Among Taupo inventor Raoul Lealand's contraptions is a lazyboy chair that comes right up to deposit the user onto their feet. Photo / Supplied
Stories making headlines around the regions include a wacky inventor who developed the dead cat carrier and a bodybuilder who became a steroid kingpin.
There's no limit to the inventiveness of Raoul Lealand.
Mr Athletic was steroid kingpin.
Cooking hot chips for dinner almost cost Dennis Sloan his life.
A Rotorua farmer was about to leave for a fishing trip when he saw flames closing in on his house.
Farmers put their woes on the back burner during yesterday's Drought Shout.
In Napier a teenager has taken a brave stand against bullying.
Kaitaia schoolchildren got to hear of the benefits of drinking water from Warriors player Elijah Taylor.
Teenage smoking rates in the Western Bay are apparently dropping.
A pilot involved in the Anzac Day tragedy was following his training.
A Rotorua woman suffered a series of fits after smoking a legal drug.
And finally a number of new hot spots - hot gas and steam vents - have been uncovered along Lake Rd.
Other stories making headlines around the regions:
Answers sought for mystifying smash
Fed up teachers take it to the streets
Wilson breach raises too many concerns for board
A toddler has been taken on terrifying drive
Competitive woolhandling while pregnant is tough.
Construction of Waimate's skatepark has begun
Apirana Taylor stopped in at St Kevin's College yesterday
The worker logged 437 hours in five weeks - all of which was unpaid.