Rainfall and snow melt because of the warm weekend temperatures have led to flood alerts for some of Otago's rivers.
For nearly 40 years, John and Sue Aspinall have always been ready to lend a hand, a tractor or a phone to Otago Boys' High School pupils and staff experiencing the great outdoors in the Matukituki Valley, on the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park.
The Gray's beaked whale that washed up on a Kaka Point beach earlier this week was a lactating mother, and its calf is unlikely to survive without it.
Two dead beaked whales found washed up on the Catlins Coast recently brings to five the number of dead marine mammals found on the coast this year - an unusually high number, according to Department of Conservation ranger Cheryl Pullar.
A meeting in Dunedin between a member of the expert panel considering the future of neurosurgery in the South and those fighting to retain the service went "better than we hoped", Associate Prof Samuel Mann says.
All the parties involved in an Environment Court appeal over the building of a pole house on flood-prone land at Karitane should have to bear their own costs, the court has decided.
It was unusual in duration but otherwise the rain event which caused flooding on the Taieri in May was unremarkable, consultant hydrologist Dave Stewart says.
The Otago Regional Council does not think dam owners are capable of managing safety under a more relaxed regulatory regime.
Otago was cold, sunny and dry last month, with Dunedin, Balclutha, Cromwell and Queenstown reaching records for low temperatures or high sunshine hours, or both.
Purakaunui landowners have again called for Potato Point to remain in its natural state, opposing a proposal to build a home on the point.
Throwing a piece of paper or cardboard into a green bin could start the habit of a lifetime.
Visitors to Sandfly Bay on Otago Peninsula are still encroaching on the shy yellow-eyed penguin's habitat, leaving researchers to call for better signs at the popular beach.
Dirty-looking rivers in Otago do not bode well for the start of the whitebaiting season tomorrow.
Eight cases of the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, have been confirmed in Otago and Southland so far this winter.
A proposed Otago Regional Council contribution to a vision for Otago's public transport for the next 30 years lacks a "clear vision" and acknowledgment of the importance of a large tertiary campus in Dunedin, councillors say.
It is disappointing the Otago Regional Council has not met its own deadlines for some projects, but that is the nature of the business, Cr Stephen Woodhead says.
Six rescue trips in one day covering the equivalent distance of a flight to Australia, is the Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust's busiest day in its 11-year history.
Dunedin Archives New Zealand and National Library staff should notice little change in their day-to-day work once merged with the Internal Affairs Department, the man who will oversee the integration says.
It will be at least another 18 months before any noticeable improvements in air quality can be measured in towns like Alexandra, Otago Regional Council environmental information and science director John Threlfall says.
"Substantially" more water could be available for irrigation in the Tarras-Bendigo area than first thought, an Otago Regional Council study shows.