A West Coast man is on trial for murdering his elderly neighbour and the man's intellectually handicapped grandson.

Charlotte Randall is an award-winning New Zealand author whose novels reflect someone utterly in love with the potential of language.

The New Zealand Racing Board will donate to the West Coast community 5c for every off-course tote ticket bought on the seven race meetings being held in the region in the coming weeks.

The Coronial Inquest into the deaths of 29 men in the Pike River Coal mine will be held early next year, the chief coroner Judge MacLean says.