Chris Morris

Allan Towers' pet dog has been showered with love ever since she was saved from a sack as a puppy.

Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis has been stripped of his voting rights after failing to apologise before a 24-hour deadline.

Mayor Dave Cull has a one-word response to questions about the legality of stripping Cr Lee Vandervis of voting rights: ''Whatever.''

The Dunedin City Council is to give its more than 700 staff new training to protect the organisation from a repeat of the $1.51 million Citifleet fraud.

Mosgiel man Ian Marsh is claiming bragging rights after landing the biggest fish he has seen in 40 years on the water.

Dunedin city councillors are set for a 9% pay rise - worth more than $4500 to each - and Mayor Dave Cull says more is needed.

The loss of the Port Chalmers supermarket's New World brand could encourage the return of smaller stores squeezed out of the main street years ago, a campaigner says.

Police have taken action against some of their own after failing to protect Katharine Webb and her children, but those involved have kept their jobs, Otago's top policeman has confirmed.

Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis could be temporarily stripped of some voting rights after misleading a council subcommittee and erupting in anger at the council's chief executive, it has been confirmed.

Dunedin city councillor Lee Vandervis is being urged by one of his accusers to accept his behaviour is ''inappropriate'' and offer a genuine apology.

A battle is brewing in Port Chalmers as residents square up for a fight to save their supermarket.

Councillors say the Dunedin City Council is in ''denial'' over the need to raise rates, or cut services, to plug a $68 million budget shortfall over the next decade.

There are fears downsizing Port Chalmers' New World supermarket will lead to its closure and deliver a ''devastating'' blow to the community.

An outside company will be paid to pry into every corner of the Dunedin City Council in the wake of the Citifleet fraud.

Mosgiel's Highland Park subdivision is racing ahead of schedule as an influx of new residents to Dunedin helps fuel demand for homes.

An Otago Peninsula quarry operator found to be digging beyond his boundary faces a public hearing to determine the future shape of the operation.

Two men plucked from rough seas near Taieri Island yesterday after clinging for hours to an upturned kayak are ''lucky to be alive'', their rescuer says.