COMMENT: Things are about to get desperate for Rotorua's 130 homeless families housed in motels as the town prepares for the tourism season.

A letter writer is appreciative of the incredible care she received at Rotorua Hospital.

Street view: What age do you think kids should be allowed on social media? 150916sp4.JPG I think it's all an educational journey

I have now come to terms that I have to have two wheelie bins and a crate - for the next 15 years, whether I like it or not. As

Be out and about for the people. - YVONNE WHITNEY, 34 Western Heights. We need more buskers, more street performers, more entertainment

Teachers are - in my view - some of the hardest working and undervalued people in New Zealand. Sure, they get more official holidays

I disagree with RLC's Strategy/Partnership Leader Jean- Paul Gaston's belief that the changes to the CBD over the last three years

Street view: Are you looking forward to kerbside recycling? Yes absolutely. It's going to be heaps easier to keep the rubbish somewhere

Street view: Do the local body elections interest you? Why/why not? Seeing I've come back to Rotorua, yes. I went to the Baptist

This may be old hat to some but watching the All Blacks' haka in their latest test match versus Argentina made me very proud to be

Street View: Where were you when you heard about 9/11? 120916sp1.JPG I was 3, so I don't remember. KATIE STEVENSON, 18 Holdens Bay 120916sp2.JPG I

Kelly_Makiha_FEB16.eps Homeless people used to be a rarity. I remember as a kid, a homeless man turned up in my hometown of Timaru

The Minister for Education dropped a few bombs on teachers, parents and our children recently. The first one is a funding proposal

COMMENT: Funding for schools should be focused on what matters most: education.

Heath Ledger was a good looking and talented actor, father and son who seemingly had it all. Yet he died, as too many do, far too

Kelly_Makiha_FEB16.eps Election season is a funny old time and brings out the best and worst in us. The best - because suddenly

teururoaflavell.eps Tena ano tatou katoa. It's a fine balancing act being the local MP for Waiariki, co-leader of the Maori Party

I WAS surprised to see Tamati Coffey (Opinion August 27) suggest the Government wasn't taking homelessness seriously or didn't have

Over the next few days, thousands of intermediate aged students will start descending on the Western Bay of Plenty for this year's

LEARNING: Visiting a kindergarten in Fiji was a real world learning experience. Confession time - my child is one of those who skipped

Innocent until proven guilty. It's a fundamental tenet of our justice system. But it seems there are varying shades of grey when it

Kelly_Makiha_FEB16.eps There are some stories you write as a reporter that you'll never forget. This year will be my 20th working

Housing. It's been a topic that continues to plague the government in this their eighth year of sitting in the power seats. It's their

When the subject of gangs in our community comes up it's easy to dismiss it as something that doesn't affect us. We hear of violence

There's very little that can't be done online these days - from banking to dating to the weekly grocery shop. So perhaps we shouldn't

Up until a day or so ago I had no idea who Markus Zusak was. If he had sat down next to me and started yarning I would have thought

What are the annual events in your life? I am not just talking about your birthday, Christmas Day or New Year's Day because everyone

THE THREE "Te Arawa endorsed" candidates for the upcoming Rotorua Lakes Council election have been publicly revealed. And the story

New Zealand First's Mahesh Bindra had his private member's bill drawn from the ballot last week. Simply asking for a Land Register

COMMENT: The deeper I delve into the issue, however, the more I am struck by just how frightening the consequences of prohibition are.