NZ @ Noon: Dodgy salesmen +a floral tribute controversy

Sonia Ross and Hayley Berriman, aunties of a 12-year-old boy who was killed on Guppy Rd two years ago, are disappointed the roadside tributes are to be removed. Photo / Warren Buckland

Stories making headlines across New Zealand at noon include controversy after demands for a floral tribute to a dead boy be removed from a power pole.

Flowers attached to a power pole at the spot where 12-year-old Joshua Bennie was hit by a van and killed on his way to school in Napier pay tribute to the boy, but after one complaint from a nearby resident the council is considering removing them.

Far North District Council forgot to consult several Far North iwi about letting the Top Gear petrol heads hoon along Te Oneroa-a-Tohe at 150km an hour.

When one of New Zealand's top police dog handlers started having dizzy spells and not feeling himself early last year, he figured he probably needed a holiday. But the real reason was far more sinister.

A man in his 70's appears to be filming school children from his car in the Bay of Plenty.

Newspapers are undergoing the biggest changes in over 125 years.

Rotorua's City Safe Guardians are apparently keeping the "riff raff" in line.

Two people were cut free from a car near Tauranga this morning.

A disabled Papamoa man twice denied access on local buses is taking his case to the Human Rights Commission.

A report on the "benefits, impacts and risks" of petroleum development across the East Coast does not do what its writers promised, says Gisborne District councillor Manu Caddie.

17-year-old Ashleigh Keene lied to police by claiming she was at the wheel of a car which crashed to cover up for her boyfriend.

Damaged chimneys and homeless people are likely to lead to more abandoned red zone properties going up in flames this winter in Christchurch, firefighters fear.

Some West Coast country households are having to truck water in for the second time this summer as the big dry lingers.

Top trending topics on Twitter in NZ at noon were: #ImBeautiful, #NewProfNZ, #3rddegree, International Women's Day, Hamish Rutherford, #NZvEng, MRP, #NRLsydsou, SBW and Roosters.

Other stories making headlines across NZ at noon were:

Pair lost without a pulse
Dog dies in house fire
Arson charge after fire destroys truck
Murky issue all cleared up for penguins
Coupla old blokes' ride back to former stomping grounds
Historic village marks progress
Injured gran keeps vow to make family wedding
$2b boost from oil, gas industry: Report