John Gibb

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what is the greatest fire danger of them all?

A frightened cat took refuge inside the family piano when a tornado hit a farmhouse on the southern outskirts of Waikouaiti on Saturday, ripping tiles off the roof, smashing windows, splintering trees and felling nearby power lines.

Waikouaiti people were stunned to see a tornado bearing down on their town yesterday - and relieved when it changed direction and caused only slight damage to property and trees.

Electrician Alan Brennan quickly found himself having second thoughts after driving into a tornado near Waikouaiti on Saturday, seeking a better photograph.

Worries are growing that the economic downturn could damage tourism, but an expanded programme of Dunedin guided walks is continuing to flourish.

A Dunedin man's six-year battle to gain funding support highlights the need to strengthen ACC's code of claimant rights, ACC campaigner Denise Powell says.

Dunedin lawyer Antony Hamel is an enthusiastic explorer of the city's many tracks and trails, including those linking heritage attractions in the inner city streets, as well as those on the city's outskirts and crossing nearby mountains.

Supporters of Olveston hope that the economic downturn will encourage more New Zealanders to visit the historic 35-room Edwardian home.

Linda Wigley, the English-born director of the Whangarei Museum and Heritage Park, has been appointed director of the Otago Settlers Museum.

Planned research on a largely incurable form of adult leukaemia has been boosted by $1.6 million in Lottery Grants Board funds to support University of Otago health science projects and related equipment.

The Otago Museum will defer plans to stop authenticating historic treasures after a warning that museum officials could "cut off our nose to spite our face" over a funding dispute.

University of Otago graduate Owen Jones has gained a $98,000 scholarship from the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand to study mechanisms which may protect brain cells against damage from strokes.

Universities were key sources of innovation and knowledge creation, the Governor-General Anand Satyanand told University of Otago graduates on Saturday.

Former sports reporter and cancer survivor Suzanne Kallil once could not help wondering whether she would live long enough to finish her University of Otago degree.

Undeterred by light rain, several hundred Otago Polytechnic graduands surged along George St, in Dunedin, yesterday in an academic procession leading to the end-of-year graduation ceremony at the Dunedin Town Hall.

This year has certainly been a good one for the Kjaergaard family.