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8.40am: that will do us this morning! Have a great day, and keep an eye out for the Mercury on your travels. Pick up a copy or two:

8.38am: one last rundown before we're out of here on the Rush:

WEATHER: Wollongong will hit a top of 19 degrees with sunny skies

TRAFFIC: the accident on Macquarie Pass has seemingly been cleared, so it is smooth sailing on Illawarra roads this morning

TRAINS: there's trackwork on the South Coast line until October 3, affecting travel between Port Kembla and Wollongong. Click here for more

8.35am: the Macquarie Pass accident has dropped off the Live Traffic website, so it seems to have been cleared. Let us know if you experience any troubles driving around that area.

8.30am: we've got a bumper gallery from the school formal season, with pics from St Mary's, Edmund Rice, TIGS, Warrawong High, Keira High and Cedars formals. Check them out here.

8.25am: food pics on Instagram and Facebook has given rise to the condition of 'orthorexia,' or an unhealthy addiction to... being healthy. Dietitians say people who obsess over the macros of the food they eat, in a quest to be as healthy as possible, are actually making themselves unhealthy in the process. Get the story here.

8.20am: it is World Car Free Day today. Use your bike, scooter, skateboard or just walk instead of turning on the car.

8.15am: a Japanese company says they plan to build a 96,000 kilometre elevator to space by 2050. Yep. ABC News is reporting Japanese construction firm Obayashi plan to use robotic cars powered by magnetic motors to take people and cargo to a space station. It will take seven days from door to door. Hope you're not claustrophobic...

8.10am: I went along to Marrickville on Saturday to see legendary Wollongong rockers Tumbleweed headline the Young Henry's Small World festival. It was their first gig since the death of bassist Jay, and they paid tribute to his memory with a powerful, emotional set. Read an interview with the band here and stay tuned for a report later today.

8.05am: national headlines once more:

* Tougher security measures for Parliament House in Canberra, after "chatter" the building could be a terrorist target

* Kings Cross businesses reckon there has been an 84% drop in foot traffic and a 40% decline in business in recent times

* The decomposing body of a man was found in a car boot near Rookwood on the weekend 

8.02am: lots of news around this morning

* A man was taken to hospital with burns to 12 per cent of his body after his Corrimal home was destroyed by fire on Saturday night.

* 95 per cent of Wollongong swimming pools fail safety standards and must be upgraded, council say

* A machete, knife and drugs were found in the car of a Kiama man who led police on a half-hour chase through the Illawarra’s southern suburbs on Saturday

* Massive crowds took to the beach to rally against controversial changes to council's dogs on beaches policy.

8am: recapping the "need-to-knows" of Monday:

WEATHER: Wollongong will hit a top of 19 degrees with sunny skies

TRAFFIC:the accident on Macquarie Pass has closed traffic in both directions on the Illawarra Highway. Avoid the area if possible

TRAINS: there's trackwork on the South Coast line until October 3, affecting travel between Port Kembla and Wollongong. Click here for more

7.50am: Lake Illawarra police have told us there are no reported injuries from the Macquarie Pass crash, but it is still causing traffic troubles. The road is temporarily closed in both directions as tow trucks come in to recover the vehicles. Avoid the area if you can.

7.45am: it's never too early to start planning for the weekend. The Wollongong Writer's Festival are holding a fundraising and networking walk on Saturday, with a "morning of walking, music, pop-up poetry and stories" at North Beach. It's called "Get Off Your Bum, Writers," and will raise money for the festival in October. See more info here.

7.40am: this would be funny if it weren't so serious. Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie's series of interview trainwrecks and brainfarts continues, unable to even slightly comprehend or explain what 'sharia law' is on the ABC 'Insiders' program. She managed, somewhere inside a long line of "umms" and "ahhhs," to babble that sharia law meant terrorism. Check it out below to see the opinions of one woman who holds a great deal of power in the current senate

7.35am: 'True Detective' was one of my favourite TV shows of the last few years, and we've finally got a bit of info on the second season. Colin Farrell has spilled the beans and confirmed he will star, revealing the follow-up will feature eight episodes shot in Los Angeles.

Other rumoured stars include Elisabeth Moss, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughan. It would be a strange cast list, but who ever thought Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson would be such a compelling team? Can't wait for True detective season 2!

7.30am: got a bit of cash lying around? Looking to upgrade from your current house? If you can find $85million down the back of the couch, and you think you're faster than Jay and Bey, this Beverly Hills mansion could be yours

The 23,000 square foot palace has 8 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a 16-car garage and a security system worth over $1million - that should keep those pesky kids off your damn lawn!

A 24-person home theatre, amazing views over Los Angeles and $200,000 worth of candy (really) make it a pretty amazing pad. Jay-Z and Beyonce have their eye on it though, so you'd better make a bid quickly!

7.25am: we're trying to get more info on this crash at Macquarie Pass, but for now, try to avoid the area if you can.

7.20am: it's pretty stressful working in a newsroom, but it is still hard not to laugh at this list of newspaper fails from Buzzfeed. Luckily the Merc doesn't feature, but we all know only too well the occasionally soul-crushing pain of doing the daily vox pop question....

7.15am: a massive weekend for sport nationwide, and worldwide. Congrats if your team won, commiserations if you lost.

