Providing as many health services as possible locally and minimising the need for patients to travel outside the area to access services is one of the main focuses for Dunstan Hospital's new general manager, Karyn Penno.
A $25,000 grant is the "last piece in the puzzle" for the committee carrying out the upgrade of the Becks District War Memorial Hall.
Full-scale gold mining on the Earnscleugh flats, near Alexandra, should be under way within a fortnight as a massive gold recovery plant worth $3 million cranks into action.
Cromwell diver David Futter has been filmed with manta rays and tiger sharks but never before with a submerged bridge.
Treacherous roads remain a concern in Central Otago today, with ice and snow making travelling difficult in the Ida Valley and Maniototo.
The New Zealand Geographic Board has recommended a Maori name for the highest unnamed alpine peak in Central Otago after consulting local iwi but not the Central Otago District Council.
The disappearance of a mob of merino wethers worth almost $13,000 from high country above the Nevis Valley has police and the stock owner mystified, but suspicious.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper, who tried in vain to rescue a 3-year-old boy trapped in a submerged van in Lake Dunstan in April, says the justice system "got it right" yesterday, when the boy's father was discharged without conviction.
The Central Otago wine industry is happy to bask in some reflected glory after a local man won the national Young Viticulturist of the Year contest.
Christchurch schoolteacher Martin Lukes smashed the record for the Great Naseby Water Race 100km event by 33 minutes in his first outing on what competitors described as a "slow" track.
Nick Paulin made history at the weekend by being the first Central Otago person to win the national Young Viticulturist of the Year title, then headed straight back to work.
The oldest athletes were only a few years shy of their 100th birthdays, but fierce competition was still evident at the 19th annual Central Super Masters Games in Alexandra yesterday.
A sudden craze of teenagers riding in the closed boots of cars has Alexandra police worried and warning the passengers, and the drivers of the vehicles, are courting disaster.
The Green Party's plans to charge for irrigation water would be a death blow for Central Otago if implemented, a farming accountant said yesterday.
A decision on a controversial name proposed for Central Otago's highest unnamed peak has been delayed, the Minister for Land Information Maurice Williamson saying he needs more information to "fill the gaps".
Bannockburn's Coronation Hall, earmarked for demolition because of its high earthquake risk, could cost more than $1 million to replace.
Shovelling snow was part of the job description yesterday for the team of 50 volunteers working behind the scenes at the Winter Games curling venue in Naseby.
Tiny treasures, including some of the world's smallest buttercups and a rare cress plant, are being protected on a new Department of Conservation reserve near Alexandra.
For the past five years, the Central Otago District Council has been able to fine the owners of dogs who foul in public places, but has never done so.
The Central Otago Awards paid tribute to businesses and people who made a contribution above and beyond the call of duty, Mayor Tony Lepper said.
