A surge in the supply of methamphetamine is being pushed by gangs on a "willing market" in the south, police say.

The family of an Otago man beaten to death in a prolonged and brutal attack cried out with pain and relief as his ''gutless'' killers were found guilty of murder.

Police have apologised to two Central Otago teens falsely accused of petty crime and then subjected to alleged harassment by officers.

An osteopath who left electric acupuncture needles in a patient's backside while he went to a cafe for sausage rolls has been found to have discredited his profession.

Dunedin motorists were stunned to see a man sitting on a couch and holding on to the rear of a moving car as it left a trail of sparks behind him.

A former Dunedin student and aspiring model has been jailed for four years on drugs charges.

A Hong Kong couple escaped injury yesterday afternoon when their rental vehicle left the road and plunged about 50m down a bank on the Queenstown-Glenorchy Rd.

A male and female constable were attacked in Dunedin's CBD and police say it shows why the city's bars need to close earlier.

A Kiwi researcher is studying how children exercise restraint from tempting lollies - and what it says about their likely self-control later in life.

The father of a Queenstown woman caught up in an investigation into an alleged kidnapping has called for her safe return.

Friends and family have paid tribute to the man killed in a tractor accident near Waikouaiti earlier this week as a "hell of a good guy".

A 68-year-old woman who died after slipping and falling about 40m from a walking track near Wanaka has been identified as Maureen Anne Schofield.

A researcher's tireless efforts to ensure every Kiwi can have a safe, warm and dry home has been rewarded with the country's largest prize for science.

Police have named the 24-year-old man killed when he was thrown from the cab of a tractor that rolled north of Dunedin.

The father of the 22-year-old Queenstown man at the centre of an alleged kidnapping has asked for privacy to allow his son to recover from the ordeal.

A 69-year-old Wanaka woman died yesterday after slipping and falling about 40m from a Department of Conservation walking track near Glendhu Bay, Wanaka.

In the splendid town of Middlemarch, Peter Feeney and his family stay on a sheep station and enjoy Southern hospitality that comes complete with locally brewed beer.

A motorist caught driving at 177 km/h in Otago was one of more than 200 infringements police issued over a four-day blitz in the lead-up to Christmas.

Dunedin Botanic Garden staff are on high alert following a break-in by someone they believe was looking for hallucinogenic drug-producing cacti.

A fish tank at cash-strapped Dunedin Hospital cost $73,000 to install and more than $1000 a week to run in its first year.

Staff at a prison where a Dunedin man died in custody knew he was coming with drugs concealed in his body, a Coroners Court hearing has heard.

Otago's gateway is a hip town of vintage shops and nice beaches, says Elisabeth Easther.

Rob Ashton, soon to join Auckland's Carlton-Cornwall club after dominating Wellington bowls for years, moved to the brink of an unprecedented double at the New Zealand Open at Henderson yesterday.

The death of a 22-year-old student who fell from his skateboard and suffered a fatal head injury has been referred to the coroner.

Two whales, which lived more than 20 million years ago, have been identified by Otago University researchers.

A Chinese billionaire behind the controversial buy-up of the Crafar dairy farms and Lochinver Station says New Zealanders have nothing to fear from his investments in the country.