A scientific project to collect layers of sediment dating back to the end of the last Ice Age from the bottom of Lake Ohau has been granted more than $750,000 to create the most detailed climate study of South Island weather ever tackled.
Armed forces from 10 nations involved in New Zealand's biggest ever multinational military exercise are this week expected to start ''protecting'' power stations on the Waitaki hydro lakes.
A change to the Government's tertiary education funding policy is being blamed for the closure of an Oamaru training and job-placement service run by CCS Disability Action (CCS), with the loss of five jobs.
The Victorian Precinct yesterday provided the perfect backdrop for Oamaru's annual Victorian Fete, as an estimated 5000 people attended the town's annual salute to its heritage.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy on Friday admitted it would ''take time'' for Chinese authorities to approve the resumption of meat exports from the Pukeuri meat plant, but denied accusations from the Labour Party that the delay was due to stuff cuts within the ministry.
Armed troops from 10 countries yesterday began honing their skills around South Canterbury and North Otago.
The only new mayor elected in Otago in the recent local body elections officially received the chains of office yesterday.
Renewed protests over the legal sale of party pills and other so-called legal highs have returned to Oamaru after it emerged psychoactive substances were being sold over the counter in the town.
Fears are growing that a rescheduling of the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) performances this year could leave an Oamaru community organisation out of pocket, risking its ability to bring future ballet performances to the town.
More than $3.6 million will have to be spent to provide Twizel township with water complying with New Zealand drinking water standards, according to a report from Opus.
A man thought to have information on the alleged attempted abduction of a schoolgirl near Timaru could be heading south, police say.
Culprits who held down a 94-year-old man in his own bed while they pilfered his belongings during a ''despicable'' night-time burglary in Oamaru have been labelled ''animals''.
Santa yesterday presided over what is being hailed as Oamaru's ''biggest ever'' Christmas Parade, as about 10,000 people waved and cheered at the big man himself, and took in an aerial display.
Omarama has long been renowned as one of the world's best places for gliding and soaring, and when an 11-year-old leukaemia patient from the United States was offered a dream holiday through the Make a Wish Foundation, a trip to the tiny North Otago township was his first choice.
Civil Defence volunteers in Kurow are better placed to keep the lights on in the case of a natural disaster, after taking delivery of a new emergency generator.
Power company Meridian Energy Ltd has appealed a decision to grant resource consent for a 2000-cow Twizel farm to discharge dairy effluent, because of concern it could impact on operations on the Upper Waitaki hydro-scheme.
An emergency relief fund set up in Oamaru to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan has raised more than $2000.
Million-dollar plans to redevelop Lake Tekapo township are back on the agenda, after a group charged with overseeing the redevelopment was reappointed this week.
The biggest international military exercise ever held in New Zealand has been hailed a ''huge success'', and one made even better by the people of South Canterbury and Waitaki.
The growing number of migrant workers settling in the Waitaki district, speaking a diverse range of languages, including Swahili, are in need of interpretation services, the Waitaki Multicultural Council says.
