Wednesday's headlines: Forsyth Barr stadium cost nearly $1 million more than expected in its first year; two-tiered council structure recommended for Wellington; $120 million to be spent on Christchurch Town Hall.
NZ Herald
'Hell and high water' is the headline in The New Zealand Herald, accompanied by a picture of severe flooding at Atlantic City.
Dozens of people have been killed and millions are still without power as Sandy left a trail of destruction in the United States.
Waikato Times
'Superstorm cripples US' is the headline in The Waikato Times with a picture of the New York skyline in darkness. The paper also features a picture of Sacred Heart Girls College students Anna Baik and Waiaria Henderson, who helped save a woman who plunged down a sheer bank towards the Waikato River on her mobility scooter on Tuesday.
Dominion Post
A Lord Mayor of Greater Wellington or a super-city: either way, change is coming reports The Dominion Post.
An independent panel headed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer revealed a proposal on Tuesday for a two-tiered structure, with a lord mayor heading a strengthened regional council and six smaller councils providing local services.
Sir Geoffrey said the model would strengthen the region's national voice while avoiding the loss of local democracy.
But a leading public policy academic has labelled the plan an Auckland supercity in all but name.
Jetstar has picked up the lowcost airfare gauntlet thrown down by Air New Zealand, stating that it would place 600 airfares on its website between 6pm and 7pm this week for 1c apiece.
The Press
The Press details the experience of former Cantabrians living through Hurricane Sandy with some likening it to the Canterbury earthquake on 22 February.
The paper also reports that Christchurch Town Hall is likely to be saved after a unanimous vote by a council committee, at a cost of more than $120 million over four years. And while hundreds of cafes, bars and restaurants have disappeared post-earthquake, operators say life is coming back to the city.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times reports on the extended costs of Dunedin's Forsyth Barr stadium, which cost nearly $1 million more than expected in its first year of operation.
And a former Dunedin resident living in New York City describes hunkering down in his apartment while watching Sandy wreak havoc around him.
