Boaties in Whakatane in the eastern Bay of Plenty are being urged to stay away from the sea as the area recovers from the aftermath of a weather thrashing.

Farmers are working furiously to pump out flooded pastures as they prepare for more rain on top of the weekend's deluge.

Four police officers beating a young man with batons and pepper-spraying him 65 times was "unnecessary, unreasonable, and unjustified", the IPCA has found.

'I like fat. There's no fat on the blessed meat now.' So said Audrey Duthie when asked the secret to living a long life.

A Bay of Plenty sexual abuse victim is hiding in her home after ACC sent her patient file to a local dairy.

Some of the old-style lures are as good as the flashy ones that are now so popular.

A man who claimed his 4-year-old son was assaulted for wearing a red shirt associated with a rival gang may have concocted an elaborate lie, a court has heard.

About 400 people turned out to pay their last respects to Moko the dolphin at his funeral procession and memorial service in Whakatane today.

The dolphin carcass believed to be that of Moko was removed from Matakana Island by DOC staff this afternoon and will be sent to Massey University for an autopsy.

Team New Zealand is among dozens of organisations that have lost their charitable status in a crackdown by the new Charities Commission.

Whakatane District Council has an estimated $3.2 million clean-up bill following last week's flood that left more than 110 houses uninhabitable.

The captain of a fishing trawler befriended by Moko reckons the tunes of AC/DC might be part of the allure.

An orca that washed up dead near Whakatane has been buried in a nearby Maori cemetery despite researchers wanting to perform an autopsy.