Canberra Now: News in 90 seconds for Wednesday February 15, 2017

Happy hump day, Canberra!

I hope you enjoyed the fleeting heat relief because the mercury will hit the 30s again today and until the weekend. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a top of 30 degrees today, followed by 34 tomorrow and 35 on Friday. We're in for a mostly sunny day.

Here's what's making news this morning:

'Sharing is caring' is Canberra's new motto

Prefer to catch an Uber over a taxi? Would rather book holiday through Airbnb than more traditional means? You're not alone - especially in Canberra.

New data compiled by sharing economy peer-to-peer lending service RateSetter shows 76 per cent of people in the ACT used a sharing economy service in the past six months. 

Doug Dingwall has more. 

ACT politician blasts RSL club as a 'disgrace' to itself

Labor MLA Bec Cody has called on the national and state bodies of the RSL to address the fact the Sussex Inlet club has caricatures of Aboriginies on tiles by the men's urinal. 

"The RSL would think it grossly offensive to place a portrait of the Queen, the Australian flag, or a Rising Sun emblem in the toilet, so why does it think caricatures of our first Australians is acceptable?" she said.

 

Kirsten Lawson has the full story.

 

Driving on toner and old tyres 

This is an interesting take on recycling - old toner cartridges and tyres are being added to Canberra roads in a trial of a new road sealant.

The new road sealant is expected to not just be better for the environment, but also last longer, and likely soften less on hot days too. A street in Kaleen became the first street in the ACT to trial Tonerseal. 

Claudia Long has more.

First batch of Tonerseal is laid on Onkaparinga Crescent in Kaleen. Photo: Claudia Long

Time to truly close the gap

Employment for Aboriginal people dropped nearly twice as much between 2008 and 2014-15, Doug Dingwall reports.

The nation is not on track to meet six out of seven goals in regards to reducing gaps in health, education and employment, the latest Closing the Gap report revealed.

The ACT is doing better in education, but Aboriginal employment fell nearly 10 per cent to 62.9 per cent between 2008 and 2014-2015.

Croker says he won't rush back as Taylor set for debut

Canberra Raiders captain Jarrod Croker is out of action for at least three NRL games, saying he won't rush back for the start of the season to avoid long-term damage to his knee.

Meanwhile, Dave Taylor will be playing for a contract at Seiffert Oval on Saturday in his first game for the Raiders.

Chris Dutton has more.

Today's cartoon

David Pope