8.44am Okay, it's time for me to go, enjoy your Thursday!
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
8.42am One quick look at the trains and traffic before I say farewell. The South Coast line is still going well, and it appears that broken down truck has been moved from Mt Ousley Road. But the gravel spil at Masters Road is still affecting westbound lanes two and three.
8.40am The Australian Surf Movie Festival will hit Wollongong next week. Find out more in Emma Spillet’s story.
8.34am It's an interesting way of looking at things.
8.28am The broken down car may have gone from Mt Ousley Road, but we’ve now got a truck broken down in the northbound lanes. One lane is closed.
8.20am The reopening date for Austinmer Pool, which has been closed since June, has been pushed back again. The works were due to finish by the end of November, writes Kate McIlwain.
8.16am There’s an $800,000 shortfall in the Wollongong City Council budget after the NSW government allocated just $189,000 to the management of Lake Illawarra, Kate McIwain reports.
8.12am That broken-down car blocking one northbound lane of Mt Ousley Road has been cleared, Live Traffic reports.
8.10am The proposed $58 million Kiama Hospital redevelopment created some tension at the Kiama Council meeting this week, Alex Arnold reports.
8.08am Still on the subject of music, it seems Spotify has a playlist for everyone these days.
8.05am The new project for former Midnight Oil guitarist and songwriter Jim Moginie is a bit unusual - it features six guitarists. If you want to know what that sounds like, they’re playing at Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul on Friday. Check out Bree Fuller’s story here.
8am NSW Trains says there is still good service on the South Coast rail line.
7.59am Also in traffic news, there’s been a gravel spill on Masters Road near the M1 Princes Motorway intersection. The spill is affecting westbound traffic.
7.57am There’s a car broken down on Mt Ousley Road at Clive Bissell Drive. The car is on the northbound side of the road and one lane of traffic is closed.
7.50am While it does seem strange that the cloud would still be forming 20 minutes after the explosion, it's still a striking image.
7.45am The inaugural Bravo Team Challenge is heading to Wollongong next year. The event, which combines physical obstacles with boot camp and a little bit of strategy, will be held on April 17-19. Andrew Pearson has more.
7.35am Ahh, this guy's washboard abs are just like mine.
7.27am University of Wollongong researchers are looking into whether the protective gear mototcyclists wear gets them dangerously hot under the collar. Angela Thompson reports.
7.23am No parent wants Charles Manson as their son-in-law.
7.18am The fantastic chronicle of the Wollongong music scene - Steel City Sound - opens at the Wollongong Art Gallery on Friday at 6.30pm. The exhibition covers the last 50 years of the Wollongong music scene and runs to March 15.
7.10am For the first time in the Camp Quality Convoy’s history, a carbon offset plan is being developed. The plan will offset the carbon emissions from the 791 trucks and more than 1200 motorbikes that took part in Sunday’s fundraiser. Reporter Andrew Pearson has more.
7.03am If you have a young daughter and she breaks the head of one of her Barbie dolls, please don't fix it like this. It will frighten her to death.
6.55am In local news, while musician Steve Caskey was performing at a charity event over the weekend, thieves broke into the back of his car and stole instruments worth almost $6000. Joshua Butler reports.
6.50am The fantastic chronicle of the Wollongong music scene - Steel City Sound - opens at the Wollongong Art Gallery on Friday at 6.30pm. The exhibition covers the last 50 years of the Wollongong music scene and runs to March 15.
6.46am In movie news, Mockinjay - the latest instalment of The Hunger Games series - opens today. Though some people may have been so keen that they went to see it at one of the midnight screenings this morning. Here's the preview to whet your appetite.
6.38am In Illawarra Mercury sport, the St George Illawarra Dragons clean-out continues with Gerard Beale (pictured) granted a release to take up a three-year deal with the Cronulla Sharks. Seems we’re trying to bulk up the forward pack at the expense of our backline. Mitch Jennings has the story.
6.31am As you can see here, it really did snow a lot in the north-eastern corner of the United States.
6.28am In celebrity news News, Kim Kardashian has made Jervis Bay residents angry when she Instagrammed a photo of the regions’ Hole in the Wall beach but labelled it as ‘‘Sydney’’. Read Primrose Riordan’s story here.
6.21am In world news courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald
* A Cuban doctor treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone has tested positive for the disease and is being sent to Geneva for treatment.
* Eleven kindergarten children have died in the latest bus crash in China. It’s the most recent in a series of crashes that have sparked anger over unsafe school transport.
* Temperatures in all 50 US states dipped below freezing on Tuesday as a massive snowstorm hit the north-eastern United States. Some areas in northern New York state, could receive a year’s worth of snow in just three days.
6.14am And here’s some of the national news from the Sydney Morning Herald
* Summer storms have left parts of Brisbane underwater as flash flooding hit the city yesterday. There were reports of people being rescued from fast-flowing waters and thousands going without power.
* In the wake of news to cuts to ABC and SBS, the proposal to let SBS double its amount of ads has angered the commercial networks. Ten Network boss Hamish McLennan says the government is trying to create ‘‘a fourth free-to-air network by stealth’’.
* A 2.5-metre great white shark was pulled from the nets at Bondi Beach yesterday morning.
6.07am Here’s a few of the top stories from today’s Illawarra Mercury
* The owner of a BP service station at the top end of Crown Street is sick of being held up. The latest robbery, last Tuesday, was the fifth time in two months it’s happened.
* Dapto Leagues Club has introduced new dress regulations for staff that ban tattoos and piercings, which has raised a few eyebrows at the Fair Work Commission.
* A Warilla two-year-old found wandering the streets on Tuesday was just ‘‘on an adventure’’ police say.
* A man who spat on police as they tried to arrest him outside the Hotel Illawarra in September claims his drink was spiked and he has no recollection of what he did, a court has heard.
6.02am Good morning, people of the Illawarra (and anyone else reading this). It’s Thursday, which means one more day to go before the weekend comes. I'm Glen Humphries and I'm here for the next few hours.
To start things off lets check out what the weather, traffic and trains are doing
WEATHER: We can look forward to a mostly sunny day today with a very warm top of 29 degrees.
TRAFFIC: The Live Traffic site isn’t reporting any accidents or issues on the roads this morning.
TRAINS: NSW Trains is reporting good service on the South Coast line this morning.