Bay Of Plenty

Coromandel police say they have carried out over 900 alcohol breath tests across 28 checkpoints yesterday that resulted in five drivers being processed for excess breath alcohol.

Police are searching for those responsible after cars were rammed and on-lookers were sent running and screaming.

People should avoid contact with the water at Ōkawa Bay in Lake Rotoiti, due to a potentially toxic algal bloom, Health New Zealand says.

The officers - who had been called to a case of family harm - tried to persuade the 48-year-old out of the water but he refused.

Two people have died after crashes in the first 12 hours of the holiday road toll period, and both sides of State Highway 2 has been closed in Lower Hutt, after a crash.

The arrests follow a four-month operation focused on the drug trade in the Bay of Plenty city, police say.

Its owners say the project will boost services in a region where the population is increasing.

Metservice warns thunderstorms and heavy rain could hit on Saturday.

Customs officers became aware of a suspicious concealment on 11 December after a routine X-ray of a container.

The transport agency says traffic moves more "steadily" with fewer lanes.

Whakatāne Hospital's Maternity Unit will be downgraded to a primary birthing centre from mid-January with women needing specialist care being transported to Tauranga.

All four specialists have resigned at Whakatāne Hospital, leaving midwives "sick" with worry: "What happens if something goes wrong?"

Māori ward councillor Mikaere Sydney has been in hospital since July.

"The horse has already bolted. Those of us who choose not to drink fluoridated water have already figured out what we have to do."

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell is taking the city's council to the Ombudsman after he said they failed to give satisfactory answers to an information request over the contentious sale of the city's marine…

Kiwifruit company Seeka is supporting 100 ni-Vanuatu fruit pickers helping with summer pruning to contact their families back home.

The compass was vandalised last week.

A man shot dead on the Coromandel Peninsula on Friday has been described as a "loveable ratbag" and father of five boys.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash remain ongoing.

A diesel spill south of Coromandel Peninsula has prompted a warning from police.