Paige Turner

Southland has its first Lotto winner in weeks, but Powerball rolls on. Saturday's draw pushed the jackpot to $40 million after no one matched the Powerball numbers on Wednesday night. Three players split Lotto First Division, each taking home $333,333. Their tickets were sold at MyLotto in

A Winton man with kidney cancer waited nearly seven months for surgery after his operation was cancelled without explanation — and nobody at Southland Hospital told him why. David Evans undergoes surgery every three to four months to cut away the cancer. His January procedure at Southland Hospital went ahead. The

Fire and Emergency New Zealand spent $90,000 on a PR firm and lawyer to help prepare an 80-page submission for a parliamentary inquiry into why its own vehicle fleet has been in crisis for years. MPs were not impressed. "The fact that you had to hire outside a

SIT's nursing school has spent close to half a million dollars refurbishing its clinical suite — and the result is a training ward that looks and functions like the real thing. The Southern Institute of Technology School of Nursing officially reopened the upgraded space last week, expanding the clinical

New Zealand's two replacement Cook Strait ferries will be named Kupe and Cook — and Minister for Rail Winston Peters is already bracing for the argument. Peters announced the names at Parliament, alongside confirmation that KiwiRail will operate both vessels for 30 years from their arrival in 2029. The

Nearly 500 soldiers are about to descend on Gore — and residents shouldn't be startled by what they hear. Exercise Tauwharenīkau 2026, the New Zealand Army Reserve Force's largest warfighting exercise, kicks off this Saturday and runs through July 26. Around 450 New Zealand Army Reserve personnel

Invercargill City Council wants to know whether two underused parks should be sold off — and residents have until August 7 to weigh in. The two sites are Newfield Park in South Invercargill and JG Ward Reserve in Bluff. Both were flagged as potential disposal candidates during the Long-term Plan process.

The Eastern Southland Gallery has lost one of its most devoted friends. Sir Sam Neill, who died on July 13 aged 78, spent more than 25 years quietly shaping the Gore gallery's collection and championing the idea that provincial New Zealand deserves serious contemporary art. Gallery curator Jim