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.

The steady life in sales and prices started in the central Auckland suburbs over a year ago and has now spread across the new supercity. But as Bruce Morris reports, it's still tough going out in the provinces.

The provincial towns and cities are well below their 2007 peaks, but there are signs of life south of the Bombays, reports Bruce Morris.