Senior students went to the rescue of an Otago Boys' High School rowing eight when their skiff was hit by a powerboat driven by their coach in Otago Harbour yesterday morning.

The Otago University student behind a "Rack Appreciation Society" Facebook page where members shared explicit pictures of young women says he's sorry.

With knocking knees and tears in her eyes, Ruth Jamieson accepted Sam Gilchrist's romantic proposal, as the crowd whistled and clapped.

Sam Gilchrist's halftime proposal to Ruth Jamieson at the Forsyth Barr stadium was met with cheers from the 3,500 strong crowd. Photos by Peter McIntosh.

The University of Otago's reputation has been ''sullied'' by an explicit Facebook page, vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne says.

A box containing an old train set - and what was believed to be a corroded mortar bomb - triggered a major police callout in central Dunedin.

Women are being urged to come forward to police if they think they have been exploited on a recently shut down Facebook page.

Police are working to identify and dispose of a suspected corroded mortar in a building in Dunedin.

A secret Facebook page where students shared explicit pictures of young women is an example of an underlying "rape culture" at University of Otago, Rape Crisis says.

Firefighters are battling a large scrub fire near Dunedin.

The demolition worker who choked a Dunedin man to death in a bar toilet was a "parasite" who showed no remorse in court yesterday, a grieving uncle says.

Police are still in the dark as to what caused a Dutch visitor to lie down on a dimly-lit Wanaka road before he was run over by a taxi and killed last weekend.

A man who choked his victim in the toilet of a Dunedin bar has been sentenced to five years in prison, for the manslaughter of Ryan Court.

A register of Dunedin's earthquake-prone buildings has been made public for the first time, but it is likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg, the Dunedin City Council says.

A Dutch pedestrian killed when he was hit by a taxi in Wanaka at the weekend may have been lying on the road at the time, police say.

Police have not ruled out that a man struck and killed by a car in Wanaka overnight was lying in the road when he was hit.

Heterosexual Dunedin men Travis McIntosh and Matt McCormick were married by a celebrant before about 80 friends and family at Eden Park this morning.

Go play with the 12m of white Lego in the Auckland Art Gallery main atrium - it's great fun, it's free and it's there for six months.

The Dunedin City Council's alleged vehicle fraud may go back further than first thought - and more missing cars and money are likely to be involved.

An operation in which undercover police officers drank in Dunedin bars has been slammed as 'creepy' by the Hospitality Association.

Dunedin's mayor has admitted his council missed a chance to detect an alleged $1.5m fraud in its car fleet, after overlooking Audit NZ advice.

A 31-year-old woman who used a child’s scooter as a get-away vehicle has been arrested in connection with two robberies in Dunedin overnight, police say.

Police have been called in and the Serious Fraud Office notified, after the Dunedin City Council this afternoon revealed the full size of an alleged $1.5 million fraud within its Citifleet department.

Three people have been hospitalised after two Dunedin houses caught fire overnight, the fire service says.

A 21-year-old student will appear in court today after a 'commercial enterprise' of party drugs sourced over the internet was seized in Dunedin.

Snow has fallen to low levels in the South overnight, forcing the closure of many schools and prompting calls for care by motorists.

A 67-year August temperature record for Dunedin melted yesterday as strong northwesterly winds buffeted the region.

Former John McGlashan College pupil Jonny Dyas is settling back into Dunedin life after mixing with some of the biggest names in the music business.