An overpass bridge at Domain Rd has "quite substantial damage inside" this morning after a fire last night.

Dismay that the Memorial Park playground was losing its popular rocket slide has met with council assurances that it will be replaced with something better. George Novak heads down to the park to find out more about the new plans.

A group of 22 whales which re-stranded on Bryan's Beach near Ohope in the Bay of Plenty have all died. Six of the whales had died overnight, a further eight whales died early this morning and the decision was made to euthanise the remaining eight whales stranded on the beach about 8.30am.

Adrian De Villiers was doing a one-footed backflip on the downtown waterfront when his foot came out of its binding on the jetski and he was pitched over the handlebars.

A pod of orca whales visit Mount Maunganui.

Despite the combined efforts of Maketu residents, Department of Conservation rangers and Project Jonah volunteers, a juvenile Cuviers beaked whale was stranded in Maketu Estuary yesterday. The 4-metre-long mammal was noticed about 7.30am, jammed on rocks by the seawall, near the old diving board.

A Tauranga bus driver with terminal cancer is hoping another punter will snatch up his tickets to the Melbourne Cup, as his illness has stopped him crossing the ditch. Doctors have told Richard Hawthorne, 67, his cancer is terminal and he is too ill to travel to Melbourne next week on a dream trip his Go Bus workmates surprised him with.

The old Papamoa Hall has been destroyed after a fire ripped through the iconic building last night. Police are treating the fire as suspicious because the building had been empty for several years. Firefighters were called to the blaze about 6.10pm, by which time the hall was already well alight, a witness told the Bay of Plenty Times.

The Black Caps will begin their Cricket World Cup preparations at Tauranga's Bay Oval in the first of three one-day internationals against the Proteas.

Police descended on Mount Maunganui to begin a search as part of efforts to find two missing people, including five-year-old Jack Dixon.

Attempted robbery at Greerton ANZ

The first IRBs head out at dawn in efforts to search for missing five-year-old Jack Dixon who was swept away by a large wave at Mount Maunganui.

Police searchers looking for a missing 5-year-old who was swept out to sea at Mount Maunganui.

Pet kunekune pigs Piggy Sue and Lulu can see again after an international specialist flew in to perform surgery on the pair.

For over 30 years Village Radio in Tauranga has helped to keep the nostalgia alive but the volunteer run station now faces closure as operating costs increase.

Video courtesy Nathan Pettigrew

The annual Beach Hop festival rolled into Waihi on Wednesday for a warm-up party as thousands of classic cars and hotrods head to the Coromandel for 4 days of revelry.

VIDEO/ANDREW WARNER

Cyclone Lusi continues to slide south towards New Zealand bringing severe gales and heavy rain. The low will track down the western side of NZ then cross over the South Island on Sunday night – before leaving the nation on Monday morning. Severe weather may affect a number of regions, so please check with MetService for the latest warnings & watches – and WeatherWatch.co.nz for special weather news updates across the weekend. For farmers wanting rain Lusi should deliver a soaking to a number of regions – but some may miss out due to the changing wind flow.