NewsBank (Otago Daily Times (New Zealand))

CENTRAL Otago’s mayor has offered to personally show Resources Minister Shane Jones around the region after he called it ‘‘largely empty’’.

RIVERTON trainer Kelvin Tyler is wary of carrying the top weight but is confident Master Marko will be back to his best tomorrow.

AS the much-anticipated Mainlander train rolled into the Dunedin Railway Station yesterday, waiting on the platform for his daughter and grandchildren was one excited Dunedin grandfather.

A FAST-MOVING coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun hit Earth yesterday, causing a severe G4 geomagnetic storm and a spectacular aurora australis was expected across southern skies last night.

A DUNEDIN doctor is asking for the public to be reasonable with their GPs as a new 12-month prescription rollout is introduced next month.

FOREST & Bird is concerned government changes to the planning system will increase the risk of permanent damage to wildlife and native habitats.

PROMISES to be more specific about wait times for surgeries have not been kept, an Otago man says.

A GOVERNMENT employee who made a sex tape with a woman he met through work has had his name permanently suppressed.

FOR the first time in 50 years, a new item, fibre, could be added to the list of essential nutrients needed to keep humans healthy — if University of Otago researchers get their way.

TONY Brown has revealed he has no get-out clause to join the All Blacks and will be staying with the Springboks until after the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

PIECES of the organisational puzzle are being assembled for the Masters Games in Dunedin, and they will sure come together rapidly at the event itself.

THE wheels are starting to turn on the Dunedin City Council’s process for appointing, or reappointing, a chief executive.

A GANG-RELATED pack attack behind bars has seen four men extend their stay in prison.

PRIME Minister Christopher Luxon will not be able to use Kāi Tahu’s Waitangi Day gathering as a reason not to attend this year’s commemorations at Waitangi.

ABOUT 80 campers trapped at Whangaruru since Sunday have made it home after walking to safety over a massive slip.

ONLY one person can decide when election day 2026 is. How is it picked, and when is it likely to be?

A TAIERI man has hacked the supposed secret to growing sub-tropical kiwifruit in the South. However, nobody can sample any of his bountiful stock.

‘‘AN experience like no other’’.

SURF lifeguard rescues at Otago and Southland beaches are down 60% so far this year, despite a 23% increase in rescues across the rest of New Zealand.

JUSTIN Philip Humphreys must be getting a taste for pepper-spray.

A QUEENSTOWN hairdresser who attacked his flatmate with a knife is likely to be deported.

PEOPLE buying holiday homes and leaving them empty in Queenstown for much of the year are on track to ‘‘hollow out’’ the town, a former World Bank senior economist says.

AN appeal is already in the pipeline following the Queenstown Lakes District Licensing Committee’s approval of an off-licence for a Super Liquor store in Lake Hāwea yesterday.

A MAN who was arrested for shooting fireworks at people in Castle St has avoided a conviction.

MANY New Zealanders are starting the year feeling stressed about money, despite interest rates having fallen, one bank says.

AFTER 20 years of no international women’s hockey in Dunedin, the city is once again playing host to teams from across the globe.

A LEADING health academic says Pharmac should not consider wide-scale funding of so-called ‘‘miracle’’ weight-loss drugs until the country has a solid approach to treating obesity.

THOSE of a certain age are well aware that overexposure to ultraviolet radiation and getting sunburnt is an important risk factor for developing skin cancer.

WHILE Sam Ruthe and Sam Tanner stole the show at the Potts Classic at the weekend, Otago athletes celebrated their own success.

AN emerging gang could be attempting to gain a reputation an expert warns, after one of its members was recently accused of serious crimes in Dunedin.