NZ@Noon: NZ's first Olympic champ finally recognised

Victor Lindberg was officially recognised at a special ceremony as NZ's first Olympian. His descendants, including great-granddaughter Helen (left) and her mother Gwenyth Cossey, attended the event. Photo / Petrina Hodgson

Headlines around the regions today include New Zealand's first Olympic medallist, as well as a heroic dog, getting recognition.

A spelling error may have been to blame for a 100-year delay in a Northland athlete being recognised as NZ's first Olympic participant and medallist.

"I really don't think I would be alive now if Nikki hadn't got me out."

A dog that pulled its Wanganui owner out of a car wreck has been posthumously granted hero status - 17 years later.

Rotorua is looking at building a steam kitchen alongside its Kuirau Park footpools, a project to be jointly developed with its sister city in Japan.

Merenia Donne's late German shepherd Nikki has received the Eukanuba Canine Hero Award for her actions.

A former lifeguard is

cycling from Christchurch to Tauranga to raise money

for a scholarship in memory of a boy who was very fond of lifesaving.

Two tourists were involved in a nightmare crash, when their car bounced off a logging truck, then a rock wall in Whangarei.

Napier's new MP Stuart Nash maintains he's "Labour to the core" after an email emerged linking him to right-wing political strategist Simon Lusk.

Exciting plans for a new BBC crime series set in Rotorua are being developed by the producers of Downton Abbey and a Kiwi-based Emmy-award nominated writer.