Hamish MacLean

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.

The Catlins village of Tahakopa was once brimming with life.

Few cars represent a subculture more clearly than the hot rod.

Anzac Day could become more meaningful for the younger generation from next year, with funding approved to move Heriot's war memorial and the project given the go-ahead.

The Pomahaka River in South Otago breached its banks and was flooding paddocks in the Clydevale area on Tuesday.

Construction of the $2.3 million Tuapeka Aquatic Centre will begin on October 13.

The Clutha District RSA honoured 14 members of the RSA with lifetime memberships earlier this month, the first time since 2006 life memberships have been handed out at Balclutha.

A Balclutha hip-hop crew is gearing up for one of the biggest performances of their lives with a little help from a star in the dance world.

The possibility of the Queenstown Lakes Community being asked to take over ownership of health facilities at the Lakes District Hospital, might surprise locals, but it is common in the province. The Southern District Health Board cannot upgrade the Frankton facility and fund a $100 million Dunedin regional hospital rebuild, and was looking at options such as trust ownership. There are various ownership options of health facilities in Otago.

Southern companies reliant on the dairy sector expect to be able to weather the dramatic slashing of the milk-price forecast for the coming year.

State Highway 1 south of Balclutha was closed for about an hour yesterday after a trailer being towed by a truck was blown on to its side by strong wind near Kaihiku about 11am.

Visitors to any one of New Zealand's 81 tourism i-Site offices this summer will see Clutha as a holiday destination, for the first time.