All articles by Rebecca Glover

In June 1914, when a rebellious student shot a member of the Austrian royal family on the other side of the world, most people in New Zealand would barely have heard of Serbia, the scene of the assassination. Even less would New Zealanders have imagined …

Every year we celebrate the attempt by a group of English dissidents to blow up the English parliament over 400 years ago. Every November the letting off of fireworks results in a flood of claims to ACC, sends horses through fences and terrorises cats an…

Cats have a habit of popping up into people’s lives at the right moment. Mary Medricky and her husband David had been thinking of getting a feline friend after being catless for a while. David favoured the Maine Coon breed, a large and handsome long hair…

There’s never been a better time to be old in New Zealand. Baby boomers, the generation born after WWII, are enjoying longer and better twilight years than ever before. And they are enjoying those years thanks to better health, better living conditions a…

Friday, April 13th didn't seem a particularly inauspicious date to Irene and Marinus van Wijk, but it turned out to carry all the traditional bad luck for their Jack Russell terrier, Roxy. “We were up north, leaving neighbours to keep an eye on our pro…

A few months ago elocal brought you the little-known story of Port Waikato's 1891 earthquake. Now a local woman has done a bit of moving and shaking of her own with her history of the sleepy seaside town. Actually it's the author herself, Glennis Paton, …

During 2018 there could have hardly been a soul who wasn’t aware that this year is the centenary of the end of World War I. Sadly, and inevitably, it turned out not to be the war to end all wars, but its horrific nature and consequences changed the way c…

When Michael Walters' father arrived home with his son's birthday present, it wasn't just Michael who got a surprise. For his mother, Helen, it was a day she wouldn't forget in a hurry. “I'd taken Michael to school the morning of his birthday but had a c…

Not many people have heard of Zonta, but the world is bound to hear about a couple of young women who have just received awards from the organisation. Zonta exists to help women worldwide, but like all good things, it begins at home. In south Auckland, …