93 fires scorch much of NSW
Alex McConachie, Georgina Mitchell At least three properties were destroyed by an out-of-control forest fire in Minnimbah, near Wagga Wagga, on Sunday.
Latest NSW news
EXCLUSIVE
What parents really pay for public schools
Josephine Tovey, Inga Ting Parents with children in NSW selective schools pay voluntary fees on average five times the amount of those with children in comprehensive public schools.
Safer Sydney: Bigger fees for risky venues
Sean Nicholls, Rachel Olding, Georgina Mitchell The state's largest and most violent venues face paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to keep their liquor licences, under a proposal being taken to cabinet on Monday.
Brawl behind Ivy spills into George Street
Anne Tarasov, Georgina Mitchell Sydney has been struck by violent brawls for the second night in a row as calls intensify to address alcohol-related violence in the inner city.
Driveway fatality: Doctors want in-car cameras
Lane Sainty Doctors have called for reversing cameras to be fitted to all new cars and for driveways to be fenced off after the latest death of a toddler who was killed by a reversing sports utility vehicle.
Inspect homes to enforce standards
Alexandra Smith Homes built on Sydney's vast bushfire-prone land should be monitored to ensure they continue to meet safety standards, to give them the best chance of surviving a fire storm, experts are urging.
Risk inevitable living in line of bushfires
It is unrealistic to reclaim developments in high-risk areas, writes Trent Penman.
Energy firm banned from taking urine samples
LOUISE HALL A campaign by unions to end urine testing of employees to detect alcohol and drug use has had another win with the Fair Work Commission declaring workers at a state-owned energy company are to be tested using saliva swabs.
Hugs and tears and a long goodbye
Anne Tarasov Andrew Booth will be more than 44,000 kilometres away when his five-year-old daughter, Maddie, walks through the school gates for the first time next week.
Lifeguards kept busy with surf rescues
BEN GRUBB Sydney lifeguards are facing their toughest conditions in years, with mass rescues and huge spikes in the number of people needing help as holidaying Sydneysiders flock to the beach.
Child protection checks delayed
KIRSTY NEEDHAM New child protection checks should have been applied to the husband of a day care operator arrested in the inner west last month for child sexual assault, but the NSW government had quietly pushed back the deadline.
Leafy suburbs put 1 million homes at risk
Alexandra Smith As many as 1 million homes in Sydney face a serious risk from bushfires because the city expanded into leafy suburbs that are so bushfire prone many areas would be no-go zones if developed.
Local hunters keen to begin national parks trial
KIRSTY NEEDHAM Objections from the neighbours are unlikely as the first trial of hunting in a national park gets underway.
'My lawn was igniting around my feet'
Lane Sainty Ian Kearns knows the dangers of living in a bushfire-prone area better than most.
Goats in sights for first hunt in national park
KIRSTY NEEDHAM The Cocoparra Nature Reserve near Griffith will be the site of the first hunting trial in a NSW national park.
Angry Anderson condemns lack of action
PETER VINCENT Rock singer Angry Anderson says a family mercy mission to Kings Cross late at night ''sickened'' him and that senior politicians are ''a disgrace'' for not toughening laws to clamp down on alcohol-fuelled violence.
The people want their safe city back
KIRSTY NEEDHAM Two-thirds of Sydney residents feel unsafe in the city centre on a Saturday night, with 94 per cent blaming alcohol for their concerns, according to a poll.
Wet'n'Wild security chief quits
EAMONN DUFF She is the glamorous, part-time country and western singer who runs a western Sydney security firm called Unimet.
Toddler killed in driveway
Jacob Saulwick A toddler has died after being hit by a car in the driveway of his home on Sydney's north shore.
City built on sand finds grains of hope at sea
TIM ELLIOTT Sydney is running out of sand. As the city continues to expand, the construction industry is scouring the region for raw materials, including on the ocean floor.
3 Sisters declared Aboriginal heritage site
Kirsty Needham The Blue Mountains' most striking landmark, the Three Sisters, will be declared an Aboriginal heritage place in a ceremony on Sunday.
Tenants feel heat after pool crackdown
KIRSTY NEEDHAM Housing NSW has demanded public housing tenants remove backyard swimming pools within 48 hours, after accessing the government's new swimming pool register to launch the crackdown on families.
