A former Invercargill police officer pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder when he appeared in the Invercargill High Court this morning.

Benjamin Peter Mclean, a police officer for 10 years, shot and killed his wife, and wounded her new partner, on Anzac Day.

The Invercargill City Council is calling for volunteers to roll up their sleeves and help clean up the central business district next year.

A large working-bee is set to paint and polish buildings in the city centre in time for the Burt Munro Challenge.

Disturbing video footage has come to light of a North Island greyhound trainer using live rabbits as bait during training session with his dogs.

Invercargill locals didn’t quite make the cut for a new Guinness World Record yesterday.

Community group South Alive attempted to form the longest human chain of people patting each other on the back, but missed the record by about 70 people.

The discovery of a potential rat dropping on the island Whenua Hou has sparked a full-scale incursion response by the Department of Conservation.

The island, 3km off the coast of Stewart Island, is home to the Kakapo Recovery Programme, and specialists say a rat could “wreak havoc” on the island.

Southland is in the grips of its driest weather for twenty-seven years.

Paddocks are cracking in the sun, water is being trucked to dairy farms and farmers are concerned at forecasts of even more dry weather to come.

Sharon Reece reports.

The alert over toxic algae in the Mataura River has been lifted after testing this week showed reduced levels of the algae.

However, people are being warned to remain vigilant.