A body recovered from the Waikato River yesterday has been formally identified as missing Australian Paul Arber.

A body recovered from the Waikato River today was found by a group of teenage rowers from Hamilton Girls High School, police say.

The parents of a missing Australian tennis coach believe their son is still alive and have made a desperate plea for help from the public to find him.

A close friend of missing Australian tennis coach Paul Arber says a sighting of him in the Waikato River early on Sunday has given him hope that he is still alive.

Hamilton mayor Julie Hardaker says people are over the fluoridation issue and just want decisions made about their drinking water.

Hamilton City Council will vote today on whether to keep the city's water fluoride free, or to put the chemical back in.

A man is dead after being involved in an alcohol-fuelled brawl at a Waikato property yesterday.

A Canadian tourist suffered serious facial injuries when a fence post smashed through the windscreen of his car in a crash on Hamilton's southern outskirts last night.

Community social housing projects in Wellington, Tauranga and Hamilton have been announced by Housing Minister Nick Smith.

Hamilton residents are being advised to check their home security following a series of intruder incidents in the east of the city on Sunday.

The Mayor of Hutt City is vowing to visit a legal highs shop in Naenae this morning to tell its owner to stop selling synthetic drugs.

Two men were assaulted by a group of teenagers in Hamilton overnight in what police called a "cowardly attack".

A forensic examination into the suspicious death of a teenage girl in Hamilton yesterday has raised more questions than it has answered, police say.

A young pilot is in "deep shock" after crashing a light plane into another shortly after take off this morning on his very first solo flight.

A forensic examination into the death of a young Hamilton woman has raised more questions than it has answered for officers investigating her death.

The country is in for a mixed bag of weather over Labour Weekend, with sun, wind and rain predicted.

A man fled a crash scene in stolen police car while officers struggled to arrest a repeat drunk driver who hid in a bed at a nearby house.

A teenage girl and a man have been arrested over the theft of a cache of firearms in Hamilton this week.

Loud moviegoers will be shown the door and latecomers turned away under a "no disturbance" policy at a new Hamilton cinema.

A routine vehicle stop in Hamilton by police has netted thousands of dollars and a large quantity of a controlled drug.

A woman and her young nephew had a lucky escape after their home caught fire, causing severe damage to almost half the house.

A Chinese woman involved in a gambling scam with her ex-boyfriend and a casino worker that stole more than $50,000 has avoided a jail sentence but will be deported.

A bus driver and members of the public stepped in to stop five youths attacking a man for his cellphone in Hamilton.

A Hamilton dairy owner will appear in court accused of selling synthetic cannabis in the country's first such case since new legislation came in last month.

A psychiatric assistant who forced a young autistic patient to the ground and held him in a head lock was justifiably dismissed, the ERA rules.

A pizza delivery driver was lured to a vacant Hamilton house where he was bashed with a metal bar last night, police say.