The Kaitaia Fire Brigade responded to a fire at the Kaitaia Union Church in record time yesterday morning, in time to prevent a potentially major blaze.

The Northland Environmental Protection Society and Far North branch of Forest and Bird have released a complaint they laid with the Auditor-General on May 28 over "the many discrepancies" in the exporting of swamp kauri from Northland wetlands.

Good waves at the local also means good waves at Fiji so plenty of stoke at the sight of Cloudbreak absolutely lighting up for the men's tour of the 2015 World Surf League.

Mayor John Carter has welcomed questions anyone might have regarding the soon to be established Te Oneroa-a-Th"/90 Mile Beach governance board, but the bottom line was that the parties involved had to make it work for the whole community."

Northland MP Winston Peters is supporting calls for a moratorium on the excavation and exporting of ancient swamp kauri.

The students who contested last week's Te Tai Tokerau Nga Manu Korero regional finals at Forum North in Whangarei lifted the bar with their oratory skills, according to an organiser who has been part of the speech competition for 10 years.

Ministry for Primary Industries staff have found six incidents involving Northlanders offering crayfish for sale on various Facebook buy/sell/swap pages in the past two weeks, prompting a warning from acting district compliance manager Stephen Rudsdale.

The Far North District Council has voted to appoint Mayor John Carter and Cr David Collard as its representatives to Te Oneroa a Tohe (90 Mile Beach) Governance Board, which will be formed as part of the Treaty settlements for four Te Hiku iwi, against st

Northland shepherds and their dogs found themselves out of their comfort zone and struggling in the icy conditions which arrived at the start of the national sheep dog trial championships at Taihape during the last week of May.

Fifteen Mid North teenagers were put to the test on Saturday in a large-scale exercise involving a plane crash, people lost in the bush, badly injured patients trapped in a car and a massive fire.

There are so many excellent reasons for believing in euthanasia. Here are some from a country where euthanasia has been practised for 10 years now.

Lauren Barclay's deck might well have been the sunniest spot in the Winterless North on Tuesday morning. It's a spot they share with Hugo, the cat from the Mangonui police station right next door, who calls over on a regular basis to soak up some rays.

Local primary schools took an even share of the spoils as various titles went up for grabs at the Kiwi Netball Field Days tournament last month.

"Your readers need the facts on the table about Northland College and what's being done to sort it out".

Nothing, he added last week, was going to be achieved by "jumping up and down and carrying on," Mr Lunders said.

"People say it must be good to be back to normal but we're not there yet," her mother Jo said last week, but the future was certainly brighter than it was at the beginning of the year.

Constable Leslie Cooper reported to the Kaitaia police station yesterday morning to officially begin his career in the force, but he wasn't needing a great deal of orientation.

Normally, when John Johnson thinks he hears a nocturnal possum, he goes after it with a gun. He didn't do that on Saturday night, and was mightily relieved that he hadn't.

A Kaitaia man who reportedly declined the offer of being winched from a sinking six-metre Ramco boat on Monday last week claimed that a commercial boat was just 20 minutes away, but did not respond to a call for assistance.

A former Northland College student is the latest Far North-based rugby league player to attract the interest of Penrith Panthers franchise.

Terrible weather may have kept plenty away from the Explore Paihia Half Marathon and 12km run/ walk on Sunday, although organisers reported the event was still a well-attended success in spite of the conditions.

The annual community lunch at Victoria Valley Hall is one of the big events of the community's calendar, and this year's was especially gratifying for Paddy Tracey, kitchen hand and champion of tradition.

Every night we had a chorus of the morepork and the high-pitched kiwi calls. Although very well camouflaged and hard to see, kiwi used to track across the front lawn.

A teenager from Matawaia, west of Moerewa, was last week named runner-up to the Young Mori Sheep and Beef Farmer of the Year at the Ahuwhenua Awards in Wanganui.