David Loughrey

The much-vaunted multipurpose nature of the Forsyth Barr Stadium has been both heralded by proponents and mocked by opponents as the building rapidly takes shape on Dunedin's waterfront.

No prosecution will follow an incident last year in which the 61m boom of a 70-tonne crane toppled and smashed on to the pavement in Frederick St, Dunedin.

At some point in the next financial year, the Dunedin City Council's total debt will reach its forecast peak of $360 million.

An exhibition of Aramoana's history ended its ninth annual run yesterday, and the event that started as a millennium project will be continued.

About one-quarter of all Fire Service callouts in Dunedin are false alarms, similar to figures for the rest of New Zealand, with the cost to taxpayers nationally close to $25 million a year.

Anyone planning to do something they very, very rarely do - something they might do once, for instance, in a blue moon - should put their plan off a month.

Otago's fish stocks are in excellent condition, water quality in the region's rivers and lakes is good, and sales of fishing licences are strong.

Some of Otago's rivers are dwindling to minimum flows and below as a dry year begins to take its toll.

Provincial one-day cricket proved a popular drawcard at the University Oval in Dunedin yesterday, with the double of a sunny day, and a holiday, attracting 765 people.

The Dunedin City Council can charge rent for ratepayers whose properties encroach on road reserves, but when the situation is reversed, things are a little different.

Two Taieri Rd families received an early Christmas present last week, when they were given permission to fell a giant redwood that had damaged their driveway and limited access to their properties.

Boxing Day sales drove a day of festive spending in Dunedin, with shoppers on a mission thronging city streets.

Conditions in Otago have not yet climbed to extreme, but fire chiefs across a dry region have urged holidaymakers to take care in the risky summer holiday season.

Among about 5000 cruise-ship visitors flocking to Dunedin at the weekend were United States citizens Jim and Lynn Jackson, who live near the city's American namesake, Dunedin, in Florida.

Potential neighbours of a proposed 118-lot residential development in Mosgiel have come out in force against the plan, angry their "semi-rural" suburb could make way for more intensive development.

John Lennon may not have been thinking about Christmas dinner at the St Andrews St Church of Christ when he wrote Imagine, but the lyrics - "imagine all the people, sharing all the world" - were appropriate as they wafted through the hall yesterday.

Kereyn Smith's appointment to the Highlanders board has broken new ground for rugby in the South - she is the franchise's first female director.