Objects salvaged from a century-old Northland shipwreck and handed over to police for safekeeping are now being offered to anyone who can prove ownership.

A quartet of Kaitaia's elite gymnasts bought back a gold, a silver and three bronze medals respectively after competing at the annual Northland Championships in Whangarei earlier this month.

To admit to leaving New Zealand with preconceived ideas and changing his mind when faced with some facts shows real maturity, and no small amount of courage.

Brian Bellingham wasn't surprised when long-serving Bellingham Quarries employee Keith Tahu received the Institute of Quarrying's inaugural Good Bugger Award at the Northland awards night.

Whangaroa Harbour users are calling on authorities to act urgently to halt the spread of an invasive marine pest they say will wipe out jobs and native species.

An Ahipara woman is hoping to see a local point of contact established for the reporting of marine mammals in need of help, rather than relying on the Department of Conservation's 0800 DOC HOT.

Te Aupouri Maori Trust Board has closed its offices in Kaitaia, board chairman Raymond Subritzky issuing a statement on Tuesday saying that it was facing "challenging financial circumstances"

The Far North Darts Association began its annual post season sixes tournament last Wednesday evening and the first round saw about 11 new players taking to the boards along with the return of past players such as John Hunter.

It ended as a fairly hapless Saturday afternoon for all five Far North men's sides in action in domestic provincial football competition.

I really felt sorry for the French girl backpacker that Anne and I helped the other day in Kerikeri.

YOU KNOW your taxes are being spent wisely when the police in Timaru prohibit an apparently community spirited man from getting mates home from the pub in one piece...

Mystery surrounds a collection of more than 360 postcards that have been in Kaimaumau farmer Claude Ilton's family for some years.

Fishing while banned earned a 32-year-old Kaikohe man six months' home detention when he appeared before Judge DA Ongley in the District Court at Kaikohe last week.

It's often referred to in New Zealand as the Forgotten War, but the Korean conflict (1950-53) has never been forgotten by the people of what is now South Korea.

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 have been, from time to time, efforts to change our justice system from the adversarial to inquisitional, so all the evidence can be presented that would enable the truth of the matters in question to be resolved beyond all doubt.

Anyone remember cult '70s television series, Kung Fu?

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.