* Canterbury will play Penrith, and Souths will face the Roosters, for places in the NRL grand final after a huge weekend of rugby league action

* The Sydney Swans will take on Hawthorn in the AFL grand final, after the red and white had a massive preliminary final win on the weekend

* Manchester United just went down to Leicester City 5-3 in the English Premier League

* Aussie F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo had another podium finish at the Singapore grand prix, coming in third as Lewis Hamilton won again

7.10am: if you're out and about already, here's what Monday morning's Illawarra Mercury looks like. Keep an eye out for it, buy it, read it. It's lovely and papery and physical and a right bargain at just $1.40

7.05am: your local news headlines, all in the one place!

* A man was taken to hospital with burns to 12 per cent of his body after his Corrimal home was destroyed by fire on Saturday night.

* 95 per cent of Wollongong swimming pools fail safety standards and must be upgraded, council say

* A machete, knife and drugs were found in the car of a Kiama man who led police on a half-hour chase through the Illawarra’s southern suburbs early on Saturday morning.

* Massive crowds took to the beach to rally against controversial changes to council's dogs on beaches policy.

7am: top of the hour, let's recap the news you need today:

WEATHER: Wollongong will hit a top of 19 degrees with sunny skies

TRAFFIC: we've got an accident that has just happened on Macquarie Pass, affecting traffic in both directions on the Illawarra Highway. Be careful out there.

TRAINS: there's trackwork on the South Coast line until October 3, affecting travel between Port Kembla and Wollongong. Check here for more info

6.55am: the beach season has kicked off, with lifeguards officially starting patrols on the weekend. Wollongong council has put together a video about surf safety; give it a peek before venturing into the surf this year.

6.50am: something else to watch out for this week; council are doing some road resurfacing at Stanwell Tops:

6.45am: if you're a train traveller, take note of the trackwork on the South Coast line this week, from Monday to Saturday. Get more info from Sydney Trains: 

"Buses replace trains between Port Kembla and Wollongong. Buses depart stations Port Kembla to Coniston 11 minutes earlier than the normal train timetable.

Trains run to the normal timetable between Wollongong and Thirroul/Waterfall.

Trains between Bomaderry and Kiama and between Kiama and Central/Bondi Junction are not affected and will run to the normal timetable."

6.40am: did you see the orca whales off the coast of Wollongong this weekend? Kiara Daly writes: "I am a local photographer in the Wollongong area and while out and about this afternoon, I spotted some Orca whales out to sea near the harbour."

6.35am: big weekend of local sport! Let's recap the big winners:

* Nowra-Bomaderry Jets won the Group 7 rugby league crown, beating Warilla

* University won the first grade, second grade and under-20s rugby union crowns in just a few hours on Saturday

* Northern Pirates shattered a 17-year premiership drought in Illawarra baseball with an 8-5 win over Dapto Chiefs

* Dapto Dandaloo Fury came from a goal down to book their place in the 2014 decider in an absorbing 2-1 victory over Port Kembla on Sunday.

6.30am: need some music to pep you up for Monday morning? Check out this odd supergroup - Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Guns N Roses man Duff McKagan, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Dave Matthews Band’s Stefan Lessard, and country singer Brandi Carlile teamed up with comedian Will Ferrell to perform The Rolling Stones hit 'Honky Tonk Woman' at a cancer benefit night in Seattle. 

It's not nearly as bizarre as it sounds!

6.20am: the mornings are getting a little brighter and warmer - even 5.30am didn't look that God-awful today, with the sun already peeking up. The Bureau of Meteorology reckons Wollongong will get some morning cloud, before the day becomes mostly sunny. Winds will peak at 25km/h around lunchtime, and hang around until the evening.

6.15am: time for a look at national headlines:

* The severely decomposed body of a man has been found dumped in the boot of his own car near Rookwood cemetery on Sunday. Detectives believed the person had been dead for about two weeks.

* Kings Cross businesses are reporting a 40% drop in business since the introduction of controversial lock-out laws

* Police have stopped the search for missing toddler William Tyrell, and are now looking at "human intervention" as a possible reason behind his disappearance.

* Parliament House is getting new security measures, after "chatter" identified the building as a possible terrorist target 

6.10am: here's your top local news for the morning:

* A man was taken to hospital with burns to 12 per cent of his body after his Corrimal home was destroyed by fire on Saturday night.

* 95 per cent of Wollongong swimming pools fail safety standards and must be upgraded, council say

* A machete, knife and drugs were found in the car of a Kiama man who led police on a half-hour chase through the Illawarra’s southern suburbs early on Saturday morning.

* Massive crowds took to the beach to rally against controversial changes to council's dogs on beaches policy.

6am: welcome to Monday morning! Here's what you need to know:

WEATHER: Wollongong will hit a top of 19 degrees with sunny skies, while Albion Park will be a little warmer at 21 degrees

TRAFFIC: no accidents reported on local roads so far this morning

TRAINS: we've got some trackwork on the South Coast line this week. From Sydney Trains:

"Buses replace trains between Port Kembla and Wollongong. Buses depart stations Port Kembla to Coniston 11 minutes earlier than the normal train timetable.

Trains run to the normal timetable between Wollongong and Thirroul/Waterfall.

Trains between Bomaderry and Kiama and between Kiama and Central/Bondi Junction are not affected and will run to the normal timetable."

See the Sydney Trains site for more info on trackwork.