$8m worth of state house sales in Waikato; child bitten by dog critically injured; smoking ban proposed for Auckland; cuts trim Dunedin rates rise to 4.7%.
New Zealand Herald
Health bosses want the Auckland Council to ban smoking in all public outdoor areas in the city in a bid to stop children picking up the habit.
The Parachute music festival is offering family passes for as little as $1 in a move to kick-start sluggish ticket sales.
The Waikato Times
Housing New Zealand sold off $8 million worth of state houses in Waikato, Coromandel and King Country last year. The paper says some are demanding the sales stop, because they are worried tenants are being forced out of their homes, with nowhere to go.
Authorities will review the handling of the cattle escape in central Hamilton earlier this week. There's been a public outcry over the incident, which had police chasing three steers, resulting in a drawn-out shooting death for one, while the other two were butchered by the roadside.
Dominion Post
The attack on a sleeping five-year-old in a Turangi campground was so severe the teenager who's now pleaded guilty to the crime will be sentenced in an adult court.
Wellington's noisiest tenants have been finally silenced by an eviction notice. There were 38 noise complaint notices in eight months.
The Press
Friends of an 18-year-old woman who drowned in a storage pond near Eyrewell forest fought for 20 minutes to save her as she was pinned against a grate, but in the end the water pressure was just too strong.
A three-year-old is critically ill in Christchurch Hospital after being bitten in the throat by a dog.
A pilot died when his glider crashed near Omarama on Wednesday evening.
Otago Daily Times
The paper leads with plans to cut rates increases in Dunedin, which it says may mean cuts to roading and other projects too.
The pilot who died in a glider crash in Omarama not taking part in the Omarama Cup gliding competition.
