Napier City Council is disappointed vandals have cut down some of the city's iconic Norfolk pine trees.

Barry Gibb says he's had a lot of fun since arriving in Napier last night, but admits his Mission show on Saturday night will pay tribute to his late Bee Gee brothers.

A 35-year-old Napier woman has been remanded in custody on assault charges after an alleged domestic assault in Napier left a 45-year-old man dead from stab wounds.

Two men were taken to hospital after the car they were travelling in smashed head-on into a tree in Napier.

A Hawke's Bay woman with terminal cancer was among those vying for a shot at the big time at X Factor auditions in Napier.

Two teenagers walking through suburban Onekawa in Napier on Saturday afternoon were told they would be shot if they did not hand over their cellphones.

Napier's central Intercity bus terminal is being described as shambolic, chaotic, an embarrassment, a nightmare and a disgrace.

A Hawke's Bay police constable who assaulted a woman after being accused of snorting drugs during a night out has resigned from the police force.

Police are appealing for information following a daylight robbery in Napier over the weekend.

An independent review has found flaws in KiwiRail's decision to close the Gisborne to Napier line and suggests the tonnage needed to keep the route viable can be achieved.

A second sea lion has died in just over a month at Napier's Marineland when 22-year-old Makea failed to recover from a general anaesthetic on Friday.

An independent report aimed at proving the economic viability of the Gisborne to Napier railway line is expected to be released to the public this week.

A 20-year-old Hastings man was stabbed nine times in an early-morning attack at a Napier house on Sunday which police say was domestic related.

A man who bit the face of his partner and gagged her with her own scarf during a vicious beating has been sentenced to two years and five months' imprisonment.

As fire tore through the house leaving her with nothing more than she was wearing, Maraenui woman Sharron Paramore collapsed to the ground in shock and tears.

Police say charges are unlikely for a man at the centre of yesterday's mass search for a family feared taken hostage, as no offences are believed to have taken place.

The search is over for a mother and her two children who were feared taken hostage by a man who was reportedly armed.

A person is understood to have died in a house fire in a remote rural area north of Napier last night.