The honours went to Taipa Area School when a very impressive field of five contested the 2015 Lions Young Ambassador speech competition in Okaihau last week.

Another heroI salute Dudley Andrews for his courageous rescue of two small boys, and for the richly deserved award he has received (Pride of NZ award for Dudley, August 13).

IT WOULD be too much to expect that every employee of every government department is totally committed to upholding whatever standards of behaviour those departments demand of us ordinary people, but revelations...

Another ailing sea turtle has been found on 90 Mile Beach, and is now receiving what is hoped will be life-saving treatment at Auckland Zoo.

Rueben Taipari Porter, one of those who addressed the anti-TPP rally at Kaitaia's Saturday morning market, was surprised by the response, given the frequent squally showers and the fact that he had been asked just the day before to help organise it.

The head boy at Taipa Area School, who has his long-term sights set on a political career, has a much greater understanding of issues facing his community, and Maori youth in particular, than many, but he's just come home from a conference in Washington D

There is still a strong representation from the Far North on grand finals day this coming Sunday with the Pawarenga Broncos and Otaua Valleys facing off for the third time this season in the 2015 RLN Championship (lower-tier) grand final.

Alison Mills and Melissa Peterson were awarded the Strategic Leadership and the Leading Innovations in Population Health awards respectively at the NZ College of Primary Health Care Nurses' conference in Wellington.

The jailing of a 38-year-old Kaikohe community leader on a conviction of possessing cannabis for supply has sparked a petition calling for her release, a Givealittle page raising money for her legal expenses, and even a song.

The contract to build the second stage of the Bay of Islands marina has been awarded to Total Marine Services, a New Zealand company with a branch in Opua. The $10 million project includes land-based civil works, is scheduled to begin early next month.

Dudley Andrews, who all agree saved the lives of two small boys at Waipapakauri Ramp on March 1, has won the Upper North Island Pride of New Zealand award in the bravery and heroism category.

A number of Kerikeri sailors as well as a couple of former Kerikeri High School students are in Brazil with the NZL Sailing Team campaign preparing to sail in the 2015 Rio Test Event which gets under way this week.

Taj Broughton will certainly be chalking the 2015 winter up as a particularly memorable one.

IT'S POSSIBLE to feel a smidgen of sympathy for the Far North District Council as it continues to take flak for ending its northern rubbish contract with Clean Stream Northland.

Northland MP Winston Peters has responded to the "crashing" of the benchmark price for whole milk powder by calling on Fonterra to temporarily suspend its participation in the GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) process.

Two men have been arrested after an incident at Mangonui on Wednesday afternoon, which a woman did her best to foil by pushing a shopping trolley into the path of the suspect as he sprinted out of the Four Square.

Taipa Area School will have three netball teams taking the court next season thanks to an ANZ Netball Grant worth more than $3000.

Last Saturday, following the conclusion of the Mangonui senior club rugby finals, Eastern flanker Leon Emery was bestowed with the EJ Thompson Taiaha as the best player over the 2015 domestic season.

Seven Far North primary school students have received Sir Peter Blake Young Leader Awards, in recognition of their outstanding leadership qualities.

I had to write a response to Hone Harawira's letter to Obama (Northland Age, August 4.) I am Native American, from the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota, Sicangu Lakota Oyate (the Burnt Thigh Nation).

A trio of trainee chefs from Kerikeri took the top prize in one of the country's most prestigious hospitality contests on Sunday.

Northland MP Winston Peters continues to ask why the police did not appoint a temporary replacement at Kohukohu following the transfer of Constable Jonathan Maoate.

Project Haere, a joint initiative between Te Aupouri Maori Trust Board and the Ministry of Social Development, has won the 2015 Institute of Public Administration NZ (IPANZ) award for excellence in Crown-Maori relationships.

The dream of a talented teenage athlete born in Taiwan to represent his adopted country of New Zealand at an elite international boxing championship in Russia in September will now be realised thanks to the kindness of family, friends and strangers.

The 100th anniversary of the battle of Chunuk Bair will be marked on Saturday, with particular relevance for the Far North. One of the most famous battles of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, it saw modern-day Ngapuhi warrior Harding Leaf emerge from obsc

The Far North District Council's decision to "dump" Clean Stream Northland (CSN) and give the northern rubbish and recycling contract to Whangarei's Northland Waste was a real "kick in the guts."