Large tracts of Otago and Southland's coast could be opened up for the commercial harvesting of paua, with the move expected to face opposition from recreational fishermen.

Multiple gunshots startled volunteers at Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Otago late on Monday, prompting a warning from police over the use of firearms.

A pamphlet has been delivered to Palmerston households warning a convicted child sex offender is living in the community.

Justine Tyerman and her mum take a trip and never leave the rest home.

A man suspected of illegally selling paua to food vendors in Northland could face a fine of up to $250,000 under the Fisheries Act.

A young Dunedin mother who was punched, stabbed, indecently assaulted and almost killed in her home believes judo lessons she attended with her father saved her life.

A scammer described by police as ''loud and expressive'' has been ripping off South Island Subway outlets.

An autistic man was told ''go home to China'' in a racist verbal attack in central Dunedin this week.

Minister says Housing NZ stock needs work before it can impose conditions on private landlords

Almost 800 long-buried bodies may have been rediscovered by an archaeologist in Central Otago.

The main offender in a black market paua operation worth tens of thousands of dollars has admitted responsibility, part-way through his trial in the Dunedin District Court.

A suspected "bomb" found at Hampden, North Otago at the weekend turned out to be just a downed weather-monitoring device.

In a positive development for Dunedin's tertiary education industry, Otago Polytechnic predicts higher student numbers later this year.

A bright "sparkly" silver object seen falling from the sky in Otago on Sunday afternoon was probably a rarely seen daylight meteor.

Every time Mosgiel resident Nick Vermeulen looks in the mirror, the consequences of his actions are reflected in the asymmetry of his face.

Two students who fell off the roof of the same Dunedin flat within minutes of each other say the incidents are a reminder for students to think before they act.

What caused a Hororata pilot to fly his glider into the side of a mountain near Omarama in a fatal crash in January last year may never be definitively known.

Elisabeth Easther gets a taste of the 'Fruit Bowl of the South'.

A man who died when a dinghy capsized near Dunedin on Tuesday was a keen fisherman who loved to spin a yarn.

Two Fulton Hogan workers had a lucky escape when their ute rolled into an oxidation pond.