Commision News & Views with Commission Chair Anne Tolley Tauranga is growing quickly, and we can’t just keep building new suburbs to accommodate growth. We need to think differently about how and where we live and how we...... Read More

Jan Tinetti Labour MP Super Saturday was a great success here in Tauranga and right around the country, with over 130,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccination delivered. I spent the day at Merivale Community Centre. It’s always...... Read More

Simon Bridges National Party MP simonbridges.co.nz The recent Covid-19 case in Katikati, while eventually coming to nothing, was nevertheless a real wake-up call in our neck of the woods. It has had me really thinking about...... Read More

Democracy HQ A personal view, by Councillor Steve Morris  The case for merging local water infrastructure into four ‘super-bureaucracies’ has been as poorly thought out as the $4 million cartoon campaign advertising...... Read More

Winston Watusi Music Plus Two important things are happening this weekend: a farewell and a welcome. The hello is for local musician Brendan McCarthy’s debut album, which has occupied my stereo now for a fortnight and impressed...... Read More

Daniel Hutchinson From The Hutch  Regional rivalry has always been a big part of Kiwi culture. Some of my favourite sporting memories involve Ranfurly Shield matches on the terraces of the old Lancaster Park in Christchurch. Spilled...... Read More

Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz In past decades, Mayor Island was synonymous with big game fishing. Up to the 1970's, the catch of a big Marlin or Swordfish was enough to solicit a photograph...... Read More

Weather Eye with John Maunder The ‘Maunder Minimum' is the name given to the period from 1645 to 1715 when the number of sunspots – ‘storms' on the sun – became almost zero. The period is named after...... Read More

Todd Talks with Todd Muller National MP  Earlier this year, when other countries were vaccinating their citizens, we were told that we didn’t need vaccines as quickly as other nations needed them. After all,...... Read More

Nigel Tutt Chief Executive of Priority One  Super Saturday is an important step in New Zealand’s vaccination drive, both for the business community and the general population.  The sentiment I get from most businesses...... Read More

Jan Tinetti Labour MP With summer just around the corner, many of us here in Tauranga have already started planning for the holiday season. This year, there’s one extra item to cross off the to-do list as we approach the end...... Read More

Winston Watusi Music Plus Musicians around the country have been feeling a bit like James Bond and, like the dapper Englishman, are slowly emerging from hibernation. But often that’s not through choice. It’s hard at...... Read More

Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz Muhammad Ali verses Joe Frazier is considered to be the greatest trilogy in heavyweight boxing history. Fraser won the first contest with Ali winning the first...... Read More

Weather Eye with John Maunder Some of the answers to the complexities of the climate system are given in my recently published book “Fifteen shades of climate... the fall of the weather dice and the butterfly effect”....... Read More

Winston Watusi Music Plus I like long, unusual words in songs; there are only so many times you can rhyme “love” and “above”. I was reminded of this yesterday as I listened to Warren Zevon in the car. Warren...... Read More

Tamati Coffey Labour List MP Kia ora! If you are Māori, live in the Waiariki rohe and are currently unvaccinated, this column is directed at you. Please give me five minutes of your time. It could save your life. Our vaccination...... Read More

Simon Bridges National Party MP simonbridges.co.nz  Three Waters (drinking water, wastewater and stormwater) are currently controlled by 67 democratically elected city and district councils across New Zealand. The Labour...... Read More

Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz Mount Maunganui premier cricket team will have a big target on their back when the new Baywide Cricket season kicks off on Saturday, October 16. The team, based...... Read More

Weather Eye with John Maunder Rainfalls for the month of September have been recorded in Tauranga since 1898, except for 1904, 1907, 1908, and 1909. The graph below shows the range of rainfalls from an extreme high of 274 mm in...... Read More