Andrew von DadelszenFormer Regional Councillor If you aren't happy about the Regional Council's proposed rate increase (12% this year) then you should take the time to submit. Submissions close April 17. As a Tauranga resident I get very little... Read More

Brian AndersonThe Western Frontwww.sunlive.co.nz We only get one month and we are already half way through our chance to explore council thinking, perhaps enjoy the sights and gain our own stories of our trip through the Long Term Plan. Unfortunately... Read More

Jane NeesBOP Regional Councillorwww.janenees.co.nz Every three years, each region in New Zealand must produce a Regional Land Transport Programme which prioritises the work it wants undertaken in the region over the next three years to make it... Read More

Health Basicswith Diana Bomfordof Action Nutrition With so much advertising hype around antioxidant and the 'wonder” vitamins that support health and 'give energy”, vitamin D gets little press. But it packs a powerful punch when it... Read More

Sideline SidSports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz Local club rugby is alive and well in the Western Bay of Plenty courtesy of the Western Bay of Plenty Rugby Football Sub-Union. While seven Western Bay senior teams participate in the... Read More

Write Space Literary news, views and reviews www.taurangawriters.org.nz In 1890, the American impressionist painter Robert John Vonnoh painted his most well known work In Flanders Fields (also known as Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow or Coquelicots). Expressive... Read More

John ArtsAbundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz Joints are any part of the body where two or more bones meet. The main types of joints are the fibrous joints such as tooth sockets, those solely of cartilage such as vertebrae discs, and thirdly the... Read More

Pete MorrisArt blogger www.sunlive.co.nz Artists Tawhai and Tania Lewis - Rickard have exhibited together around the North Island and have also exhibited individually in a number of very well received solo shows. Their next exhibition called 'Rakau... Read More

Star gazingwith Astronomical Society presidentToby Tobias April is a particularly good month for viewing our planets. Venus will be very bright towards the northwest and will not need binoculars or a telescope. In fact, due to its very cloudy atmosphere,... Read More

Simon BridgesNational MP simonbridges.co.nz Last Tuesday I was made a Minister of the Crown with responsibilities as Associate Minister of Transport and of Climate Change and as Minister of Consumer Affairs. A small ceremony was held in the Beehive... Read More

Brian RogersRogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz Asylum seekers are on the news, and I must say, there are times when I think it would be good to go back there. I really miss those days in the asylum, with the rest of the team. Sometimes it's not the... Read More

News HoundsAdy & Flo www.sunlive.co.nz Summer lovin, had me a blastSummer lovin, happened so fastMet a boy, sweet as can be… The last of the summer sun was streaming over the western horizon as we headed out to Matakana Island for a relaxing... Read More