Lynda van Kempen

The Government launched the New Zealand Cycle Trail project in 2009 and provided funding for 18 "Great Rides" around the country.

Maniototo has lost its "Jack of all trades". Jack Rutherford, a mainstay of a host of community organisations and tireless "behind the scenes" worker, shifted to Dunedin last week after spending the past 38 years living in Ranfurly.

Location, location, location applies to motorcycle rallies as well as real estate.

Grass verges in Central Otago towns are sporting more brown vegetation mixed in with the green this summer, as more residents appear to have chosen not to water their street fronts.

A peek inside eight "designer homes" in and around Alexandra is offered this weekend, as the house owners or trustees throw open the doors for a fundraising tour.

Police are not to blame for the death of Paul William Wilson, who drowned while taking water samples from the flooded Talla Burn at Beaumont a year ago, Otago-Southland regional coroner David Crerar says.

Ratepayers will be footing the bill - $211,000- for the Central Otago District Council's involvement in the Project Hayes appeal.

In the wake of the Project Hayes decision, it is business as usual for Contact Energy, weighing up options for hydro development on the Clutha River, and Pioneer Generation, looking at small-scale wind farms.

Six years after it announced plans for a controversial $2 billion wind farm on the Lammermoor Range and after spending $8.9 million on the project, Meridian Energy has pulled the pin on them.

The 2012 Central Otago Relay for Life has already exceeded the expectations of committee chairwoman Lynn Manson, and the event is still six weeks away.

Dredge buckets and mining memorabilia set the scene last night for the opening event in a year-long celebration of Central Otago's golden past.

The Maniototo Area School grounds will soon be an education hub for children aged from 2 through to 18.