Kelly_Makiha_FEB16.eps Election season is a funny old time and brings out the best and worst in us. The best - because suddenly

teururoaflavell.eps Tena ano tatou katoa. It's a fine balancing act being the local MP for Waiariki, co-leader of the Maori Party

I WAS surprised to see Tamati Coffey (Opinion August 27) suggest the Government wasn't taking homelessness seriously or didn't have

For almost 30 years, Rotorua people have had to fight to be on a level playing field with other popular tourist spots, but that is

WELL, that was a wake up call - quite literally. While plenty reported sleeping right through it, plenty more in Rotorua were rudely

Over the next few days, thousands of intermediate aged students will start descending on the Western Bay of Plenty for this year's

LEARNING: Visiting a kindergarten in Fiji was a real world learning experience. Confession time - my child is one of those who skipped

Innocent until proven guilty. It's a fundamental tenet of our justice system. But it seems there are varying shades of grey when it

Kelly_Makiha_FEB16.eps There are some stories you write as a reporter that you'll never forget. This year will be my 20th working

There's very little that can't be done online these days - from banking to dating to the weekly grocery shop. So perhaps we shouldn't

Up until a day or so ago I had no idea who Markus Zusak was. If he had sat down next to me and started yarning I would have thought

What are the annual events in your life? I am not just talking about your birthday, Christmas Day or New Year's Day because everyone

THE THREE "Te Arawa endorsed" candidates for the upcoming Rotorua Lakes Council election have been publicly revealed. And the story

New Zealand First's Mahesh Bindra had his private member's bill drawn from the ballot last week. Simply asking for a Land Register

COMMENT: The deeper I delve into the issue, however, the more I am struck by just how frightening the consequences of prohibition are.

THE way the last couple of days have gone for the New Zealand Olympic team, sports fans without Sky may not be all that worried right

When 'alcohol meets ancestry' was the talk of social media last fortnight and it all stemmed from a little micro brewery in Auckland

I think one of the lowest things a person could do is steal from a charity. Under normal circumstances, I'd say nobody would dare

Online publication of more decisions from our courts has come at a good time, given a perplexing sentence in Auckland this week. The

IT'S amazing what has happened to Rotorua house values in the past year. Though many experts predicted provincial centres such as

Harry Potter mania has once again swept across the globe. Billed as the eighth instalment in the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed

No one likes a sick kid. You feel sorry for them, but you don't want one next to you if they are not your own offspring. I learned

Olympics The greatest sporting show on Earth will burst into life in Rio next weekend, with New Zealand predicted to enjoy its most

Turning 18 is a big deal in New Zealand. Once you're 18, you can drink, vote, smoke, buy scratchies, place bets at the TAB or use

They've been the best of times, surely, free of war and famine, well fed and medicated, never needing to bother about things that

No matter the circumstances, the loss of a young life is always a tragedy. Shargin Stephens, who died on Tuesday nearly two weeks

Correct me if I'm wrong but picking the school your children will attend is a relatively important decision for parents. That's why

Observation and knowledge of reality are topics that raise all sorts of prickly philosophical questions, chief among them the one

Have you ever walked past someone and said to yourself: "geez he looks familiar - in fact he looks just like me?" I remember watching

If a medical emergency played out before you, would you know what to do? For most of us, it would be a call to 111 - but what about