Pensioner still battling fires after 50 years' service
Seventy-four-year-old Eltham Fire Brigade volunteer Max Mackay has been awarded the United Fire Brigade association 50-year service medal."It used to be 25 years was a huge milestone, now it is 50,"...
View ArticleRoyal couple visit Ohakea Airbase
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, spent their last hour in Manawatu today impressing Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel and their families.More than 300 staff and family...
View ArticleEclipse may have permanently damaged eyesight - doctor
Yesterday's solar eclipse may have permanently damaged up to five per cent of viewers' eyes, according to an Australian eye expert.Doctor Bill Glasson told newscom.au up to five out of every 100 people...
View ArticleImpromptu adventurer returns home to NZ
Impromptu adventurer Busby Noble has returned home after visiting Antarctica, getting arrested in Chile, and becoming a celebrity in Norway during a spectacular 10-month voyage.Mr Noble landed in New...
View ArticleSkydiver killed near Wanaka
A skydiver has been killed near Wanaka.The 38-year-old man fell to his death near the town's airport about 4pm today.He landed on the golf driving range, across State Highway 6 from the main entrance...
View ArticleMan threatened to burn himself alive over quake insurance
A Christchurch man threatened to douse himself in petrol and set himself on fire in Hagley Park in a last-ditch effort to resolve an insurance dispute over his quake-damaged house.The incident earlier...
View ArticleStranded pilot whales have died
All 28 pilot whales stranded in Golden Bay have died, after their pod became trapped at the high tide mark on Farewell Spit this morning.Eleven died in the first hour and another a short time later.The...
View ArticleFatal accident in Waikato
One woman has died and another is in a critical condition after a car accident in Waikato.District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said the smash happened on Old Taupiri Rd near...
View ArticleStreet prostitution bill doesn't go far enough - NZ First
New Zealand First say a bill before the Local Government and Environment select committee doesn't go far enough to crack down on illegal street prostitution.NZ First's social policy spokeswoman Asenati...
View ArticleQuota reintroduced for Hobsonville housing development
The Government has reinstated plans to allocate a percentage of the houses at Hobsonville Point in Auckland as affordable homes priced under $485,000.In 2009, 100 of the 3000 homes at the development...
View ArticleMan appears in court over fatal hit and run
The man charged by police investigating a fatal hit-and-run in Auckland can be named for the first time.Sitanilei Vailahi Haufano, 24, appeared briefly in the Auckland District Court today on a charge...
View ArticleOlder drivers failing competency tests
Nearly half of all senior drivers referred by doctors for on-road competency tests this year have failed, Transport Ministry figures reveal.Nationally, there are more than 5000 licensed drivers in...
View ArticleDrowned man suffered rare shaking syndrome
A sickness beneficiary who suffered a rare shaking syndrome was last seen standing vacantly in the middle of a Christchurch bridge on the night he drowned.A coroner has found Craig Trevor Beckley, 47,...
View ArticleMP pushes for more regulatory protection for miners
West Coast Tasman MP Damien O'Connor is pushing for underground miners in New Zealand to be guaranteed the same regulatory protection as Queensland miners.The bill proposed by Mr O'Connor comes after a...
View Article$1m school fire 'looks accidental'
A fire that gutted the technology block at Whangamata Area School, causing at least $1 million worth of damage, doesn't appear to have been deliberately lit, the school's principal says.Ross Preece...
View ArticleHang glider crashes into Canterbury paddock
A hang glider has been flown to Christchurch Hospital after crashing into a paddock south of Christchurch this afternoon.Emergency services were called to Teddington about 3.20pm.A St John Ambulance...
View ArticleShellfish warning for North Island's west coast
Shellfish along much of the North Island's west coast could cause numbness, dizziness or respiratory failure if eaten, health officials warn.Shellfish from Mohakatino in Taranaki north to Kaipara Heads...
View Article$500,000 stolen property haul uncovered
A 10-tonne excavator was part of a $500,000 haul of stolen vehicles police uncovered at a Hicks Bay property on the East Coast.Police also found more than 300 cannabis plants.The stolen property was...
View ArticleManawatu Gorge finally fully functional
The road through the Manawatu Gorge is fully operational more than 15 months after being closed by a massive slip.The stretch of State Highway 3 connecting Manawatu with Wairarapa was closed after a...
View ArticlePair acquitted of major P charges still face sentencing
Two Tauranga men accused of manufacturing $2.3 million of P and conspiring to supply the drug have been acquitted by a jury - but the pair still face the prospect of years behind bars for other...
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