Police have lambasted the actions of a group of Maniototo hunters who had to be rescued after going into an area with minimal cellphone coverage in the Rock and Pillar range on Friday night in "polar" conditions without telling anyone where they were going.
A Central Otago man who fled his burning caravan which was engulfed in flames within 30 seconds has a message for other caravan owners: "watch out for candles".
The New Zealand Defence Force and rural fire authorities will be meeting soon to determine exactly what happened after a simulated explosion during a battle exercise by the army is believed to have started a large fire in remote Central Otago hill country on Friday.
The company behind the multimillion-dollar motorsport park planned for Cromwell has bought the buildings and vineyard formerly owned by The Big Picture to add to the development.
Two helicopters with monsoon buckets are battling a large tussock fire fanned by gale-force winds this afternoon in a remote area of Danseys Pass, as ground fire crews walk in to the site.
It was third time lucky for the best young athletes in Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes District as the twice-postponed Central Otago Primary Schools Athletics Championship began yesterday in Alexandra. More than 500 pupils from 24 schools took part.
A greener Central Otago in future with fuller rivers and lakes during winter and spring was the picture painted by climate scientist Jim Salinger when he was in the district last week to talk about climate change.
If Marie Roxburgh's dream came true, mocktails - non-alcoholic cocktails - would be common at all sorts of social occasions.
Irrigation was the lifeblood of Central Otago and plans to charge for irrigation water could drive the wine and horticulture industries out of business, election candidates were told at a forum in Alexandra yesterday.
All 32 submissions so far on the proposal to lease the St Bathans Post Office and renovate it for commercial accommodation object to the plans.
Gibbston grapegrowers were yesterday still counting the cost of the weekend's icy winds, while the majority of growers throughout the wider Central Otago district reported just a "mild tickle-up" by frost.
Several significant downpours in recent weeks have done little to diminish the fire risk in Central Otago.
Three Cromwell vineyard workers have been arrested in connection with a spate of diesel thefts from vineyards, involving hundreds of litres of fuel.
A suspicious grass fire near Clyde yesterday may have been started by fireworks.
A last-ditch attempt to find a site for the Alexandra men's shed group has been successful, ending a long and frustrating battle.
Dairy cow No 377 was at risk of being culled but is now set for stardom.
Clyde is about to get its first speed hump, in response to complaints from residents, business owners and the police about motorists going too fast in the north end of the main street.
A $75,000 fine for Delta Utility Services Ltd on a charge arising from the death of an Alexandra lineman was only a "slap on the wrist" for the company, the man's grieving family said yesterday.
The farewell hoedown at next year's "Dusty Trails to Cromwell" cavalcade has been saved, thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Cromwell Community Board.
A High Court hearing yesterday signalled the next round of legal proceedings in the battle over whether a hydro-electric dam could be built on the Nevis River.
