I CAN'T help feeling that what started as a beautiful religious celebration has turned into a nightmare for many people as well as

MONDAY It's always been my dream to be the interim Prime Minister. And now here I am. It feels ... unreal. It feels ... not quite

WITH my Christmas menu locked and loaded, it was time to tackle the masses in the supermarket aisles. Shopping list and unfortunately

THE Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Advocacy, Workforce, and Age Settings) Amendment Act 2016 includes provisions to

Turkeys don't vote for Christmas apparently, and I suspect that Maui's dolphins don't vote for set-net fishing. There's always a

IT'S QUITE a coup for the region to get the Hurricanes-Crusaders clash. It was announced this week that Waverley would be venue for

AS Science Forum Lectures have gone into recess until February I was casting around for ideas for a piece for December. Then I heard

THIS year has seen some amazing leadership in healthy change across the Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu District with examples from

LAST weekend Joseph Parker triumphantly hoisted the WBO heavyweight belt above his head - the new World Champion, he said. The only

DURING the election campaign I took some flak for wearing my shiny business shoes down at the River Traders market, when some other

I AM in the process of moving sheds. I was sorting through my stuff, deciding what to dump and what to keep, when I came across

It had the lustre of Olympic gold; it had the TV cameras; it had the action on the big screen ... It had a sizeable crowd on the

Gender tirade The weekend edition of the Chronicle is usually an informative, entertaining read. Last weekend it left a bitter taste

I GOT the ol' royal wave going last Saturday, taking part in the annual Santa parade down Victoria Ave. Before we even turned the

IT'S a sickly cliche advertisement for Air New Zealand. But oh, how well it works. Go watch the viral video doing the rounds on

SATIRE is meant to have some bite but it seems to have become completely truthless and unable to leave a mark on the hard hide of

Gallery shortfall "The district council has agreed to underwrite any cost over-runs or shortfall in funding ..." Such a simple statement

WELL, it's been a funny old week in Parliament. I made the announcement that I was stepping down at the next election and was flattered

WHEN Ole Romer determined that light has a finite speed it was 1676. Putting the year in perspective, it was 10 years after the

IT'S A funny thing, but after every election someone finds a reason to explain why "their" candidate failed to make it. Of recent

PHEW. That was some curveball. Totally out of left field (sorry ... right field), John Key announces he's quitting and eclipses TV

Our region is alive and well and heralding the festive season with market days, Christmas parades and even night markets - many of

Von Clausewitz's aphorism that "war is the continuation of politics by other means" may well apply today, with reversal of the two

There has always been a philosophical debate in politics - should governments/councils be in business? More specifically, should

System is sick I would suggest Mr Benfell (Chronicle letters, December 5) look up Greg Palast's website for the complex reasoning

You won't remember me," a fellow retiree said in town the other day. He was wrong. Vague memories surfaced of learning to swim and

The death of Ray Columbus on Wednesday has added another music icon to what many see as a swingeing cull on pop stars in 2016. David

Separate dux Again, I wonder whether New Zealand is a country of equality or are racial distinctions still seen as necessary? We

As I write my final contribution for the year (and - as I am about to leave Whanganui - for the foreseeable future), I am thinking

Care confusion Re: The lovely independent 91-year-old and her troubles with Mid Central District Health Board and its home care policy. I