By CBC News Ottawa, January 17, 2018
A judge has given Ottawa taxi plate owners the go-ahead to proceed with a lawsuit claiming the city's decision to allow Uber and similar companies to operate legally is discriminatory.
Justice Robert Smith's decision, handed down Tuesday, acknowledges taxi drivers share the same concerns over the city's new rules. The ruling will allow members of the taxi industry to go ahead with a class action instead of pursuing the matter in court individually.
By Rachel Aiello, CTV News Ottawa, January 15, 2018
OTTAWA – The federal government has unveiled its proposed carbon pricing legislation, spelling out how it plans to regulate and enforce a price on greenhouse gases.
The bill includes the rates that will apply to various types of polluting gasses, as well as provides details on the registration, reporting periods, rebates, payment, and penalties surrounding the incoming carbon price system. Once passed, it will apply to the provinces and territories who do not have their own carbon pricing plan, or that have a plan that isn’t up to federal standards.
During some of the coldest weeks of the year, OC Transpo riders searching their phones for reliable information about when their buses might turn up may have contributed to a server overload that made bus GPS data unreliable.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, January 15, 2018
Today we continue our annual look at what makes this season special, a time when nature is doing much more than just turning dormant for three months. Welcome to the Science of Winter.
There’s hibernating and there’s hibernating among winter animals. In the cold season, black bears go to sleep, but not as deeply as you might think.
Here’s a hint. Mid-winter is not a safe time to decide the bear is asleep so you can poke it with a stick. It might wake up and object.
By Megan Gillis, Ottawa Citizen, January 15, 2018
Some cold-weather pain is skaters’ gain.
The National Capital Commission announced Monday that the stretch of the Rideau Canal Skateway between Somerset Street and Hartwells Locks will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m.
But crews still need to keep working overnight, so stay off the ice for now, the NCC said.
By Glen Gower, StittsvilleCentral, January 15, 2018
There were two articles published last week with some interesting perspectives from Ottawa’s local development scene.
The first is a profile from Ottawa Business Journal of Ted Fobert and Robert Tennant, the founders of Fotenn. Planning nerds like me will recognize Fotenn as the predominant planning consultant in Ottawa. They collaborate with builders and developers large and small to get projects planned and approved by City Hall. I remember being at a Planning Committee a while back where Fotenn was involved in most of the projects on the agenda, from all corners of the City.
By Shad Qadri, StittsvilleCentral, January 15, 2018
I have been advised by City staff that the applicant has adequately rationalized the need for tree removal at 195 Huntmar and a tree permit is expected to be approved within the next two business days for the area highlighted in blue on the Property Location Map (see below).
A partial tree buffer along the eastern boundary will be retained. The permit will allow for the removal of all the trees within the block. An Environmental Impact Statement and Tree Conservation Report was supplied along with supporting geotechnical reports.
By Ted Raymond, CTV News Ottawa, January 15, 2018
Ottawa Police say more charges have been laid in connection with the investigation into an alleged fake Uber driver in the ByWard Market.
37-year-old Sami Hassan Khreis was arrested last week, after police investigated reports of a man accused of sexual assault and stealing credit card information.
Police said the suspect would target women leaving ByWard Market bars late at night, telling them he was an Uber driver and was offering rides. Police allege the victims' financial data would be stolen with a card skimmer. At least one person reported being sexually assaulted.
By CTV News Ottawa, January 15, 2018
Lace 'em Up! A section of the Rideau Canal Skateway will re-open Tuesday morning.
The National Capital Commission says the section between Somerset Street and the Hartwell Locks will be open to skaters and visitors.
Crews resumed work on the weekend, to restore sections of the Skateway after the last week's thaw.By Doug Cornish and others, Ottawa Citizen Letters to the Editor, January 15, 2018
Time to open up Sparks Street for traffic
Re: Let us try, once more, to save Sparks Street, Jan. 12.
Sparks Street was a great and successful experiment in its day, but those days are long gone. You can’t revive a dead horse.
Sparks Street will never be another Distillery district (because it’s not Toronto), and it will never be another Crescent Street (because it’s not Montréal). Ottawa itself has changed since the peak Spark Street days.
By Bob Wilson, Ottawa Citizen, January 15, 2018
Gulls at landfills are so common that their stomach contents are sometimes used to monitor plastic in the environment.
But plastic, research has found, is just the start.
“It was also aluminum, drywall, wax paper,” said Sahar Seif, an undergraduate at Carleton University, who is the lead author of a recently published paper.
By Shad Qadri, StittsvilleCentral, January 12, 2018
On January 23, 2018, a report will be coming forward to Planning Committee recommending Council delegate authority to the General Manager, Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department to enter into an agreement for a financial contribution with the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority for works related to the Upper Poole Creek Subwatershed.
In April of 2000, Marshall Macklin Monaghan Limited completed the Upper Poole Creek Subwatershed Study (UPCSWS) on behalf of the Region of Ottawa-Carleton and the Township of Goulbourn. The purpose of the study was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the subwatershed and, based on this, prepare a plan which will allow a healthy ecology to be maintained or strengthened while accommodating planned development.