Peter de Graaf

Two Northland fishermen say they couldn't believe their eyes.

Emergency services were called to the country's most secure jail about 9.45am following reports a man had suffered life-threatening injuries.

A competition dreamed up by high school students and a dedicated teacher has stopped as many as 10 million seeds of a toxic pest plant spreading into the Northland environment.

But police and a business leaders are imploring shopowners to report all crime, saying it's essential they have the full picture.

Up to 100 demonstrators came despite driving rain to voice their feelings over marina and offshore sand-mining projects currently going through the fast-track consenting process.

The Mandarin language assistant was allegedly threatened with a knife while walking through an alleyway near Onerahi School

The multi-purpose building will replace the town's ageing library and provide a community hub.

A spate of violent crimes and a significant police shortage has seen more than 90 officers called in to bolster Northland's thin blue line. Audio

A detective leading the investigation said a car carrying a family rolled several times into a bank after being T-boned at an intersection in Kaikohe.

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters have visited Northland to inspect a jet fuel storage project on the site of the old oil refinery.

Last month the Far North town marked 10 years under a boil-water notice due to the presence of E. coli bacteria in the water supply.

Grant McCallum says the government has "no intention whatsoever" of closing NorthTec, despite being on a list of institutes facing potential closure or merger.

A report has found the project took 14 years instead of five and cost millions of dollars more than expected because of a lack of planning.

The Turner Centre is unusual in that it was planned and paid for by locals, not the council or government.

Tepania had been shoulder-tapped by a number of political parties about switching to national politics, and earlier said he would talk with whānau before making a decision.

The inpatient ward at Dargaville now runs without a doctor most nights.

the 35-year-old is facing serious charges in the Whangārei District Court following the aggravated robbery.

It comes as Northland's biggest vocational education provider scrambles to break even amid the break-up of mega-institute Te Pūkenga.

It has been made possible by "incredible generosity" from the Northland community.

Residents of Tautuku Beach, on the south Otago coast, had reported seeing a group of motorists and trail bike riders taunting a sea lion for two successive days.

A Northland lines company says substation break-ins are endangering lives and causing power cuts affecting thousands of people.

It has been a decade since residents in a small Far North town were placed under a notice - and it's not a milestone anyone is celebrating. Audio

What campers described as a twister hit Tauranga Bay Holiday Park in the Far North on Tuesday morning.

A resident has described fleeing a 'twister' and pulling a man trapped in one caravan while another was smashed to pieces.

A former St John volunteer days it was "not untypical" for people to wait an hour or two for an ambulance in rural Northland.