Lynda van Kempen

An overspend of nearly $54,000 on the Alexandra town centre upgrade sparked a heated debate at this week's Vincent Community Board meeting.

Three successive years of losses for the Alexandra Blossom Festival was worrying but the event was still worth keeping, Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson said yesterday.

No blame can be apportioned for Roxburgh's New Year's Day fire, an investigation into the blaze has found.

The Central Otago grape crop looks promising, and growers are relieved to have escaped frosts this season, Central Otago Winegrowers Association president Nick Mills said yesterday.

Two out of three generators at Otago's first wind farm are performing well, but the third is going through some "teething troubles".

The Central Otago branch of Heart Children New Zealand has been re-established and held its first get-together at the weekend, with the organisation's chief executive Lara Syddall as the special guest for morning tea at Orchard Garden near Alexandra.

A good shower of rain the night before the Mt Benger A and P Show had farmers smiling and was "the icing on the cake", show president Mark Reid said.

People are still champing at the bit to take part in the annual Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust cavalcade, 19 years after it began in 1991.

Roxburgh residents nervous about the possibility of another major fire have asked the Roxburgh Community Board to persuade landowners to clear scrub from the hill behind the town.

Volunteers went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the Winter Games was a success - even making a two-and-a-half hour round trip to truck in mountain snow for the Naseby luge track.

Sales of sunscreen, insect bite medication and weather stations are soaring as Central Otago swelters in temperatures topping 30degC every day this week.

The new owners of Olivers Restaurant and Lodge in Clyde feel a sense of responsibility to bring the business back to life.

It may be sink or swim time for the Clyde Pool once again.