A Mongrel Mob member has had his gang patch destroyed in a landmark court ruling.

Owners and management of Te Aute College have taken the rare step of seeking a Commissioner to help save the historic Hawke's Bay school from extinction after 156 years as a stalwart of Maori education in New Zealand.

The family of a girl, 5, found dead last month had to be restrained when the man accused of sexually violating her appeared in court today.

There's fresh blood oozing with talent in New Zealand's wine industry. Rebecca Gibb picks the ones to watch this year.

Hawkes Bay is famous for several things, including wine and great weather, but now we can add beer to the list.

Roads and vehicles must be "more forgiving" to curb a road toll which averages more than one death a day, the AA says. Figures released by the Ministry of Transport today show 371 people died on the roads over the past year.

There are many world-class wineries on our doorstep.

Three Mongrel Mob members were arrested in Hastings last night after one assaulted a woman and the other two stopped police from doing their job.

A bus driver is in a critical condition after being run over by his own bus, which rolled about 40m after he parked it in gear, outside Waikato Hospital in Hamilton this morning.

A 13-year-old boy was driving the Toyota Hilux that crashed in Hawkes Bay yesterday killing a 17-year-old woman, say police.

Eight of 12 people injured in a Hawkes Bay crash yesterday remain in hospital, while a 17-year-old killed earlier in the day has been named.

A multi-vehicle pile up in Hawkes Bay has put 10 people in hospital, three with critical injuries, say police. Two tourists, one German and one Italian, are among those injured.

The official holiday road death toll has risen to three after a 17-year-old was killed in a Hawkes Bay crash.

This is the face of the latest New Zealand child to die as a result of alleged abuse. Five-year-old Sahara Jayde Baker-Koro was found dead in her bed in Napier early on Tuesday.

Temperatures were in the late twenties across the top half of the north today, with the humidity making it feel more like the thirties in Auckland.