John Lewis

Many of those asking questions at an Otago Energy Research Centre forum on lignite mining in the southern region may have left feeling none the wiser last night.

Prime Minister John Key yesterday cautioned Contact Energy not to use the emissions trading scheme (ETS) as an excuse to raise the price of electricity for Dunedin residents.

Three of the four shortlisted tenderers for construction work on the $500 million tender for Auckland's trains have signalled they may visit Dunedin within the next month to investigate the city's engineering capabilities.

"Your mum and dad, your family and friends - they are so proud of you today. It's a good day to ask for something you really want."

Pupils at Dunedin's Brockville School are considering changing the name of their suburb to Brockywood after being named finalists in a national film-making competition.

Armed police searched South Dunedin streets yesterday, hunting for several Mongrel Mob members and associates believed to be responsible for the alleged repeated rape of a teenager.

A burgeoning school roll and the possibility of overcrowding has prompted Balmacewen Intermediate, in Dunedin, to establish an enrolment scheme.

Here's some food for thought - if you drop your sandwich on the floor, is it still safe to pick up and eat after five seconds?

Government plans for alcohol reform, to be released today, are likely to be weak and "like treating cancer with a couple of aspirin", medical experts say.

The tide is turning in Rotary clubs across the country, New Zealand's first female district governor says.

Staff at the Regent Theatre, in Dunedin, have been left baffled after someone broke into the building and went on a trail of minor but senseless vandalism.

The Octagon skyline is undergoing a subtle change as construction begins on an extension to Dunedin's Regent Theatre stage house.

Two Otago writers won prestigious awards at the 2010 Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) Children's Book Awards in Wellington last night.

Helping to rebuild a country gripped by civil war for the past 30 years was never going to be easy.

The Government's proposed public-private partnerships in schools will "merely entrench inequality and disadvantage" schools, a senior lecturer at the University of Otago College of Education says.

The Otago Primary Principals' Association has supported its Canterbury counterpart, which has asked boards of trustees in the region to hold off on reporting national standards until fundamental flaws are acknowledged and a sector-driven fix is in place.

They got wet, they got muddy and some even got lost.