![620x1](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/9/k/j/y/x/image.imgtype.Defcon.620x0.png/1454467425668.jpg)
Hermansen signs off with third national title
![The titanic tussle between Christian Hermansen, right, and Shane Dewar went down to the wire, with one point separating ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/w/6/s/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9vwb.png/1545975215985.jpg)
Christian Hermansen has racked up another national minisprint title.
Dobbin gets his Swiss skates on
![Manawat? skating coach Roy Dobbin is heading to Switzerland to be a technical director.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/u/t/8/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9ln0.png/1545963750413.jpg)
Palmerston North's Roy Dobbin gets job as high-performance speed ice skating coach in Switzerland.
Gearing up for party fallout
![Dr Caitlin Mayhew checks preparations for the holiday rush in Palmerston North Hospital's emergency department.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/3/9/b/9/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t27q1.png/1545956763351.jpg)
Palmerston North Hospital's emergency department mops up the damage after festive excesses.
Carrying on camping, decade after decade
![Long-term campers Gavin Evans, Doreen Hermond and Dawn Evans, all from Whanganui, love coming back to Belt Rd Holiday Park.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/u/v/j/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9uuq.png/1545956095264.jpg)
They started camping at Belt Rd, New Plymouth when their youngest was five - he's now in his fifties.
Hit by car on courtesy crossing
![Raylee Murphy was hit by a driver who didn't know what a courtesy crossing was.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/l/k/4/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t99fh.png/1545952789434.jpg)
Raylee Murphy was hit by a driver who didn't know what a courtesy crossing was.
Police investigate cat incident
![Police are not convinced a cat was thrown from a moving car on State Highway 2 near Dannevirke. (File photo)](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/3/z/i/s/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9gau.png/1545890402064.jpg)
Police don't believe a cat was thrown out of a moving car near Dannevirke.
Scared pupils' plea heard
![Van Campbell, 10, Curtis McKenzie, 12, and Jacob Matsas, 12, pleaded with officials to fix traffic problems in Hiwinui ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/6/8/o/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t8sdz.png/1545885517781.jpg)
Pupils in a Manawatū village will have a safer journey to school next year.
Get me out of the way
![George Heagney prepares to face Black Stick Michaela Curtis.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/o/7/l/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t7x21.png/1545876863837.jpg)
Black Stick Michaela Curtis ensures George Heagney won't try hockey goalkeeping again any time soon.
One killed in crash
![One person died in a car crash in Palmerston North on Friday and two more were seriously injured.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/a/2/i/7/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1ta1j6.png/1545973904652.jpg)
Two cars crashed in Palmerston North. One person died at the scene and four others were taken to hospital.
Hermansen signs off with third national title
Christian Hermansen has racked up another national minisprint title.
Quality cinema is within reach, maybe
![Few New Zealanders had the chance to see Roma, a critically acclaimed film, on the big screen.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/s/z/g/7/3/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9w9n.png/1545989825521.jpg)
Richard Swainson has surrendered to the culture. He has joined Netflix.
Schools rugby went up in flames
![St Kentigern College in Auckland has been at the centre of a storm about player poaching.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/7/d/y/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t976u.png/1545851348828.jpg)
OPINION: The most explosive rugby story of 2018 came out of Auckland and schoolboy player poaching.
Du Fresne's Law of Unattractive National Traits
![British people are fine folk at home. Abroad, they can complain about anything, at any time.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/8/m/f/l/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t8m3n.png/1545769155488.jpg)
OPINION: The worst characteristics of any nationality tend to become much more pronounced on foreign ground.
Lamenting the passing of civic good
![Rongotea can put on a Christmas parade, but its Catholic church almost didn't have mass on Christmas Day.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/8/n/c/e/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t8mrh.png/1545865230358.jpg)
OPINION: A 31-year-old playing one of the three wise men in a nativity play represents something bigger.
No evidence to back e-voting
![Polling station officials empty ballots boxes. (File photo)](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/n/y/z/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t7a0i.png/1545573501856.jpg)
OPINION: It does not matter how "easy" we make it for people to vote. People will simply not engage if they do not see the meaning.
Not quite Watership Down
![It's not just flowers, shrubs and trees that occupy Carly Thomas' Kiwitea garden - things stir below.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/9/s/g/6/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9s4w.png/1546122733738.jpg)
The Thomas family get a lesson from some furry bright-eyed inhabitants of their rural Manawatū garden.
Quality cinema is within reach, maybe
![Few New Zealanders had the chance to see Roma, a critically acclaimed film, on the big screen.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/s/z/g/7/3/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t9w9n.png/1545989825521.jpg)
Richard Swainson has surrendered to the culture. He has joined Netflix.
The urgency of saving our planet
![The last stash of unrecyclable bags in Anthony Behrens and Fiona Burleigh's household.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/5/5/b/8/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t0wig.png/1546032619686.jpg)
It's dire and there is nowhere to hide, so people are acting now to change their ways.
Roll on theatre in 2019
![The cast of Centrepoint Theatre's show Club Cabaret Part Deux, which will be coming to Palmerston North in 2019.](http://web.archive.org./web/20181229224919im_/https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/t/5/p/8/8/image.related.StuffThumbnail.90x60.1t5i2x.png/1545988653173.jpg)
It's been a busy 2018 theatre season and 2019 is shaping up to be another good one.