Waikato

After 25 years, Margaret Bennett is stepping back from an association she spearheaded. But there is still work to be done and she maintains she will be busy as a bee, but in the background.

The building's Grade D rating means it is 10 to 25 times more likely to represent a risk to occupants in the event of a seismic event than a new building.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the date of the Hamilton West by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of incumbent MP Gaurav Sharma.

All bets are off in Hamilton West, with political parties largely tempering expectations of a by-election win.

Waikato landowners have retired the equivalent of 21 average-sized farms of unproductive land and planted over 3 million trees in the past five years.

Police say they're making inquiries about a body found in the Waikato River on Thursday.

A farming company and an earthworks contractor have been fined $76,500 for environmental damage at a north Waikato stream that left 48 eels dead.

A crash involving a car and a train has left one person dead in Matamata this morning.

Fruit growers across the central North Island are counting their losses after a heavy decimated crops.

A cold snap has frozen the asparagus crop of one of the country's largest growers in Waikato this morning.

Three mayors in Waikato have written to the prime minister and senior ministers calling for urgent safety measures to be implemented after a series of fatal crashes south of Hamilton.

The council estimated 1.27 million litres contaminated the stream over a nine-day period, less than 2km from the Waikato River.

A judge has adjourned the sentencing of a teenager who admitted attacking a milk tanker with a claw hammer, so the victim's views can be brought before the court.

Three people have died in two separate crashes in Waikato this afternoon.

Police are investigating whether there are any links between break-ins at two Hamilton shopping malls yesterday.

Emergency responders are optimistic about new technology designed to contain marine oil spills.

Shops at a busy Hamilton mall were briefly put into lockdown after midday, as a group of masked robbers smashed cabinets at another Michael Hill store.

One person has died following a crash on SH26/Paeroa Kopu Road in Hikutaia this afternoon.

Cheers roared through both parliament and Pipitea Marae in Wellington as the Crown and Ngāti Maniapoto reached settlement.

Technology is giving job hunters an interactive insight into jobs they might be keen to give a go.