Secret sex tapes: police officer Marc Osborn given community service

PAUL BIBBY A Sydney police officer who secretly filmed himself having sex with women he met via the internet and then showed his colleagues the footage has been sentenced to 200 hours community service.

Flat Chat

NSW strata law revolution

Jimmy Thomson New bylaws allowing pets in units, curbing smoking on apartment balconies and preventing the installation of noisy timber and tiled floors are among the changes in the biggest overhaul of strata laws in more than 50 years.

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Bushland cycle paths upset Lane Cove walkers

JAMES ROBERTSON A plan to build cycle paths through bushland on the north shore has opened a new front between Sydney's warring transport partisans.

Air travel

Virgin seeks light rail link to terminals

MATT O'SULLIVAN Virgin Australia wants Sydney Airport to build a rapid-transit system between its terminals after baulking at plans to place all the airline's operations at what is now the international terminal.

Design courses hammered

AMY MCNEILAGE Emma Fielden credits the jewellery course she took at TAFE with setting her on a path to becoming a full-time engraver and designer.

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Eddie Obeid wants legal fees paid

SEAN NICHOLLS Fresh from corruptly making millions of dollars by rigging a tender for a valuable coal exploration licence, Eddie Obeid has asked taxpayers to cover his legal fees ''in the public interest''.

Flyers signal Sutherland battle's start

JAMES ROBERTSON A mysterious group is campaigning for planning reforms that forced a mayor to resign following damning allegations of corruption.

'Cure' leaves woman off work for life

PAUL BIBBY A Sydney grandmother who suffered permanent neurological damage from painkillers she was prescribed for a relatively minor work-related injury has won a landmark worker's compensation case.

Time to buy air-crane helicopters

Sarah Whyte, Kim Arlington After the devastating NSW bushfires, questions have been raised about whether Australia should buy its own air-crane water bombing helicopters.

Power cuts not the best option

PETER HANNAM Turning off electricity during extreme fire danger days to prevent power lines sparking bushfires is all but inconceivable, says NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.

Strike force faces more investigations

Dan Proudman Police investigating the suspicious deaths of at least two nursing home residents in Newcastle are being inundated with phone calls from worried relatives of other residents.

'Shocking' $130 proposed exit fee for electricity

BRIAN ROBINS NSW householders who want to break their electricity supply contract will be charged $130 by retailers, $110 more than Victorian residents.

'Politics takes its toll': Tebbutt calls it quits

ANNA PATTY Marrickville mayor Jo Haylen has emerged as the front-runner to stand for ALP preselection in the new state seat of Summer Hill after Labor MP Carmel Tebbutt announced she would bow out of politics.

Bushfires make hazy days of toxic summer

Ben Grubb, Peter Hannam Pollution soared four times higher than levels deemed hazardous and hundreds of fire alarms went off, in one case stranding train passengers, as thick haze from bushfires engulfed the city on Saturday.

Backpackers evacuated due to Coogee fire

A fire in a kitchen exhaust fan forced the midnight evacuation of scores of backpackers and diners in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Surprise PM visit gives gas campaigner hope

JONATHAN SWAN Debbie Orr was sceptical Tony Abbott would live up to his promise to visit within six weeks of becoming prime minister and listen to her complaints about coal seam gas making her children sick.

'Cruel' insurers add to bushfire trauma

KIRSTY NEEDHAM A distraught 11-year-old boy who lost his home in the bushfires was told by an insurance company to list every toy and treasured belonging in his destroyed bedroom before it would consider a payout.

House-sitter

House-sitter on a mission to afford own home

Julie Power Nicole Sundin has moved 17 times in the past two years, a hassle that has saved her up to $31,200 in rent.

Family buyers push prices on the urban fringe

TOBY JOHNSTONE Sydney's aspirational families are creating mini property booms across suburbia with Earlwood, on the inner west fringe, named this year's top performer.

'Media mogul' fast and loose with facts

EAMONN DUFF Mining giants fell for a small-town conman and his phantom publishing house.

Junior league player on affray charge

ADRIAN PROSZENKO The teenager at the centre of a vicious rugby league brawl at North Richmond this year has been charged with affray and assault.

