A Whanganui woman who took two and a half years to complete just one hour of a 200-hour community work sentence has been hauled back before a court.

This diverse river city offers adventures, galleries, top cafes and more, writes Elisabeth Easther.

A deer hunter has been hospitalised after his quad bike rolled and crushed him in remote forest overnight.

Michael Laws has been asked to take a paternity test to determine whether the son of his ex-girlfriend is his child.

Convicted sex offender Alan Rubick was highly manipulative and skilled at identifying young vulnerable boys, the High Court at Wanganui was told.

Police have given former Wanganui mayor Michael Laws a formal warning after he was accused of smacking his child.

A bus driver who crashed a bus full of Wanganui college students, teachers and parents near Taumaranui has been given community work and disqualified from driving.

An Auckland man who fell 40 metres down a remote bluff into the Whanganui River on Thursday is lucky to be alive, his wife says.

One person died at today's dawn Anzac service in Wanganui.

A Wanganui dairy has gone smokefree - and business has never been better, says its owner.

Three people have been killed on the roads this weekend, including a young woman who crashed into a tree after fleeing from police in Wanganui.

A woman killed in a crash after a police pursuit in Wanganui last night was caught driving drunk earlier in the evening, police say.

The cost of extreme weather events in New Zealand this year is likely to top $100 million, the Insurance Council says.

Flooding has forced two more blocks of Wanganui residents from their homes, as the city deals with a state of emergency from a swollen Whanganui River.

The Ministry of Health has given the all clear for Raetihi residents to use water from a new source after the town's supply was contaminated by spilled diesel.

It could be next year before Raetihi's drinking water is safe again, after a major contamination scare.

A Wanganui teen has admitted assaulting his ex-partner's mother with an orange.

Police officers are trained to save lives and help victims - and in the case of one quick-thinking Whanganui police officer that includes those with four legs.

The case of a Wanganui man accused of repeatedly grabbing his daughter's breasts has been declared a mistrial.