Parents of children at Clinton School, in South Otago, yesterday expressed outrage over changes to the Ministry of Education-funded rural bus route that could leave primary school children with a long and dangerous walk to school.
With plunging temperatures this week, Waitaki Road Safe and the Waitaki District Council (WDC) have experienced huge demand for a timely project to supply free ice-scrapers.
Migrant families living in the Waitaki district need more practical help to settle permanently in the area, according to a survey funded by the Ministry of Social Development.
Neighbours remember Jason Frandi mostly as a quiet and friendly man.
During the next 10 days, Oamaru police will crack down on teenage drivers failing to adhere to restricted driver's licence rules, as part of an ongoing road-safety blitz.
Material used to create a new book and DVD about the Five Forks school and wider area will be retained for posterity after past pupils grouped together to help fund its upkeep.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean, who last month visited a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, yesterday revealed 250 "desperate" people were fleeing the increasingly brutal civil war in Syria every night - and that was at just one point on the 375km border between Syria and Jordan.
A team of 20 detectives continues to investigate the murder of Czech tourist Dagmar (Dasha) Pytlickova near Waimate, but they still do not know how the 31-year-old came to meet convicted sex offender Jason Frandi.
An Oamaru man's need for a nicotine fix could end up costing him a lot more than just the cost of a pack of cigarettes, after he was stopped for drink-driving twice within two hours.
Visitors to the Waitaki district are expected to start staying longer after the district's tourist attractions are included in a new smartphone application (app) recently released.
The organisers of the annual Oamaru Steampunk festival said they were "blown away" with the reaction to an extended two-day festival.
Dairy Farmers have been asked to refrain from droving cows around the Five Forks area at the weekend as hundreds of people converge for the Five Forks School centennial celebration.
Lovebirds, rednecks and bird-fanciers will be getting along famously later this month, at the North Otago Bird-Fanciers Club 50th anniversary show.
Halloween will arrive a little early in Oamaru this year as schoolchildren in the town get a lesson in how to create their own fairy tales - with the aid of a local artist, the Forrester Art Gallery and a "Word Witch".
Police have released further photographs of the jacket and backpack worn by murdered hitchhiker Dagmar (Dasha) Pytlickova, in an effort to prompt more information about her movements last Saturday.
Murdered Czech tourist Dagmar Pytlickova had a "bubbly" personality and love of life that would be hard to forget, according to her former employer.
Controversial Waimate District councillor Sandy Mulqueen has failed in her bid to get council support for her push for the legalisation of cannabis.
Police were hunting for convicted kidnapper Jason Frandi on Saturday, shortly before he is believed to have murdered a Czech tourist.
Despite admitting being a cannabis user and having driven a bus while "stoned", Waimate district councillor Sandy Mulqueen looks set to retain her seat on the council.
A young mother was left fearing for her baby's safety on Saturday afternoon, after she was caught up in an armed hold-up in Oamaru.