Latest from Bay of Plenty

'Life-changing and horrific': Mum raises mental health awareness after losing son

The couple believe school counselling support is needed to assist student mental health.

'Real wake-up call': Principals plead for funded counsellors

'Teachers don't have the time to sit down and unpack what is going on.'

'Powerless': Rural school principal, four staff set to lose jobs over jab mandate

Several staff members have accepted the possibility they may lose their jobs.

Local Focus: Council hopes to create 'Olympic-quality' skatepark

Tauranga City Council wants to hear from locals who love skateparks.

Iwi buys apartments for homeless: 'I dropped to my knees and cried'

'I grew up in a flea-ridden shed in South Auckland.'

State of Emergency declared in Gisborne, Sponge Bay residents left without power

A month's worth of rain has fallen in just 24 hours, with homes under threat.

Cruisin' for a bruising: Mega cruise ships banned in Tahiti from 2022

Mega cruise ships gear up for a long-awaited season, but they won't be sailing to Tahiti.

'Huge expectation and hope': Iconic attraction's reopening buoys tourism leaders

The reopening comes on the cusp of summer, tourism providers hope for eased restrictions.

Man facing raft of charges after gunpoint car theft and AOS callout near Taupō

Dramatic arrest in the bush near Taupō after alleged gunpoint car theft.

Bore quenched: Geothermal activity breaks through another Rotorua road

It is related to a nearby bore.

Local Focus: Pest checks on boats are ramping up as weather warms

Biosecurity officers to patrol Bay of Plenty boat ramps to stop the spread of pests.

Inside the Te Awamutu cluster - epicentre of the Waikato spread

As Delta spreads to the Waikato, we look closer at cases rising in Te Awamutu.

Landlords say tax loophole is 'bribe' to switch to social housing

Tax breaks a huge incentive for landlords to evict hard workers - rent to social housing.

Live: Positive Covid case in Blenheim the 'kick up the backside' the South Island needed

Infected person isolating and believed to be connected to Te Awamutu cluster.

Homeless say trying to survive is a 'full-time job'

Men who have been rough sleepers for years speak about their struggles.

Tributes like kids' emotion haka for Wainui a way to show we care in Covid times

OPINION: Restrictions on funerals have been one of the hardest parts of the Covid era.