Today is October 12, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, a seven-year-old boy is in a critical condition after falling 20 metres at a popular swimming hole in the Macquarie Pass National Park on Sunday, and NSW has reported three new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 through to 8pm Saturday night.

Today is October 9, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, family and friends gathered on Thursday to farewell "everyone's mate", newspaperman Peter Newell, and eight new locally acquired coronavirus cases emerged in New South Wales yesterday, health authorities have confirmed.

Today is October 8, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, the lack of acknowledgement in the federal budget of South Coast residents affected by last summer's bushfires has been dubbed a "slap in the face for the region", and after a "good run" of nearly two weeks of no new locally acquired coronavirus cases in NSW, Premier Gladys Berejiklian says overnight cases are a "wake-up call that we're living in a pandemic".

Today is October 7, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, four people died on NSW roads during the October long weekend despite a heavy presence by NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, and emergency services were working to retrieve a man injured in an industrial accident at Port Kembla on Tuesday.

Today is October 6, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, bus commuters on the South Coast could find their fares halved if draft recommendations come into force, and the new 10-car trains bound for the South Coast line won't fit on one of the hub stations for express services, but the government has no plans to extend the platforms.

Today is October 5, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, the West Dapto site which was supposed to become a $1 billion tourism development linked to golfer Greg Norman has been put up for sale, after the companies which owned the land went in to liquidation, and not-for-profit writing organisations are scrambling to find funding after NSW Government cuts this year, with the South Coast Writer's Centre turning to crowd funding.

Today is October 2, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, Wollongong City Council has been ordered to pay more than $600,000 to a man who tripped and fell near the toilet block at Mount Keira Summit Park four years ago, and strong opposition is expected on October 28 when an Independent Planning Commission hearing is held into the expansion of Boral's Dunmore sand mine towards the Minnamurra River.

Today is October 1, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, Shellharbour residents have been warned not to take matters into their own hands when it comes to policing the illegal fishing of cockles in Lake Illawarra, and the developers behind a massive residential estate planned for the foothills of Mount Keira say they are "considering alternative approaches" to their plans, which have been heavily criticised by residents and Wollongong council.

Today is September 30, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, Port Kembla could become home to a $350 million eco-resort with a man-made wave pool for surf competitions, or an underground art gallery in the old military tunnels, according to a recently unearthed report spruiking the area's tourism potential, and University of Wollongong academics concerned about proposed higher education reform have made a short video specifically for incoming students and their parents.

Today is September 29, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, a prominent Wollongong property owner has added his voice to the growing campaign to reopen Crown Street Mall, arguing such a move could pave the way for an international hotel to be built at the old David Jones site, and McDonald's has received an official knock-back from Wollongong's independent planning panel, which has labelled its proposed Wongawilli outlet "unacceptable" and "overdevelopment".