_Emily Spink See more UC stories on our YouTube channel, UC Journalism 

_Ben Irwin reports See more UC stories on our YouTube channel, UC Journalism   

Tonight, the University of Canterbury hosted local government candidates for a speed-voting session. Each candidate had two minutes to share their view of Christchurch. Sarah-Jane O’Connor has been live blogging some of the speeches. 19:45 Event organiser Bronwyn Hayward ended the night by thanking the candidates for running. 19:35 Banks Peninsula… Read More »Live blog: local election speed-voting

Top candidates for the Christchurch mayoralty, Lianne Dalziel and Paul Lonsdale, lined up last night for a mayoral debate hosted by The Press. Sarah-Jane O’Connor followed the debate as it unfolded. 21:02The candidates are each given a final three minutes to wrap up.Lonsdale says he “will lead, but I will be… Read More »Live blog _ Mayoral Debate

Earthquake-affected residents want councillors who will go into bat for them over housing and insurance woes. Will candidates step up to the task? Sarah-Jane O’Connor reports. Just a few weeks ago, Andrea Cummings met a resident a who had no working toilet. “This is three years on,” said Cummings, who… Read More »Eastern residents want strong advocates on council

The click-clack of knitting needles has long been the preserve of grandmothers and expectant mums, but Mike Dickison aims to shatter the stereotype. Dickison is part of a group dubbed the League of Knitting Gentlemen, and he is in search of new recruits. He plans to run “knitting for blokes”… Read More »Wanted: men who knit

Some sell ad-space on billboards, others on buses; two Otago lads are selling it on their voicemail. Paul Lawrence and Gary Pointon have a debt to pay, and they are using their voicemail accounts to generate advertising cash: “Paul Lawrence, brought to you by _________, cannot come to the phone at… Read More »Hefty bill spurs marketing ingenuity

Sitting on top of his towering bay horse, surrounded in a cloud of smoke from his pipe, Dave Ferriman does not look like your average Kiwi bloke. His red coat is patched at the elbows and has torn cuffs, the result of hours in the saddle chasing hares across the… Read More »40 years in the saddle

There’s no room for fat cats round here. After four months of dieting, rescue cat Charlie has dropped 25 per cent of his body weight. The 11-year-old “gentleman” came back to the Cats Protection League in May weighing in at 9.6 kg when his elderly owner could no longer care… Read More »Trim Tom ready for new home

Last Sunday, Christchurch’s Coastal Spirit FC played Glenfield Rovers in the ASB Women’s Knockout Cup final – the capstone on the winter season. The game was scrappy; a rough and tumble encounter that wasn’t much worth writing about. Rovers had a size advantage and they made it count, out-muscling the… Read More »Triumphant Toil