EXCLUSIVE
Drugs cloud over Roosters
KATE MCCLYMONT The Sydney Roosters have admitted they sacked a sports nutrition company after players' blood tests returned elevated readings for banned substance hGH.
Latest NSW news
Surgeons rebel at lack of funds
![David Morris.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4778033/am-th-stgeorgehospital-20130925191702110724-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY A leading Sydney cancer surgeon said he has had four patients die this year waiting for treatment, as doctors at St George Hospital rebel against what they say is chronic under-funding.
Violent rampage: McDonald's staff aid arrests
![cinema](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4772860/dh_cinema2-20130924070615837403-90x60.jpg)
Megan Levy and Rachel Olding Employees at a fast food restaurant have helped police catch two people suspected of going on a violent rampage across Sydney on Monday night.
Altered train times mean school's earlier
![Sleepy start.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4778037/am-th-traintimetable-20130925193622747578-90x60.jpg)
JACOB SAULWICK Students from at least one outer Sydney school will have to start and finish classes earlier because of next month's new train timetable.
No evidence to lay charges over mother's death
![Belinda Peisley.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4778038/am-th-belindapeisley-20130925190838683758-90x60.jpg)
PAUL BIBBY Much has been said and written about the last weeks and months of Belinda Peisley's life - the heroin addiction, the bursts of anger and despair, the final, sudden end almost certainly brought by an act of violence.
Cap would hit poor hardest, experts warn
![Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4778029/am-th-capwouldhit-20130925204411658890-90x60.jpg)
Daniel Hurst, Benjamin Preiss, Josephine Tovey Students from poor backgrounds would be hardest hit by a government-imposed limit on university places, tertiary education experts have warned.
Dust-up over coal seam gas drilling
![Barry O'Farrell.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4778027/am-th-dust-20130925211100535199-90x60.jpg)
Anna Patty, Brian Robins NSW Labor will try to embarrass the O'Farrell government into delivering its pre-election promise to ban coal seam gas development in water catchment areas - just as the federal government is urging it to relax restrictions on development.
Thomas the Tank Engine rescued
![Council’s Museums Officer - Water Works Julianne Salway, acting Local Area Commander Evan Quarmby, Mayor Geoff Kettle and Goulburn Police crime manager Detective Inspector Chad Gillies welcome back Thomas the Tank Engine.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4777387/kml-th-thomas-20130925165214625876-90x60.jpg)
MEGAN DOHERTY Goulburn’s missing Thomas the Tank Engine - washed away in floods almost three years ago - has been found by police during a search warrant of a suspected drug lab in the east of the city.
"I was cheated" says angry Scots student
![team](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/23/4772378/mb_thumb_scots_20130923200451269989-90x60.jpg)
Peter Munro He points to the boys in the basketball team photo, counting the number recruited by The Scots College in recent years - six top players in the 2011 season; two more in 2012.
Senior staff desert Greens in shake-up
![Christine Milne.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/25/4778031/am-th-greens-20130925200443202210-90x60.jpg)
CHRIS JOHNSON Greens leader Christine Milne has lost all of her senior staff in a post-election shake-up that has exposed rising tensions inside the minor party.
Prince Harry to attend fleet review
![Prince Harry.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4774862/am-th-princeharry-20130924201949955771-90x60.jpg)
Tim Barlass All eyes will be on the surveying ship HMAS Leeuwin on Saturday October 5 when Prince Harry will accompany the governor-general at the International Fleet Review.
Mayoral seat too hot for Kent Johns
![Kent Johns.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4774625/am-th-mcclymont-20130924190639938038-90x60.jpg)
KATE MCCLYMONT Kent Johns has been replaced as Sutherland Shire mayor following damaging allegations raised by the Herald.
GPS competition an aggressive arms race
![David Kirk.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4775059/am-th-GPS-20130924193845982528-90x60.jpg)
Peter Munro Former Rugby World Cup-winning captain David Kirk has slammed Sydney's prestigious GPS competition as an aggressive ''arms race''.
Concern about sale of Department of Lands
![Department of Lands Building at 23 Bridge street Sydney.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4775055/am-th-departmentoflands-20130924203636457484-90x60.jpg)
NICOLE HASHAM It immortalises our pluckiest explorers: those who trudged Australia's hostile interior to find where the rivers flowed.
