Hockey starts this weekend in Brisbane (that’s ice hockey) and I’ll be coaching and playing a little, and even brought my ice cones over from North America during my last trip (they’re called witch hats here; I can’t make this stuff up).

Apparently I have to sterilize them.

Contractors were forced to spray contaminated road cones in Mairehau, New Zealand, with disinfectant to prevent staff from getting sick.

Toilet paper and other sewage was still flowing out of a drain in the road yesterday morning. 

Jim Young, of Transfield Services, said some of the cones had been floating in the flood waters. They would be hosed down with a water-blaster once he had finished spraying them.

“We don’t want our guys to get sick from touching them before they eat lunch or anything like that,” he said.

Smith said he saw footage on television of children playing in contaminated water, during the floods, which was “not ideal”.

In Missouri, about 40 people, including nearly half the roster of a minor league hockey team, got ill at a charity event Monday night, and health officials say a nasty stomach virus is the likely culprit.

The family bowl night at Harvest Lanes was a benefit for Autism Speaks. Members of the St. Charles Chill hockey team were on hand to sign autographs, and about 36 hours later, many of the players and front-office workers developed symptoms.

Doug Bolnick, a spokesman for the St. Charles County Health Department, said officials suspect the illness is the work of the norovirus.