Jimmy Ellingham

The Chateau Tongariro hotel looks unlikely to reopen its doors any time soon.

The Tongariro National Park landmark closed indefinitely in early February amid concerns about its structural soundness.

A central North Island district is today recovering from the effects of a weekend deluge that brought down slips and flooded properties near waterways.

Rangitīkei District officials are still… Video, Audio

Residents displaced by the Loafers Lodge fire are now faced with the reality of losing their homes, a sense of community, and even their friends.

Support service organisations in Wellington are… Video, Audio

In Wellington the Newtown and Mt Cook communities are in shock after the fatal fire at Loafers Lodge on Adelaide Road.

Checkpoint reporter Jimmy Ellingham talks to neighbouring residents.

  Video, Audio

A Loafers Lodge resident has described crawling on the floor through thick black smoke and running for his life, to get out of the burning building.

The resident, who didn't want to give his name… Video, Audio

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau talks to Checkpoint reporter Jimmy Ellingham about the devastating fire at Loafers Lodge on Aidelaide Road.

  Video, Audio

"It doesn't get worse than this." That from a fire commander at the blaze that's claimed multiple lives at Loafer's Lodge on Wellington's Adelaide Road.

The building appears to have caught fire just… Video, Audio

Work is starting on a new intersection to a Defence Force site along a traffic pinch point in the lower North Island.

A roundabout will be built at the entrance to the Ōhakea Air Force base so the… Audio

After years of Covid disruption, a poor snow season and uncertainty around the future of Mt Ruapehu's ski fields, people in the North Island town of Ohakune have something to smile about.

They're… Audio

After two months of using a dinghy, a husband and wife stranded by Cyclone Gabrielle can now leave home on a slightly less precarious river crossing.

The storm's heavy rain swelled the Manawatū… Video, Audio

A human rights lawyer is appalled at what she says is cynical behaviour from the Ministry of Social Development in offering compensation to victims of state abuse.

While survivors wait for an… Audio

A district councillor is taking on his own local body about the way it charges development levies.

Manawatū District councillor Andrew Quarrie says ratepayers are being ripped off, but the council… Audio

New Zealand sailors exposed to British nuclear tests in the Pacific in the 1950s remain unhappy they've never had a government apology for being placed in harm's way. This weekend veterans, now all… Audio

Freedom camping sites and car parks in Whanganui are now home to a growing fleet of vehicles housing the city's homeless.

The district council has set aside money and earmarked a site for them to… Audio

Neighbours of a Feilding man shot by police after a eight-hour armed stand-off have described the horrific scenes unfolding just metres away from their front doors.

Police shot the man at about 9pm… Video, Audio

A neighbour of a man fatally shot by police in Feilding last night, says the man had been causing trouble in the neighbourhood for a while.

Charlotte Cook spoke to RNZ's Manawatū- reporter, Jimmy… Audio

The father of a teenager who died in a suspected suicide at Palmerston North Hospital's mental health ward is disappointed to learn staff had been sending warnings to hospital management about the… Audio

Forty teenage girls in their final year of high school are getting a taste of life in the airforce this week.

They're part of a school holiday programme at Ōhakea airbase in Manawatu trying to… Audio

Forty teenage girls in their final year of high school are getting a taste of life in the Airforce this week. They're part of a school holiday programme at Ohakea airbase in Manawatu trying to… Audio