By Alison Sandor, CFRA News, June 6, 2016
The City's days with Plasco are finally coming to an end.City Solicitor Rick O'Connor says they've reached a settlement with Plasco Energy Group to sever all agreements between the two sides.
The City and Plasco went to court last February when the company - which was proposing to build a plant to incinerate the City's garbage went into creditor protection after missing numerous city deadlines.
By Michelle Nash Baker, Ottawa Community News, June 3, 2016
Pedestrians and cyclists looking for a quick charge soon need only head to Bank Street.
The Bank Street Business Improvement Area will be installing charging stations for mobile devices as well as installing interactive art along Bank between Catherine and Wellington streets.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2016
Two political big shots aren’t budging the National Capital Commission off course in planning the future of LeBreton Flats.
Former Ottawa MPs John Baird and John Manley wrote in an opinion piece this week that the NCC should take the best elements from the RendezVous LeBreton Group and Devcore Candarel DLS proposals to redevelop LeBreton Flats.
By Sherry Aske, CBC News Ottawa, June 6, 2016
The sidewalk outside 150 Elgin St. was swarming with more than just people at 5 p.m. Monday evening.
About 15,000 honey bees were buzzing around a small tree outside the office building, prompting passers-by to swat the air and give the area a wide berth as they passed.
"It was wild to watch them basically walk out into the middle of Elgin Street to avoid the swarm," said Stephen Beckta, who runs a restaurant in the adjacent building.
By John Baird and John Manley, Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2016
After 50 long years, there is now a real sense of excitement that progress is finally being made for the long-neglected LeBreton Flats. The planned redevelopment of the area will be the single largest urban project of its kind in Canada today and perhaps in North America, representing more than 53 acres in the heart of the nation’s capital.
It is a project that will transform the face of Ottawa for generations to come. It will require investments of billions of dollars from the private sector, with the people of Canada as the beneficiaries. This endeavour is not a normal run-of-the-mill National Capital Commission (NCC) project. It will be a legacy of the national government for all Canadians. We have before us a once-in-a-generation opportunity, for our region and for our country, and we need to get it right.
By Aidan Helmer, Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2016
Two prominent former Parliamentarians are putting aside their party ties and calling on the National Capital Commission to revisit the rules around the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats.
In a joint opinion piece published in the Citizen on Monday, former Conservative MP John Baird and former Liberal MP John Manley — both former high-profile Ottawa-area cabinet ministers — are asking the NCC to consider the best elements of both competing bids for the “legacy” project planned for 21.6 hectares of long-dormant downtown land along the Ottawa River.
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2016
A city official ordered the University of Ottawa to remove information from the school’s website related to the closure of a pedestrian and cycling tunnel underneath Nicholas Street and the Transitway, documents obtained by Postmedia reveal.
Campus station may appear to be part of the university’s property, but the Transitway and (future) LRT station are actually on city land. The city announced in February that the station would close on April 24 — in the midst of final exams at the university — but questions remained about what would happen to the tunnel, and when.
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, June 6, 2016
Fears of homeless people loitering or panhandling are among the reasons why the city isn’t installing benches or permanent seating in a new Rideau Street pedestrian plaza currently under construction.
Ogilvy Square will replace a short stretch of Nicholas Street between Rideau and Besserer streets that was closed to vehicle traffic permanently in April.
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“Vague concerns about flexible use of space and fear of itinerant individuals should not be the basis for urban planning,” Liz Bernstein, president of the Lowertown Community Association, told city officials in a letter last month.
By StittsvilleCentral, June 1, 2016
Ottawa drivers are just too polite for roundabouts.
In most jurisdictions, cars have the right of way over pedestrians at a roundabout. But City of Ottawa studies suggest that 50-70% of vehicles are currently yielding to pedestrians as a courtesy, even though they’re not supposed to.
By StittsvilleCentral, June 5, 2016
Thanks to Karla Torres for the heads up about the return of the Stitt Park turtle, spotted by several people yesterday morning. The photo above is from Jean-Michel Bastien, via Facebook.
Could this be the same turtle who buried her eggs in the sand last summer? Torres and her family saw a turtle laying eggs, then helped build an enclosure to protect the nest.
A few weks later the community got involved to protect it after vandals destroyed the structure. When the turtles hatched in September, neighbours helped move them to safety in nearby Poole Creek. (Read more, plus cute baby turtle photos here…)
By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, June 5, 2016
The city’s on track to get more than expected for its stage two LRT plans, but transit commission chairman Stephen Blais warned against earmarking any savings just yet.
“Until we know exactly what the feds have on offer … I don’t think anyone should raise anyone’s expectations,” said Blais.
The city could come out up to $500 million ahead if the federal Liberals follow their provincial counterparts’ example and offer up more than the city asked for in LRT funding.
By Karen Runtz, Ottawa Community News, June 4, 2016
Katie Clow has been known to see ticks everywhere.Closing her eyes after days of dragging wooded and grassy areas for these blood-sucking parasites, visions of ticks, described in a 2014 interview, were understandable.
Clow had returned to the University of Guelph, where she had obtained her doctorate in veterinary medicine three years prior.