Cr Bill Faulkner Faulkners Corner www.sunlive.co.nz At council this week elected members considered a long list of assets for possible sale. The meeting was one of the very few held in public excluded mode - the reasons for this are self evident. Council... Read More

Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz I suppose that we have all been guilty of exaggerating from time to time. And there is no denying that as humans, we are titillated by dramatic stories and events. If we weren't we wouldn't... Read More

Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz A couple of replies to last week's column suggested families are as important as communities for holding our society together. I agree and so do the political parties in their own way. The Green's... Read More

Ian McLean Green candidate for Tauranga Thank goodness, a support package for businesses affected by the Rena disaster is finally on the table. The issue of business loss was raised at the first public meeting, and comes up regularly. The 'we are... Read More

Daz Switalla Flavour SecretsNo.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz It's that time of the year again: Melbourne Cup, Guy Fawkes, office parties, leading us all into the silly season. Asparagus is in season now about the same time as the party... Read More

Gardening Guru By Peter Wayman of Palmers Bethlehem So far this year, the rose foliage is looking good and clean, but you need to keep them sprayed regularly with fungicide and insecticide to keep them looking good all season. Most things in the... Read More

Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz While we can all read about a close game and surmise what happened - getting up close and personal at a cliffhanger gives a totally different perspective to a close run encounter. On... Read More

John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz I have recently returned from nearly a month in Europe which included a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful time once we got over a couple of initial shocks... Read More

Wendy Macphail Employment Law Services In these rather uncertain times, many employers are considering restructuring their workforce for financial reasons. If you are in this situation, you need to consider the recent Employment Court's decision... Read More

Website tips with Michelle Whitmore of Zeald.com Invariably a successful website starts with the end in mind. That means two things. Firstly, you should know your primary objective and make sure your website stays true to that objective. For most... Read More

Tree Talk with Peter HaringtonWoodmetrics Regional Manager Events of the last few months have really shown what an intricate network the Pacific Rim log trade really is. In 2008, when the world went into financial crisis, the tipping point was... Read More

Pete Morris Art blogger www.sunlive.co.nz The artist 'Dylan', as he prefers to be known, was one of six recipients of a 2010 New Zealand Media Grant from the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and the Ministry of Health's 'Like Minds, Like... Read More