A 7-year-old boy hit by a car in Welcome Bay last night remains in a critical condition at Auckland's Starship hospital this morning.

Tauranga's coroner says "significant and serious failures" in the health care provided at Tauranga Hospital to two patients contributed to their premature deaths.

Helicopter monsoon buckets were yesterday used to clear loose material from above two highways - one of which was closed by an early morning rockfall.

Shipping giant Maersk Line, and Fonterra-backed logistics company Kotahi have signed 10-year contracts aimed at supporting the port's plan to deepen its channel by 2016.

The NZ Transport Agency is using a helicopter carrying a monsoon bucket to wash away debris on the side of cliffs that are threatening to crumble and cause slips on State Highway 36 between Tauranga and Rotorua.

Small town New Zealand does wonderful and whacky to keep up our winter spirits.

Armed police rushed to an incident near Tauranga this morning after receiving reports of someone waving a firearm from a vehicle.

Police and coastguard staff say two tourists who took a drunken early morning harbour swim from Tauranga to Mt Maunganui are lucky to be alive.

A young mother who crashed her car into a park bench, catapulting her two children from the bonnet, did not "engage her brain", a court hears.

Severe rain and wind warnings and a drop in temperatures have been issued for parts of the South Island and lower North Island this weekend.

Two children seriously injured in a Bay of Plenty crash that killed their mother will today be released from Starship Hospital and will soon be heading home.

A 58-year-old woman suffered a broken leg when her car left the road in Tauranga, smashing through a fence and falling several metres over a bank into a property below.

A 58-year-old woman suffered a leg fracture when her car left the road in Tauranga, breaking through a fence and falling metres over a bank into a property below.

One of the most infamous battles of the Land Wars has been remembered in Tauranga this morning - the Battle of Gate Pa.

A message in a Powerade bottle sent by two young friends sought love from exotic shores.

An island hapu off the coast of Tauranga has come out as "not against the possibility" of leaving part of the wrecked container ship Rena on nearby Astrolabe Reef - and has distanced itself from an another island group which wants it gone.

A crash involving a logging truck and car has shut down the northbound lane of Tauranga's Takitimu Drive this morning.

Traffic is backed up after a crash involving a school bus and car this morning at Welcome Bay in the Bay of Plenty.

A motorcyclist is dead after crashing near Tauranga this afternoon.

Police are searching through Gate Pa in Tauranga after a report of an aggravated robbery this morning.

A Tauranga man has admitted causing the fatal head-on crash which killed Tauranga father Greg Woledge after his work van plunged off Maungatapu Bridge and into the river.

A waterfront dispute has broken out between two of New Zealand's biggest ports, arguing about who is the best.

A 14-year-old girl led police on a 19km pursuit through Tauranga last night, police say.

A man who was found drunk in open water after clinging to an overturned dinghy near Tauranga harbour for six hours risked his life and the lives of others, police say.