It's no secret that Kiwis have a love affair with property. Any spare money goes into bricks and mortar, rather than a weighty investment portfolio.

A little cafe in Christchurch made headlines this week when a sign outside its door was brought to the public's attention.

How much more could go wrong in the Halatau Naitoko case?

I've never been a burglar (breaking into a building to commit a crime) or a robber (nicking something while using violence or the threat of violence to do so).

Well done to Paula Penfold and TV3 for their investigation into Teina Pora's murder conviction.

Please God, when my end comes, I hope it's not as long, slow and painful as David Shearer's.

Kerre McIvor was delighted to receive an email from the former chief executive of Hills Flooring, the family firm of many years' standing that went into liquidation following Mainzeal's collapse.

Often, front page news stories don't make good talkback radio.

As television goes, Kerre McIvor thoroughly enjoyed John Campbell interviewing Prime Minister John Key on Campbell Live this week.

I love our little house. It's the only one I've ever owned and it was the sort of house I dreamed of living in one day - a 19th-century wooden cottage with a veranda out the front and roses in the garden.

The demise of Hills Flooring, a family-run firm more than 50 years old, is very sad.

The story of Inspector Richard Wilkie is one that would be familiar to many parents of teenagers, says Kerre McIvor.

For those of you who believe that animals should not be used to test the safety of party pills, there are public marches around the country on Tuesday against the Govt's decision to allow the testing to proceed.

In an age where women are booking in caesareans and tummy tucks at the same time; where new mums are exhorted to wear uncomfortable post-pregnancy girdles and corsets, it was great to see a woman looking as she should 27 hours after giving birth.

When people have expressed concern about me climbing Kilimanjaro, going hot-air ballooning or even running marathons, my response has been the same.

Kerre McIvor asks: Who on Earth does Labour hope to appeal to with its proposal to have some electorates run women-only candidate selections?

When did this country become so mean? Did it begin in the 1980s, when greed became good and success became more about what you had than the sort of person you were?

For the past couple of months, I've been putting myself through torture at the gym; cashing in favours to spend time in the Warriors' hyperbaric chamber; and waking in the dead of night, rigid with fear at the prospect of what lay ahead.

Well, well, well. Just as many of us predicted, student loan defaulters are finally honouring their obligations to repay their loans now that the Government has given up on being reasonable and given the defaulters a metaphorical kick up the butt.

The same week that Coroner Wallace Bain used the term epidemic to describe the number of babies dying because of unsafe bed sharing, I read a story about babies sleeping in cardboard boxes in Finland.

It was news that struck deep into the hearts of motorsport fans on both sides of the Tasman.

Whenever I see a white cross on the side of the road while I'm driving, it's a powerful reminder to take care.

If Princess Charlene and Byron are really getting it on, I have a bloody good chance of having a dart down the blindside with George Clooney.

Ah. The Budget. A cautious, steady-as-she-goes document with just enough give and take among the different government departments to ward off strident criticism from voters.

Independent MP Brendan Horan, who was booted out of New Zealand First but continues to remain in Parliament as one of this country's highest-paid beneficiaries, has come out in support of disgraced National list MP Aaron Gilmore.

There are a number of cases where young women have been abducted and locked away, but this latest case in Cleveland, where three young women were held captive for more than 10 years, is particularly nasty.

Kerre McIvor says the media must stop inferring that police are somehow at fault with pursuits that end tragically.

Spectators can make or break a sports game.

Very few of us have led blameless lives, writes Kerre McIvor.