By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, June 3, 2016
Lanark County will begin spraying wild parsnip on 750 kilometres of roadsides next week, following Ottawa and some other counties in this region but also facing vocal opposition from some Lanark residents.
Lanark’s chief administrative officer, Kurt Greaves, says the county needs to hold back an invasive weed that is spreading, and which can be dangerous to people.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun, June 2, 2016
The City of Ottawa will pay a $7,500 annual fee to be part of Carbon 613, which is expected to help the municipality achieve its greenhouse gas emission targets.
Capital Coun. David Chernushenko, council’s environment chair, announced the city’s membership Thursday, joining what he called the “coalition of the willing” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon 613 is an initiative of the EnviroCentre group.
Michael Murr, executive director of the EnviroCentre, said Carbon 613 members get access to support programs and services that help them tackle greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative was launched a year ago with the idea of connecting like-minded organizations so they can share emission-reducing ideas.
By CBC News Ottawa, June 2, 2016
If you get around Ottawa by bike to eat, drink, shop or spend money in any way, Jeff Leiper wants to know about it.
The Kitchissippi councillor is expanding his "I Bike, I Buy" campaign to four additional wards in an attempt to track how much money cyclists are spending at local businesses.
"Anywhere you shop by bike, please tell us how much you spend," Leiper said Thursday at the campaign launch at the Ministry of Coffee on Elgin Street.
By Andrew Foote, CBC News Ottawa, June 2, 2016
A University of Ottawa scientist is worried about what the city's light rail trains passing by will do to millions of dollars of research equipment.
As the manager of the school's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance laboratories, Glenn Facey looks after some $6 million in high-powered magnetic equipment used by chemists to find out the physical and chemical properties of atoms and molecules.Six of his eight spectrometers are in laboratories t
By Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen, June 1, 2016
When Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli announced last week that parts of Highway 417 would be widened, my first thought was that he had either gone rogue or somehow grabbed a binder of out-dated briefing notes.
The Ontario government is on the verge of announcing an ambitious climate change plan that takes a dim view of cars, unless they are powered by electricity. And yet, here was the local minister proudly announcing a wider highway to accommodate cars, just like the climate change plan was only a bad dream.
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, June 1, 2016
The city should study converting the Transitway to LRT between South Keys and Hurdman stations because the O-Train Trillium Line won’t cut it for north-south travellers, Coun. Diane Deans says.
Deans, who represents Gloucester-Southgate ward, said the city needs to give more thought to north-south rapid transit.On Wednesday, council’s transportation committee voted 9-2 in favour of an environmental assessment on widening the Airport Parkway and Lester Road.
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, June 1, 2016
The rules of some Ottawa roads will be rewritten next week with the introduction of new pedestrian crossovers.
The provincial government updated the Highway Traffic Act in January to allow cities to install crossovers on low speed, low- to medium-volume roads.
The city says it will install up to 60 crossovers each year for the next three years with a focus in 2016 on single-lane roundabouts, retrofitting existing crossings and on places where no crossing existed previously.
By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, May 31, 2016
Ottawa’s drought conditions are moving from mild to moderate – and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t get rain soon.
That could happen as soon as Thursday, if the Weather Network’s seven-day forecast holds true. Five to 10 millimetres are forecast for Thursday and Monday, with 10 to 15 mm falling on Sunday.
But Environment Canada called only for a 40 per cent chance of showers on Sunday and Monday, and a 60 per cent chance of a thundershower on Thursday.
Patrick Larson, senior water resources technician with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, said last weekend's short downpours weren’t enough to bring water levels back to normal.
By Ted Raymond, CFRA News, June 1, 2016
It was a packed house at Riverside United Church Tuesday evening, as dozens of residents turned out to hear from, and express their opinions to, some of the people involved in the Mooney's Bay playground project.
Among the presenters was City parks manager Dan Chenier, and from Sinking Ship Entertainment's Giver - the TVO show splitting the $2 million cost of the playground with the City - executive producer J.J. Johnson, and producer Rennata Lopez.
By Andrew Foote, CBC News Ottawa, June 1, 2016
The co-ordinator of a free, non-profit festival at Lansdowne Park says the space won't live up to its potential as long as groups putting on big events are forced to pay for extra buses.
Ottawa Asian Fest project co-ordinator Simon Huang said their first Night Market event at Lansdowne Park brought 30,000 people to Lansdowne Park for a taste of Asian food, entertainment and culture last summer, a lot more than they were expecting.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, May 31, 2016
If your lawn has turned brown before summer has even arrived, a look at the weather statistics will explain it all.
Ottawa has had only 26.2 millimetres of rain in May, and none since May 14. (This is based on stats from Ottawa International Airport, which missed a short, heavy shower that drenched downtown just before the start of the 10-kilometre race on Saturday evening.)
By Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen, May 31, 2016
Ashcroft Homes, the developer of the old Westboro convent property, is offering an alternative vision for the remainder of the five-acre site and it includes a 25-storey tower.
The company has the city’s blessing to develop the old Soeurs de la Visitation land on Richmond Road and, in fact, has already opened the first phase of condos in a nine-storey building along the main drag.
The rest of the site is empty, except for the heritage monastery, which must be used for some kind of community benefit, as directed by the