Kara Hurring - ex-partner of the 'Runaway millionaire' - says home detention is no "walk in the park'' and she is counting down the days until the sentence ends.

The third annual Rotorua Zombie Walk will take place later this month despite calls to cancel the event.

A man has been charged in relation to the death of Rotorua man James Wilson Dodds in a hunting incident last month.

A Rotorua man has been sentenced for giving his 6-year-old stepson a black eye by elbowing him in the face while he was having a tantrum over being buckled into his car seat.

A professional Rotorua boxer, who knocked a teenager unconscious and broke his teeth when he wouldn't remove a rugby jersey has been ordered to pay $5000 reparation.

A man is fighting for his life after being run down by a ute following a street brawl in Rotorua.

Overdue fines at DVD rental stores are stacking up, with one owner reporting at least $50,000 in fines still owing.

A dispute over a dead cat ended with a Rotorua man bashing his elderly neighbour with a torch after 'things got out of hand'.

A one-legged sickness beneficiary has been jailed after being found guilty of repeatedly raping and indecently assaulting a young girl in Rotorua between 1966 and 1976.

More than 1000 family, friends, fellow mountain bikers and motocross riders farewelled Rotorua mountain biking legend James Dodds in Rotorua this afternoon.

To mark the Herald relaunch we're taking an in-depth, week-long look at what it means to be Kiwi. Today - why we choose NZ over anywhere else on the globe.