OPINION: A few years ago it would have been a miracle if three New Zealanders lined up for a grand tour, let alone for the same team.

OPINION: On the face of it, local moves to create "clear-air zones" in and around The Square seem limp next to a proposal to ban smokers from some Wellington streets and fine those who breach the bylaw.

OPINION: The findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation into the 2007 Urewera raids amounted to a mixed report card for our law enforcement.

OPINION: If the Warriors only knew - Penrith had previously been a graveyard for a New Zealand team.

OPINION: If the Government was hoping to avoid a "Church and State debate" by shrouding its charter school scheme in mystery, the Post Primary Teachers Association has certainly put paid to that.

KARL DU FRESNE - © Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: Is the Rolling Stones juggernaut finally running out of steam? That's the question people are asking overseas as fans balk at the preposterous prices the British rock veterans are charging on their latest American tour.

People who distribute anonymous, fear-inducing pamphlets have no place in the discussion about the future of this country.

OPINION: There is much to like about Palmerston North City Council's draft design plans for the central city, which appear smart, thoughtful and thorough.

OPINION: What is your perception of a farm worker? The response from those who do not know much about farming is possibly that they are low-skilled, low-waged, and over-worked.

OPINION: Expat Kiwis arrested at the airport for not paying their student loans - now that sounds like a good episode of Border Control.

OPINION: Various organisations and government agencies are lining up to tell Horizons Regional Council it has got things wrong.

The last thing Palmerston North railway station needed was another reason for people not to ride the train.

Thanks to watered-down alcohol reform legislation, it has been left to police to deal with preloaders.

Many a time when watching YoungHeart Manawatu, I wondered whether the venture was viable long-term.

Can we afford to dismiss any proposal that seeks to stimulate more rest home accommodation?

After the treat of having an Irish tenor whisper sweet reassurances in my ear the night before, what more could a girl want?

OPINION: Precisely how long Levin man John Cornell spent waiting for treatment at Palmerston North Hospital's emergency department is not clear, but be it seven hours or nine, it was too long.

OPINION: Manawatu dairies and convenience stores under pressure to remove ‘legal highs' from their counters may find that with compliance comes opportunity.

KARL DU FRESNE - © Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: My wife reckons that if I had been alive in 1893, I probably would have opposed women getting the vote.

OPINION: Perhaps Palmerston North City Council should be encouraging motorists to wake up before demanding they slow down.