Coast protection costs rise with sea levels

Anne Davies Sydney councils and the state government are facing a multibillion-dollar bill to strengthen and maintain sea walls around the harbour and beaches in the face of rising sea levels.

Obeid faces action over unpaid rent

LEESHA MCKENNY The debt collectors could soon be knocking on Eddie Obeid's door, with the state government confirming it is about to begin legal action against the corrupt former Labor MP's $1 front company.

Council funded flowers, chocolates and alcohol

Natalie O'Brien Bankstown City Council resources were being misused for ''political purposes'', while separately thousands of taxpayer dollars were being spent on Tania Mihailuk's ''questionable'' expenses.

Unions challenge rules on donations

KIRSTY NEEDHAM Political donations by corporations are a form of freedom of expression that need protection, unions will argue in the High Court this week.

Video reveals moments before and after death

Emma Partridge He puts his hands around her mouth in an attempt to muffle her screams and drags her by the head back inside their unit.

Orange inspiration for Opera House neighbour

John Saxby How do you design a building that will sit next to the most famous building in the world?

Property prices soar but still 'affordable'

Matt Wade, Toby Johnstone A resurgent Sydney property market is fuelling the strongest conditions in Australian house sales for three years.

Macquarie investors to get airport shares

MATT O'SULLIVAN Macquarie Bank will finally walk away from Sydney Airport after deciding to offload its cornerstone stake, ending an 11-year tie that helped it reap hundreds of millions of dollars in fees and dividends.

Beach treat: touched by the power of art

Kim Arlington Max Brodie lifts his white cane and runs it around the contours of a metal sculpture.

Open home

What really goes on at inspections

DAISY DUMAS For all the neatly angled flags, shining A-frame notices and freshly-stocked clipboards, the urban warfare of the Sydney open-house inspection has a slyly winking underbelly.

Lucky few dip a hand in lifeblood of city

Julie Power It's one of Sydney's great survivors. The Tank Stream has been driven underground; it has been polluted and poisoned, rerouted and blocked.

Barangaroo blow but architects let Crown rule

RICK FENELEY Barry O'Farrell's decision to scrap the Big Red plan still hurts.

Hot, dry October keeps NSW on fire alert

PETER HANNAM Sydney and most of the rest of NSW posted among their hottest and driest Octobers on record, adding to concerns that the early-season bushfire threat will remain high for coming weeks or longer.

You get the picture - Sydney's on an art streak

John Saxby The summer battle of the blockbuster art exhibitions is upon us, with the Art Gallery of NSW, backed by the cultural might of the USA, firing the opening salvo with America: Painting a Nation, opening on Thursday.

Former judge to clean up NSW Labor

SEAN NICHOLLS NSW Labor will nominate retired Supreme Court judge Greg James, QC, to become chairman of a new internal dispute resolution regime designed to help clean up the troubled branch.

Lobbyist Joe Tannous paid $20,000

SEAN NICHOLLS Controversial lobbyist Joe Tannous was paid $20,000 by Auburn council for his services but no-one, including the mayor Hicham Zraika, can say what was actually done for the money.

UNSW law graduate books a place at Oxford

Kim Arlington For Kunal Sharma, being named as the new Rhodes Scholar for NSW was something akin to going to the Oscars.

Suburbs

Suburb name changes boon for real estate

Leesha McKenny When you’re talking Sydney suburbs, what’s in a name?

Hartcher bill to quash court case

Anna Patty, Kate McClymont Less than three months ago, Resources Minister Chris Hartcher told a budget estimates committee the state government ''respects the independence'' of the courts.

Horror turns to anger after poisoning

Dan Proudman Relatives of the only survivor of the Newcastle nursing home poisoning case are struggling to come to grips with how their family matriarch almost died.

National parks open to shooters named

SEAN NICHOLLS Environment minister Robyn Parker has announced the 12 NSW national parks and reserves that will be opened up to licensed amateur hunters for the first time.

Mayor and deputy planning Anzac research

JAMES ROBERTSON An inner-Sydney mayor with a history of taking ratepayer-funded trips to the Middle East has defended plans to spend $15,000 on a fact-finding tour of Gallipoli.

