Northland duck hunters have been assured that there has been no reduction in the length of the season for mallards that will begin on Saturday, May 3.

The 59-year-old French tourist who was driving the car that crashed into a motorcycle on Inland Road on February 11 will serve two months' home detention at a Whangarei address before he goes home.

Police have closed what an experienced officer yesterday described as one of the biggest indoor cannabis-cultivating operations found in Northland.

The owners of New Zealand's oldest service station, in Russell, have said a firm no to selling cigarettes and tobacco, and have won two awards for their stance.

There isn't much difference between taking a tumble on ice or concrete, so new national ice hockey rep Jessi Scott says.

More than 30 players from throughout the district took part in a fun tournament at Broadwood Area School's new covered outdoor facility.

New broom needed

Back to the real world

Two people, two bikes, two islands, two weeks and more than 2000 kilometres.

The Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana has received good and bad news about its efforts to restore paua beds at Tauroa (Reef Point), west of Ahipara.

Despite dislocating his shoulder before the fight's midway point, a Northland boxer went on to win his bout in an amateur tournament at the Super City Boxing Gym last Saturday.

A local man has taken the early lead in the Snapper Bonanza surfcasting competition after weighing in a whopping 9.995kg snapper.

Say no more

Playing on a rugby field as a schoolboy in Hawke's Bay, Troy Kingi never imagined he would one day be acting the part of his team-mate Piri Weepu in a movie.

Spending on pokies in the Far North has plunged by more than 10 per cent, more than three times the national decline.

Far North teacher Kelvin Davis will have another tilt at the Te Tai Tokerau seat for Labour in this year's general election.

The 2014 Snapper Bonanza got off to the best possible start with perfect conditions, a record number of snapper landed, and a fish big enough to win the contest outright in other years hooked in the first few hours.

Given some rarely composed sheep to work with, Northland's best sheepdogs went on the front foot in the Mangonui leg of the Northland sheepdog trials in Aurere.

Turtles and Boeings

Spare us this farce

Customer service has long been touted as small-town businesses' best defence against big box stores, and nobody provides better service in Kaitaia than Shackleton's Amcal pharmacy.

The Far North's advocate for the elderly, Glenis Hill, has been publicly recognised for her services to the community.

A clean-up is continuing in parts of the Far North after tropical Cyclone Lusi swamped businesses, sank boats and carried off chunks of shore and sea wall.

Kalani Hansen may not have recorded the greatest results at any of the three events making up this year's Billabong Grom Series, but his freesurfing certainly caught the eye of several photographers.

64-year-old part time teacher qualified for the world championships in Brazil through another successful campaign at the national sprint championships on Lake Karapiro earlier this year.

Growing up at Awanui and getting a "hiding" from his brothers taught 17-year-old Rayner Johnson to take out his aggression on his school mates. But now this former bully is on a mission.

Best of care

The 10 pou that were ceremoniously unveiled at Ahipara on Sunday were much more than stakes in the ground, Eru Harawira said after blessing the first of the markers.

SPCA puppy Tigger (Hen-pecked but happy, Northland Age March 6) didn't spend long on the shelf.

Kerikeri youngster Billie Brown dreamed of owning a flash pair of running shoes, and worked hard to raise the money to achieve that. But now that she has the shoes, she wants to give them away.