Rosie Manins

A predictable funding shortfall of up to $200,000 for Dunstan Hospital at Clyde may not be as bad as first thought, although final figures will not be known until July.

A Clyde woman is hoping her most precious piece of jewellery will be returned to her, after it was lost in the postal system between Cromwell and Alexandra.

A $410,000 prize from a New Zealand Lotteries Commission Bullseye ticket purchased in Alexandra has yet to be claimed.

Because of the cost of replacing underground fuel storage tanks, Cromwell is about to lose a service station.

Maniototo residents are being urged to support an initiative to retain the area's only dental practice after the death in December last year of sole dentist Paul Sapsford.

An exchange agreement between viticulture students, wine-makers and education staff in France and Central Otago is now official, following a ceremony in Bannockburn yesterday.

Maniototo Area School, in Ranfurly, has appointed David Hunter as its new principal, replacing Peter Heron who will leave in mid-May.

Irony was on the minds of those attending a drought meeting in Ranfurly yesterday as persistent rain fell on previously-parched farmland nearby.

A proposal by the Queenstown Lakes District Council to dump its treated sewage sludge near Tarras is upsetting some neighbouring property owners.

Central Otago District Council staff will be closely watching the progress of an application to store and discharge treated sewage sludge on a Tarras property, with a view to doing the same thing with Central Otago waste.