Local Opinion

The rain events we’ve experienced this summer have been hugely challenging for some parts of the country. Acknowledging that the Coromandel has suffered significant landslip damage due to saturated catchments, creating major issues with the…

Pressure is building up for a formal inquiry into bank profitability in New Zealand. Two things are driving this. First, the level of profits of the New Zealand banks is higher than in most other…

I watched with interest when a fake owl was placed on top of a building in Cambridge near my office in town. It was put there to frighten away pigeons who had colonised this high…

As you will have seen from my last two columns, I think it’s important to give you an idea of what your local Police are involved in and the good outcomes we achieve to keep…

Supervolcanoes are perhaps the megastar of volcano misinformation, they get the flashiest headlines designed to grab attention with little to no facts involved. During my eight years in the United States I spoke to a…

On 19 February 1975 Ngāuruhoe, our most active volcano at the time, produced one of the more violent recent eruptions in Aotearoa. The seven-hour event launched an ash plume of pulverized rock and hot gases…

A basic longing all human beings have is to feel ‘connected’. In Tom Hanks’ movie, Cast Away he plays a Fed-Ex executive who survives a plane crash and finds himself alone, marooned on an island…

Anyone who has watched television programmes where people retrace their family history will know it can be a fraught experience. Tragic stories of babies born out of wedlock, lives lost far too young, injustices and…

Some of you may have noticed a name change at the top of the column today. Please be reassured it is still me, Deb (Thurgood that was). I have simply now returned to my maiden…

In early 2021, I addressed the subject of begging. An increase in people asking for money on our streets again prompts me to mention it. Then, as now, there are sometimes people who find themselves…