Friday's headlines: cat saves Arrowtown couple in 3am house fire; cut in alcohol level for adult drivers favoured in poll; Govt to cut a swath through the budgets of health, social development and Maori affairs for Whanau Ora.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald reports a quick-thinking hero who pulled a driver from a fiery crash which killed two people, said the man stank of alcohol and did not know what day it was.
Josh Skinner will have scarred arms for life after pulling the driver from the vehicle near Kawerau on Saturday.
That story is part of a front page feature on the road toll, with a separate poll showing New Zealanders are strongly in favour of cutting the alcohol level for adult drivers.
In other news: New Zealand's spies are said to have 'emerged from the shadows' to deny their Waihopai station is an American spy base contributing to torture and war.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post also leads with the road toll: those mopping up the carnage say the deaths of more than 20 people on the roads in seven days are "a waste of life".
From the launch of Whanau Ora: the paper says the Government will cut a swath through the budgets of health, social development and Maori affairs, redirecting the money into a bold Maori-based welfare initiative.
The Press
The Press has more on the road toll too, with health experts joining the call for a lower drink-driving limit.
The pressure comes ahead of a Cabinet decision on whether to lower blood-alcohol levels as part of a road-safety strategy.
An Arrowtown cat has saved a couple who were within a whisker of being engulfed by a raging inferno.
Maceo woke his owners at 3am on Wednesday by wetting his paws in the toilet bowl and walking on their faces.
They awoke to find a fire only metres from their bedroom window.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times reports that upheavals over the Alexandra Blossom Festival continue.
New festival chairwoman Clair Higginson says taking legal action against the 2009 Festival events company remains 'an option'.
Fourteen pupils at Otago Boys High School received 21 scholarships in last year's NZQA exams - six of them at the outstanding level.
