In a year when the national road toll fell dramatically, the carnage on Waikato roads actually increased. James Ihaka recounts the lives lost and the search for reasons why.

A recidivist drink driver had five children in his car when he allegedly drove drunk last night, police say.

The impacts of the global financial crisis hit are ingrained in our communities.

A man charged with setting his wife on fire at a rural Waikato roadside before fleeing for Fiji with his son will plead not guilty to her murder.

A devastating pig disease which broke out in the North Island in 2003 and crossed to the South Island in 2006 is still spreading, farmers say.

A road worker who died after he was run over by a tarseal spraying truck north-east of Hamilton on Thursday was today named by police as Graham Donald Bennie, 55, of Huntly.

The man accused of murder after his wife's body was found burning on a roadside near Huntly last week has reappeared in court.

The man accused of murder after his wife's body was found burning on the roadside near Huntly is facing three charges, including one of assault in December last year.

The husband of the woman found burnt to death near Huntly last week has arrived in Auckland on a flight from Fiji, accompanied by NZ police officers. He is likely to be charged with her murder.