notification – Francis Maher seeks a wider range.

Here’s a bit of good news to wrap up the recap. Stuart Smith, our aforementioned MP, highlighted a $62.5 million investment in rural schools – part of Budget 2026 – which will bring two classrooms to Springlands School for providing satellite learning support to Maitai School.

Where will the flow of events head next? Keep reading Marlborough Weekly and Marlborough App; we’re doing our best to navigate.

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