Seen some traffic problems? Got an event or some news to spruik? Call me on 4221 2311 or email joshua.butler@illawarramercury.com.au to let me know!

8.55am: that's all from us today, tune back in from 6am tomorrow. Have a great day and go buy the Mercury!

8.50am: one last time, let's give you a rundown of the morning's news:

* A baby boy is recovering in hospital, after being found in critical condition in a Woonona house alongside the body of his dead mother.

* Brian Petschler will continue as mayor of Kiama, re-elected last night.

* The driver of a car that killed a schoolgirl in Kogarah on Monday, is the sister of former NRL star Joe Galuvao

* Dragons star Brett Morris may be off to join brother Josh at the Bulldogs

8.45am: and just to cap off your day of animals on the Rush, here's some swans surfing waves. Cowabunga.

8.35am: I'm gonna post this video of the hot dog eating hamster again. Just because it's the kind of day where you need a double shot of hamster.

8.32am: a special one this weekend too; Tumbleweed play their first gig since the passing of bassist Jay Curley on Saturday, headlining the Young Henry's Small World festival in Marrickville. The band have said the gig will be a tribute to Jay. Tickets are still available. 

8.30am: looking for something to do this weekend? Talented singer-songwriter Steve Smyth plays the Howlin Wolf bar on Friday night, while Phoenix Theatre's great new production '1914, It's a Lovely War' plays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Other events to put in the diary: Anita's Theatre has a special screening of Wes Anderson flick 'Grand Budapest Hotel' on Saturday night, Tommy M & The Mastersounds play the Bombie Bar at Coalcliff surf club on Sunday, and Parkside returns to Hotel Illawarra.

8.25am: our court reporter has two car-related stories from yesterday, including a P-plater in trouble for not stopping after an accident and a woman keying insulting slurs into another woman's car.

8.22am: ever wanted to know how much cash the big tech companies REALLY make? Click on this wild infographic to see how many thousands of dollars the likes of Facebook, Google, Samsung, Apple, eBay and Sony make per second. Hint: it's a lot. 

8.15am: after Kanye West again courted controversy this week by asking a wheelchair user to stand up at his Sydney concert, the rapper addressed the media beatup at his last Australian tour date in Brisbane.

"[Media] got this thing where they want the masses, people who never even heard one of my albums, to somehow read a headline that reads negative and to think I’m a bad person or something," West told the Brisbane crowd.

"“Pick a new target, because I’m not one of those dumb ass artists you’re used to.”

Check video of the rant below.

8.10am: a morbid pop-up dinner party in London, themed around the last meals death row prisoners have ordered, has apparently been canned after public backlash. The 'Death Row Dinners' concept was to launch soon, with an 80-person being served up a five course feast inspired by "some of death rows most interesting and popular last dinners." Diners were warned they would be "charged, sentenced, searched and frisked" after forking out 50 pounds for a ticket - but the concept may be living on borrowed time itself.

"We're shocked and saddened by the response to Death Row Dinners and are genuinely very sorry for any offence caused," reads a statement on the website. 

"The pop up is intended to explore the concept of last meals; anyone who has ever been to a dinner party has probably had this conversation – what would they love their last meal to be."

8.05am: Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten have met privately to discuss the question of constitutional recognition of Aboriginal people. There are rumours this morning a referendum on including Aboriginals in the constitution could come up in 2017, to mark 50 years since the historic 1967 referendum which gave greater recognition to Aboriginals and removed provisions impacting indigenous Australians.

8.02am: time for a recap on your Mercury news headlines.

* A baby boy is recovering in hospital, after being found in critical condition in a Woonona house alongside the body of his dead mother.

* Brian Petschler will continue as mayor of Kiama, re-elected last night.

* PM Tony Abbott has not ruled out Australian involvement in military action against ISIL in Syria

* The driver of a car that killed a schoolgirl in Kogarah on Monday, is the sister of former NRL star Joe Galuvao

8am: coming towards the final third of our time together, Rushers! We're in this one together until 9am, so let's run down again what you need to know.

