Games bonanza
New Zealand's biggest sporting event lived up to its reputation when thousands of youngsters lifted the roof of Tauranga's ASB Stadium for the opening of the 11th NZCT Aims Games on September 7. About 7500 intermediate school athletes would take part. It pumped more than $1.5 million into the city's economy and local business leaders heralded the event as, too important to lose.
Gun scare
A man carrying a slug gun he planned to sell inadvertently sparked a gun scare near a Tauranga Work and Income office. Police units converged on the Winz office on Courtney Rd after police received a call about a man with a firearm in the area. Senior Sergeant Eddie Lyttle said the man aged 29 heard sirens, realised he had a firearm and panicked.
Car's wild ride
A quick spin ended in disaster for two men when their car flew through the top of a wooden fence, over bushes and a clothesline and through the back wall of a Te Puna house. Tauranga police Senior Constable Chris Hills said two men in their 20s were in the turbo-charged car at the time of the crash but escaped unscathed.
Housing boost
Affordable housing will help shape the development of a new town at Papamoa expected to be home to at least 7300 people - at an undeveloped block called Wairakei. Jeff Fletcher of the Property Developers' Forum said the key thing was to deliver infrastructure in a way that was viable for the council and met the staged roll-out of subdivisions.
Cop in spotlight
Tauranga Detective Sergeant Rob Lemoto is announced as the new front man for Police Ten 7. Mr Lemoto first appeared on the show in 2004 as he investigated an aggravated robbery at a McDonald's in South Auckland, his hometown. "I really respect everything Ten 7 has achieved and can't wait to be part of a team that makes those responsible for crime and anti-social behaviour in our communities accountable for their actions," he said.
Storm scare
Mount Maunganui resident Heather Down, who woke to what she thought was a train screaming past her house, has described the strong winds that ripped trees from their roots and carved a path of destruction as a "mini tornado".
Changing faces
An anonymous spray painting artist has struck Tauranga again, revamping Prime Minister John Key as caped crusader Batman and local MP Simon Bridges as sidekick Robin. Mr Bridges said he planned to take the sign down and put it up in his house. "I don't normally condone graffiti but credit where credit's due, this billboard is amazing." Labour MP Rachel Jones had also been transformed.
New viewpoint
National's new MP for the Bay of Plenty, Todd Muller, is determined not to be pigeon-holed by a lifetime of working in the agri-business sector. Mr Muller, who won 61 per cent of the candidate vote in the National stronghold, also said it was time to stop the confusion around the name of the electorate as boundaries had changed so much it was now a seat that largely wrapped around central Tauranga.
Easy for Bridges
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges has won by a landslide with 18,967 votes - 13,526 more than second-placed candidate, Clayton Mitchell of New Zealand First who has made it in as a list MP.
Educator dies
The Catholic community has lost a "passionate and enthusiastic educator" with the sudden death of Aquinas College founding principal Brendan Schollum.