By Patrick Langston, Ottawa Citizen, February 26, 2016
Ottawa and area’s green residential building industry shone at the provincial EnerQuality Awards in Toronto Thursday night, taking home six of 16 prizes. The annual awards are presented to Ontario builders and others for achievements across a range of green categories. This year, members of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association fielded 18 of the…
By Haley Ritchie, Ottawa Metro News, February 25, 2016
Free tuition for low-income students and funding for Ottawa’s light-rail project – along with net debt clocking in at $308 billion this year – are some of the big-ticket items in the Ontario Liberal government’s latest budget.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson welcomed Thursday’s provincial budget, saying it “sets the stage for a continued partnership for making our community stronger in Ottawa.”“Stage Two LRT was mentioned specifically in the budget documents and I’m pleased to see that it remains a priority for our provincial partners,” he said.
By Ted Raymond, CFRA News, February 25, 2016
Ottawa did not see as much freezing rain as expected Wednesday, but a wintry mix of snow, ice pellets and rain still fell across the capital.
Early in the day Wednesday, Environment Canada issued a freezing rain warning, and was calling for 15 to 20 mm of freezing rain to fall Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. We did get rain, but with the temperature hovering just above 0°C, typically 0.2 to 0.3, most of it fell as straight rain. Before the precipitation turned over, there was a good deal of snow - 11 cm - which, mixing with the evening rainfall of 13.2 mm, created slushy conditions on roads and sidewalks as well as large puddles on city streets.
By Don Butler, Ottawa Sun, February 25, 2016
Ottawa has the 17th best quality of living in the world according to Mercer, a global consulting firm that ranks 230 cities for their liveability. Hurray for us.
For glass-half-empty types, the worrisome news is we’ve slipped down the list: two years ago, Ottawa was No. 14.
By Bianca Chan, Ottawa Sun, February 25, 2016
The National Capital Commission is opening a new 16-km winter trail for cross-country skiers that will run alongside the Ottawa River.
The Sir John A. Macdonald Trail also involves the support of the Westboro Beach Community Association and the Nakkertok Ski Club. The trail will run from the Canadian War Museum to Westboro Beach.
By CBC News Ottawa, February 25, 2016
The Rideau Canal Skateway has made the record books this season, but no one is celebrating.
The National Capital Commission announced late Thursday the skateway is closing for the season, making the 2016 season the shortest on record.
By Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen, February 25, 2016
Broken sidewalks, unplowed pathways in winter, speeding traffic and unsafe crossings.
Volunteers conducting “age-friendly walkability audits” of three Ottawa neighbourhoods encountered all those hazards and more, says a report released Thursday.
By Emma Jackson, Ottawa Metro News, February 24, 2016
Whether you’re pushing a stroller, using a cane or driving a motorized wheelchair, the state of the sidewalks can make or break your ability to get around.
That’s why the Pedestrian Safety Committee, part of the city’s Council on Aging, just spent more than a year auditing sidewalks, pathways and crosswalks for safety and accessibility issues in spring, fall and winter.
They’ll table their findings Thursday at a special event in Alta Vista.
The issues, to anyone who walks, are well-known: missing pathway connections, lack of safe crossings and poor winter maintenance, for example.
The committee worked with Ecology Ottawa and the city’s public works department to develop a sidewalk hazard form and a walkability audit checklist for exploring broader safety and accessibility issues.
By Lucy Scholey, Ottawa Metro News, February 24, 2016
Kanata residents may soon be able to mow their lawns without hordes of pesky mosquitos buzzing around their heads.
Councillors approved a new four-year mosquito control program to squash the bloodsuckers. Starting next year, the city will spray a biological treatment, Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis, or Bti, that destroys the stomachs and larvae of mosquitos. Health Canada has deemed it safe for humans, animals and non-mosquito insects.
By Norman Jack, CFRA News, February 24, 2016
City councillors have voted heavily in favour of a motion that calls for an 80% reduction in Ottawa's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The proposal updates a program adopted just two years ago which would have seen a 20% decline by 2024.
Councillor Allan Hubley was one of three councillors who voted against the motion.
Hubley said other cities have moved far beyond Ottawa in terms of cutting carbon emissions, but this motion had nothing solid to offer.
By Allison Jones and Keith Leslie, CTV News Ottawa, February 24, 2016
TORONTO -- Motorists and most homeowners in Ontario will be among those to feel the first effects of the Liberal government's cap-and-trade plan, paying more for gasoline and natural gas.
Premier Kathleen Wynne revealed some of the impacts on consumers Wednesday, such as an increase of about 4.3 cents a litre on gas and about $5 more per month on residential natural gas, before the legislation enabling cap-and-trade was to be introduced."The cost of doing nothing is much, much higher than the cost of going forward and reducing greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Sun, February 24, 2016
Another winter storm, another gift of heavy precipitation from drought-stricken Texas. What’s that about?
Winter after winter, Ottawa gets heavy snow or freezing rain from the warm Gulf of Mexico, says David Phillips of Environment Canada.