An inquiry into the alleged murder of an Elderslie farm worker is expected to last another month as police try to establish the circumstances behind the man's death.
Almost a decade after Meridian Energy canned its planned $1.2 billion Project Aqua hydro-electric canal scheme on the Waitaki River, nearly 900ha of North Otago farmland bought for the project is to go under the hammer.
The historic Loan and Mercantile building on the corner of Wansbeck and Harbour streets, in Oamaru, is expected to become the town's latest tourist trap when the New Zealand Whisky Company begins guided tours of its maturation store.
For the first time since prohibition halted commercial beer production in Oamaru in 1905, the town is set to see bottled beer rolling off the production line.
Businesses in Oamaru will next week learn how they could be instrumental in helping the town become the first place in the southern hemisphere to receive 1-gigabit-per-second broadband speeds.
Lolly scrambles galore and a ''picnic in the park'' are planned to celebrate the official opening of the Friendly Bay children's playground at Oamaru Harbour next month.
Kurow residents are being urged to stand up and be counted in order to allay fears they could be about to lose control of how the town's community hall is run.
The long careers of two Otago court registrars brought to an end following a restructure of New Zealand's regional district courts were to be officially recognised by the Ministry of Justice last night.
With the expected share float of State-owned energy company Meridian Energy due to take place at the end of the month, Oamaru-based reporter Andrew Ashton examines the half-century connection between the assets that drive New Zealand's largest electricity provider and the people of Waitaki.
Two separate events are being planned for November to mark 150 years since the the declaration of the original Oamaru town board - and Santa is also on board with celebrations.
The annual Waimate 50 motor race will go ahead next month, despite the objections of one local business owner, who says the event would result in lost revenue.
A decision on a proposed new retirement village in Oamaru is expected to be made next week.
A community programme that has funded more than $2.2 million of projects in the Waitaki since it was set up by Meridian Energy six years ago will not be affected by the looming partial privatisation of the state-owned energy provider.
All 240 workers stood down from the Alliance Group's Pukeuri meat works last month returned to work yesterday.
Waimate residents scrambling to get their hands on cheap firewood are being told they could be endangering their lives by entering unsafe forestry plantations damaged during last week's storm.
A third man has been charged with murder following the death of Elderslie farm worker Justin McFarlane but police are continuing to search for another person who might ''have been present'' at the time of the incident.
The deaths of two people, within a day of each other, in incidents near Mt Cook have been referred to the coroner for investigation.
Police investigating the alleged murder of a North Otago farm worker have arrested and charged a Palmerston teenager, Steven Kenneth Boskell (18), in relation to the crime, but say they are still seeking others who might have been involved.
A Lake Ohau pensioner will this week begin an attempt to cycle the length of New Zealand on a rusty 1940s three-speed bicycle to raise awareness of the blood cancer lymphoma.
The final phase of a $150 million project to future-proof the Tekapo power canal by fixing leaks in the waterway's lining remains on schedule to start next year.