A government employee who was sacked after she accessed client records of Facebook 'friends' has won her job back until a full hearing can be held next year.

A pilot who was killed when his plane crashed near Rotorua at the weekend has been named by police.

A Rotorua pilot was killed when the plane he was flying crashed into farmland near Rotorua.

A Rotorua man jailed for life for the brutal murder of Polish tourist Roman Skorek has been forever scarred by the killing, a court has heard.

A violent tornado which hit Hamurana near Rotorua threw people and animals in the air, uplifted trees and damaged properties.

A Rotorua man has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non parole period of 12 years for the murder of Polish man Roman Skorek in Kuirau Park earlier this year.

A Lake Rotoiti hapu will blockade a boat ramp tomorrow to force public access to a private boat ramp which is built on the Maori-owned lake bed.

Even chicken pox can't stand in the way of the Smith family gaining a perfect attendance record at school.

The nativity at Rotorua Hospital chapel has its most important member back - baby Jesus.

A hoax caller who rang 111 and said someone had drowned at Rotorua's Tikitapu (Blue Lake) put emergency services at risk as they rushed to the scene.

There was standing room only at Michelle Hoffman-Tamm's funeral as tributes flowed for a woman whose greatest joy was to help others.

Two men kidnapped a drunk and vulnerable woman, drove her out to an isolated area near the dump and raped her, a Rotorua court has heard.

A tip-off by a suspicious Bunnings employee led to the discovery of a Rotorua drug manufacturing operation, a court has heard.

One of the two Tauranga men on trial accused of manufacturing $2.3 million of P claims it would have been impossible to do so.