By Waughbeshig Rice, CBC News Ottawa, August 2, 2017
The secret is out: the Ottawa River is becoming a destination for anglers from across the continent looking to reel in the massive, elusive muskellunge, or "muskie."
Fishing guide John Anderson has seen steady bookings as word of mouth spreads in muskie circles across North America. His company, the Ottawa River Musky Factory, is in the business of making good on fishing stories about the big ones that didn't get away.
By CBC News Ottawa, August 1, 2017
As more and more electric cars and hybrids roll off the manufacturing line for people to scoop up, what happens if you live in a condo and don't actually own your parking spot?
Ottawa condo-owner Kimberly Hsiung is in a dispute with her condo board after it wouldn't let her plug in her Chevrolet Volt in her dedicated parking spot.
She said she offered to pay a set monthly fee to charge her car, which was denied.
By Kieran Delamont, Ottawa Metro News, July 30, 2017
Claire Charron is a life-long city dweller. Having grown up in Hull, she moved to Ottawa proper 45 years ago. Her daughter and grandkids, on the other hand, live in Kemptville. Having sold her car years ago (“I can walk wherever, I can take the bus,” she said), current transit offerings make visiting her family challenging. The closest she can get by OC Transpo is Barrhaven; she often needs to get picked up by her son-in-law to make it the rest of the way. It’s this sort of problem, she argues, which makes a regional transit network, like the proposed Moose rail network, a much-needed infrastructure development.
By Ottawa Metro News, July 31, 2017
Four months after Ontario’s network of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations should have opened, only two-thirds of Ottawa’s stations are finished.
The Ministry of Transportation’s website lists 11 stations as “in service” and seven stations as “coming soon,” including stations not yet open in Barrhaven, Kanata, downtown and Old Ottawa East.
They should have been finished by March 31, but Bob Nichols, the ministry's spokesperson, said they will now open this fall.“The time it takes to install, test and put a charging station into operation varies in each case," he said in an email, adding each partner dealt with unique circumstances, including "geography, available infrastructure and utility services.”
By Elise Von Sheel, CBC News Ottawa, July 31, 2017
Kimberly Hsiung listened to the pleasant hum of the engine as she drove home in her new hybrid electric car. She parked in her assigned space at her Nepean condo, then plugged the Chevrolet Volt into the post to charge overnight. After following this routine for two weeks, her hydro abruptly went out.
(...)"They cut off the power and sent us an email informing us that it is against the bylaws to charge electric vehicles," she said, explaining her specific condo bylaw only allows block heaters to use the posts.
When Hsiung asked how she could follow the bylaws while powering her car, she was told that each condo owner who wanted to charge an electric vehicle had to get permission from the condo board, pay for an electrician and build a separate charging station on their own dime — with a hefty price tag of about $5,000.
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, July 30, 2017
Making it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate St. Laurent Shopping Centre and reach the adjacent transit station once the Confederation LRT Line opens next year is crucial to light-rail’s ultimate success, says Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Tobi Nussbaum.
The two-level St. Laurent transit station — with a surface-level bus loop and underground train platforms that are currently under construction — is located between the large regional mall and Highway 417.
Reaching it from neighbourhoods to the north means crossing vast parking lots that offer little in the way of sidewalks or bike lanes. Cutting through the mall when it’s open softens the experience for pedestrians, but they still need to cross the parking lot to enter the mall.
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, July 31, 2017
Glen Murray, Ontario’s minister of environment and climate change, is quitting to head an environmental think tank based in Alberta.
Murray is a longtime ally of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s, a former leadership rival who dropped out and endorsed her in 2013 and the minister trusted with the delicate and complicated job of devising the Liberals’ signature plan to cut the province’s greenhouse-gas emissions.
He’s proud to have had that responsibility, he said in a statement announcing his departure.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, July 31, 2017
Summer’s at its height, and Postmedia’s Tom Spears looks at the science of summer — the way we connect with the all-too-short season we revere.
Ring-billed gulls — we mostly just call them seagulls — are everywhere in Ottawa, but most people don’t realize they are newcomers.
There had been herring gulls here before the 1940s, but the ring-bills first arrived around 1945. A man named Douglas Savile of the Department of Agriculture had been noticing these gulls occasionally but it wasn’t until 1946 that he felt there were enough to deserve mentioning.
By Steve Maxwell, Ottawa Citizen, July 25, 2017
Slowly but surely, the Canadian electrical system is changing. On the generation side of the equation there’s more solar and wind power coming on stream across the country. But small equipment that boosts electricity independence for end users is changing, too.
I’m always surprised how many people have a deep interest in making their own electricity at a household level. I’m sure the attraction is about more than just economics, too. While big electricity bills are scary, there’s more than just financial fear at work. Quite apart from saving money, many of us feel an attraction to being somewhat self-reliant with a commodity as basic as electricity. It simply feels good knowing you’re not completely dependent on some faceless company out there at the end of the wires.
By Kimberley Molina, CBC News Ottawa, July 29, 2017
Construction isn't expected to begin until the fall on the downtown recreation paths closed from flooding. The National Capital Commission said requests for tenders for the projects are going out soon.
The price tag is $3.4 million for the flood-related clean up, which includes repairs to the Ottawa River pathway, Lac-des-Fées pathway, the Voyageurs pathways, the Champlain Bridge parking lot, and the electrical system for Leamy Lake's facilities – although the park and beach remain open.
By Waubgeshig Rice, CBC News Ottawa, July 29, 2017
It's no fish tale: the fishing is excellent on the Ottawa River so far this summer.
After intense flooding on the river held up fishing activity in the spring, summer is turning into a banner season for local anglers and guides who are reeling in the big ones.
The water's still high, and that has some fish species bunching up in cooler, weedier spots in the river to eat, according to Gatineau angler Dale Kerr.
By CBC News Ottawa, July 30, 2017
A former Outaouais quartz mine that became a popular off-the-beaten-path tourist destination has now been blocked off to the public.
Metal barricades now restrict access to the Wallingford-Back mine near Mulgrave-et-Derry, Que., a spokesperson for the office of local MNA Alexandre Iracà told Radio-Canada on Friday. A trench has also been dug five metres from the main entrance to keep vehicles away, they said.