On March 26, the last of the southern coastwatchers, John Stuart Jones, was to have voyaged to the Auckland Islands with an expedition to restore his old home in Ranui Cove.

A Frenchman who moved to NZ to "make his dream come true" swerved to avoid hitting a portable toilet that had fallen from a truck before colliding head-on with another truck.

What do you do when two mums give birth to their babies at the exactly the same time? A Tauranga midwife found out while delivering the 'almost twins'.

A student who decided to take his friend’s new car for a spin during a break from class ended up crashing it into a power box - and watching it burn.

A boy who suffered serious injuries after falling from a horse has been flown to Tauranga Hospital.

Promising Tauranga teen Sam Fitness has been left paralysed after falling 6 to 8 metres from a tree.

Devon Hacche's mother may never hear her son speak or see him breathe unassisted after the 8-month-old swallowed a button battery, burning the inside of his throat.

A 33-year-old man arrested over an alleged hit and run in Welcome Bay Rd has appeared in court facing one count of murder.

A man died last night after he was struck in an apparent hit-and-run on Welcome Bay Rd near Tauranga at about 11pm.

Emergency services say a small child who was trapped in a car that had hit a power pole south of Tauranga was taken to hospital, but later died.

Four commissioners have been appointed to decide whether a resource consent should be granted allowing part of the Rena wreck to remain on Astrolabe Reef.

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.

Tauranga police are investigating a suspicious fire which occurred in Tareha Lane in Te Maunga last night.

A suspicious item evacuated Tauranga Port this morning and sparked a call-out for police and the Defence Force.

A father and his young son remain in Tauranga Hospital after falling 100m down a cliff on Saturday.

The distraught boss of a 27-year-old man killed in a head-on collision says his employee volunteered to take his place on a business trip.

The driver of a light truck who died in a three-vehicle collision on State Highway 2 in Tauranga yesterday has been named by police.

'That's ratepayer money, it's just unbelievable'. Last week Tauranga City Council put in a $64k traffic island. This week it ripped it up.

One person is confirmed dead and six others are injured after two trucks and an SUV towing a trailer collided tonight in Western Bay of Plenty.

An employer says he's embarrassed, but wants other business owners to beware, after one of his workers charged with handling - and monitoring - finances stole $146k.

The court appearance for a man accused of firing shots in residential Papamoa last week has been deferred until next month.

A man with an iron rod poking out of his head drove to the only open shop in a small North Island town and calmly walked up to the counter to raise the alarm.

A 23-year-old man was left with an iron bar lodged in his head after being viciously attacked in the Bay of Plenty overnight.

Two sharks, believed to be bronze whalers, made their presence felt at Papamoa Beach yesterday, causing several swimmers to make a quick dash to shore.

A man caught on camera riding on a car's roof was doing the same "stupid" act that has killed two people in the Bay of Plenty in the past 10 years, police warn.

The first baby born in Bethlehem on Christmas Day was not a boy in a manger but a little girl in the Bay of Plenty.

The firefighter who rescued a kitten trapped in the dashboard of a Tauranga car has been described as the "finest cat whisperer".