Mike Sanford

Fog cannons, not fire, sent two crews to Noel Leeming in Invercargill on Friday morning. Fire and Emergency was notified of an alarm activation at the store at 8:32am on August 22. Two crews from Invercargill station responded. The culprit: accidental activation of fog cannons. Crews cleared the smoke

The Data Grid project in Southland, New Zealand, represents a major new digital infrastructure aimed at establishing a world-class, highly efficient data center alongside a critical international subsea cable connection. Led by Remy and his team from Data Grid, the initiative seeks to capitalize on Southland’s favorable climate and

Two SIT staff spent a week in Poland this month building international partnerships — and came back with genuine interest in Southland as a study destination. SIT nurse educator Marie Meyer and head of faculty Hamish Small travelled to Gdańsk from May 20 to 24 to attend the Powiślańska Academy of

The defibrillator at Five Rivers Café had been sitting dormant — battery flat, pads expired, locked inside a building that closes at night. It's back now, and anyone can reach it. New café owner Emily Todd discovered earlier this year that an AED had previously been donated to the

JB Hi-Fi's New Zealand operation had a very good year. A remarkably good one, actually. Total sales surged 26.0% to NZD499.5 million in the year to June 30, 2026, with comparable sales up 15.3%. That outpaced every other part of the group. Online sales jumped

A new $1 million fund will back community groups, volunteers and landowners fighting wilding pines across the country. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard made the announcement Tuesday at the national Wilding Pine Conference in Southland. The money, available through the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme, will be spread over two years

Invercargill City Council has successfully switched its payroll system to a cloud-based platform, processing its first live pay run for around 550 employees in early July 2026. The new system, built on TechnologyOne's Human Resources and Payroll platform and implemented by Australian technology firm Atturra, replaces a patchwork

Southland is getting a critical minerals and green hydrogen plant, backed by $15 million in government funding. Christchurch-based Aspiring Materials has secured the Regional Infrastructure Fund allocation to build a $31 million commercial facility in the region — its first at full commercial scale, following a successful pilot plant in Christchurch.