Good morning and welcome to the Morning Buzz for Monday, December 4. There’s a very high chance of showers today, mainly toward the coast, with highs of around 22 in the city and in the west. Enjoy your day!
Growing public backlash over Sydney stadium spending
An online petition opposing the NSW government's plan to demolish and rebuild ANZ and Allianz stadiums at a cost of $2 billion has attracted tens of thousands of signatures.
The petition, which was posted on Change.org on Saturday evening, has struck a chord with more than 50,000 signatures added by Sunday night.
"We, the undersigned, respectfully call on the Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, and the NSW Cabinet, to reconsider their decision to knock down two perfectly fine sports stadiums," the petition reads. Read more
Train delays 'irrecoverable' under new timetable
Delays to Sydney's trains are likely to be "cumulative and irrecoverable" during peak hours following incidents, as the biggest overhaul of the rail timetable in years places greater strain on Sydney's rail network, an internal document reveals.
Sydney Trains warns in the leaked document that operating the network at "track capacity" for longer periods leaves "no opportunity for diversions or recovery from incidents". Delays early in the peak periods will also have a "larger impact on later peak services".
Marked "commercial in confidence", the briefing document says cancellations and skipped stops "could result in crowding and other problems" on the network. Read more via SMH
How NSW hospitals profit from the spread of poker machines
NSW hospitals are increasingly accepting offers of large cash donations from local pubs and clubs tied to an increase in poker machines in those venues.
Since 2011, the state's hospitals have accepted more than $1.3 million in donations conditioned upon nearby pokie venues successfully applying to operate extra machines. Read more
String of crashes leaves three dead and multiple people hospitalised
A series of serious car crashes across New South Wales over the weekend have left three people dead and resulted in multiple people being taken to hospital.
On Sunday afternoon, a woman was killed after the car she was a passenger in hit a tree and burst into flames between Junee and Gundagai in the Riverina region just before 2.30pm. Read more
Court of Appeal finds man burned house down to get insurance payout
A man whose investment property burned down five years ago has been denied an insurance payout after two courts found his friend deliberately set the home alight.
Sachin Sharma's five-bedroom house at Ingleburn in Sydney's south-west was destroyed by fire on the night of June 12, 2012, two months before its insurance policy was due to expire. Read more
England reeling after Marsh's breakthrough Ashes century
Shaun Marsh's fifth Test hundred has left Australia with their foot on England's throat in the second Test.
Steve Smith's team will enter the third day of the day-night Ashes Test with a commanding advantage despite being denied the chance to bowl for more than an hour longer under lights to the England top order on Sunday night when play was abandoned early due to rain. Read more via SMH
