Gang members hindered emergency staff who were searching for a missing person following a house fire in Whangarei overnight.

A mental health worker was savaged about the head and neck during an attack by two dogs while she visited a client in Whangarei.

The body of a man found in the Hokianga Harbour will be released to his family for burial as soon as his identity is confirmed.

A domestic violence victim whose partner took her phone so she couldn't call police managed to raise the alarm via Facebook instead.

The wasabi sauce wasn't the only hot food item at a Whangarei sushi joint - the paua being used was also hot, having been bought illegally.

Police have officially named one-year-old Atreyu Taylor-Matene, the Whangarei youngster at the centre of a homicide investigation.

A giant petrel taken back to sea after being rescued on a west coast beach was in no hurry to test its freedom - the bird hung around the release boat for two hours before finally deciding to fly away.

An off-duty policeman tailed a stolen car until other officers and armed offenders squad members stopped and arrested the man who was wanted after a knife-point robbery.

Police have carried out a blitz on truancy in Whangarei, where nearly a third of students at some schools are absent at any given time.

A Whangarei man who was part of an elaborate plan that included robbing a tavern and later targeting Asian families in Auckland has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in jail.

A drunk Whangarei man held his teenage daughter in his room and attacked her with a machete after she refused to let him have more wine.

A Whangarei accountant has been suspended and ordered to pay $8000 after he misled the public by claiming to be a chartered accountant on his website.

A Whangarei taxi driver was taken aback by the generosity of a young man who returned to pay his fare - nearly a week after doing a runner.

A man has serious injuries to his head and body after being attacked with a chainsaw.

A Northland couple are outraged and hurt at being denied accommodation at the Pilgrim Planet Lodge because of "who we are".

A criminal who bashed and robbed a Whangarei liquor store worker left a vital clue behind for police - his wallet.

It has been 50 years since Northland brown kiwi could be heard foraging on the forest floor of the Brynderwyn Hills, crying to one another at dusk and dawn.

Emergency services are testing their response to a plane crash in an exercise at Whangarei Airport today.

A 43-year-old woman collapsed and died on a 10m launch near Whangarei this morning, despite attempts to revive her with CPR.

A sentencing judge has told two methamphetamine suppliers they were dealing "one of the most evil drugs known to man".

A puppy rescued by a Whangarei SPCA worker is now saving lives by sniffing out explosives in some of the world's war-torn danger spots.