Driving in heavy rain, crossing a busy road or riding a bike in peak-hour traffic all involve a degree of risk.

Hopefully by the time this goes to print we are all on a "Cup Hi" and singing bye bye American Pie after wishing Larry a warm Kia Oracle.

It is encouraging to see Coroner Wallace Bain take action over the ongoing failure of mental health support systems in relation to the death of two young Tauranga men.

Tauranga recreational fishers have so far adopted a pragmatic view of the Government cutting the snapper catch limit from nine to seven per day.

"I am the one in ten. A number on a list ... Nobody knows me, even though I'm always there, a statistic, a reminder, of a world that doesn't care."

When I was younger they called me lighthouse, ginger nut, stop sign and carrot top.

Before I had children the most precious thing I carried in my car was my morning flat white.

Thousands of school children are in Tauranga this week to take part in a locally grown success story: the NZCT AIMS Games.

Saturday night's test match between the All Blacks and Springboks should have gone down in history as one of the all-time classic encounters between the world's two greatest rugby powers.

Suddenly everyone has a flat screen television and I remember when 29-inch TVs were the hugest things on earth, writes Marcel Currin.

It says something about those charged with finding a solution to Tauranga's tsunami problems that a high school student may have beaten them to the punch.

The annual "pink walk" has become part of Tauranga's calendar over the past decade, turning The Strand bright pink each October as thousands of women walk to raise money for Tauranga Breast Cancer Support Service.

When life as a single mum who also works full-time gets a bit much, and it sure does at times, I like to dream a little.

As far as U-turns go, it was pretty impressive. Bowing to public pressure, Mayor Stuart Crosby used this week's mayoral candidates' forum to announce a reversal of the council's unpopular decision to hike parking charges to $3 an hour.

It's not surprising Buddy Mikaere sparked an outpouring of opinion when he vented his frustration over an aggressive pram-pusher on the Mount base track.

A new study shows retirees who rely on the pension as their sole source of income are scraping by at the bottom of the economic ladder.

"Happy Daddy's Day," beamed the best present a father could ever hope for, "what are We going to do today, Dad?"

Move over Mongrel Mob, there is a new gang in town - destructive, barbaric, unwilling to listen to those who know better, devoid of aesthetics, hell bent on devaluing what has taken years to build.

I woke up this week into a world where twerking is a real word. Twerking. I bet that plays havoc with the spell check.

The election signs fiasco has been a confusing mess for the past couple of weeks.