Rumour turned into shocking reality when parishioners of a Kaikohe church found an Anglican bishop and officials in Auckland had given it to the church's Maori pastorate without consulting them.

The public has been misled about the history of the present New Zealand flag, according to NZ Flag Institute executive director John Cox.

I'm an expat Kiwi, now resident in Queensland, who has recently had the pleasure of holidaying with family in Northland.

A ceremony to commemorate the centenary of Kaitaia's World War 1 memorial will be held at Remembrance Park next week.

Poor Maori people and their children enduring hard lives in Kaitaia will soon be offered help by a new ANT Trust programme called Open the Curtains.

Home advantage paid off for the two New Zealand teams as they enjoyed a clean sweep in taking out both men's and women's titles in the 2016 Inter-Pacific Spearfishing Competition which wound up in the Bay of Islands earlier this month.

I am writing to you because so often in the letters to the editor I read about what is wrong, what could be done better, how difficult young people are and about how much better life could be, if only we made an effort.

Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell will discuss the draft Maori land reform bill, Te Ture Whenua Maori, with Far North Maori land owners and trustees at Te Ahu in Kaitaia from 11am-1pm on Thursday.

Organisers turned a negative in to a positive when a smaller than usual field turned up to part in the annual Stonecraft Tournament at the Kaitaia Croquet Club on Matthews Avenue last Friday.

Serenity Taniwha had a simple answer for those who asked why she would want to leave her home and career in Hamilton to return to Kaitaia.

Having spent a fairly long time at Ahipara, beside the main road along the foreshore recently, I would like to mention a few observations.

A Far North group is hoping to piggyback on the success of a crowd-funding campaign that bought an unspoiled South Island beach to buy a block of undeveloped land next to a popular park before it becomes a subdivision.

Beryl Andresen has absolutely no doubt that her son Phillip's year-old black Labrador Bella was stolen from Phillip's home in Kaitaia on January 12, but that's irrelevant now.

Everything was looking good for the 2016 Houhora One Base game fishing tournament that started yesterday - until yesterday morning.

Students from Taipa Area School and Oruaiti Primary School took full advantage of being given the opportunity to learn the game of golf croquet at Cable Bay recently.

Organisers of the annual Houhora One Base big game fishing tournament said the weather forecast was looking good for this year's event, which starts tomorrow and runs until Saturday.

The letter signed by someone calling themselves Harry Stottle (March 3) alleges that "a van-load of inebriated 'voters'" was brought to the WHST Kaeo election to swell the votes placed for Maggie Rudolph, standing against Brendan Tuohy last May.

Kaitaia GP Dr Lance O'Sullivan said before he left that he was going to the United States to see what he could learn that would benefit his own community (The doctor is out, February 23), and is doing just that.

Northland's sole surviving railway line is to be mothballed north of Kauri, because KiwiRail says it is no longer viable.

Details were sketchy at edition time yesterday, but a female passenger in a four-wheel-drive vehicle that collided with a large tractor towards the southern end of the Awanui Straight was believed to be seriously injured.

The Kaeo under-13s got their pre-season winter campaign off to a great start by winning the Hora Hora Junior Rugby Sevens championship on Sunday.

What started as a plan to make Kaikohe more self-reliant has morphed into a market providing townsfolk with fresh produce and a weekly evening out for local families.

In reference to the article 'New era for Ahipara Health' (February 18), there are several points that require clarification, and may be of interest to the wider community.

A report into a Maori trust that lost up to $3 million reveals how it expanded rapidly just as it was expected to be winding down, and that its trustees had no idea of its dire financial position until it was too late.

Maitai Bay was all but deserted on Monday evening, which perhaps was just what American earthscape artist Andres Amador and his collaborator, film-maker Jonathan Clark, were hoping for.

An Australian woman who hid fruit, vegetables and meat "all over" her yacht and did not declare them to a quarantine officer when she arrived at Opua in November 2014, was fined $3000.

Far North surfers were to the fore in various divisions as the 2016 Northland Scholastic Surfing Series kicked off in good conditions at Sandy Bay earlier this month.

A tiny South American bug that was released in Northland five years ago to control tobacco weed is spreading well, prompting a call from an insect expert who is tracking its movements for reports of new sightings.

As the chief executive of Northland DHB, I wish to respond to recent letters alleging board member conflicts of interest.