odt odt

There were tears and cheers, even lots of laughter, when Annie Baxter bid farewell yesterday to her Victorian Tearooms and Store in Oamaru's historic area.

Four months after Dame Kiri Te Kanawa chose Oamaru as the location for her only New Zealand concert this year, other ''high profile'' opera acts have signed to perform in the town's opera house.

Oamaru's Victorian precinct is set to lose one its most recognisable businesses, after it was confirmed yesterday Annie's Victorian Tearooms will cease trading this weekend.

Residents of a close-knit community in East Otago are rallying together to help a family of seven left homeless after fire gutted their home on Saturday.

Extra security measures are under consideration for Oamaru public toilets after police said they were seeking the ''brainless'' culprits behind two incidents at the toilets over the weekend.

A living war memorial in North Otago, already thought to be one of the biggest war memorials in New Zealand, is to be restored as part of a project funded by the Lotteries Commission, and with public help, it could also increase in size.

Just two days after the Waikato township of Putaruru became the first town to voluntarily ban synthetic cannabis from dairy shelves, an Oamaru community police constable says ''greed'' was behind a failed attempt to do the same in Oamaru last year.

More than 200 years after large swaths of the Scottish Highlands were left largely barren of humanity because of what has been described as ethnic cleansing, an Oamaru artist with links to Scotland hopes to draw attention to a long-lost way of life through a new art exhibition.

Objections to proposals for a new tavern in Oamaru's Victorian precinct have lessened, but some opposition remains after talks between interested parties last week.

A Danseys Pass couple still partly cut off from the outside world following a winter storm nearly three weeks ago now fear that more heavy rain could leave them isolated until Christmas.