Bus buyout: Premier Illawarra buys out rival bus company Green’s Northern Coaches.

Big steal: Police figure say more than $1 million worth of bicycles were stolen in Wollongong last year. Many were recovered by police but a lack of identifying markings made it hard to return them to their owners.

Bug strikes:  A salmonella outbreak at several aged care facilities is under investigation by the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District public health unit. Two residents would die and 30 would be hospitalised as a result of the outbreak, which would be traced by the NSW Food Authority to Unanderra’s Betta Maid. In December the food authority would charge Betta Maid and its one-time director, Udo Boschan, with 14 offences under the NSW Food Act 2003.

Fast food: Warilla McDonald’s decides to hold a Valentine’s Day dinner, where the meals will be served on plates, guests will get heart-shaped chocolates and soft music will be played.

New contender: South Coast Labor Council secretary Arthur Rorris decides to run for the seat of Wollongong in the March state election. The seat is held by Labor’s Noreen Hay.

Sore leg: Health authorities are investigating an incident in which a Nowra man was left with a stingray barb in his leg for a week despite attending Shoalhaven District Hospital three times.

Stair fight: The push for lifts at Unanderra station resurfaces after footage emerges of double amputee Toby Lyndon pulling himself up the stairs with his hands. Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian labelled the footage ‘‘distressing’’. Campaigners make it an election issue in the seat of Wollongong. 

Drug pilot: In a real-life resemblance to TV series Breaking Bad, pilot Bernhard Stevermuer pleads guilty over his role in a drug and money-laundering syndicate. Stevermuer had just been diagnosed with his second bout of cancer and entered the syndicate to help raise money for his cash-strapped family. He was sentenced to 19 months jail but had that reduced to a 12-month suspended sentence on appeal.

Big jump: Skydive the Beach announces plans to list on the stock exchange in a bid to raise up to $20 million from new shareholders.

Guilty: Colin Maxwell Farrow is found guilty of murdering Linda Stevens in April 2013. Farrow stabbed Stevens in her flat, before loading her body in the boot of her car. He later dumped the car in a Corrimal reserve. He is sentenced to 22 years in jail.

The year in review continues in Tuesday’s Mercury with March 2015.