WEATHER: Wednesday will be fine and sunny Illawarra-wide, with tops of 20 degrees and sun in the skies. It will get a bit windy around lunch time, then ease off later in the day. 

TRAFFIC: all clear on the roads on the commute to Wollongong, Sydney and beyond. 

TRAINS: service is good on the South Coast line; no trackwork, no interruptions, no nothing!

7.55am: STOP EVERYTHING. I missed Mexican Independence Day yesterday, and the chance to eat a million burritos. It was Taco Tuesday and everything! I'm furious at myself. Can't wait for a few new Mexican spots to open up near the Mercury offices - I can see myself "working remotely" from Guzman Y Gomez or Beach Burrito on a regular basis in coming months.

7.50am: sad news for movie buffs, with At The Movies stars David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz announcing they will be retiring their iconic seats from next year. The movie critic duo is retiring from TV.

"After 28 years reviewing films on television with Margaret, ten of them at the ABC, I feel it’s time to go," Stratton said in a statement.

The show will wind up at the end of its current season.

7.40am: Scotland is set to vote on whether the country will leave the United Kingdom, with the polls showing an almost 50-50 split in opinion. Let 'Last Week Tonight' host John Oliver give you a rundown of what's happening, and how it might affect Scotland (complete with required 'Braveheart' clip)

7.35am: in the most shocking case of First World Problems since you dropped your pumpkin spice soy free trade organic latte on your new laptop while watching Netflix in bed, Apple has bowed to public pressure and released info on how to remove the new U2 album from iPhones. The Irish band's latest album 'Songs of Innocence' automatically appeared on millions of iPhones last week as part of an Apple marketing play, but it backfired with many not happy to have the album on there.

Want to prune Bono's latest effort from your immaculately-curated iTunes playlist? Get instructions here. It should help people like this:

7.30am: one for all the rockstars out there. A pair of Argentinian guys make guitars out of old busted-up skateboards - called, funnily enough, Skate Guitars. These look way too cool! 

7.25am: it seems to be the animal edition of Morning Rush today. Pandas at Adelaide Zoo are getting down to business today, with breeding pair Wang Wang and Funi having just a 36 hour-window all year to mate and produce a baby. To learn far more than you ever needed to know about giant panda mating rituals and courtship behaviour, click here at your peril.

7.20am: OK look, I could post this one and just finish Morning Rush right now, because there's no way I or anyone else could possibly top this. Youtube creator HelloDenizen reached peak internet fame recently for a video where he created tiny, perfect burritos for his hamster to eat. He has now pitted his junk food-gobbling hamster against champion competitive eater Kobayashi, in a hot dog eating contest.

No more words. Just watch.

7.15am: it's early, the sun's popped up and I'm all alone in the office with just the burble of breakfast TV to keep me company. I'm vibing on a smooth track from electro artist SBTRKT to keep me going this morning. The British producer has a new album coming out in a few weeks

7.05am: time for a rundown of local sport news, and the big story this morning continues to be Dragons winger Brett Morris' possible move to Canterbury - Dogs legend Steve Mortimer said he would love to see the Morris twins reunited in the blue and white jumper.

* In other Dragons news, forward Trent Merrin may be leaving the club too, saying he is unsure if St George Illawarra can afford to keep him.

* And former league bad boy Todd Carney has found a new home, signing with French club Catalans.

7.02am: traffic and trains are both looking good with no incidents to report, and the weather will hit a top of 20 degrees with sunny skies across the Illawarra

7am: top of the hour, let's recap what you need to know today

* A baby boy is recovering in hospital, after being found in critical condition in a Woonona house alongside the body of his dead mother. Police are investigating.

* Brian Petschler will continue as mayor of Kiama, re-elected last night.

* A coroner's court in Glebe has made findings into the death of paramedic Michael Wilson, who died during a rescue operation near Wollongong in 2011

* PM Tony Abbott has not ruled out Australian involvement in military action against ISIL in Syria

* The driver of a car that killed a schoolgirl in Kogarah on Monday, is the sister of former NRL star Joe Galuvao

6.57am: gross stuff incoming! Researchers have thawed out a frozen colossal squid ("colossal squid" being the animal's actual name, not just a measurement) in New Zealand.  