Time saved, but Gay can't say how much

JACOB SAULWICK Motorists who now drive for free along the M4 will face tolls of more than $4 each way in four years, but the government cannot say how much time they will save when the road is widened.

Police found accused's fingerprint on railing

EMMA PARTRIDGE An accused murderer claims his ballerina fiancee leapt to her death after climbing over a Sydney balcony though a court heard she left no fingerprints behind.

DOCS workers visited home for 20 minutes

PAUL BIBBY A few weeks before toddler Tanilla Warrick-Deaves was allegedly murdered by her mother's boyfriend, caseworkers went to the home after neighbours allegedly witnessed the little girl being whipped.

Attack won't affect Jewish 'way of life'

LUCY CARROLL The victims of the alleged anti-Semitic attacks in Bondi last weekend have defiantly claimed the incident will not affect their Jewish "way of life."

Friends, colleagues pay tribute to cyclist

MEGAN LEVY Friends of a cyclist who was killed in a crash on Sydney's upper north shore have paid tribute to the 45-year-old Optus manager, who was riding with a group of colleagues when he died.

Science

Statistician awarded PM's Prize for Science

NICKY PHILLIPS Their research topics couldn't be more distinct but a pair of Sydney scientists now have something in common, they are recipients of two of the country's most prestigious science awards.

Plan to split Mosman divides critics

Lucy Carroll and Leesha McKenny The prestige of Mosman could soon be less than the sum of its parts, under a plan to cleave off its prime waterfront areas into four new suburbs.

Mining licence corruption 'almost inevitable'

SEAN NICHOLLS Corruption in the issuing of lucrative NSW coal licences was "almost inevitable" given there were "so many risks and opportunities" in government regulation of the area.

Sex injury compo bid rebuffed by High Court

TONY WRIGHT There are days within the august surrounds of the High Court when even the most sober of Justices might struggle against an injudicious outbreak of levity.

Premier more into Murdoch than dancefloor

SEAN NICHOLLS It is the NSW Parliament's annual night of nights, when politicians, journalists and business figures gather for a black tie charity event.

Coroner calls for law change

PAUL BIBBY The NSW Coroner has called for changes to the state's criminal laws after finding that the parents of a baby boy who was most likely shaken to death while in their care cannot face any criminal proceedings.

Mayors in the dark over plans for WestConnex

JACOB SAULWICK The O'Farrell government wants to draw up a plan for the redevelopment of Parramatta Road by December, but councils in the region are complaining about a lack of detail.

First cousin cops a spray from the 'fat budda'

KATE MCCLYMONT The expletive-laden email exchange between Damian Obeid and his cousin Dennis Jabour provided a unique insight into the Obeid family values, especially when it comes to money.

Cafes paid for housekeeping

Michaela Whitbourn The Obeid family matriarch, Judith, was given a $1000-a-week ''housekeeping fee'' out of the cash takings from cafes the family owned secretly at Circular Quay.

Increased protections for sex assault victims

ANNA PATTY Laws will be tightened to protect sexual assault victims from coming face-to-face with their attackers.

$790 million boost for schools

ANNA PATTY Education Minister Adrian Piccoli will amend the NSW Education Act to allow it to comply with a new national agreement for funding non-government schools.

Costa's office got cold feet, inquiry told

Michaela Whitbourn, Kate McClymont Michael Costa's office got "cold feet" about opening retail leases at Circular Quay to public tender after an associate of the Obeid family lobbied the government to abandon the plan.

Bashing accused broke curfew

ANNA PATTY Two teenage boys accused of an anti-Semitic bashing in Bondi at midnight on Saturday broke court-ordered curfews over another alleged assault.

Investors

Rental yields show fall as investors slug it out

Toby Johnstone, Gareth Hutchens Having well and truly sidelined first home buyers, property investors are now starting to turn on one another.

Pru Goward refuses to appear at inquiry

ANNA PATTY Family and community services minister Pru Goward has refused to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into whether she misled parliament over the number of child protection workers.

Labor backs bill against gay expulsions

JOSEPHINE TOVEY NSW Labor will throw its support behind a push to abolish controversial laws that allow private schools to expel or discriminate against gay or transgender students.