A giant petrel taken back to sea after being rescued on a west coast beach was in no hurry to test its freedom - the bird hung around the release boat for two hours before finally deciding to fly away.

An off-duty policeman tailed a stolen car until other officers and armed offenders squad members stopped and arrested the man who was wanted after a knife-point robbery.

Police have carried out a blitz on truancy in Whangarei, where nearly a third of students at some schools are absent at any given time.

A Whangarei man who was part of an elaborate plan that included robbing a tavern and later targeting Asian families in Auckland has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in jail.

A drunk Whangarei man held his teenage daughter in his room and attacked her with a machete after she refused to let him have more wine.

A Whangarei accountant has been suspended and ordered to pay $8000 after he misled the public by claiming to be a chartered accountant on his website.

A Whangarei taxi driver was taken aback by the generosity of a young man who returned to pay his fare - nearly a week after doing a runner.

A man has serious injuries to his head and body after being attacked with a chainsaw.

A Northland couple are outraged and hurt at being denied accommodation at the Pilgrim Planet Lodge because of "who we are".

A criminal who bashed and robbed a Whangarei liquor store worker left a vital clue behind for police - his wallet.

It has been 50 years since Northland brown kiwi could be heard foraging on the forest floor of the Brynderwyn Hills, crying to one another at dusk and dawn.

Emergency services are testing their response to a plane crash in an exercise at Whangarei Airport today.

A puppy rescued by a Whangarei SPCA worker is now saving lives by sniffing out explosives in some of the world's war-torn danger spots.

Whangarei police want help tracking down a man involved in a "sinister" attack on a woman as she entered her home after a night out.

Six siblings have been jailed for bashing a couple during a violent home invasion which involved a machete and in which a 14-year-old boy was knocked unconscious.

A man arrested after armed police were called to what is understood to have been a domestic incident in Whangarei will appear in court today.

Police were called to Whangarei Falls after a visitor reported seeing a child's limb floating in a pool, but it turned out to be part of a baby doll.

A Whangarei solo mum has resorted to stealing to feed her children, while another gets more money on the benefit than any job she can get in the region, a beneficiary support worker says.

Kids at Kamo Primary School at the northern end of Whangarei are split down the middle over an offer of free milk from New Zealand's biggest company, Fonterra.

Sydney police are hunting an "armed and dangerous" man after former Whangarei man Lance Hargreaves was stabbed to death near the factory at which he worked.

There could be some fish hooks in the way prizes are allocated in future but the organisers of the southern hemisphere's biggest snapper contest say it will definitely be held again next year.

"Crazy" people are at risk of being "fried" by high voltage powerlines - including people driving over and picking up 11,000-volt cables after two accidents in Whangarei.