Waikato

The deputy PM is among those attending a community meeting about the mill, with calls for worker relief heading into Christmas.

A former representative rugby player fired from his teaching role for alleged serious misconduct during an U15 rugby trip has been reinstated.

Police are investigating a number of aggravated burglaries in west Waikato.

The group - including three children - would likely have drowned if they hadn't been spotted, lifeguards say.

"We're dealing with complex, high-risk youth offenders," Oranga Tamariki deputy chief says after confirming two out of 10 youths absconded from the trial and a third died in a crash.

"It's ageism. I should just do a Biden and go away," 80-year-old Ross Goudie says.

Police are going door to door in a neighbourhood as they seek more information after his remains were found at a rural location near Tokoroa last month.

Nearly 800 surgeries were cancelled and postponed in three months over bed shortages and lack of capacity.

The tale of two towns - Taupō and Westport - which face losing their only local newspaper. 

While the water is safe to drink, there is something "odd" about the fact that treatment plants are not able to remove the arsenic, scientist says.

The Tahuna Golf Club is bringing to an end more than half a century of tradition by getting rid of the flock of sheep that has long kept its fairways trim.

The three-vehicle crash left one person dead and 14 in hospital.

He was taken to hospital in a critical condition where the spear was surgically removed, police say.

Rural midwives have been finding themselves more and more stretched - on-call 24-7, and teamwork is key, one says.

Instead the elite cyclist, left vulnerable from bullying within Cycling New Zealand, was considered at low risk of suicide.

The three-vehicle crash, including a bus carrying 11 tourists, resulted in one death and put 14 people in hospital.

But it is safe to drink water from taps.