Brogan Watt defies doctors to wed childhood sweetheart.

An elderly Buller man who appeared in the Greymouth District Court on a walking frame was yesterday jailed for 12 years on numerous sex offences, including rape.

Police are keeping an open mind about the whereabouts of a mother of four who was last seen at Punakaiki a month ago.

A man was so angry he did not get his chicken nuggets, he jumped on the counter at McDonald's and sprayed Nerf gun foam bullets around the fast-food outlet.

Two neighbours are in court over loud music one describes as screeching classical-type music and the other as soothing jazz or Dave Dobbyn.

Police have released more information about the movements of a woman who has been missing since December 22.

Police were delivering flyers about missing woman Shelly Crooks today in Punakaiki and nearby Fox River.

A collision between his mountain bike and a tree means West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor won't be clocking up airpoints anytime soon.

A West Coast woman was granted final name suppression after she was convicted yesterday on two counts of forging a document for financial gain, defrauding others of $30,000.

State Highway 73 will reopen to single-lane traffic past the Otira slip tomorrow, but with delays, and the rail line is expected to open on Wednesday.

Man charged with disorderly behaviour after firing Nerf guns in Greymouth McDonald's restaurant.

THE emotion generated by dramatic and traumatic loss of life is a potent force. It can defy logic, it can prompt irrational acts

South Island police are concerned for the wellbeing of two missing people and ask anyone with information to contact them.

More than 200 people gathered this morning for a minute's silence 50 years on from the Strongman Mine disaster.

Both the Grey and Buller rivers were still rising at noon today, but civil defence said the rate had slowed.

Amazing pictures show a massive slip blocking a major South Island route as wild weather wreaked havoc on the West Coast today.

The summer "bomb low" is expected to continue to bring wild weather to the country today.

Holcim is in confidential negotiations with prospective buyers of its Westport assets, says capital projects manager, Ken Cowie.

The worst of the West Coast's wet weather should be over by dawn tomorrow, says Hokitika weather observer Mark Crompton.

Greymouth funeral director Laurie Anisy was a trainee and just two weeks shy of his 17th birthday when he got word there had been an explosion at the Strongman Mine.

Strongman mine disaster happened 50 years ago next week. Paul McBride catches up with the five surviving members of the Mines Rescue teams.

Northland DHB risks losing $1.5 million in elective surgery funding, chief doctor says

The temperature in Westland has managed to pass the 20C mark only once so far this year.

A West Coast Civil Defence warning of a possible big earthquake on the Coast was a "misinterpretation of the facts" caused by lack of training and understanding, says an independent report.

A Carters Beach family left the seafront yesterday afternoon just minutes before a freak wave flooded the adjacent domain, scattering huge logs like matchsticks.

Unionised resident doctors are reported to be working through the strike at some hospitals.

Residents in parts of the country have been warned to brace for widespread flooding, slips and fast-rising rivers as the mid-week weather system hits.

Shelly Crooks, 36, hasn't been seen since December 22 after telling a friend she was going to hitchhike from Punakaiki to Opotiki.

Doctors' strike at 18 DHBs to disrupt care for thousands of patients

A museum replica of the Seddon family homestead that once stood in Kumara has been suggested for the historic site.