By Josh Pringle, CTV News Ottawa, October 19, 2017
Get your shovels ready for the winter.
AccuWeather’s winter forecast is calling for “above normal” snowfall for Ottawa and most of Ontario during the winter of 2017-18.
A media release says “there will be opportunities for several significant snow events” in Ottawa and Montreal this winter, especially in January-February.Temperatures are forecast to be “near normal” for Ottawa and eastern Ontario.
By Blair Crawford, Ottawa Sun, October 18, 2017
Even Ole Kassow thought he was crazy when he showed up unannounced at a Copenhagen nursing home on a three-wheeled rickshaw bike and offered to take anyone who wanted for a bike ride.
Five years later, Cycling without Age is a worldwide phenomena, operating in 38 countries, including Canada, with the help of more than 10,000 volunteers. Total up the number of kilometres Kassow’s volunteer rickshaw “pilots” have pedalled their elderly passengers, and you have a journey three times around the world.
By CBC News Ottawa, October 19, 2017
A small earthquake shook parts of the Laurentians this morning.
The 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit at 7:09 a.m. and could be "lightly felt" in the village of Labelle, about 155 kilometres northwest of Montreal, Natural Resources Canada said.
By Norman Provencher, Ottawa Citizen, October 19, 2017
Gatineau politicians can’t go far wrong by promising they’ll repave almost anything if they’re elected Nov. 5, according to a recent poll.
Street improvement is by far the most important issue to voters, with 44 per cent of those canvassed listing it as the No. 1 concern in the poll by Segma Research for Le Droit newspaper and radio station Outaouais 104.7.
The poll showed general transit issues as the second most-important priority for the next council, especially in the traffic-clogged Aylmer sector, where the issue was as important as paving.
By Sabrina Kemp, StittsvilleCentral, October 17, 2017
I was first introduced to the Shea Woods just over 10 years ago. A friend suggested it as a wonderful spot to walk our new puppy. We were newly married and new to the Stittsville Community. I quickly realized how lucky we were to have such a beautiful natural space right in our community.
During my quiet walks there, I was enchanted by the mature cedars, the fern beds that grow in the open, sunlit areas of the forest floor and the old stone fences that border the woods – left behind, I would imagine as I walked, by one of Stittsville’s early settlers.
By StittsvilleCentral, October 17, 2017
The City of Ottawa hosted a media event today to announce a $1.5-million agreement to conserve part of the Shea Woods, a cedar forest located southeast of Holy Spirit Church and a popular spot for dog walkers.
The forest is currently owned by CRT Developments, who are planning a housing development in the area. A City of Ottawa press release (included below) outlines how the City intends to protected the forested area.
The total area of greenspace to be protected is about 5 hectares, which appears to be less than the 7-hectares that was previously identified by city staff as worthy of protection. The final boundaries of the protected area is still “to be determined”. (Dog walkers may wish to note that the back part of the woods including the “treat tree” will likely not be part of the protected area.)
By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, October 17, 2017
City staff acknowledged that their blue box and green bin programs are not working as well as they could be, but are hesitant to make significant changes to the blue box program as it awaits changes at the provincial level.
As part of the Waste Free Ontario Act passed in 2016, the province is planning to transition the blue box program to be fully run by Stewardship Ontario, an industry-run organization.
But there are plenty of questions about how quickly that plan can be implemented. Originally, the province identified the blue box transition as one of the more complicated programs to implement. But this past summer, things were accelerated, and a final report is expected to hit the minister’s desk next February.
By Erin McCracken, Ottawa Community News, October 16, 2017
The city has ordered its contractor to correct a curb jutting into Heron Road that has sparked concerns in Ottawa’s cycling community following the recent construction of the Heron Road cycle track.
The highly anticipated lane is now an accident waiting to happen because of that sharp curb elbow, said Herongate resident and avid cyclist Kathryn Hunt.
“I wanted this lane to be a good thing,” said Hunt, who began lobbying for the raised track two years ago in her work with the Healthy Transportation Coalition. “I wanted Heron to be less terrifying, but I don’t see that this lane has improved safety at all on Heron.”
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, October 18, 2017
Ontario government lawyers are making another run at dismissing a $500-million lawsuit over the cancellation of a massive wind-power station that might have been built in Lake Ontario off Kingston, a case that’s been in litigation for more than six years.
The government’s lawyers say the case is “plainly devoid of merit” and should be tossed, in their formal notice of their intentions filed in September.
Trillium Power Wind Corp.’s lawyer says the government just doesn’t want the evidence the company has to come out in court.
By Joanne Chianello, CBC News Ottawa, October 17, 2017
Facing stagnant participation rates by residents put off by the "yuck factor" of dumping kitchen scraps in their green bins, the City of Ottawa is in talks with the company that handles household organic waste to look for ways to boost uptake in the expensive recycling program.
"We have a very productive relationship with Orgaworld and we have been talking about solutions," said Kevin Wylie, the general manager of public works. "That's something we hope to have an answer for early next year.
"Wylie made the comments following a wide-ranging discussion at Tuesday's environment committee about waste diversion.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Sun, October 16, 2017
The only organized party in Gatineau politics wants to spend more money rejuvenating downtown, and a lot of its plans have a familiar look.
Action Gatineau – the party of incumbent mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin – said Monday it’s been doing a great job of fixing up the core since the 2013 election, and many of its new plans are extensions of work already approved or underway.
“A total of $ 13.5 million will be added to the current investment of $32 million to support the urban renewal of the downtown core and the development of a favourable environment for revitalization,” the party said Monday.
By CBC News Ottawa, October 16, 2017
Environment Canada confirms a tornado with violent winds damaged six homes in Mont-Laurier, Que.
The tornado came with a storm off the Great Lakes and crossed into Quebec with violent winds. Environment Canada said the EF-0 tornado touched down in the neighbourhood of Chemin du Lac Nadeau.
The surge also knocked out power in the town located about two hours north of Ottawa, leaving some 17,000 customers in the Laurentian region without electricity at the storm's height.