Manukau Mayor Len Brown has confessed to making another personal purchase on his credit card - this time a $59 Xmas ham for the family table.

Rodney Hide sets out the benefits and answers the critics.

For years, I watched my mother slowly and progressively kill herself through the bottle. I made the decision then not to drink.

Pip Cheshire writes on the pitfalls of good urban design in Auckland planning.

Len Brown has admitted making personal purchases on his council credit card, including a $148 mini hi-fi system for a family event.

If you know only two things about Len Brown, it's probably these: That he's Mayor of Manukau, and he had a heart attack.

We must not overlook practicality in our haste to leave a legacy, writes Brian Rudman.

Boy racers could be banned from many Papakura streets if a proposed bylaw goes ahead.

A resident's complaint about "strange men knocking at his door" has led to a council using a technical clause to close a brothel.

Commercial project managers need to take responsibility for the mess their activity leaves behind, writes Tim Greer.