LAST week I highlighted 10 businesses which, in my view, stood out as excellent in 2016. I had a lot of feedback with a number of

NO TWO WEEKS are ever the same in politics, and the last couple of weeks have certainly proved the point. The unexpected resignation

ONE of the purposes of the media is to find words, music and voice -- figuratively -- to rectify the condition of that ubiquitous

Unfortunately, the paralysis of action can be fostered and manipulated to serve the interests of others.IN THE wake of the United

SAD to say, it comes as no great surprise to learn that Youi has been fined $320,000 on 15 charges of using misleading sales techniques. There

WHEN news came out that Fidel Castro (1926-2016) had died I got a call from my friend Blackie in Auckland. It has been a sad year

Modern shaman Hill-country farming was at a crisis point in 1988. I was in the Mangamahu War Memorial Hall watching punk rockers

Gallery costs I also got a fright Mr Moles (Chronicle letters; December 9) when I read that Whanganui District Council "has agreed

Flood protection Jim Ennis (letters, Dec 6), thank you for raising your concerns about possible repair work to the riverbank near

MONDAY It's always been my dream to be the interim Prime Minister. And now here I am. It feels ... unreal. It feels ... not quite

WITH my Christmas menu locked and loaded, it was time to tackle the masses in the supermarket aisles. Shopping list and unfortunately

THE Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Advocacy, Workforce, and Age Settings) Amendment Act 2016 includes provisions to

Turkeys don't vote for Christmas apparently, and I suspect that Maui's dolphins don't vote for set-net fishing. There's always a

IT'S QUITE a coup for the region to get the Hurricanes-Crusaders clash. It was announced this week that Waverley would be venue for

AS Science Forum Lectures have gone into recess until February I was casting around for ideas for a piece for December. Then I heard

THIS year has seen some amazing leadership in healthy change across the Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu District with examples from

LAST weekend Joseph Parker triumphantly hoisted the WBO heavyweight belt above his head - the new World Champion, he said. The only

I'm having a T-Shirt printed with this logo: "Snow White has left the building and we're left with these little dwarves." In the

I AM in the process of moving sheds. I was sorting through my stuff, deciding what to dump and what to keep, when I came across

It had the lustre of Olympic gold; it had the TV cameras; it had the action on the big screen ... It had a sizeable crowd on the

Gender tirade The weekend edition of the Chronicle is usually an informative, entertaining read. Last weekend it left a bitter taste

I GOT the ol' royal wave going last Saturday, taking part in the annual Santa parade down Victoria Ave. Before we even turned the

IT'S a sickly cliche advertisement for Air New Zealand. But oh, how well it works. Go watch the viral video doing the rounds on

SATIRE is meant to have some bite but it seems to have become completely truthless and unable to leave a mark on the hard hide of

Gallery shortfall "The district council has agreed to underwrite any cost over-runs or shortfall in funding ..." Such a simple statement

WELL, it's been a funny old week in Parliament. I made the announcement that I was stepping down at the next election and was flattered

DID it cross your mind occasionally, in the past week, to wonder where all of the "250,000 civilians trapped in eastern Aleppo" have

JOHN Key has surprised everyone and pulled the plug. But it's probably a pretty good time to do it. With a workable consensus forming

WHEN Ole Romer determined that light has a finite speed it was 1676. Putting the year in perspective, it was 10 years after the

IT'S A funny thing, but after every election someone finds a reason to explain why "their" candidate failed to make it. Of recent