Checkpoint for Tuesday 10 March 2015

6:56 PM.Sam Simon -- one of the creators of America's longest running animated sitcom, "The Simpsons" has died. Audio

6:50 PM.Simon Bridges faces questions about bridges in Northland. Environment Minister grilled on the fate of a Kauri tree in Auckland. Audio

6:47 PM.The Maori Internet Society says a Northland iwi's decision to sell its broadband network to a private company is like a tribe selling the foreshore. Audio

6:44 PM.A Taiwanese tourist whose father died in the van she was driving sobbed as she was sentenced in a Christchurch court today. Audio

6:42 PM.The Labour leader is accusing the Prime Minister of being tricky, when discussing mass collection versus mass surveillance by the Government Communications Security Bureau. Audio

6:38 PM.An American pathologist who gave key evidence in the first Mark Lundy trial, has told the High Court retrial all of the tests he did on a polo shirt were positive for brain tissue. Audio

6:35 PM.More now on the milk powder poisoning blackmail threat. The Government says the country's trading partners have been told about it. Audio

6:27 PM.The Transport Minister, Simon Bridges, is making no bones about the fact that the Government has made a multi-million dollar investment in Northland because it wants to win the by-election. Audio

6:24 PM.Joining us now is the head of the council's parks and recreation committee Christine Fletcher. Audio

6:21 PM.Auckland councillors are being called on to urgently decide the fate of a 5-hundred-year-old kauri and a 3-hundred-year-old rimu that have been at the centre of a two-year legal crusade. Audio

6:19 PM.The Christchurch City Council has voted to remove several assets from its strategic list, paving the way for them to be either partially or wholly sold, in the future. Audio

6:16 PM.Bill Wallace heads the Ban 1080 Party. He's just found out about the threats. Audio

6:11 PM.The Government says it has been as upfront and honest as it could have been about the blackmail poison threat from 1080 opponents its labelled eco-terrorists. Audio

6:08 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:55 PM.An angry Dean Barker has ended his 20 year career with Team New Zealand but says he'd still love to compete in the next America's Cup. Audio

5:50 PM.The Green Party is urging the Government to provide proper support for workers if the troubled state-owned coal company Solid Energy collapses. Audio

5:44 PM.The latest now on the threat by blackmailers to poison infant and other milk formula by the end of the month unless New Zealand stops dropping 1080 in the bush. Audio

5:38 PM.A Murupara man whose four dogs almost killed a seven year old Japanese girl has escaped conviction. Audio

5:32 PM.With more on the impact the milk formula scare is having on the financial markets - here's our economics correspondent, Patrick O'Meara. Audio

5:29 PM.More now on our story about blackmailers are threatening to poison infant and other milk formula unless New Zealand stops dropping 1080 in the bush. Audio

5:25 PM.Anna Mc Dougall desperately wants more information about the formula scare and says she would have liked to have known much earlier. Audio

5:20 PM.The president of Federated Farmers William Rolleston says he doubts anyone could get past the security at milk powder plants to contaminate products. Audio

5:16 PM.Michael Barnett heads the Infant Formula Exporters association. He didn't find out about the threat until a month ago but is not angry about the delay. Audio

5:14 PM.Our political editor Brent Edwards was at the news conference - he's with us now. Audio

5:07 PM.Blackmailers are threatening to poison infant and other milk formula by the end of the month unless New Zealand stops dropping 1080 in the bush. Audio

5:00 PM.Latest on milk formula scare from news conference; Latest from Brent Edwards; Infant formula exporters say 1080 threat devastating; Federated Farmers has more; Worried mother, Anna Mc Dougall on milk… Read more Audio