Break in the case: Police charge Talatau Dal Amone over the 2011 killing of underworld figure Saso Ristevski. Police allege he organised for three men to confront Ristevski with the intent to rob him. However he was shot and died at the scene. Dal Amone’s lawyer said he “categorically denied” the charges. Documents would later reveal his family put up $350,000 in bail for his release.

More news: After signing a program supply deal with Nine, Southern Cross Austereo says they are working together to create a local regular news service for the Wollongong market and other coverage areas.

No fan: Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward says he will be voting against a bill mandating 90 per cent steel use in government projects when it comes before the lower house. “I’ll be voting no, it’s a disgraceful bill,” Mr Ward says.

Tickets scrapped: Transport Minister Andrew Constance says all paper tickets on public transport will be scrapped at the end of the month. A single trip Opal card will be available for those who do not have an Opal card.

Homeless help: A push begins to get an Orange Sky Laundry van in the Illawarra. The service gives homeless people a way to wash their clothes and blankets for free.

Bad dad: A Wollongong man is jailed for two-and-a-half years for indecently assaulting his teenage daughter’s friend while she was visiting their house.

Bombshell: Dapto, Bulli and Nowra greyhound tracks will be forced to close as part of the NSW government’s decision to ban the sport statewide. The ban would later be reversed to give the industry “one last chance”.

No changes: In the federal election all sitting Illawarra MPs – Sharon Bird, Stephen Jones and Ann Sudmalis – retain their seats.

Domestic violence: Belinda Van Krevel, sent to prison in 2001 for soliciting her boyfriend to murder her father and sent back in 2012 for stabbing another boyfriend, levels domestic violence allegations against her partner.

Appeal: Four men jailed over the contract killing of Dragun Sekuljica at Splashes Nightclub in 2007 launch legal action to overturn their convictions. Illawarra men Zlatan Popovic, Dalibor Bubanja and Jason Hristovski and Sydney ‘gun for hire’ Tevi Koloamatangi were each found guilty of Mr Sekuljica’s murder following a lengthy trial in 2014, two years after their arrest. All four men still maintain their innocence.

Dog days: Bellambi’s Paul Lawrence gives his ageing staffy Ellie a new lease on life via a daily dose of cannabis oil under her tongue. Mr Lawrence, a cancer survivor, uses cannabis himself over legal painkillers.

Road tragedy: Twenty-eight-year-old Sam Denyer dies on the M1 Princes Motorway after strong winds snap a large gum tree, which slams onto his ute. He leaves behind his fiancee Samantha Phelps and their five-week-old daughter Stella.

Long wait: Joan and Bill Adlington have been waiting 62 years for the segment of Cross Street, Corrimal – where they live – to get guttering. Wollongong City Council says the street “did not rank highly” on its priority list.

Radio raid: Running a pirate radio station from his West Wollongong home lands Dan Morris in hot water when the Australian Communications and Media Authority get wind of it. They raid his house and shut down the reggae broadcasts. In Wollongong Local Court he is fined $3000 and ordered to forfeit his transmitter. Dicey Riley’s holds a fundraiser to help pay the fine and i98fm give him a one-off time-slot for his reggae show.

Dangerous game: Two Pokemon Go players are held up when they drive to a skate park at Tahmoor. A car blocks their exit and a man emerges with a rifle – but he leaves empty-handed.

Farewell: Tributes flow for Moss Vale High School teacher Anthony Stott, who collapsed while playing for soccer. His death would spark a push to get defibrillators at every sporting ground in the Illawarra.

Running again: Former Kiama MP Matt Brown decides to run in the local council elections.

Strike it rich: A Kiama resident discovers gold bullion in her backyard, which police believe may have been dumped during a bungled burglary.

Guilty: Bella Portofino manager Manuel Paradisis pleads guilty to pocketing $18,000 from a charity function for disabled builder George Testa. He had repeatedly misled Mr Testa’s family over the whereabouts of the money.

Too much: Thirroul pensioner Wesley Crittle is living in a single room at the rear of his business because he can’t move into his new house. The reason is because gas wholesaler Jemena is charging him $15,000 to run a gas pipe to his house. Jemena would later waive the costs.

​Charity raid: A Wollongong court case starts over whether outlaw motorcycle gang squad Strike Force Raptor “flagrantly misused” their power during a Fourth Reich Motorcycle Club charity bike show in October 2015.

Players charged: Dragons players Tim Lafai and Siliva Havilli are charged over an alleged assault in the Wollongong CBD. In a text message Lafai would claim he and his “boys” were outnumbered and forced to defend themselves. “...things got messy and we’ve never liked fighting it’s the last thing we wanted, we were outnumbered…,” part of the text read. Both players plead not guilty to the charges. 

Shut down: The NSW government announced Bulli Pass will be closed for two months from October 3 to allow for the installation of rockfall fencing. The news would create concern from locals, particularly those who use the pass to travel to and from work in Sydney.

Big win: Wollongong’s Josh Ptasznyk and Nicolas Saravanja are the lucky winners of a Pacific island resort, which was raffled off by the owners. There were 75,000 tickets sold at $65 a ticket and Mr Ptasznyk did the maths – “there wasn’t like a ridiculous chance [of winning]. The odds were actually reasonable – better than winning the Lotto,” he says. By the end of the year he had moved to the resort to work out how to run it while Mr Saravanja chose to support the operation from Wollongong.

Dangerous driving: The boyfriend of Sydney woman Aashima Goyal, who was hit by a truck and killed when she apparently fell out of his car while travelling along the Princes Highway at Dapto in 2015, pleads guilty to reckless driving. Magistrate Susan McGowan says there is “no causal link” between his driving and Ms Goyal’s death.

Silence: Wollongong City Council declines to explain how it failed to collect a security bond owed to it from Russell Vale Colliery 27 years ago. The debt has now reached $405,000.

Opening up: The $38 million 14-storey Oxford on Crown apartment and commercial building is officially opened. The complex is on the corner of Crown and Corrimal streets, the site of the Oxford Tavern.

Big theft: A court hears that Adrian Jovanovski managed to steal a 70kg bath tub from a Shell Cove house. The tub and two vanities - which he also stole - had been placed inside the premises to be installed in the coming days.

Bigot letter: Robert Kandalaft receives some odd hate mail over his decision to organise a vigil in the wake of the shootings in Orlando. Oddly signed as from “A Bigot” the letters claim the June east coast low and the demise of politicians Anna Bligh, Kevin Rudd and Barry O’Farrell were due to the acceptance of “gay unions”.