John Lewis

Half a sack of porridge was the only thing left to eat at the Mayor's Midwinter Breakfast by 8am yesterday after the largest turnout in its five-year history.

There was no time for building Terminators at the Otago Secondary Schools Technology Innovation Challenge in Dunedin yesterday.

Some emotions could not be put into words last night when Mornington School won the Year 5 and 6 Otago Daily Times Extra! Spelling Quiz at Tahuna Intermediate.

"We rock", "let's rock" and 'we're rockin' around the clock" are just some of the slogans Brighton and Ocean View school children hope to capitalise on now their Brighton-based school has been renamed Big Rock Primary School.

More than 34,000 salmon smolt have been pumped into Dunedin Harbour this week, but fishermen can forget about flipping their lines into the harbour - they won't be ready to eat for another two years.

While secondary schools in the southern region have welcomed the Government's review of NCEA achievement and unit standards, the National Party is mocking the Government for finally accepting the system is flawed.

"The first first time I performed on stage . . . I was terrible. I forgot my lines, I laughed, I stood in the wrong places, I even knocked someone over."

A Dunedin bus driver believes the Dunedin City Council is toying with lives by stalling action on "dangerous" bus stops in the city.

A thick blanket of fog over the South Island caused "organised chaos" for travellers yesterday, and left some flights into Dunedin International Airport cancelled, rerouted or delayed.

A shark sightseeing operation has sparked fears from the Paua Industry Council about paua divers being attacked by great white sharks in Foveaux Strait.

A growing number of queries from parents about how to support their children in learning basic numeracy has led Dunedin's Musselburgh School to hold a series of open-door classes for parents.

A Logan Park High School cooking team's recipe for kebabs and potato salad has skewered the competition and won it a place in the grand final of TV2's Activate competition.

A catering company operating canteens in 80 schools around New Zealand pulled out of two schools in the southern region before new nutritional guidelines were introduced by the Government this week.

Organisers of the Big Sing Secondary Schools Choral Festival are squealing with delight after record entries to the competition and extremely high performance standards at the Dunedin Town Hall yesterday.

The Brass Monkey Rally organising committee will meet to discuss an incident in which a 30-year-old pregnant woman received second-degree burns to her face, neck and arms.

Kings High School's attendance officer is "wagging" school this week to be baggage manager for the Irish rugby team before their test against the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday.

A Green Island, Dunedin, couple, Cliff and Valerie Hall, have won a "dream home" on Australia's Sunshine Coast in a lottery.

Two of Otago's brightest scholars have been recognised at a ceremony at Government House in Wellington for gaining top marks in the 2007 New Zealand scholarship examinations.