Otago Daily Times News Feed

Silver Fern Farms is heralding an improved financial performance so far this year. PHOTO: BEEF LAMB NEW ZEALAND Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dean Hamilton says the business has never been in a stronger financial position.

Chris Timms The August reporting season - when all local companies with June and December reporting dates release their financial results - is looming for New Zealand and Australia.

John Ward SBS Bank is set to continue its unprecedented growth of the past five years after announcing it has conditionally bought The Warehouse Group Finance Services for $18million.

The fire started in the timber enclosure behind the home's multi-fuel burner. PHOTO: FENZ A fire behind a fireplace in a Quail Rise holiday home has prompted a warning about non-complying flues.

Mark Williams A retirement village developer has apologised for failing to tell the Queenstown Trails Trust it was temporarily closing two public tracks in Lake Hayes Estate.

The road verge on State Highway 6 between Queenstown Airport and the BP roundabout is now free of parked vehicles after the NZ Transport Agency and Queenstown Lakes District Council announced they would tow away any vehicles parking there from the beginning of July. PHOTO: TRACEY ROXBURGH Recent roading developments have cut the driving time between the BP roundabout on State Highway 6 and Queenstown Airport by up to 17 minutes.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council will assess a group of mature poplar trees on the Wanaka lakefront after two were toppled by high winds at the weekend. PHOTO: TIM MILLER A full structural assessment will be carried out on a group of poplar trees in Wanaka after two near a playground and walking area were toppled by high winds.

26 Ross Pl Cafe owner Liz McLaughlin begins cleaning after her business was affected by the floods in Lawrence. PHOTO: SAMUEL WHITE It will be a waiting game for Lawrence businesses as they figure out the extent of the damage and wider impact from the floods at the weekend.

A satellite image clearly shows the sediment run-off from flooding along Otago's coast. Photo: Cawthorn org A remarkable image of New Zealand's South Island taken by Cawthorn org, shows the affects of the Taieri Plain flooding from space. 

pmenglish.png Prime Minister Bill English says people need to exercise more personal responsibility in avoiding harmful illegal substances. Photo: Mark Mitchell The death of seven people in Auckland as a result of synthetic cannabis use is a police matter and does not warrant Government intervention, Prime Minister Bill English says.

A shocked resident came across an unbelievable find amongst the southern downpour in Invercargill.

The memorial sculpture unveiled by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Photo: Mark Mitchell British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has unveiled a striking new Weta Workshop-designed war memorial in Wellington.

A woman's lung collapsed when a physiotherapist performed acupuncture on her. Photo: NZ Herald A physiotherapist who collapsed the lung of a patient while performing a type of acupuncture on her failed to provide adequate care to her patient, the deputy health and disability commissioner Rose Wall has found.

pampervictim.png Carly Stewart died at a pamper party in Te Atatu last year. Photo: NZ Police It was meant to be a fun-filled girl's day out as a group of Auckland women and their children met in a Te Atatu home last October to get their nails and eyelashes done.

Drone footage taken while checking the condition of the Dunedin Model Aero Club site on School Road.

floodedhouses.jpg Residents need to take all cautions and remain away from properties inundated at present. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery Residents remain out of 143 homes following the storm which buffeted Dunedin and eastern Otago during the weekend.

Popular Kiwi chef Scott Richardson has died. Photo: Getty The New Zealand catering and hospitality industry has paid tribute to former West Coaster and highly regarded chef and hospitality tutor Scott Richardson, who died yesterday morning in Dunedin Hospital.

Army Sapper Alex Gall charged over a truck roll at #Holsworthy Barracks last Oct, killing Jordan Penpraze (pictured). pic.twitter.com/H22J0tzeE6— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) August 14, 2013 Almost five years after an Australian soldier was killed in a training accident on home soil, a commission of inquiry into his death has resumed in Sydney.

A brand of airbags thought responsible for 18 deaths are still being used in several car models. Photo: Getty Consumer watchdog Choice says five car makers have been refitting cars with the same brand of airbag that's been blamed for 18 deaths.

Three men have pleaded not guilty to the rape of an unconscious teenager with a glass bottle at an Australia Day party in 2015.