Otago Daily Times News Feed

Alexandra children Lucy and Cohen Anderson sit on schist rock at Flat Top Hill. Photo: Trudy Anderson. Some Otago children will be able to earn medals while connecting with nature through a Department of Conservation initiative which is spreading to the regions.

Bryan Cadogan. The search is on for this year’s local heroes and volunteers in the Trustpower Clutha District Community Awards.

The Southern District Health Board has been ordered to pay $6000 compensation to a Queenstown nurse for the way it investigated her complaint about a colleague.

The calls for a national inquiry into child abuse in state care are growing louder, as are the demands for a public apology, but the Government is refusing to budge. In the final part of  the ODT Insight series, "A State of Abuse", Chris Morris considers the case for justice.

David Harrison. An extensive financial analysis by ANZ of 31 post-Treaty of Waitangi settlement iwi and hapu shows all recorded a positive profit in the last reported financial year. The research also shows there are challenges ahead in growing returns for individual tribal members. Business editor Dene Mackenzie reports.

Wanaka property developers Dee and Peter Gordon. Photo: ODT. A Wanaka couple have been given the go-ahead to create 23  residential sections on the edge of the town.

Oamaru’s Crossan family (from left) Kara, Brent, Hailey (18), Riley (13), and Tyla Crossan (17). Photos: Hamish MacLean. Fighting cancer was a family affair for the Crossan family. Hamish MacLean met  Hailey, Tyla and Kara Crossan to talk about Hailey’s battle with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and how it brought the family back to Oamaru.

Smog over Alexandra. Photo: ODT. Some Otago towns are again regularly exceeding recommended air pollution levels this winter, as the regional council composes a new air quality strategy to try to curb the problem.

Dunedin student Sophie Smith competing in the Otago cross-country championships in Waikouaiti last Saturday. Photo: Wayne Parsons. Lifting the Otago junior cross-country title last Saturday, Dunedin student Sophie Smith gave every indication  she is on track to do well at the World Mountain Running Championships in Premana, Italy later this month.

Former Otago Nugget Andrew Parke with daughter Lilly at the Edgar Centre yesterday, both down for the under-15 national basketball championships with the Auckland girls’ team. Photo: Gerard O'Brien. Travel and basketball go well together for Andrew Parke.

The Stampede has returned to the top of the standings and the Queenstown-based team plans to stay there.

A new app released this week shows where wilding pines are an issue, but in Central Otago a large group of people have been concerned for a long time about the trees increasingly making their mark on the landscape. Pam Jones finds out about the campaign to rid the region of rogue trees following the announcement of funding for the next clearing project.

Deloitte Dunedin auditor Jeffrey Broughton. Photo: Linda Robertson. Deloitte Dunedin auditor Jeffrey Broughton  is welcoming the opportunities winning a prestigious Institute of Directors award will bring.

Dry conditions and the resulting low hydro lake levels have taken a toll on Contact Energy, further compounded by surging wholesale electricity prices and Contact’s  support deal with Meridian Energy to supply the Bluff aluminium smelter.

In what has become a recurrent theme in past years, New Zealand’s migration in June reached another annual high of 72,300, likely to prompt another outpouring of concern from campaigning politicians.

A Mosgiel man says his life has been put on hold as he waits for an urgent heart operation which has been postponed six times due to a lack of beds in Dunedin Hospital’s intensive care unit.

istock_88771081_large.jpg Photo: Getty Images Delivery of the Otago Daily Times on Saturday will be affected by road closures due to flooding.

o-itchenwall1_0.jpg Volunteer Fire Brigade evacuated a Itchen St Oamaru property late on Friday night after a retaining wall slipped and struck the house after a day of record-setting rain in Oamaru. Oamaru Volunteer Fire Brigade evacuated an Itchen St Oamaru property late on Friday night after a retaining wall at the back of the house slipped and struck the house following a day of record-setting rain in Oamaru.

  Civil Defence  is advising residents in Henley township, upper Taieri ponding area and the Gordon Rd spillway area  to evacuate now, as the Taieri River is rising rapidly. 

Photos of the extreme weather in the south, Friday, 21 July.