Authorities missed many red flags before Bradley and Ellen Livingstone were killed by their father in their Dunedin home.

Ed Livingstone's former wife felt "constantly harassed" and feared for the safety of her family in the months before he killed their two children and took his own life.

As Katharine Webb ran from her house, she heard two shots. Moments later, as she arrived at her neighbour's home, she screamed "he's got a gun and is going to kill my babies".

Nine-year-old Bradley Livingstone was always looking out for his little sister Ellen.

Threatening to kill the children and then commit suicide is a classic tactic of men seeking 'power and control' over their partners, two experts say.

A small school community is mourning two "happy and content'' children who were gunned down in their Dunedin home last night.

Hunger pangs resulted in a Dunedin couple winning $500,000 in Saturday night's Lotto draw with a ticket bought while picking up a bacon and egg sandwich.

A driver 'made the right decision' to stay in his car after it skidded off the road in the wet - leaving him hanging on - literally - for help to arrive.

OceanaGold plans to scale back its operations and is expected to axe more than 100 jobs at the Macraes goldfield in Otago in response to a falling gold price.

Firefighters in Dunedin are worried about the tempting trail of trash left on student streets in the city as Scarfies "can't help setting things on fire".

Thousands of dollars worth of irreplaceable Masonic medals have been stolen from the lodge's Dunedin centre in a Christmas crime which has disgusted members.

Christmas Day hasn't even arrived yet, but for the past few days the Stainer family has been celebrating like all its Christmases have come at once.

A brief deluge yesterday had central Dunedin on standby again as the mop-up continues from a storm on Monday that overwhelmed the city's stormwater system.

A flash storm that dropped hail stones the size of golf balls caught residents near Ashburton off guard last night.

'Not knowing whether they're going to survive is stressful,' says a man who hit a woman on a pedestrian crossing. The pair now want to prevent similar accidents.

Violent drunken offending in Dunedin was unrelenting and something needed to be done about it, Judge Michael Crosbie yesterday told a man who headbutted another man while drunk in a Mosgiel pub earlier this year.

Dunedin police will not reveal how a man, whom they described as a dangerous criminal, was able to escape from custody at the Dunedin Central police station this week.

A special ceremony at a Dunedin hospice has proved that love truly can conquer all, as a bride married her sweetheart - who has just days to live.

What are the top toys for Christmas? 6-year-old Maya Satake can tell you - she's one of four official toy testers for The Warehouse.

Student numbers are expected to increase at the University of Otago next year, turning around three years of declining enrolments at the institution.

A Seventh Day Adventist Church pastor has denied encouraging members of his congregation to lend money to a church member now on trial for an alleged $850,000 scam.

Ireland as an opponent hold a special significance for Sam Cane.

A pastor and members of his congregation lost $850k to a fellow church member who falsely claimed he had $30m owed to him from a Nigerian oil contract, a court hears.