Hamish MacLean

Christmas cheer comes early this year

A pohutukawa, known as New Zealand’s Christmas tree, blooms in sunny Shore St, in Andersons Bay,...

Christmas cheer comes early this year

A mild winter and recent warm days have probably triggered the early flowering of a pōhutukawa in Andersons Bay, Dunedin, University of Otago botanist Assoc Prof Janice Lord says.

Opportunities for city ‘immeasurable’

Otago Polytechnic senior product design lecturer Andrew Wallace speaks in Dunedin yesterday....

Opportunities for city ‘immeasurable’

Otago Polytechnic senior product design lecturer Andrew Wallace says if Dunedin establishes a city-wide business "cluster" it could make products on a scale unimaginable for single companies.

University’s major project now unaffordable

The Otago University Students' Association has disaffiliated with the Elohim Bible Academy. Photo...

University’s major project now unaffordable

The University of Otago says what would have been its largest construction project is no longer affordable, but it is going ahead with a new $90million residential hall.

Birthday party for ‘Josephine’ at Toitu

Trying out the train tracks laid in the foyer at Toitu in honour of its double-ended Fairlie...

Birthday party for ‘Josephine’ at Toitu

A crowd of about 40 children sang happy birthday to the 148-year-old locomotive parked in the foyer at Toitu yesterday.

'There’s no brakes. He’s just driven into it'

'There’s no brakes. He’s just driven into it'

A parked car was shunted 50m into a lamppost after allegedly being hit at high speed by another vehicle outside a Dunedin car yard yesterday.

Temperature plummets as rain arrives

Leith Campion retrieves his ball from the hole during a rain-soaked semifinal of the Otago...

Temperature plummets as rain arrives

A rain-soaked start to the Otago Matchplay Championships at Balmacewen Golf Course and the North East Valley 10,000 bowls punctuated a Labour Weekend of volatile weather in Dunedin.

Man dies after accident on Central Otago farm

Man dies after accident on Central Otago farm

A man has died in Dunedin Hospital after suffering critical injuries when the truck he was driving rolled on a Central Otago farm late last week.

Police urge care after high weekend toll

It was also revealed that the gaming friend was known to police and NZ Customs having been caught...

Police urge care after high weekend toll

Six fatal crashes over Labour Weekend so far have prompted police to call for more care on the road, as traffic volumes are set to remain high today.

Choppers called in to fight fire north of Dunedin

Helicopters were helping to fight the fire on Sunday afternoon. Photo: Simon White

Choppers called in to fight fire north of Dunedin

Helicopters and several fire crews have been called in to fight a large gorse fire north of Dunedin this afternoon.

Conservation land for tracks clearly on maps

Scores of new cycle tracks and trails proposed for public conservation land could be a step closer.

Uni to trial video game pathway in curriculum

The University of Otago clocktower. Photo: ODT files

Uni to trial video game pathway in curriculum

Video games have been big business for years.

Call for full story on carbon

A Dunedin city councillor is warning against demonising agriculture as a producer of greenhouse gases.

Trades training uptake benefits polytechnic by $3.5m

Otago Polytechnic chief executive Megan Gibbons. Photo: ODT files

Trades training uptake benefits polytechnic by $3.5m

A rush to take up trades training has helped deliver an extra $3.5million to Otago Polytechnic’s bottom line.

Claim church support for chaplaincy exaggerated

Claim church support for chaplaincy exaggerated

Pleas for a standalone Christian chapel at the new Dunedin Hospital have overstated the financial support local churches give to the hospital chaplaincy, an insider says.

Stop the degradation, show real improvements in five years, restore NZ’s waterways in a generation, and infuriate how many farmers? Hamish MacLean checks in on the fight for healthy rivers after 100 tractors rolled through Gore in protest last week.