John Lewis

The family of a Waipu man killed in a Queenstown hang-gliding crash two years ago is pleased a coroner's investigation into the accident is over.

For those of a certain vintage, Alan Duff is best known as the author of Once Were Warriors. But for children at Forbury School, he is better known as the founder of Duffy Books in Homes.

Saying "bless you" when you sneeze at St Joseph's School in Dunedin is optional. But covering your mouth and nose is not.

It seems Forbury School is not going to roll over without a fight.

The quality of New Zealand's housing stock is slipping again, to levels not seen since 1999, a survey of homes in Auckland, Wellington and Otago has revealed.

Linning up for class took on a whole new meaning for pupils at Brockville School in Dunedin yesterday, as they prepared for a primary schools' programme in dance.

Nearly half of the Christchurch pupils who enrolled in Otago schools following the magnitude-6.3 earthquake in February, have stayed in the South, Ministry of Education statistics show.

The future of a mural, recently uncovered in the Port Chalmers Garrison Hall, was discussed at length yesterday by Dunedin City Council representatives and interested parties.

Most 17-year-olds are about halfway through their NCEA level 3 qualifications at the moment, but not David Bellamy. He has been there and done that.

Stu Todd may have been sliced from the MasterChef New Zealand competition last night, but his passion for food is far from burnt.

Sunday dinners might contain traces of bitten fingernails this weekend, as avid fans of the television series, MasterChef New Zealand, eat dinner while nervously waiting to see if local lad Stu Todd makes the cut for the final.

A young Maori boy asked the question: "Do you wanna see some of my break dancing moves, Chardonnay?"

One man's trash may be another's treasure, but Nick Holmes is disgusted at the amount of food, clothing and electronic equipment being thrown out by Dunedin retailers.

Forbury School is likely to be closed by the end of the year, leaving many parents and staff shocked and tearful.

It took several minutes to warm up, hummed like an electrical substation, and it didn't come with a remote control. But in its day, the 1965 Murphy television set was a state-of-the-art piece of electronic gadgetry.

A "mortality reality check" has prompted Bayfield High School's principal to announce his resignation, effective at the end of the year.

Community support has helped the Otago Daily Times' www.ltd.co.nz website win its second Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association (Panpa) award in three years.