Weighing 350 kilos and measuring up to 3.5 metres long, it is one of the few intact specimens ever found. The squids can be up to 500kilos and five metres in length, and usually swim so deep in such cold water, are rarely ever seen.

6.50am: there's a lot of bad vibes going on in the world right now, but don't worry guys; Leonardo Di Caprio is on the case. Our man Leo has been named by the United Nations as the "UN messenger of peace." Besides being the world's coolest title beside Supreme Commander NATO Allied Forces Europe, it means Di Caprio will be an ambassador of sorts for causes including climate change. 

"Mr. DiCaprio is a credible voice in the environmental movement, and has a considerable platform to amplify its message,” said UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon.

 “I feel a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history – it is a moment for action," Leo said. "How we respond to the climate crisis in the coming years will likely determine the fate of humanity and our planet.”

6.45am: here's some news just begging for a pun-filled headline; a Vatican-branded car owned by a 91-year-old Argentinian cardinal has been found with four kilos of cocaine and 200grams of cannabis in France. The cardinal's car was taken for a regular maintenance check by two Italian men, who thought the car's Vatican licence plates would avoid any suspicion as they picked up drugs in Spain - but they were searched and sprung at a French toll station.

"The cocaine cardinal's car caught with coke"? "Pope's pimped-out ride popped for pot"?

6.41am: after Kevin Rudd quit politics last year, he had his travel and entitlement allowances slashed. Seems even "Kevin 747" was a victim of budget cuts, stripped down to "Kevin light-aircraft"...

6.31am: rapper Eminem is suing a New Zealand political party, after similarities between a campaign ad and one of his songs emerged. The New Zealand National Party has had a case filed against it, with one of their TV ads having pretty obvious parallels to Eminem's hit song 'Lose Yourself' - "pretty obvious parallels" meaning "there's a Kiwi guy just talking over the song's instrumental beat." Ah no, bru!

6.25am: Hollywood goss fresh off the press, Ryan Gosling is a dad! The handsome fella and partner Eva Mendes had their baby boy on Friday, but kept it under wraps until now. Congrats!

6.17am: straight into the weird stuff this morning! We've had tiger woman, lizardman and the human Barbie doll, but a Latvian woman has spent $53,000 on plastic surgery to make her look more like a blow-up sex doll.

Victoria Wild has 32G breasts (courtesy of three boob jobs), and has had lip implants and loooots of botox to make her resemble a doll. "Who wouldn't want to be treated like a bimbo doll?" she said. "People stare at me in the street and I love the way I stand out."

Her boyfriend has paid for the surgeries. 

6.10am: Here's what is making headlines nationally:

* PM Tony Abbott has not ruled out Australian involvement in military action against ISIL in Syria

* The driver of a car that killed a schoolgirl in Kogarah on Monday, is the sister of former NRL star Joe Galuvao

* Marijuana may become partially decriminalised in NSW, with a parliamentary working group to report back by year's end

* Changes to China's import rules could see the Aussie coal industry lose billions of dollars in sales

6.05am: need a rundown of how to prepare for work?

WEATHER: Wednesday will be fine and sunny Illawarra-wide, with tops of 20 degrees and sun in the skies. It will get a bit windy around lunch time, then ease off later in the day. 

TRAFFIC: all seems clear on the roads for your run to Wollongong, Sydney and beyond. 

TRAINS: service is good on the South Coast line; no trackwork, no interruptions, no nothing!

6am: welcome to Wednesday! Here's the Mercury's top news for the day

* A baby boy is recovering in hospital, after being found in critical condition in a Woonona house alongside the body of his dead mother. Police are investigating.

* Brian Petschler will continue as mayor of Kiama, re-elected unopposed at a council meeting last night.

* A coroner's court in Glebe has made findings into the death of paramedic Michael Wilson, who died during a rescue operation near Wollongong in 2011

* A Vincentia mum is calling for more accessible disabled toilets, trying to make changes to the Australian building code