Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid Racing Fans throughout Australasia are counting down the days until when the 2023 Melbourne Cup will be staged on its traditional date of the first Tuesday in November. Only... Read More

Roger Rabbits with Jim Bunny She was a busybody….gawping into my supermarket trolley at the checkout. And then gawping at me. Gawp, gawp, gawp. The nerve of it! Although there wasn't much to gawp at. Just... Read More

Music Plus with Winston Watusi watusi@thesun.co.nz OK. This week - gigs. Lotsa them. Saddle up and I'll try and avoid becoming too listicle-like... We're looking ahead to next weekend here, to allow for forward... Read More

Commission News & Views with Anne Tolley We live in a world affected by natural hazards - earthquakes, floods, tsunami, landslides and volcanoes are all too common stories in our daily news feeds and unfortunately,... Read More

Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid I have been guilty of not paying due attention to the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the 2023 NPC competition title race. A hectic top level sporting agenda that included... Read More

Weather Eye with John Maunder The 19th Century weather disaster - dubbed 'The Year Without a Summer” - happened in 1816, when weather in Europe and North America took a bizarre turn which resulted in widespread... Read More

Roger Rabbits with Jim Bunny He drew his weapon of choice, a big black felt pen, from a jacket pocket. He looked around sheepishly, guiltily, and then left his ugly scrawl on top of a public rubbish bin on The... Read More

Music Plus with Winston Watusi watusi@thesun.co.nz Tauranga only occasionally brushes against New Zealand music history but one such convergence came in 1987. It was in 1987 that a Tauranga compilation became the... 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

Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid Kiwi sports fans should salute the New Zealand Warriors in giving fans a season where they finished just one game short of reaching their third NRL Grand Final. Last... Read More

Talking Prorities with Simon Clarke As I reflect on my tenure as chair of Priority One, the Western Bay of Plenty's economic development agency, and my 12 years as a board member, I am filled with a sense of pride around... Read More

Roger Rabbits with Jim Bunny We aren't perfect. But hey…they're nuts!' Now that's a no-nonsense, shot-to-the-heart political rallying cry. Okay, it's American, but it's a Huntley & Palmers, it's a cracker.... Read More