By Josh Pringle, CTV News Ottawa, April 15, 2019
April showers bring rainfall records to Ottawa.
A major storm Sunday night and Monday morning flooded roads and parks across the region.
Environment Canada reports 23.8 mm of rain fell Sunday at the Ottawa Airport, setting a record for greatest rainfall on April 14 in Ottawa history. The previous rainfall record was 15 mm set in 1942.
By Trevor Oates, Ottawa Sun, April 15, 2019
Ask any regular user of OC Transpo about missing a bus because of a cancelled trip and you’re almost guaranteed to hear a story.
Maybe someone will tell you about being stranded on a freezing cold day, waiting for a scheduled bus that never showed. Maybe someone will tell you about how they were late for work, or missed a class, because their bus never came.
But how often are OC Transpo rides actually cancelled? The Citizen endeavoured to find out, asking the transit agency for trip cancellation data.
By the Associated Press, Ottawa Sun, April 14, 2019
DESROCHES ISLAND, Seychelles — In a striking speech delivered from deep below the ocean’s surface, the Seychelles president on Sunday made a global plea for stronger protection of the “beating blue heart of our planet.”
President Danny Faure’s call for action, the first-ever live speech from an underwater submersible, came from one of the many island nations threatened by global warming.
He spoke during a visit to an ambitious British-led science expedition exploring the Indian Ocean depths. Oceans cover over two-thirds of the world’s surface but remain, for the most part, uncharted. We have better maps of Mars than we do of the ocean floor, Faure said.
By the Canadian Press, Ottawa Sun, April 15, 2019
MONTREAL — Grocery chain Metro Inc. will allow customers to use reusable containers and zipper bags to purchase fresh products in stores across Quebec.
The grocery and drug store company says in a statement today it wants to reduce the amount of single-use packaging it sells.
Metro Inc. senior vice-president Marc Giroux says the plan is a simple one and allows for customers to bring clean resealable containers and bags from home without compromising product safety or quality.
By CBC News Ottawa, April 15, 2019
Wild turkeys are wreaking havoc on western Quebec's farms, leading to calls for better control of the hungry birds' population.
The Union of Agricultural Producers (UAP) says wild turkeys have been causing more and more trouble as their population grows.
"We want to find a solution, find a way to control them without exterminating them," said Stéphane Alary, UAP vice-president for the Outaouais-Laurentian region.
(...)It's not just Outaouais residents who've had run-ins with the birds. From terrorizing a Barrhaven retirement home to running around the downtown core, wild turkeys are a frequent sight in Ottawa as well.
(...)"We're taking over a lot of their habitat," she said. "As a lot of rural areas and forested areas are being turned into housing developments, the turkeys have to go somewhere."
By Matthew Pearson, CBC News Ottawa, April 14, 2019
From affordable housing to improved transit to a renewed focus on community safety in Overbrook in the wake of gun violence, residents expect whoever wins the Rideau-Rockcliffe byelection on Monday to hit the ground running.
She said she hears all the time about the barriers people face just getting around the ward, which has become more complicated due to changes made to some routes in preparation for the launch of the Confederation LRT Line.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, April 15, 2019
Our region’s biggest woodpecker is a tough, crow-sized bird that sends wood chips flying as it carves gaping holes in tree trunks. Yet it was always afraid of people.
Ottawa naturalist Dan Brunton remembers finding one 80 kilometres north of the capital some 50 years ago. It was noteworthy enough to make the newspaper’s bird column.
Pioneer naturalist Elkanah Billings wrote of seeing “a flock of seven or eight in the unsurveyed lands between Ottawa and Georgian Bay” (probably present-day Algonquin Park) in 1852 as an exceptional occurrence. In 1923 it was still described as “a rare resident in the immediate vicinity of the city (Ottawa).” People shot them.
By PostMedia, Ottawa Citizen, April 14, 2019
A century-old American elm that had stood just east of Centre Block on Parliament Hill was cut down by work crews on Saturday.
Despite pleadings from local environmental groups and community associations, the tree that would have been in the middle of a construction zone was felled as part of preparatory work for the decade-long project to renovate Parliament.
(...)Several assessments from arborists expressed doubt it would survive more than five years anyway, Wright added during an appearance before the House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee.
By Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa, April 12, 2019
(...)Mixed review on Transit
On other files, like transit, Watson says he’s both pleased and disappointed. He’s happy to see the Province’s commitment of $1.2 billion for Phase 2 of LRT, but unhappy with the fact that Queen’s Park will not be doubling Ottawa’s share of the gas tax.
“Governments get elected and they’re entitled to make different decisions,” Watson says, “but it was made very clear during the election campaign that that commitment of doubling the gas tax would continue. So, we’re going to sit down with government officials to let them understand that this is a big issue for us. Most of the dollars were going to go toward mass transit projects.”
Watson says he has asked the City Treasurer to come back with solutions to fill the gap of the planned gas tax increase. He says Phase 2 of LRT is not at risk because of the Province’s move.
By Idil Mussa, CBC News Ottawa, April 12, 2019
The provincial government's decision to scrap previous plans to double the city's share of gas tax funding means Ottawa will lose $1 billion for its mass transit plans over the next 30 years.
The announcement that the Progressive Conservative government is cancelling plans to double the funds — which are expected to total more than $36 million for Ottawa in 2019 — appeared on page 75 of the PCs' first budget, tabled Thursday.
The cancellation appeared to have taken municipalities by surprise.
By Celeste Decaire, CBC News, April 13, 2019
Research from the University of Guelph has found that a quarter of foxes and coyotes in southern Ontario have a tapeworm that can be fatal to dogs and their owners.
Nearly one in four coyotes and foxes in the area from Windsor to Ottawa tested positive for the Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm, which has only been found in Western Canada so far.
Prof. Andrew Peregrine, the report's lead researcher at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, said the findings suggest the tapeworm is now well established and has been present even longer than indicated by the study.
By StittsvilleCentral.ca, April 12, 2019
April 14th is Electric Vehicle Day. A free event for anyone interested in learning more about electric cars and bicycles is taking place at IKEA‘s north parking lot from 9:00am – 5:00pm. Educational electric vehicle (EV) test drives will be available throughout the day with Plug’N Drive, as well as two seminars about the used EV incentive program. Electric vehicle owners from the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa will be on hand with their vehicles to share their experiences, local knowledge and answer any questions about EV ownership. We will have several special guests popping by throughout the day and several community partners on site to share their resources.
EnviroCentre’s mission is to help people, organizations, and businesses reduce their environmental impact in practical and lasting ways. We support the adoption of electric vehicles as we know that a car-free lifestyle is not an option for everyone and that electric bicycles can mean the difference between cycling and driving for many Ottawa residents. Electric vehicles have a lower impact on the environment than gas vehicles as they are more energy efficient and electricity in Ontario is a much cleaner energy source. By switching to an EV, the average Canadian driver can reduce their car’s greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 90% [source: Plug’N Drive].
(...)Ottawa’s Electric Vehicle Day – the event