Stories by Matthew Rosenberg

The owner of an abandoned boat who has successfully evaded police for the past six months previously spent time in prison for cultivating cannabis to sell.

Golden kiwifruit growers have been granted the right to appeal a High Court decision that will increase their rates for growing the product in Tairāwhiti.

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz has shown early support for a number of proposed reforms that aim to shake up how local government is done in New Zealand.

An abandoned boat that proved a thorn in the side of both Gisborne District Council and the police has finally been removed from a remote East Coast beach - six months after it washed ashore.

Gisborne's water is some of the least adequately fluoridated in the country, recent research has uncovered.

Gisborne bus drivers are some of the lowest paid in the country according to a union pushing for pay equity across the industry.

Gisborne District Council is being criticised for its handling of a homeless community member after a video circulated on social media showing an employee in an altercation with the man.

A former police officer who wore a pig mask while on duty has made it on to Gisborne District Council after waiting nearly a week for confirmation.

A section of foreshore next to a popular Gisborne beach will be closed indefinitely to vehicles after four-wheel drivers "desecrated" it.

Rehette Stoltz has secured a second term as mayor of Gisborne with an emphatic win, more than 4000 votes clear of her nearest rival.

Craig Little has secured a fourth term as mayor of Wairoa with a resounding victory, clocking up twice as many votes as the second place candidate.

Mayoral candidates in Gisborne and Wairoa have shown overwhelming support for Māori wards, but there are differences in opinion on other key election topics.

A Gisborne council candidate basing part of his campaign on the fact he was a police officer underwent disciplinary action for wearing a pig mask while on duty.

A Kiwi student who broke nearly every bone in her body after a nightmare rock climbing fall in California last month has made it home to New Zealand.

Accusations of foul language, intimidating behaviour and conspiring to record a conversation spelt the end of a council-run group designed to be the eyes and ears of the city, a leaked report shows.

An incumbent district councillor in Gisborne believes election rules disadvantage newcomers from securing a seat at the table.

A Wairoa mayoral candidate engaged in an employment dispute with the district council he once worked for has again found himself in a difficult spot, this time over election hoardings.

A Gisborne mayoral candidate is standing by a controversial picture on social media which shows him standing in a hazmat suit with a swastika on the front.

Tairāwhiti got its first taste of the options for this year's local body elections last night as nominees took the opportunity to introduce themselves at a "meet the candidates" event.

A Māhia resident says he has been left "numb" by the publishing of his personal information in the local newspaper via a district council response.

The coastal road providing the main access to Māhia Peninsula is slowly dropping into the sea, leaving one concerned resident wondering what plan of action is to be taken.

Gisborne district councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown has apologised for comments aimed at the mayor but was absent at a council meeting where an in-person apology was expected.

Desperation has forced a young Tairāwhiti family to break down the door of an empty Kāinga Ora home and take up residence this month, even though utilities were disconnected.

Residents of a small East Coast town are still feeling the pinch from extreme weather in March, with some locked out of homes that have been red-stickered for months.

A lone lamp post that once kept watch at the end of a historic East Coast wharf is no more, removed for safety reasons despite the council expecting pushback.