Seven police staff from the Southern district, including six from Otago, one of whom is a member of a police disaster victim identification team, have been sent to Greymouth to assist with the police search and rescue operation at the Pike River Coal mine.
Tempers began to fray as the families of the 29 men missing in the Pike River mine were again told yesterday that no rescue would take place before the day was out - and police conceded for the first time that lives might have been lost following Friday's explosion.
Just outside the spot where families gather to wait for news from Pike River, someone has tied yellow ribbons to the trees.
To mark White Ribbon Day, this Thursday, the Otago Daily Times is running a series on Dunedin people's experiences with family violence. Today we look at the numbers. Over the week we will report the real stories from people living in our community. Debbie Porteous investigates.
Praise is being heaped on an Otakou man who dragged an elderly woman from her home moments before it was engulfed in flames.
Dunedin Child, Youth and Family social workers will be told they are expected to go and pick up young people who run away from care, after a review of the agency's policies and procedures around absconding.
Port Otago will review safety features around its wharves following a recommendation from the coroner's office after a young Dunedin man drowned below the city's Fryatt St Wharf last July.
Police commissioner Howard Broad does not believe there is a conduct issue among Southern police, despite five officers being convicted of criminal charges so far this year and another still going through the courts.
The Southern police district commander has been invited to attend a public meeting in South Dunedin to talk through proposed changes to Dunedin's police structure.
Dunedin South MP Clare Curran announced this week she would hold the public meeting on December 1.
Lawyers fear for some of Otago's smaller law firms who remain unpaid for legal aid work due to ongoing problems with the Legal Services Agency's (LSA) computer system.
Southern police district commander Superintendent Bob Burns said he did not agree with any suggestion from the Alexandra community Dairne Cassidy was a scapegoat for other police.
A Defense Force explosive disposals team from Christchurch was sent to Roseneath in Dunedin yesterday to dispose of three sticks of power gel believed to have been left in a shed by a former resident.
A Dunedin city councillor has offered his "most sincere apologies" after an embarrassing gaffe when he forgot to attend a Remembrance Sunday church service at which he was to represent the city.
When is a pursuit not a pursuit? When it is following a "fleeing" driver, according to New Zealand Police.
Two minutes' silence enveloped a central Dunedin park at 11am yesterday as traffic was stopped and those gathered at the city's Cenotaph remembered those who served, and serve, in the military.
Three civil defence emergency managers from Christchurch are giving other civil defence officers from around the South Island insights into the real thing at a conference in Dunedin this week.
Dunedin man Richard Stedman will carry the words and thoughts of more than 100 Dunedin schoolchildren with him as he flies over the city's Armistice Day service tomorrow.
A pair of jet skis stolen from a South Dunedin home last week have been returned to their owner.
New Zealanders should not be surprised HMNZS Otago has broken down again and should probably expect problems to come, given the ship was a cheap option, a defence researcher says.
Child Youth and Family says it is working to prevent a repeat of the situation where a 14-year-old girl ran away from its care 43 times, but has stopped short of conducting an investigation into how that was allowed to happen.
