Stories by Ian Telfer

Otago University's new national dental school is set to match the best in Australia, after an upgrade of over $100 million.

Police in Southland looking for a missing 11-year-old boy and his stepfather now say their car is in the sea in a bay in the Catlins. Audio

The Southern District Health Board says it faces a major challenge keeping a Dunedin hospital building running until its replacement is built. Audio

A code of conduct hearing against a Dunedin city councillor has heard he was aggressive and bullying to staff and independent professionals.

New geological research into the movement of pounamu has found the stones move in a river like fish swimming upstream. Audio

An atmospheric research station in Central Otago has been awarded top-tier global status. Audio

The fastest internet service in the Southern Hemisphere has just been turned on in Dunedin.

A family calling for a competency test for all tourist drivers says political leaders are not listening.

The endangered New Zealand sea lion could be in line for an image makeover in the same way as the North American grizzly bear.

A group of farmers in Otago's Maniototo say an irrigation ban in the face of a growing drought crisis is an unfair punishment on the area. Audio

The drought gripping much of the Otago region is now worse than the last big one 15 years ago, according to the regional council.

The counsellor who pushed the police into a proper investigation of the death of Otago prisoner Jai Davis says Corrections staff will only change if some are prosecuted. Audio

People with disabilities have told the Southern District Health Board they object to being left out of its long-term health services plan.

Dunedin students warn a crack-down on bars will drive their drinking onto the streets. Hearings begin today on the council's draft alcohol plan which has had over 4000 submissions.

The Dunedin City Council has got half its money back from the Citifleet scandal, thanks to a fraud insurance payout. Three senior managers at the council have resigned.

Chorus' broadband competition Gigatown, which gives a subsidised supply of the fastest internet service to the winning town, is a waste of money, critics say.

The inquest of Rutger Hale has left many questions hanging about the deadly object that killed him but has been described as like a brick or as big as a cannonball. Audio

A quarry on Dunedin landmark Saddle Hill has gone to the High Court to try to prove it has the right to cut as much rock as it wants.

A third senior manager at the Dunedin City Council has resigned over the growing Citifleet scandal. Financial controller Maree Clarke will leave by Christmas, it was announced today. Audio

People living opposite Wingatui racecourse say its subdivision will wreck their views with a row of "beige McMansions". The racing club wants funds to become a training centre.

One of the Dunedin City Council's senior managers has resigned over the Citifleet fraud inquiry. More than 150 vehicles were sold over a decade and the proceeds pocketed. Audio

Dunedin's Orokonui Ecosanctuary is getting a big funding boost as part of a flurry of grants for Otago conservation partnerships from a Government conservation fund.

The family of a South Otago forestry worker say his death should not be counted as an industry accident. The man died from a rare infection after swallowing something while chainsawing.