The show must go on: Cinema robbery
![cinema](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4772860/dh_cinema2-20130924070615837403-90x60.jpg)
MEGAN LEVY A cinema employee who was threatened with a sawn-off shotgun during a terrifying armed robbery on Sydney's north shore declared minutes after the thieves had fled that "the show must go on" .
Horror house: Residents seek compensation
![Grand Western Lodge](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4773494/th-grand-western-lodge-90x60.jpg)
PAUL BIBBY For more than a decade the residents of the Grand Western Lodge boarding house were allegedly assaulted, underfed and sedated, while the government department allegedly stood idly by.
Warning over rise in heart attack deaths outside hospitals
![Heart rate monitor.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4775056/am-th-heartattack-20130924204552129824-90x60.jpg)
AMY CORDEROY People who suffer heart attacks outside a hospital are more likely to die today than five years ago, and this has sparked calls for the urgent installation of defibrillators across the state.
Surveillance
NSW prison jams smuggled phones
![Prison cell.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4775265/am-th-jail-20130924225114363805-90x60.jpg)
NICK RALSTON Prisoners can forget about using smuggled mobile phones with a NSW jail becoming the first in Australia to introduce phone-jamming technology.
Victims get time to appeal compo
![Victim.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/24/4775051/am-th-victim-20130924212500847915-90x60.jpg)
Victims of crime who wanted to challenge compensation claims were given extra time to lodge an appeal - but were not told of the opportunity before it was too late to apply.
Police change defence over evidence
![Rachel Gardner](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/23/4772379/mb_thumb_gardner_20130923191130177128-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL OLDING A group of police officers who allegedly broke the leg of an arts student have been allowed to change their defence at the eleventh hour after CCTV footage of the assault emerged.
Bullied school student gets increased payout
![Jazmine](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/03/11/4100029/jazmine320-90x60.jpg)
RACHEL OLDING A student who allegedly suffered serious mental health problems after years of bullyinghas had her damages payout increased despite efforts by the school to have the matter thrown out of court.
Red tape fixes to boost building: minister
![builder](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/23/4772659/th_builder1-90x60.jpg)
Natasha Wallace Homeowners will have to notify builders of defects within six months of noticing them under a proposed overhaul of the Home Building Act aimed at cutting red tape and stimulating the industry.
School in turmoil: the team no one will play
![team](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/23/4772378/mb_thumb_scots_20130923200451269989-90x60.jpg)
Adrian Proszenko, Peter Munro Sydney's prestigious GPS association is in turmoil with Scots College boycotted from sporting contests amid claims from rivals that it offered prohibited inducements to recruit young athletes.
New board designed to improve results
![piccoli](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/23/4772380/mb_thumb_piccoli_20130923185309865387-90x60.jpg)
Josephine Tovey The NSW Board of Studies and the NSW Institute of Teachers will be merged to create a single new statutory authority with the aim of improving teacher quality and student outcomes.
Cover-up claimed after SES sacking
![pearce](http://web.archive.org./web/20130926124607im_/http://images.canberratimes.com.au/2013/09/23/4772443/mb_thumb_pearce_20130923212239956123-90x60.jpg)
Nick Ralston, Dominic Geiger The state government has been accused of covering up the sacking of a member of the NSW State Emergency Service who raised allegations of millions being misspent within the organisation.
Private Sydney
Joke wears thin
The following is not going to make me very popular, but given the hype surrounding the subject matter, I feel compelled to admit it: I don't find Australia's hit comedic export Rebel Wilson funny.
Video
Police investigate multiple stabbing death
RAW VIDEO: A man is fatally stabbed on a building site in Sydney’s west after an argument between two workers.
LIVE: Egyptian security forces move in
Breaking news coverage from Cairo as Egyptian security forces carry out an operation to sweep supporters of ousted president Mursi from the streets. NOTE This vision is supplied to Reuters by Nile TV.
Could cricket abandon HotSpot technology?
The silicone drama has raised more questions about the merits of technology in umpiring.
Con the seasoned letter writer
Con Vaitsas discusses why his letters to the editor numbers in the thousands.
Opal card coming to greater Sydney area
This video supplied by the NSW government sets out how the Opal card will work once it's introduced across the NSW transport system.