Debbie Porteous

A heavy police presence and a mostly good natured crowd resulted in a largely incident-free weekend in Dunedin, after earlier fears two major events could be a recipe for disorder.

The man dismissed last year as Otago District Health Board chairman after nearly $17 million was stolen from the board is "flabbergasted" one of the men involved is out of jail already.

It could be weeks before a Kaikorai Valley business is back to the way it was, after three large trees fell on a workshop, nearly trapping a worker inside.

The rape of a student while she slept in her North Dunedin flat should make students reassess their "open and relaxed" way of living, warns a Dunedin District Court judge.

Emergency services attend a crash in which a car landed on its side in Otago Harbour at low tide yesterday morning.

Three recent crashes on the same section of State Highway 1 north of Dunedin will be investigated in depth by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), after emergency services attributed the crashes to black ice.

Like most things he does, Senior Sergeant Brian Benn, of Dunedin, took the news he was to be awarded a Queen's Service Medal in good humour.

People using boats at Taieri Mouth over the holiday weekend are being warned to proceed with "great care", as the entrance to the river is no longer where it used to be.

Police have commended the actions of two Dunedin constables who laid a complaint about the behaviour of colleagues last night found guilty of kicking a man who was face down on the ground being restrained.

St John staff in the South will be prepared for almost any scenario in a few weeks, after taking delivery of 16 large blue bins that will each hold enough supplies to triage 10 people in a mass injury emergency.

Dunedin police are appealing for sightings of a dog that attacked two alpacas, one of which was later put down, at a Dunedin property yesterday

A visisting peace and conflict research fellow based in Dunedin has added his voice to a flurry of international condemnation of Israel following the flotilla incident, but does not think the incident will change anything.

A Portobello business owner, concerned that proposed parking changes threaten his livelihood, on Saturday dug out new parking signs installed by the Dunedin City Council.

District Court bailiff Dave Boucher fixes a seizure sticker to a car at a Dunedin impound yard as Constable Jon Dunn (left) and Acting Sergeant Andrew Camp, both of the strategic traffic unit, check some of the 10 vehicles seized in a four-hour joint operation yesterday.

A course promoting cleanliness, hard work and daily structure for young unemployed people is worth its weight in gold, a Dunedin police officer says.