"Hey, bro, do you know what Anzac is?" Jibi Kunnethedam (16), of Oamaru, asked the audience, before delivering a speech that won him the Returned Services Association's (RSA) Cyril Bassett VC speech competition for the Otago Southland area.
Rubbish collections in Central Otago are set to be changed from weekly to fortnightly from July next year after the Central Otago District Council adopted its Waste Minimisation and Management Plan yesterday.
Charging residents on town supplies for the volume of water used rather than giving them an allocation was preferred by the Central Otago District Council yesterday and recommended to the four community boards as a model to set water rates.
The young Ranfurly man killed in a crash linked to speeding and alcohol was a former head boy of Maniototo Area School and talented artist who had "huge potential".
The Central Otago District Council may change the way excess water use will be charged, to make water metering fairer and clear up confusion.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force, with support from the army, has booked out the Alexandra airfield for a month for two training exercises before some of the personnel head off to Afghanistan. Yesterday, during Exercise Skytrain, a tactical low-level flying exercise, they invited media to their camp and Otago Daily Times reporter Sarah Marquet went up to see what it was all about.
The Cromwell Town Centre will be given a multimillion-dollar makeover after more than 10 years of discussion on the issue.
Fleur Sullivan, whose idea began the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust Cavalcade in 1991, said it was always about more than just a horse trek.
The Cromwell Community Board has decided the Cromwell and Districts Promotions Group will no longer automatically get all the board's promotions grant funding, as has historically been the case.
In order to keep Cromwell rates down, projects such as the Bannockburn Hall upgrade will be put on the backburner.
Cold Gold Clutha Ltd's dredge is finally on the Clutha River and ready to begin work.
Senior Constable Darren Cox (45) has taken over the reins as the sole charge officer at the Omakau Police Station.
Central Otago orchardists say although last year they won the right to send apples to Australia, the protocols governing the exports are so strict they make it uneconomical to ship apples across the Tasman.
A significant number of endangered native black-billed gulls have been found dead on Grover's Island, a nesting spot near Roxburgh, concerning the Department of Conservation (Doc).
Despite more than 40mm of rain falling in the area, there were smiles on the faces of almost all of the 50 walkers crossing the Shaky Bridge as part of the Knobby Knee Knockers 2012 Cavalcade trail.
The hills were alive with the sound of gunshots - music to the ears of some, particularly the competitors in the international clay shooting competition being held at Northburn Station near Cromwell.
Ratepayers in the Vincent ward face a possible 6.9% increase in the ward component of their rates in order to make future rises "more palatable".
A Roxburgh couple with plans to alter and improve their Naseby property, the historic Masonic Halland shops, found they could not get a building consent because part of the section was owned by the Central Otago District Council.
The 20th Otago Goldfields Cavalcade is off to a great start, co-ordinator Terry Davis says.
"If you don't travel, you wouldn't get to play sport," said Reuben Pyle (12), of Oturehua.
