The day he died, Senior Constable Len Snee started work early, jogging past Jan Molenaar's house at dawn to conduct a final reconnaissance.

A steel chest plate and Kevlar-type body armour made from a motorcycle jacket protected Jan Molenaar during the Napier seige, an inquest heard.

A coroner believes police could not have known how Jan Molenaar was going to react.

The police officers shot by Napier gunman Jan Molenaar did not take all possible precautions but could not have known how Molenaar was going to react, according to Coroner David Crerar.

Jan Molenaar asked police negotiators during his two-day shooting siege to let one of his childhood friends into his Napier house

A police inspector speaking at the inquest into the Napier gun seige said he believed it would end in a suicide or "suicide by police."

nzherald.co.nz's Edward Gay reports live from day two of the inquest into the Napier gun siege.

When Brent Holder bought a block of industrial land 17 years ago he never would have guessed how it would cater for and adapt to his changing lifestyle.

A former Green Party candidate has died while diving for shellfish to feed workers redeveloping a Hawkes Bay marae.

Geraldine Johns dives into the flavour-filled world of gourmet cheese, and discovers what it takes to impress judges.

A teenage girl is in hospital with neck and abdominal injuries after a relative ran over her with a quad bike during a school fundraising ride.

Residents of two Hawkes Bay towns will be counting the cost of huge seas which ripped away parts of homes and eroded the road.