Are the fun police at DOC and our local council, not getting the message?

IF WE cast our minds back we will remember the National Party fighting, if that's the right word, a by-election in Northland.

A former Kaitaia College student who is now studying for a Bachelor of Commerce degree in international business and political science at Victoria University has been selected as Northland's representative in next year's Youth Parliament.

A 47-year-old man who ran over his partner in Kaitaia with what the Crown described as murderous intent and a high level of "brutality and callousness," will spend at least 17 years in prison.

Kaitaia has the opportunity to benefit from a ground-breaking new approach to crime prevention according to Mayor John Carter - if the business community is prepared to pay for it.

The Kerikeri High School girls' cricket team recorded a historic victory over their arch-rivals in Whangarei this week.

Kaitaia and surrounding areas will be without electricity for most of the day once again on Sunday, November 29 while Top Energy undertakes major maintenance work, including replacing a cracked concrete power pole at Umawera.

Twenty Northlanders featured among a team of 50 Maori taking in the World Indigenous Games which wrapped up on Sunday in the Brazilian city of Palmas.

SUNDAY was a good day for a lot of New Zealanders, and not only those who were at Twickenham to see the All Blacks win their second Rugby World Cup on the trot in a match befitting a final.

A Far North man can expect to receive a $6000 bill in the mail after a rubbish fire got out of control and spread into about half a hectare of scrub at Motutangi, south of Houhora, last week.

If Kaitaia cafe owner Jenny Petera has a wish for the the people who burgled her business on Sunday night it is that the police find them before she does.

The busy season is about to begin for Far North garden lovers, with the Kerikeri Garden Safari this weekend and Kaitaia's over November 7-8.

Kaikohe police are investigating a report of an attempted kidnapping of a teenage girl at Omapere on Sunday.

Neighbours were convinced that a father and his young son were still inside an Orrs Road, Kaikohe house that was all but destroyed by fire on Sunday night.

Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis has berated Australian authorities for the plight of hundreds of New Zealand detainees in Australia prior to deportation, and Prime Minister John Key for failing to defend the rights of New Zealand citizens.

The annual NAKFA 7-a-side twilight soccer championship kicks off on the Kaitaia College top fields tomorrow evening and once again, organisers were pleased to report all 16 places were filled within two days of entries opening.

Following four successful seasons in charge, Alex Smits dropped a bombshell last week by announcing he was stepping down as general manager of Rugby League Northland.

Kaingaroa School principal Kathy Hancock is a firm believer that when a student is passionate about something there is no end to what they can achieve. And one of her pupils, nine-year-old James Broadwith, has provided proof of that.

It was a family affair at Everitt's recent spring sale on their farm on Everitt Road, Te Kao, a celebration of 50 years since their company John Everitt and Sons, was formed.

True to form, the editor of the Age has the guts to shine a spotlight upon the elephant in the room that is studiously ignored by other editors, government departments and the many agencies charged with addressing New Zealand's social problems.

A Kaitaia couple say medical marijuana has dramatically improved their daughter's once uncontrollable epilepsy, but they can't afford to keep giving her unfunded medicine that costs almost $1000 a month.