Otago

An Otago gasfitter has been fined more than $120,000 for incorrectly installing a gas water heater, leading to the death of a 12-year-old boy.

A former Dunedin Airport aviation security officer who planted a fake bomb days after the Christchurch terror attack has been jailed.

A sea shanty called Wellerman is rising up the UK record charts about 190 years after the Weller family settled in Aotearoa. Audio

Some Central Otago orchards say this season's crop is a write off, while others struggle to find enough workers.

Nearly two-thirds of Dunedin residents think public consultation is lacking at the Dunedin City Council, the latest Dunedin Residents' Opinion Survey says.

Archaeologists, historians and iwi authorities are disturbed at news someone has illegally helped themself to an archaeological site used by early Māori. Audio

Another 2500 houses may be built in Dunedin to cater for the growing population if proposed planning changes are given a green light.

Dunedin had no public toilets for women until 1910 and they had to "hang on or go at home", says 'Loo Lady' Alison Breese, who has unearthed the history behind the city's comfort stations. Audio

Police have named the man who died while swimming at Pinders Pond in Central Otago yesterday.

The likely cause of death is warm, low oxygen inflows of ponded floodwater from surrounding farmland, Fish and Game says.

More than $55,000 of ratepayers' money has been spent investigating Dunedin City Council code of conduct complaints since the 2019 election.

A man who stabbed his mother's dog in the neck, then threatened to do the same to her, has been jailed for 16 months.

Heavy rain over New Year's in Central Otago created cherries so juicy that many of them burst. Audio

Aurora Energy says the power price rises mooted for Otago residents will not be enough and is pleading for some residents to be charged hundreds of dollars more per year.

University of Otago student Jenny Stein is finding out how rising sea levels are a growing problem for many coastal settlements, including the densely populated suburb of South Dunedin.

The stench of rotting flesh will once again draw hordes of curious onlookers to the Dunedin Botanic Garden.

The worst of the severe weather in Otago, which caused flooding and left some campers stranded, has now passed.

MetService is warning of thunderstorms in many parts of the country, and the risk of "large, damaging hail and possibly a small tornado" in eastern parts of the North Island.

After uncovering 20 unmarked graves at the 150-year-old Drybread Cemetery, researchers will now shift their focus to building a picture of the deceaseds' lives.