Friday's headlines: West Coast dairy farmers face an early end to the milking season; gridlock after 4pm crash on Auckland southern motorway; Wellington company helping an American professor build a telescope to search for asteroids that might hit Earth.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald leads with the gridlock chaos in Auckland after a van crashed into a truck in the southbound fast lane on the southern motorway.
The accident happened just before 4pm, but traffic was still at a virtual standstill two hours later, with some 15 minute journeys taking more than a hour.
And there is a photo of fireworks from the performance of "The Breath of the Volcano" at the Auckland Domain.
Waikato Times
The Waikato Times reports on a Cambridge man who was killed while doing contract work for an explosives and fertiliser company attached to a Queensland mine.
An investigation into the death is underway. The man, who has three sons, moved to Australia for a fresh start and to provide a good future for his young family.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post leads with Don Elder, the former chief executive who oversaw Solid Energy's failure, still being paid his $1.3 million salary for work he is doing from home.
Dr Elder quit his role on 4 February, two weeks before it was announced the company was in crisis but he's been kept on the payroll so his knowledge can be used by those trying to rescue the company.
Wellington company KiwiStar is in talks with an American professor to help him build a telescope to search the solar system for asteroids that might hit Earth.
The Press
The Press reports that Rangiora could soon be home to the South Island's biggest primary school with room for up to 800 pupils. The school is one option being considered to cope with Rangiora's population surge
Dairy farmers on the West Coast, especially north of Greymouth, face an early end to the milking season in a bit to preserve feed for winter.
Already milk production is starting to fall and many farmers are bringing in supplementary feed to allow their own crops a chance to grow before winter.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times leads with a young woman who was stabbed and almost killed in a home invasion, crediting judo lessons she attended with her father for saving her life.
The woman struggled against her attacker who pushed his way into her house after asking for a drink of water.
And under the headline "Oh, what a day" the paper reports on the first day of the cricket Test at the University Oval with England all out for 167.
