helena de reus

The Otago Regional Council's newest catchment programme is under way in South Otago, as council staff work with landowners to improve water quality.

Plans to upgrade Balclutha's main street will be discussed by a consultation group next week.

Police are investigating after a truck and trailer unit crashed near Waitahuna early yesterday.

The future of St John services in Owaka relies on attracting more volunteers as it struggles to crew its ambulance.

In 1986, a Milton Rotary Club group took a party of people over the Milford Track. That trip led to the formation of a charitable trust which has taken over 16,000 people on adventures in the South and given over $1 million to good causes, as Helena de Reus reports.

A 101-year-old Gore woman who escaped a blaze which gutted most of her home hopes to return to the same building, and her beloved coal range, later this year.

Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan has welcomed eight new citizens to the Clutha district. Each was presented with a kowhai tree, after swearing their allegiance to the Queen before a full Clutha District Council in Balclutha.

A Milton man has made a successful return to the racetrack - while battling MS.

Damage to the statue of a gold-miner in the main street of Lawrence will cost more than $1600 to repair, after vandals smashed parts of a pick and shovel off the figure's back.

A community project to replace Lawrence's ageing pool will receive a boost in council funding.

It was the calm before the storm as musicians prepared to take to the streets of Gore yesterday to fight for the Freeze Ya Bits Off busking title at the 40th New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards.

The long service and hard work of dozens of St John volunteers and paid staff was recognised in Balclutha on Friday night.

Long-term farmers were praised for their resilience and hard work, at the New Zealand Century Farm and Station Awards in Lawrence on Saturday.

Clutha Valley farmers John and Annette Moore will receive two New Zealand Century Farm Awards at Lawrence tomorrow night.

The new owners of Milton's woollen mill are excited about its future, this week cementing an alliance with an Australian textile company to help break into the international market.