The mother of escaped prisoner Stephen Maddren has made an emotional plea for her son to give himself up.

After her car hit black ice, plunging down a bank and sank into a pond, Helen Kay grabbed her cat and 'kicked the hell out of a window' to escape.

Police have fears for escaped prisoner who fled an Otago Corrections Facility wearing only trackpants and a top as 'hypothermic conditions' set in.

An unlicenced 16-year-old Dunedin youth is in hospital with a serious head injury after fleeing police in a high-speed pursuit.

"I'm not responsible for the rain, surely?" An 85-year-old has been hit with a big bill after a fuse blew on the power pole outside his house.

A Queenstown hotel treats its guests to epicurean delights sourced on its doorstep, finds Morgan Tait.

There are delays for motorists on Dunedin's Northern Motorway after a multi-vehicle crash resulting from frosty conditions this morning.

A Queenstown police constable has pleaded not guilty to an offensive language charge relating to an alleged incident involving a taxi driver.

A South Dunedin man is calling for more support for people trying to start their own businesses.

A lightning strike caused a large fire which razed an historic homestead to the ground near Glenorchy this morning.

Sometimes there's nothing like a chilly holiday to leave you feeling invigorated.

Leah McLennan looks at what's big and what's new on the Otago skifields.

The partner of a tramper who died after being swept into a river in Fiordland expressed his grief yesterday at losing a loved one.

The body of a 22-year-old tramper who was swept away on the Milford Track has been found.

"My teeth were broken, blood came out of my mouth and Jessica was gone." A backpacker has described being unable to save a woman swept away on Milford Track.

Police did not coerce Joyce Conwell to confess to the shotgun murder of Alec Rodgers in Christchurch in 1999, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has ruled.

Aviation website privatefly.com has named its top 10 scenic airports at which to land. Our very own winter wonderland Queenstown gets a mention.

Police had to be called after an Ashmore presented its owner with a 5g bag of cannabis.

A ''feral'' student party in Stafford St in Dunedin yesterday was shut down by police, amid concerns for the safety of intoxicated people climbing on the outside of a three-storey flat.

No matter what the weather's doing, Pamela Wade finds entertainment in Southland and Central Otago.

Miners and farmers have made way for curling, writes Elisabeth Easther.

The parents of the German teenagers presumed drowned in Foveaux Strait are returning home and say they know they are leaving their daughters behind.

An Australian film crew believes it captured two UFOs on film near Queenstown, and have posted the video online.

Pellets laced with 1080 poison will be fed to trout to assess potential risks from the planned massive dump of the pesticide in native forests.