The Welcome Bay resident isn’t even a cyclist, but he sensed a life-threatening hazard for those who are. And he called for action. “When they have to stick up 20-plus bollards to separate cycle lanes from car lanes, it tells me they see...

They were all designed to kill, maim or injure. Now they’re mounted like Christmas baubles in a red velvet-lined presentation case. But the case is labelled ‘grenades’, or hand-bombs, and is a grim reminder of man’s ill-will...

“TGIF - thank God it’s Friday”, the universal cry of relief in offices, factories and workplaces anywhere and everywhere, come Friday. The week and the work are just about done, the mind’s tuned out and the weekend is upon us. But...

When you meet 14-year-old Rico Nelson, your first reaction might well be ‘someone could make a damn fine basketballer out of him.’ But you’d be too late, because he’s well on the way already. He’s been standing tall in...

Even with a sniff of spring in the air there are still hundreds, if not thousands, of homes in the Bay of Plenty that are cold, damp, and challenging to live in. That’s why there has been a call for help from the BOP Healthy Homes initiative....

Thank goodness for the Mitre 10 Cup, which kicked off last night at North Harbour. There is a desperate need for the rugby competition that gives fans more than just a few moments to savour that the underwhelming Investec Super Rugby produced. If...

To help connect local people with upcoming film career opportunities, Bay of Plenty Film will be delivering a series of free Film Industry Pathways Workshops Bay wide. Targeted at anyone interested in working in the film industry, the workshops help...

Organisers of a community trail run will be doing their best to leave a minimal footprint on the environment by encouraging participants to carpool and bring their own drinking vessel. The Moa Experience trail run, which will be held in the Papamoa...

Tauranga City Football Club is aiming to take talent development in the Western Bay to a new level with the announcement of a new coaching panel to lead its football strategy into 2019 and beyond. The group is headed by current Waikato-Bay of Plenty...

The United States ambassador Scott Brown and his wife Gail dropped into Tauranga for the first time this week, and they made some special time for four local teenagers and two instructors from the Tauranga-based Youth Search and Rescue volunteer group. The...

Being unattached in your mature years is daunting for some, but it doesn’t have to be. Research shows the demographic is shifting when it comes to our relationships, with divorce rates continuing to fall overall but on the rise for people over...

Tauranga arborist Mark Goldstone is setting his sights on the UTVbits New Zealand short course champs. After winning the North Island division of the New Zealand off-road racing championship, Mark is looking to take out his class title at the short...

“It’s great to be able to help people, especially my lifesavers, who helped me out of the darkest place I have ever been in.” Matt Appleton’s giving back – a 40-year-old living with ME, or chronic fatigue syndrome, who’s...

“It’s just screaming for development,” was Simon Bridges’ reaction to news of a concept to transform Dive Crescent at the northern end of Tauranga’s downtown waterfront. “A flower waiting to bloom,” he said,...

It’s a case of three degrees of separation, where often a lot of The Weekend Sun’s stories start. One conversation overheard by a staff member and next minute I knew the mother of someone my flatmate likes to describe as a ‘true...

The business community warns of the threat to continued growth in the Bay of Plenty posed by proposed changes to industrial relations legislation. But the government says it’s about fairness for workers and restoring parity. “Workers have...

The smell of burger patties sizzling on the barbecue and fresh muffins straight out of the oven wafted through Gate Pa School last week as children put their healthy eating lessons into action. The school is involved in two national healthy eating...

Just like Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh, Brian has carted around his thread bear for 63 years. They both have a few loose threads and some wear and tear, but they are still chugging along. Thread bear has damage on his breast – he’s...

They are a picture of misery. Three kittens with ‘icky eyes’, runny noses and sneezing. They have cat flu. It can be deadly for the littlest babies. “Very sickly,” says Sharna Asplin of Wild Whiskers – a bunch of volunteers...

They’re small tiny bits of plastic that get washed up the beach. They have been washing up on Mount Main Beach since the Rena struck Astrolabe Reef on October 5, 2011 - and they are back again. During the recovery period following the grounding,...

They say it takes an army to move a mountain. That’s why Tauranga residents are being invited to come on board as volunteers in the annual Daffodil Day appeal. Each year the Cancer Society relies on more than 9,000 volunteers around New Zealand...

Books. Tauranga Harbour City Lions needs books, lots of books, for its October book fair fundraiser. “They’re much slower coming through this year,” says Lion Christine Currie. “And we don’t know why.” Especially,...

The old expression ‘just like riding a bike’ implies that we know everything about an activity and can easily take up where we left off. But what if you never learned how to ride a bike in the first place? That won’t be a problem...

It’s Saturday night in main street Te Puke and The Capitol looks like a Christmas tree – the cinema’s banks of lights are blinking, twinkling, flashing, and flickering, beckoning punters to the latest on screen offerings. But by far...

There’s one song called ‘My Dead Gay Son’. “They were not dirty, they were not wrong,” the lyrics go. “They were two lonely verses in the Lord’s great song.” It’s just one of the many serious, dark,...

Rodger McBrydie and Dan Goodwin are experts in their field – as long as the field is a bog with barely a blade of grass. What Goodwin doesn’t know about mud, after years playing club rugby for Te Puke and blindside for Bay of Plenty, isn’t...

Nineteen of the homeowners affected by the Bella Vista Debacle will are seeking legal action against Tauranga City Council. The announcement comes after two families have already said they were going to sue the council. The homeowners met outside...

For the past two years Devon Burt has been a vocal supporter of his Tauranga Special School mates participating in the Mount Maunganui Half Marathon, waving coloured balloons, and bringing his best cheering voice. This year he’s putting his running...

Sixteen-year-old Zac Mckay is embarking on an overseas opportunity to the UK. The Aquinas College student is departing on August 3 for the 2018 International Youth Gathering held by the International Police Associations. Starting in 2000, this is...