A Te Puke community hub wants to help Bay of Plenty women live in freedom, overcome trauma and discover their self-worth.   EmpowermentNZ is launching a free self-development workshop ‘Shine Women’ at the end of this month,...

  The united Seafarer’s Mission has had such a spruce up in recent times, people are walking out thinking they are in the wrong place.   Mission chair Jeff Law says the place had become “tatty” and outdated “It...

  It was the unmistakable silhouette of a wallaby that excited.   A Facebook post of an about-to-be-deceased wallaby as it leapt across the railway lines in front of several hundred tonnes of logging train between Murupara and Kawerau....

  He’s the chocolate smooth tonsils on the Breeze easy listening breakfast show – the nice guy, the Mark of Mark and Jolene.   But don’t be lulled – the voice could probably kill you with his bare hands, not that...

  She’s met the Queen, flown with NASA, spoken at more than 50 events in New Zealand and overseas and founded New Zealand’s largest organsation for young women.   GirlBoss Founder Alexia Hilbertidou is now travelling around...

  It’s called ‘This Old Stick’ – and when you have thumbed the final page of Dr Andrew Corin’s first sortie into published creative writing, when you have doused the light and closed your eyes, you will be pondering.   And...

  Street Kai gets together every Monday for ‘Milo Night’ at the Willow St bus stop, providing Tauranga’s vulnerable community with hot food, warm clothes, connections and a cuppa.   Two weeks ago, The Weekend Sun published...

  It’s an untitled, home-grown movie – at this moment a no budget movie, with a cast of stars in their own right and supported by an international slew of bit-players, psychologists, probation officers and police.   But it’s...

  The traditional Cumberland sausages, Lancashire black pudding and pork pies have disappeared from Tauranga’s main street… just as quickly as they arrived.   Doug Jarvis, the traditional English butcher, a man who knows his...

  Ruth Hare’s hands are riddled with arthritis, but that doesn’t stop her from doing what she loves most, knitting blankets for people in need.   The 89-year-old has been knitting blankets for charity since 2003, donating her...

  There’s a red warning sticker on the front of Trevor Bentley’s latest book. Prepare to be offended.    Trevor Bentley, who has a PhD in history, is the first New Zealand historian to have a book red-stickered. His newly...

  They were the guys that recycled plastic and turned it into blacktop – resurfaced 90 metres of a New Plymouth street with the stuff. Plas Mix they called it for obvious reasons   They are the guys at Road Science, a company at the...

  Ashleigh Fenn would kill for a Subway – a six inch meatball marinara or a sweet onion chicken teriyaki.   “I wouldn’t be able to make up my mind because I haven’t been able to eat a sub for four years.” Ashleigh...

“They don’t need some smug, holier than thou type, telling them why they should quit.” But they do need Candy Blackwell because she’s been there, knows what it’s like. “I am an ex-smoker. “Your cigarettes...

  The Blue Light navigator programme is urgently seeking volunteers to help youth learn to drive.   The pilot programme has 43 students waiting to be paired with volunteers. “We need a lot of support, more adult volunteers who have...

  Zahnee Riley-Campbell measured 168cm when she went into surgery and came out 4cm taller.   “I woke up from the surgery taller than mum and I have grown since then,” says Zahnee. The 13-year-old has had way more than her...

A Tauranga businessman is angry and upset at losing his prime Tauranga waterfront shop site, after being outbid by the operators of i-Site. “I feel I have been treated poorly by both Tourism Bay of Plenty and the i-Site Visitor Information Centre,”...

  More than 100 rough sleepers are turning up regularly for a free Monday night meal in the Tauranga CBD.   Street Kai gets together every Monday for ‘Milo Night’ at the Willow St bus stop, providing Tauranga’s vulnerable...

  Mount Maunganui College senior students are getting ready to brave the cold ocean waters this Wednesday at the school’s annual Polar Plunge.   The event will raise funds for the Leukaemia Foundation in memory of two well-loved...

The Project, Services and Operations Committee voted unanimously to support an additional $1m for the Kulim Park redevelopment on June 18. The funding would come from historic development contributions, which are fees used to fund the infrastructure...

  Claude was dying from esophageal cancer. That’s not his real name but out of respect and privacy, he will be Claude.   Claude was also torn. His oncologist was recommending a course of chemotherapy, and his friends were also banging...

  Little bells, children’s bells, gently tinkling in the breeze. And their ringing is a reminder about the giving of the greatest gift. Life itself.   “To the finder of this bell,” says the message attached to the bell....

An Australian social enterprise that rescues hair and beauty salon waste is now combing its way through Tauranga salons. Rodney Wayne Bethlehem is one of six businesses in Tauranga using Sustainable Salons to help reduce waste and give back to the...

He’s got a way to go, although he has the movie star good looks, perfect teeth and a smile that would melt the hardest, coldest, steely heart. “Told you,” yelps Krista Davis, who is part of the driving force behind the Live for More...

In Adelaide it’s called “rubbish shame”. A local council’s proposing rolling-out see-through wheelie bins to embarrass residents into better practises.  Up the road in Sydney a whole new breed of enviro-fossickers are bums-up...

  Carol Bisset’s art installation at The Kollective speaks of childhood memories and the connectedness that comes through a sense of belonging.   “The use of giant-sized chains is intentionally playful as it touches on those...

  Alana Ibbetson’s engaged in the fight of her life – a battle against one of the most addictive of toxins, nicotine.   “May 2, about two months ago,” the Papamoa mum fires back when asked when exactly she had her...

  A family in Te Puna is pleading with Spark to stop plans for a large cellphone tower outside their house because their daughter is recovering from cancer treatment.   Jill and Dane Chalmers are just two of about 50 Wallace Rd and Matahiwi...

  Tupu Daniel has tried and failed before. Eight times he has tried to break free of the insidious grip of nicotine. Each time the fags have won.   Every smoker, every lapsed smoker would know that feeling. This time, Tupu’s being...