16 people taken ill at Hillsong camp
Dan Proudman Six ambulances and a rescue helicopter were needed to treat at least 16 people at a religious camp and concert held on a remote property near Karuah, north of Newcastle.
Man shot in the leg with a spear gun
Manuel Mitternacht A man was shot in the leg with a spear gun during a an ill-fated fishing trip at a popular beach in Sydney’s south on Saturday afternoon.
Greens call for alcohol price hike
The government will be asked to consider increasing the cost of alcohol and imposing labelling restrictions on alcohol suppliers, as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into Australia's alcohol problem being pushed by the Greens.
Blue Mountains loan policy bungled
LEESHA MCKENNY The federal and state governments have been accused of failing to deliver a policy that would help struggling Blue Mountains businesses after the October bushfires.
Planning laws hinge on Shooters and Fishers
JACOB SAULWICK The fate of the state's next planning system, aimed at making it easier for developments in Sydney, could hinge on imminent meetings between the Shooters and Fishers Party and top bureaucrats.
Third Sydneysider killed in Syria
Nick Ralston, Rachel Olding Another young Sydney man has died after travelling to Syria to fight with terrorist organisations in that country's civil war.
Pin-ups
A beauty pageant with a difference
Cindy Ngo It seems that going backwards is the only way forward.
Harbour braces for flood of cruise ships
NINA KARNIKOWSKI A coveted window-seat at some of Sydney's most popular restaurants may not be quite the best table in town next month.
Brothel's claim rejected over bikie links
ANNE DAVIES Is failing to disclose you are a member of an outlaw bikie gang sufficient reason for a company to invalidate your insurance policy?
Grape growers watch their fortunes wither
Black frosts, hail and now the heat. Griffith's farmers are hurting, writes Peter Munro.
Forests open to amateur hunters
SEAN NICHOLLS Amateur hunters will be allowed back into about 200 state forests from next month.
New laws could send us broke: Opal miners
NICOLE HASHAM Down a crumbling black hole, Ormie Molyneux lays into the dirt with apick, sweating in search of an underground rainbow.
Strata
Unit block 'parking thieves' face $550 fines
Jimmy Thomson Opportunist "parking thieves" who grab parking spots in unit blocks while they shop or commute could face fines of $550.
One-punch power trip
Comment I never asked why my attackers did it to me. I already knew why.
For a life cut short, Christies call for change
Daniel Christie lived his short life by the mantra ''if it's change to be, it's up to me''.
Wild about Margot Robbie
Cate Blanchett may have won the Golden Globe this week, but it was her compatriot Margot Robbie who won Hollywood.
Public interest tuned out in city-surburb battle
The recent boom in apartment approvals in Sydney has set off a new wave of NIMBY - not in my backyard - reaction against what many community groups see as an attack on suburban living.
VIDEO
Fires claim homes in NSW
At least three homes are lost in Minnimbah, near Wagga Wagga, as bushfires rage on says NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers. Nine News.
O'Farrell �in the bed of the liquor industry’
Weekend violence on Sydney's streets reignites the political blame-game as Premier Barry O'Farrell is accused of being too soft by the opposition. Nine News.
Patients may have exposed to HIV
A Sydney dentist is under investigation after it emerges that up to 1000 patients may have been exposed to HIV. Nine News.
Grape farmers doing it tough
The hot weather is making it tough for Riverina grape farmers. Grape grower Rod Gribble from Griffith shows us some of his dried out grapes that have been ravaged by heat.
How do you film a Safer Sydney ad?
You don't need a fancy camera to enter The Sydney Morning Herald's Safer Sydney Ad Challenge, just keep it simple and attack the culture behind alcohol-fuelled violence, suggests Tropfest filmmaker, Matt Hardie.
Gratuitous violence is 'unaustralian'
Governor General Quentin Bryce tells the media that Daniel Christi losing his life to 'gratuitous violence' was inexcusable, intolerable and 'unAustralian'.
Nipper graduate for your protection
Emily Hockley is a nipper graduate from Dee Why SLSC. She will be on patrol this weekend at Dee Why to save your life on the beach after a record run of 35 degree heat.
