Shawn McAvinue

Four Taieri policemen and a retired receptionist were recognised in Mosgiel yesterday for their dedication to policing.

Fodder from the greater Taieri Plain area has been weighed for the results of a winter crop growing competition to be announced on Friday.

Michael Stedman has been ''knocked sideways'' by sickness and has stood down as the head of the trust gunning for a multimillion-dollar aquatic facility in Mosgiel.

The Apollo String Quartet will perform in Dunedin today to mark the 50th jubilee of a contest for which the group was a pioneer.

The Otago Corrections Facility at Milburn opened its gates to 27 employers this week to showcase inmates' training and qualifications. Shawn McAvinue went behind the prison walls and talked to a prisoner seeking a better life on his release.

The fundraising deadline for a massive mural on a South Dunedin rope factory is hanging by a thread.

Plucky Dunedin pupils are questioning why a hen crossed the road to their school and want to find the wandering chicken's owner.

A Dunedin woman living in her car with her pit bull terrier says she was unfairly evicted from a Dunedin state home but Housing New Zealand says it will not tolerate antisocial behaviour.

Motorist Bernadette Hay ''nearly had 40 kittens'' after seeing an elderly man ride his mobility scooter towards oncoming traffic in Mosgiel and wants people to report such bad driving to police.

An exclusive area to exercise little dogs in Dunedin has been officially opened.

A Wanaka mountain guiding company will not return to Mt Everest for the rest of the season, as trekking organisations with valid permits cancel remaining treks.

The Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter had to leave its own birthday party on Saturday during an ''extremely busy'' weekend of missions.

The battered face of a Dunedin student has made him a campus celebrity.

A much-loved scholar and soldier was honoured as part of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival yesterday.

Author Witi Ihimaera was quizzical at the official launch of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival last night, posing the question: where is New Zealand literature heading?

Birds of prey are shared muses of English author Helen Macdonald and Dunedin author Neville Peat.

Police are investigating ways to retrieve John Beckenridge's Volkswagen Touareg from the sea near Curio Bay but the work was ''on hold'' until tomorrow or Wednesday, a police spokesman said.

A Dunedin woman whose close encounter with a pig left her nursing bruises says she holds no grudge against the ''smelly'' swine.

All aboard the love train to Middlemarch.