Mark Lundy told police a silver bracelet found in his car after the brutal murder of his wife and daughter must have been left there when his wife accompanied him on a business trip.

A police expert is defending her analysis of the distances Mark Lundy travelled in the days before his wife and daughter were murdered in their Palmerston North home.

Air New Zealand has confirmed it will operate its next $29 Night Rider service between Palmerston North and Auckland.

Police have named the man who died in a crash on SH3 near Bulls this morning. He was Shane Edgecombe, 20, of Wanganui.

A pedestrian has died near Tauranga, one man was found dead in his car near Palmerston North and four people were injured in a head-on collision in south Waikato.

One person died and another suffered serious injuries following a crash west of Palmerston North yesterday, which saw a car flip onto its roof.

An investigation has been launched after a 20-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted in Palmerston North this morning.

A grieving mother has been left devastated after discovering items from her son's grave have been stolen from Kelvin Grove Cemetery in Palmerston North.

There are increasing hotel sales and new hotel construction activity, with the industry showing signs of renewed optimism that is expected to continue into 2015, says Dean Humphries, national director of hotels at Colliers International.

A man who indecently abused young boys over nearly a decade has narrowly avoided a sentence of preventive detention.

A woman was killed and a cyclist seriously injured in two serious crashes in the central North Island early this morning.

Ports of Auckland, Napier Port and cold storage specialist Icepak have formed a joint venture to develop a new $20 million inland port and freight hub at Longburn, near Palmerston North.

Police say a "huge cup of good luck" is all that stopped what has been described as a "random" shooting in Fielding becoming a homicide.

A man was killed after being hit by a car in Palmerston North early this morning.

A Palmerston North man who was caught twice with child sex abuse material has been sentenced to 18 months intensive supervision and 100 hours community work.

Small town New Zealand does wonderful and whacky to keep up our winter spirits.

A missing Rangitikei man, who hasn't been seen for a week, has been found in a hay barn, police say.

A four-year-old boy injured in a quad-bike crash in Canterbury last month has died in hospital.

A 4-year-old boy is in hospital with serious injuries after being involved in a quad bike accident this afternoon.