Australia Weather News
Police said a driver failed to stop after the couple was hit by a car. - ABC
Fatal hit-and-run
Police are hunting the driver of a car involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Nimbin in northern NSW.
A couple was run down early last night while they were walking along a road just after 7:00pm — a 62-year-old woman died at the scene and her 63-year-old partner sustained serious injuries.
NSW Police said the driver failed to stop and their Subaru was badly damaged and lost its front grill in the collision.
Police seeking 'rat thief'
NSW Police are searching for a woman who they believe in connected to the disappearance of a homeless man's pet rat on Pitt Street.
Chris and his pet rat Lucy are a well-known fixture in central Sydney — but Lucy has been missing since April 6.
Police believe someone took Lucy from her milk crate while Chris used a nearby bathroom, and police yesterday released CCTV images of a woman they believe can help with their inquiries.
Medical cannabis facility
Hidden at an undisclosed rural NSW location, the state's first medicinal marijuana growing and testing centre looks more like a jailhouse than a greenhouse.
The high-security facility is home to eight different varieties of cannabis being tested for research to help determine the best growing techniques, standards and protocols for the sale of the drug for medical treatment.
NSW Agricultural Minister Adam Marshall said the research would fill critical knowledge gaps about cannabis and help determine the best conditions for growth.
Traffic report
Lanes have reopened on the Hume Highway in Liverpool in Sydney's south-west after a car approaching Hoxton Park Road had broken down.
At least one of three lanes heading towards the city had closed as a result of the breakdown.
Meanwhile, one of two northbound lanes on the M1 Pacific Motorway was also closed due to a two-car crash in Tugan Tunnel near Tweed Heads West.
Plastic reduction plan
Coca-Cola has announced 70 per cent of its plastic bottles will be made entirely of recycled plastic by the end of the year.
President of Coca-Cola Australia Vamsi Mohan Thati said the move meant the company would avoid introducing 16,000 tonnes of fresh plastic to the environment.
Mr Thati said the company had been using recycled plastic for its Mount Franklin water bottles over the past year and this was an extension of the program.
Blood needed over Easter
The Red Cross is urgently seeking more than 4,000 donors to give blood between Easter Saturday and April 25 in order to prevent a shortage of blood.
Red Cross spokesperson Helen Walsh said people with O and A blood types were most needed to bolster supplies — platelets which come from donated blood and are vital to cancer treatment have a shelf-life of just five days.
"We need a constant supply — we can't stockpile them, which is why we need people donating every day throughout the Easter period," she said.
ABC