Rhys Chamberlain

Firefighters were yesterday dampening down the remains of a destroyed Middlemarch family home.

Giving something new a go was the aim of the Otago Yacht Club's open day where young and old experienced a lazy Sunday on the harbour.

Some were nervous, some were excited and all were hopeful of walking the runway as they attended a casting event for iD Dunedin Fashion Week yesterday.

Balclutha man Samuel White was the second runner-up at the Mr Gay New Zealand competition in Auckland over the weekend and was happy with his efforts.

Huge swells in the Southern Ocean and a bout of seasickness did not detract from the ‘‘trip of a lifetime'' for two Dunedin school pupils.

A community has rallied around a Dunedin family who bought a filthy "horror'' house, by offering financial support and helping them clean it up.

A Dunedin doctor, professor and Territorial Force member reached a milestone when he was promoted to colonel at a ceremony last night.

Immigration New Zealand has done a U-turn and will allow a Portuguese man into the country after initially denying him on the grounds ‘‘his intentions were not genuine''.

Police have confirmed the "exam office'' at the University of Otago was broken into at the weekend.

A young man has died after his car crashed into a bank near the township of Owaka, in South Otago, last night.

The family of a young driver is ‘‘shell-shocked'' and in ‘‘disbelief'' their son, brother, nephew and friend is dead.

People flocked to beaches, rivers and lakes yesterday as much of the South Island sweltered on one of its hottest December days.

A scorching 34.6degC Dunedin day caused train tracks to warp and the resulting maintenance set off a 40m long scrub fire at Sawyers Bay.

Students, landlords and tradesmen are being warned to be vigilant as thieves target flats in North Dunedin during the holiday period.

The man killed in a crash on Centre Rd at Momona last night was a 25-year-old currently living in Balclutha, police said today.

Significant rain over the past few days has brought some relief for parts of Otago but it could be too late for some farmers forced to kill breeding stock.

Dunedin police will patrol the suburb of Roslyn after neighbouring properties were burgled at the weekend.

A woman has moderate injuries after being stung by wasps in the Dunedin suburb of Belleknowes this afternoon.

SPCA Otago has had no warranted inspector in the region for almost two months and four inspectors have left the organisation in the past two years.

Being among 6000 people in New York City, discussing issues affecting women, is an opportunity to learn for one Dunedin woman.