A man has died in one of two serious truck crashes that have closed roads in Timaru and Taranaki this morning.

Offender alleged to have demanded money and assaulted a young man.

Locals were unable to save whale that repeatedly stranded on popular beach.

Bridget McMenamin worked on the Lisa Blakie murder inquiry. She has launched a Facebook page to investigate the 2000 case again.

One person has moderate to serious injuries after a car crash in rural South Canterbury this afternoon.

A man jumped from his car after he was held up and the vehicle stolen near Timaru this week.

Nicole Smith has been found safe on a rural road west of Timaru.

Friends are increasingly worried for the safety of a Timaru woman last seen in van driven by a man who police fear may be armed.

A man convicted of beating his wife so severely that he perforated her eardrum has left New Zealand.

First it was creepy clowns, now people dressed as monkeys are terrorising people.

The police have called off searches for Yuri Santana, eight days after he was last seen, but his parents haven't given up hope.

There are concerns for 17-year-old Yuri Santana, who hasn't been seen for a week.

A man allegedly punched a woman in the face several times after wrestling her baby out of its stroller.

A Timaru contractor has been given the task of shepherding two Waitaki film sets to their final resting place - the landfill.

A Timaru factory has been damaged after a heating unit used for plastics moulds caught fire.

Two people have been freed after they were trapped in their vehicles in a crash at Timaru.

Heritage experts are decrying plans to demolish a prominent South Island hotel.

An application has been made to demolish a heritage Timaru building to make way for a $40 million-$42m redevelopment.

For a double Olympic medallist and world champion, Marc Ryan is a humble chap.

The last bottle of beer rolled off the old production line at the landmark Mangatainoka Tui Brewery site yesterday, bringing with it the end of an era.

A former Child Youth and Family caregiver who sexually assaulted eight victims has been jailed for 22 years, with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.

A Timaru toddler who fell 150cm through floorboards in the bathroom of his home is now back to normal after his extraordinary escapade yesterday.

A Dunedin man whose hunting companion was killed after a deer stalking expedition went ''tragically wrong'' has been fined $1000 for illegal hunting.

Timaru has been revealed to have the 'worst level of air pollution' in Australasia. How does your town or city compare?

Police say four people and a chilly bin appear to be the culprits in a weird eel-throwing incident in Timaru on Sunday night.

CCTV footage captured four people throwing eels onto the front lawn of a property in Timaru.

A person was trapped for two hours inside a vehicle involved in a head-on crash on the outskirts of Timaru last night.

After diagnosed with the motor learning disability dyspraxia, James has defied the odds to become one of New Zealand's rising sprint sensations.

Armed police were called to help with a search warrant at a South Canterbury property this morning, where a hydroponic cannabis operation was uncovered.

Four suspicious hedge fires overnight are being investigated by Timaru police.