Hamish MacLean

Michael Ross leaves behind nearly three decades in local government when he retires at the end of the month. The outgoing chief executive of the Waitaki District Council sat down with North Otago reporter Hamish MacLean this week.

The planned $6million redevelopment of Forrester Gallery survived a "hand grenade" and will go ahead after almost all Waitaki district councillors voted to loosen the purse strings for the project.

The Waitaki District Council has been told to look at its roading network "through a ‘visitor driver’ lens", in an NZTA report that highlights concerns about the "safety performance" of the council’s North Otago roads.

The southernmost single rural hunk in the annual hunt for lady love is a Glenavy sheep farmer who has a thing or two to offer the right woman.

A new report card rating for New Zealand’s electricity lines companies show Network Waitaki as the only power company in the lower South Island to receive a grade of "good" in all eight of the "estimated state of the assets" categories.

A North Otago town now boasts what is believed to be the first community-owned electric car in New Zealand.

While Oamaru artist Colin Wheeler is being celebrated this winter, his widow Phyllis remembers her husband fondly as a fan of pudding as much as an artist.