Lynda van Kempen

The Northburn Wine Company is pressing ahead with plans for a million-dollar winery at Northburn station, to process up to 300 tonnes of grapes.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says it has no intention of "downgrading" the work done at its Lauder station or closing the facility.

A proposal to switch the Cromwell College grounds irrigation water back to the town supply could cost the school up to $25,000 a year, the Cromwell Community Board heard yesterday.

Concerns have been raised the new Cromwell information centre will compete with existing retailers by selling goods.

A couple planning a dogsled touring business on the Old Man and Old Woman Ranges have sought resource consent to house up to 30 huskies on a rural property near Roxburgh.

Pupils from Cromwell College planning a 21-day trek to Mt Everest Base Camp next year are organising the adventure themselves and making decisions with "no babysitting" from any adults.

A lack of information about the site for Cromwell's new information centre was criticised by several submitters at a planning hearing in the town yesterday.

Job cuts at a Lauder research station - a proposal that prompted an international outcry from the scientific community - were confirmed yesterday, with two scientist roles being axed.

Sex, rather than food, may be on the minds of Alexandra's wild pigeon population.

A life which has been 18 years in the making can be "two minutes in the taking" - that is the sobering message behind a combined emergency services exercise which will be staged in Alexandra early next month.

Dogged competitors are at an advantage when it comes to the sports of canicross and bikejoring.

It was a horror weekend on New Zealand roads. Five people were killed in the North Island and two separate car crashes in Central Otago left two people seriously injured.

International scientists and agencies concerned about job cuts at a Lauder research station are "misinformed" about the impact of the changes, a spokeswoman for Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

After a week of hoping for a miracle, the worst fears of an Alexandra family were realised when the wreckage of a helicopter missing in Papua New Guinea was found yesterday with the bodies of the three crew members inside.

International pressure is building for a U-turn on proposed changes to the atmospheric monitoring programme at a Lauder research station, which involve the axing of three jobs.

Scientists from around the world say job cuts at a Lauder research station could jeopardise its value as the "shining beacon" of global atmospheric research.

The Department of Conservation has granted a controversial concession for the historic St Bathans post office to be used for commercial accommodation, but said one part of the building had to remain open to the public.

The Teviot Valley's oldest resident, Lily Gall, celebrated her 105th birthday yesterday.