The Southern Metropolitan Regional Council (SMRC) has managed a $3.5 m financial turnaround in six months, despite ongoing odour complaints regarding its Canningvale composting plant.

An independent report by RSM Bird Cameron found the SMRC had a cash surplus of $962,000 by December 2006, after being more than $2.5 million in deficit in June.

The turnaround is due to increased gate fees for council members and increased volumes of waste being processed at the Canningvale site’s three waste processing centres, the report says.....full story

Fuel in Perth has skyrocketed more than 10 cents a litre in the last five days, moving from 126 to 137 cents a litre.

Prices on the state government’s Fuelwatch website show the average cost of fuel is 134.6 cents a litre with the cheapest fuel being sold at Wanneroo for 119.9 cents a litre.....full story

The Department of Immigration has moved to clarify students’ rights to rally, after questions were raised about conditions on overseas student visas.

At a recent student rally in Perth, Eric Yenz Pang, from the National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia, told eMU News most international students were prohibited from attending rallies.

Condition 8303 states that the holder must not become involved in activities disruptive to, or violence threatening harm to, the Australian community or a group within the Australian community.....full story

While Western Australians are most concerned about the state’s water supply, about a third is not sure how to recycle toxic waste such as household batteries, a study of attitudes to recycling shows.

The survey, published this month by the Department of Environment and Conservation, shows a quarter of Western Australians bring their batteries to recycling sites.....full story

The first weekend of home sales under the state government’s new stamp duty regulations has shown mixed results, local real estate agents said today.

The regulations, announced by Treasurer Eric Ripper last Thursday, remove stamp duty for a first home buyer paying up to $500,000 for a house.

It is expected to help those who are struggling to enter the market, with the median price for a home in Perth skyrocketing to $405,000 in December 2006, more than double that of five years ago.....full story

Single parents have taken a proactive stance against the Federal Government’s abolition of childcare benefits for students studying courses longer than a year.

The Jobs, Education and Training (JET) childcare scheme was made ineligible for single parents enrolled in a course for longer than 12 months in July last year, sparking outrage among university students.....full story

Efforts to save a 104-year-old tree in York have turned sour after the fire brigade was called in to flush out poison from the tree’s trunk.

The iconic Ficus Hillii in Avon Terrace was poisoned last week when two large holes were drilled into the trunk and filled with Roundup.

Outraged, the York residents have banded to form the “Tree Angels”, guarding the historic landmark 24 hours a day.....full story

The Children’s Court in Perth today sentenced two teenage girls to life imprisonment with a minimum 15 years parole, for the murder of 16 year-old Eliza Jane Davis, in Collie last year.

In handing down the sentence Children’s Court President Denis Reynolds referred to the gruesome and merciless circumstances of the offence.

“[It is] the worst category of the most serious kind of offence,” Judge Reynolds said.....full story

Murdoch University has received a $19.5 million funding boost from the Commonwealth, to help build a research centre in immunology and infectious diseases.

The money is part of the $5 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund announced in last night’s federal budget.

The Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (IIID) will include Professor Simon Mallal and his team from the Centre for Clinical Immunology and Biomedical Statistics (CCIBS), based at Royal Perth Hospital and Murdoch University.....full story

Despite widespread public concern about global warming, WA’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased in the past decade, even while the reporting of emissions is not compulsory.

The Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System, published by the federal government, reveals that WA carbon emissions increased by 12.6 per cent between 1995 and 2005, while total Australian emissions remained steady.....full story

One of the world’s oldest flowering species, believed to have existed during the age of dinosaurs 135 million years ago, has been spotted in WA swamps.

Despite being only up to five centimetres tall, the tiny plants - Hydatella and their close cousins Trithuria, have garnered much attention from scientists all over the world.

Discovered by an international research team of botanists from the US, Canada, Switzerland and Australia, the findings have been published in the latest issue of Nature, the international science journal.....full story

Mobile phones are usually seen as a menace in schools but a new project will turn them into learning tools.

As part of a project headed by Murdoch University, mobiles have been programmed with new educational games to help primary students improve their learning.

Two schools have been chosen for the trial, Bateman Primary School and the Moorditj Noonger Community College.....full story