You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image.

Hughes died in hospital on March 6, but his wife Laura has urged police to drop the criminal charges against the students. Hughes’ wife family has confirmed she supports dropping the charges. Photo / FacebookThe teacher’s home had earlier been described as a “clear target” for the students’ so-called “prank war”, the New York Post reported. Students were said to lose points if they were “caught” in the act by the teacher. “Jason Hughes was a loving husband, a devoted father; a passionate teacher, mentor and coach who was loved and respected by students and colleagues,” it continued.

“This was a supply disruption only, and there are no food safety or quality concerns with any products.”Bread is largely out of stock in supermarkets across parts of the North Island after a "production issue" at Goodman Fielder's Auckland bakery over the weekend. Photo / SuppliedThe spokesperson did not elaborate on the nature of their bakery’s production issue, but apologised to customers for the disruption and thanked them for their patience. A Foodstuffs spokesperson said some stores “have experienced lower-than-usual volumes of a few bread lines due to a temporary supply issue affecting parts of the range”. “Due to a production issue, Vogel’s bread will be out of stock until further notice from the supplier,” one attached to empty bread shelves at New World Point Chevalier read. When approached yesterday, a Woolworths NZ spokesperson said its Auckland stores had been “impacted by a supply issue of Vogel’s bread on Sunday, March 8″.

In the space of a few paragraphs you managed to describe yourself as both a "loudly crowing rooster" and a "big brown Dalmatian from Kaitaia". If you want a national example of that kind of leadership you don’t have to look far. We don’t need a stadium act. We don’t need half the crowd cheering one corner and the other half cheering the other. Just the two of us in the ring, and a referee in case one of us starts to bleed.

Matakanui Gold — the New Zealand-based mineral exploration company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Santana Minerals — has joined the Major Electricity Users’ Group (MEUG). In a statement, MEUG executive director Karen Boyes said Matakanui Gold’s membership highlighted the importance of ensuring major new industrial developments’ access to competitively priced electricity. Matakanui Gold has applied for consent for the Bendigo-Ophir gold project under the Fast Track approvals process, with a decision expected in October. If approved, the project would enter a two-year development phase with main grid power supply expected to begin around mid-2027. — Allied Media

The club’s financial position was detailed in a council report this week which showed it had mostly run at a loss since 2016. Club member Boyd Wilson presented to councillors yesterday, confirming the club’s financial status was in decline. A council report prepared for yesterday said there had been meetings and discussions between the two parties following a 2024 rent review, but the situation was "unresolved". Sports facilities such as the ILT Stadium, Splash Palace, Surrey Park and Rugby Park all received substantial support from community funds, he said. Mr Campbell said that a lack of intervention could lead to a situation similar to Rugby Park, which the council had taken over.

Two-bedroom rentals in the resort town hit $924 a week on average according to realestate.co.nz, the Lakes District — including Queenstown — becoming the first district in the country to surpass $900 per week. The next constraint is the cost, and there is a limited amount available at a certain price." Such significant housing costs could price locals out of the market, damaging community cohesion, Queenstown Lakes District deputy mayor Quentin Smith, of Wānaka, said. "We can’t squeeze ratepayers any further, so we need to find other ways to support our infrastructure needs," Cr Smith said. "That’s why we’re working with the government around a visitor levy, or other measures that could support our infrastructure needs."

Forest & Bird employees Nicky Snoyink and Gavin White looking at a devastated forest floor in the Catlins. However, Doc’s finite resources do not stretch to pest controlling Catlins ungulates - meaning hooved animals deer, pigs and goats. Caged plants tell the storyOne Catlins landowner is the charity Forest & Bird, which owns the Lenz forest reserve near Papatowai. To demonstrate the difference between a deer-free and a pest-riddled forest floor, Forest & Bird built an "exclusion pen" in the reserve in 2017. The plan is being prepared by Catlins Pest Management, set up specifically to help lead strategic thinking and planning to control pests in the Catlins.

A man who allegedly caused a fatal crash in Port Chalmers has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and can now be named. Morgan Caleb Morrell, 24, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, where counsel John Westgate said there were no available grounds to argue for the continuation of name suppression. On January 30, at 9pm, the defendant was allegedly driving in Wickliffe Tce, Port Chalmers, when he hit a power pole. One person was lying unconscious in the street and another was "desperately" trying to revive him, the witness said. Morrell made no application for bail and was remanded in custody until his next hearing in May.

Photo: Mary WilliamsDestruction of the Catlins bush is a crisis demanding urgent pest control funding, conservationists and locals say. The calls are made as a community-led, ten-year strategic pest management plan is being prepared with $55,000 funding from Otago Regional Council. The Catlins plan, due in June and called the Invasive Mammal Plan, was one of the actions to come out of a Catlins Catchment Action Plan and will identify priority pests and areas to target. The preparation of the plan has been contracted to iwi-owned Catlins Pest Management. The dream of a fence after extensive pest control would require "long-term planning commitment and a source of continuous funding".

The Covid-19 inquiry report, released on Tuesday, looked at vaccine approval and safety, mandates, lockdowns and tracing technology over 2021 and 2022. The fourth largest component of the fund was the ‘shovel-ready programme’, described by the inquiry as “not targeted to costs arising from the pandemic”. That included Cabinet papers providing more information about the health impacts than about social and economic impacts. The report said Reserve Bank quantitative easing and other measures used during the pandemic had “significant costs”. Instead, Labour set up a $60 billion fund spread across 821 programmes, with around half unrelated to the pandemic.

Mobility parks outside The Warehouse in Gore. PHOTO: RICHARD DAVISONA Gore resident wants local retailers to do more to police their mobility parks. Gore’s bigger retailers said proper use of their mobility parks relied on good will and, where monitored, was only enforced lightly. The Warehouse Group corporate affairs manager Rory O’Sullivan said the store’s mobility parks had recently been repainted for clarity. Unauthorised vehicles may be issued a breach notice but are not towed nor clamped.

A tramper was found dead following a fall on Skyline Track, in the Wānaka area, yesterday. A police spokesman said emergency services were alerted to the incident about 2.50pm. "The person was located deceased, and was recovered by a helicopter." The Wānaka Skyline Track is a 23km end-to-end hike up and over both Mt Alpha and Mt Roy, on the western side of Lake Wānaka. The death will be referred to the coroner.

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image.

The Alexanders preyed on women from at least 2010 through to 2021. Photo / Getty ImagesThree brothers were found guilty of sex trafficking today, following a trial that showed they used their high-profile connections in the luxury real estate world to assault women for years. Oren and Tal Alexander were the founders of real estate firm Official, which had offices in Miami and New York. The brothers used “deception, fraud and coercion” – including the promise of luxury travel accommodation – to engage in sex trafficking as well as drugging, sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women. They used “their wealth and prominent positions in real estate to create and facilitate opportunities” to do so, prosecutors said when they were charged.