By N. Anne Smith, Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor, April 28, 2016
Please don’t pick the flowers
Re: Root of all evil?
City rings alarm over wild parsnips, April 27.So “children should be reminded not to pick wildflowers.” Of course. Also, not to run; they might trip. And not to jump; they might sprain an ankle. As for climbing a tree – oh, the horror!
By Tyler Dawson, Ottawa Citizen, April 28, 2016
The great Ottawa outdoor experiment continues, with a plan in place for micro patios that’ll add some pizzazz to various streets around the city for the summertime season.
It will happen at the expense of parking stalls – but don’t worry, not that many.
It must be said that, for all its shortcomings, Ottawa has a spectacular patio season. Thanks to an abundance of sun and the absence of tall buildings, the city is an ideal setting for some solid afternoon boozing or if needed, mimosas in the morning.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, April 27, 2016
When Algonquin College asked one of the world’s biggest engineering companies to help it save energy, no one at the college expected to start generating two million watts of their own electricity.
The big yellow cogeneration unit (meaning it burns natural gas to generate both electricity and heat for buildings at the same time) is now a reality. The tour of VIPs in clean and gleaming hardhats is over.
And the result puts Algonquin a big step ahead of the usual energy-saving plans that concentrate mainly on better windows, low-energy lightbulbs and low-flow toilets. (Algonquin, as it happens, is doing those things too.)
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, April 27, 2016
The New York City transportation guru who closed Times Square to cars says Ottawa could do the same in the ByWard Market.
Janette Sadik-Khan visited the Market on Wednesday as part of a day-long stop here, which was to culminate with an evening keynote speech to hundreds at the Aberdeen Pavilion.
“Try it, you’ll like it,” she said. “Cars don’t shop, people do. When you prioritize pedestrians and make it easy for them to walk in and out of stores, it’s much better for the bottom line of businesses.”
By Anne Sophia Vollmerhausen, Ottawa Citizen, April 28, 2016
The City of Gatineau has shifted into high gear in its quest to be known as the go-to place for cycling in Quebec.
After months of searching, the city has hired a bike route co-ordinator, as it seeks to increase the amount of cyclists in the city. The city will announce the name of the new co-ordinator in two weeks. The co-ordinator is charged with overseeing the city’s existing cycling network plan, as well as other measures in order to reduce the number of cars on the roads.
By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, April 26, 2016
The sudden closure of a new bike path in Little Italy took cyclists by surprise Monday morning, in an apparent "error" by the city.
A 600-metre stretch of the newly paved Trillium multi-use pathway, which opened last December beside the O-Train line, will be closed on weekdays between Young Street and Carling Avenue until June 10 while the city finishes landscaping and paving work.
But no one knew this was coming until the shutdown started Monday morning.
By Hayley Ritchie, Ottawa Metro News, April 27, 2016
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and the NCC suggested on social media this week they’re in discussions about testing the waters with new Rideau Canal access points for canoes and kayaks.
“I definitely support greater canoe & kayak access to the canal downtown,” McKenna tweeted on Sunday.
“We can do a lot better than this,” she continued, sharing a photo of two residents struggling to tip a large canoe over the canal barrier and into the water.
By Alison Sandor, CFRA News, April 27, 2016
Community groups in Carlsbad Springs, Russell and Vars are holding public meetings over the next few days to update residents on the status of a proposed landfill in the area.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change found an environmental assessment of the site for the new dump complied with standards. The public now has until May 20th to provide its comments on the proposed 450-acre landfill.
Taggart Miller's proposed Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre would house industrial waste and Lucie Régimbald with Dump This Dump 2 says it's not necessary.
By Adam Kveton, Ottawa Community News, April 26, 2016
River Ward held its first official Earth Day event on April 23, with dozens of residents attending along with a special guest direct from New York.
The federal government’s Environment and Climate Change Minister and Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna spoke to the crowd about her trip to the Big Apple on April 22, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change.
(...)
The River Ward Earth Day event included an environment trade show featuring city services, an e-waste recycling drive, and a guided tour of the nearby McCarthy Woods.
By Eric Longley, CTV Ottawa,April 26, 2016
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” goes the old saying.
But that’s not always the case in Ottawa’s Manor Park.The issue of scavenging bottles out of recycle bins left at the curb has become a hot topic after one resident filed a complaint.
Liba Bender says these scavengers are different. They’re driving around late at night in late-model vehicles. "It has been about six months now that I've noticed two vans going through our neighbourhoods," she says.
By Madeline Ashby, Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2016
It’s all our fault.
Ninety-three percent of the coral in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has bleached. If killing the coral were an assignment humanity were being graded on, we would have gotten an A by now.That the bleaching is caused by anthropogenic climate change is not in dispute. There is no toxic spill nearby that has caused this bleaching event (or any of the others that preceded it). There was no explosion, no catastrophe, no sudden Biblical boiling of the seas. The long disaster that is climate change is responsible, and we as a species are responsible for that. Anyone who says otherwise either patently refuses to believe in science – and as such should no longer benefit from scientific advancements, such as seat-belts or penicillin – or is simply trying to spare themselves the despair that comes with the acknowledgement of responsibility.
By Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2016
ILLUMINATION LEBRETON
18,000-seat “major event centre”
Sensplex rinks with attached 250,000-square-foot sports and recreation centre for disabled and able-bodied users
Restored heritage aqueduct lined with shops and cafés An optional public library adjacent to the LeBreton development property
Five distinct neighbourhoods containing 4,400 residential units plus 2.8 million square feet of office and retail space
LeBreton Square, able to handle up to 28,000 people for outdoor events