Eileen Goodwin

Dunedin city councillor Fliss Butcher wraps the Octagon's plane trees with scarves knitted and crocheted by council staff, Grey Power, and Methodist Mission members.

Encouraging mum to spit on her baby may not sound like good science, but that is the basis of a world-first University of Otago study.

Being a young mum is tough for anyone, but it can be just about impossible with a head injury.

Elder abuse and neglect is "thriving" in Dunedin, despite many people not accepting it could even happen in the South, says Age Concern Otago elder abuse and neglect prevention co-ordinator Marie Bennett.

A Dunedin day centre providing help for the mentally ill and long-term unemployed has confirmed it will close.

A new geological map of Fiordland has thrown up a few surprises, GNS Science geologist Dr Ian Turnbull says.

The Southern District Health Board has backed down on a proposal to reduce the number of top managers.

Removing the right of some locked-in psychiatric patients to smoke at Wakari Hospital breaches human rights and should not have been implemented without the say-so of the health board, Southern District Health Board member Richard Thomson says.

Urgent research is needed to improve understanding of illnesses which may have viral causes, such as schizophrenia and chronic anxiety, University of Otago honorary research fellow Dr Duncan Adams says.

The Waikouaiti Coast Community Board voted this week to demolish the Blueskin Bay Library, to make way for the new library.

The methadone programme is over-subscribed, partly because the stigma of addiction puts some GPs off administering methadone, says Community Alcohol and Drug Service (Cads) medical director Dr Gavin Cape.

A book aimed at giving a voice to older people breaks new academic ground by examining the first New Zealand generation to be cared for at home, its two Dunedin authors say.

A Dunedin taxi firm is taking a hard line with drivers who smoke, using carrot-and-stick measures to help them quit.