Debbie Porteous

Upset at the possible demise of Castle St student bar the Gardens Tavern, three Dunedin students have come up with a scheme to save it.

A prized, and possibly historic, finial from on top of the Winter Garden in the Dunedin Botanic Garden has been stolen, with scaffolding on the glasshouse damaged in the process.

In a test case that could have far-reaching implications, the Liquor Licensing Authority will consider if selling subsidised drinks to students at a private function at a student bar breached the Sale of Liquor Act by promoting the excess consumption of alcohol.

A copyright dispute has not led to the destruction of the Dunedin Santa Parade's Spongebob Squarepants float just yet, as the parade organiser clings to hopes that Spongebob's owners will find their Christmas spirit.

The mysterious felling of 13 native trees in Dunedin's Town Belt has the city council stumped.

New cycle lanes in the middle of State Highway 1 through central Dunedin are "incredibly dangerous", the Automobile Association says.

The banning of four visitors from the Otago Corrections Facility in the month since a dedicated team started searching visitors and their vehicles, should serve as a warning to others, says the prison's manager.

Plans to refurbish the Dunedin Central Fire Station have been postponed after engineers found major conservation work and earthquake proofing are needed to bring it up to building code standards.

Six southern police officers are stood down or suspended at present pending the outcome of internal police investigations or court proceedings.

It is day 22 and counting for about 20 Wenita employees who have been slugging it out in the smoky dustbowl that was once a large part of the Mount Allan forestry area, and the work is not going away.

A fire in Wenita's Mt Allan forestry block, northwest of Dunedin, is expected to be the most expensive of its kind in the country, the national rural fire authority says.

It has little power to do anything about derelict houses, the Dunedin City Council says, after an unoccupied house in Mornington was destroyed in a massive blaze yesterday.