Ellie Constantine

Otago sporting injuries cost the taxpayer more than $16 million last year after 30,000 people were hurt while playing everything from badminton to volleyball.

The Dunedin Botanic Garden, Modaks Cafe and driving out to Port Chalmers were some of the things Sticky TV presenter Kanoa Lloyd missed most about Dunedin.

The deep, fast-flowing waters of the Clutha River may hold the hopes of the ailing Tarras community, a resource consent hearing for a $70 million scheme was told in Dunedin yesterday.

Department of Conservation community relations manager Marian van der Goes opens up to Ellie Constantine.

It's the day before Christmas, when children go to bed to have one final dream of what they hope to find when they open their presents tomorrow.

In the next few days you may be thinking of nothing more than opening some presents and lazing on the couch, but stretchy Christmas Day pants are not the outfit in which to herald in the New Year as Ellie Constantine discovers.

Question everything, take risks and be brave, were Metiria Turei's pieces of advice for those attending a Salvation Army Lower South Area Employment Plus award ceremony in Dunedin yesterday.

Members of the Tarras community have their fingers crossed for an early Christmas present - a resource consent from the Otago Regional Council for a water and irrigation scheme using Clutha River water.

Marriage allows two people on the same wavelength to have someone to confide in, grow with and share a lifetime of experiences, Ray Crombie says.

Retailers hoping to entice consumers to part with their cash have rolled out some hefty discounts ahead of Christmas.

When a dragon belching smoke, a pirate ship, martians and a giant robot took over Dunedin's main street yesterday, mass hysteria did not break out, rather a gathered crowd smiled and cheered.

With his final graduation date looming and a burning desire to get to the top of his field, Mike Stevenson took a scatter gun approach and fired his CV off to elite educational institutions around the world looking for an internship. Of the 60 he contacted, 20 responded, 15 with genuine offers.

Reported cases of financial and physical abuse inflicted upon elderly people are rising in Otago.

Those who volunteer their time to help vulnerable people received recognition from not only their organisation, but the city, at a ceremony in Dunedin last night.

The Dunedin City Council has received a donation as atonement for the Otago University Students Association's Toga Parade which resulted in disorder in the main street in February.

Sleeping Beauty will face some new challenges this weekend.

Having her dedication and enthusiasm for the Dunedin Public Libraries recognised yesterday came as something of a shock to Charmian Smith.

A $35,000 donation was a surprise recently - for both the donor and recipient.