Hamish MacLean

The business part of the ''Battle for our Birds'' took just over three hours at the Catlins Maclennan Forest on Sunday.

A tractor fire in West Otago this month marked the beginning of a new era in a fire-fighting family dynasty.

Balclutha's Joan Hasler got a first-hand look at Cambodia's poverty and its slums last month.

A $1.5m government programme is aimed at convert more than 200 commercial boilers in Southland from coal to woodchip waste from the region's logging industry.

The murder of 18-year-old Michael Hutchings in Kaitangata is one of the memories Sergeant Craig Dinnissen will take with him as he contemplated his last day on the job yesterday in his hometown of Balclutha, before leaving for a new position in Dunedin.

Dead and dying willows on the shores of Lake Waihola are signs of progress in the battle to improve the quality of the lake. Hamish MacLean reports on the struggle, which is being led by the local community.

Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan's youth employment initiative is so effective at getting young people into work, the Ready, Steady, Work scheme has expanded beyond the district's border.

The Clutha District Council has dumped 26 projects worth $686,856 - approved in its annual plan - into its long-term plan.

Legislation dating back to 1968 has tripped up the Clutha Licensing Trust after an Audit New Zealand audit last year found two board members had a potential conflict of interest.

Three South Otago families who lost men in action in World War 1 and are represented on Balclutha's War Memorial feature in a new exhibition at the South Otago Museum in Balclutha, writes Hamish MacLean.

Rural doctors receiving training for some minor specialist procedures could help the Southern District Health Board achieve its goal of getting more services for less cost, Clutha Health First chief executive Ray Anton says.

It is a family affair.

Stop calling it South Otago - it's Clutha, the the region's tourism authority insists.

A new look for Balclutha's main street will proceed after the Clutha District Council voted yesterday to sign off on the town's $2.6 million streetscape upgrade by the narrowest of margins.

Police have concerns about the motives behind damage wrought on an untenanted property in Clinton's main road.

A Catlins-based conservation group fears its efforts to preserve critically endangered wildlife has been put at risk because of a change in the Department of Conservation's community funding strategy.

The Clutha district's plans to honour the Great War would run over budget, Mayor Bryan Cadogan said yesterday.

Gore residents are worried about the cost of clean air.