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HELLO OTTAWA

Weekend plans: Get some stuff done, even while in lockdown. 

▪️Plan your empire. If you’ve got a food or craft product to sell, applications are now open for Ottawa Markets at Byward Market and Parkdale, both of which will be starting up again in the spring. 

▪️Need beer? Grab a case of North of 7 Helles Lager (5.0% ABV) from 4 Degrees Brewing, priced at $49.36, or $2.020 per can. See what they did there? Way to stick it to a crap year! Visit them in Smith Falls for curb side pickup.

▪️Spark Beer celebrated its first anniversary yesterday (January 7th). Congratulations to one of Ottawa’s fine craft breweries. Spark brews sours, IPAs, ambers, Weisses, and pale ales.

▪️In addition to great beer, you can order tender brisket on noodles from Flora Hall, until 11pm every day. Choose to pickup or have it delivered by Uber Eats.

▪️Eat steak. The iconic Al’s Steak House at 327 Elgin St is offering free delivery within a 10 mile radius. If you prefer to pickup you can do so in person or by car. 

▪️Update your home workspace. Ottawa Home Office has chairs, acoustic wall tiles, desks and shelves, and even an anti-fatigue mat. 

▪️On the advice of our reader Thera, visit the pop up Bottle Shop at Bar Lupulus to buy one of their new “West Loop” Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizzas. The pies are available via same-day orders, and since there’s no delivery you’ll need to head to 1242 Wellington St. West. 

▪️Paint some cookies, with the kids or on your own. Aux Delices Bakery has kits with six or 12 cookies, paint brushes, and palettes of colour. All you need to do is to add water to bring the colour to life.

▪️If you have a sunny room, propagate some plants. YouTube has loads of useful videos, like these: [1] [2] [3]

We'll see you Monday – Martha and Darren


#STATS

Weather: ☀️ Sunny. High of -5°

Number: $1,213. The average price of annual auto insurance in Ottawa, which is lower than the provincial average of $1,616. The most expensive is Brampton at $2,698. The cheapest is Kingston, Napanee, Port Hope, Cobourg and Brockville at $1,103. Toronto is $2,201. [To Do Canada]

Ottawan of the Day: Adrian Cho, who has created a software package that allows musicians to perform together virtually. [Ottawa Citizen] [Syncspace Live]

Quote: “There is no scar. It's still an open wound for us” – Carleton University student Deniz Pourazar whose mother was among the 176 killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was shot down outside of Tehran. The University of Ottawa held a virtual memorial at 11am today in remembrance of its three students who perished.  [CBC


CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Vaccination tracker by Andrew Lam (@socialvizcanada)

72,631 doses have been administered in Ontario (49% of the doses available)

? At this rate, it would take 312.5 weeks to administer one dose to each person in Ontario. 


? Public Health Reports: 

OTTAWA

Ottawa Public Health Dashboard

Ottawa Wastewater Dashboard

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

Ottawa Catholic School Board

Conseil des ecoles catholiques du Centre-Est

Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario
 

There have been 10,750 confirmed cases of COVID‌-19, an increase of 68 since yesterday, and 394 deaths, one new report.
 

OUTAOUAIS

Outaouais Public Health dashboard

There have been 5103 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 41 since yesterday, and 130 deaths, five new reports.
 

EASTERN ONTARIO

Eastern Ontario Health Unit dashboard

There have been 1766 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 0 since yesterday, and 35 deaths, no new reports.
 

Sometimes the number of cases or deaths are lower from one day to the next. This is usually because the powers-that-be have reassigned a case to a different health authority.


? The manager of the office of border and travel health (The Public Health Agency of Canada programme to keep communicable diseases out of Canada and reduce public health risks to travellers) is one of Air Canada’s social media infuencers who accepted an all-expenses-paid vacation to Jamaica in November. [Global]

⭕ The Ottawa Wastewater COVID-19 tracker, which checks how the City is doing by sampling sewage, will be able to test for the new COVID-19 variant next week [Ottawa Citizen] [Ottawa Wastewater Dashboard]

⭕ Elementary students will be staying home and studying online for another two weeks [CTV]

⭕ Pregnant and breastfeeding women can now be vaccinated in Ontario under a rule change [CBC


 ? The Canada COVID Alert App

Be alerted if you have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

How It Works       [Apple App Store]      [Google Play Store]

HISTORIC OTTAWA LOGO T-SHIRTS

We’ve made t-shirts of iconic Ottawa logos. 

Printed in Canada.

BUY

 

And don’t forget: you can also buy official ottawan t-shirts

#WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️Homeless people are testing positive for COVID-19 because personal support workers are so poorly paid some are living in the same shelters. Inner City Health says there are so many long-term care workers with precarious incomes that some are staying the special hotel set up for people who need to self isolate but cannot do it at home. [CBC]

▪️Homeless persons are at risk of arrest and fines in Gatineau under new curfew rulesThe new rules, creating a curfew from 8pm to 5am, are intended to help break the links of COVID-19 but many people have nowhere to go. Fines for being on the street range from $1,000 to $6,000 and non-payment will eventually result in arrest. The Collectif régional de lutte à l'itinérance en Outaouais wants to discuss creating an exclusion zone with Gatineau police for homeless persons. [CBC]

▪️The city's four artificial outdoor rinks now require reservations and hockey is banned everywhere. The surface is still limited to 25 skaters, as it is on all outdoor rinks and toboggan runs. Team sports are not permitted on any rink, nor are sticks and pucks. [City of Ottawa news] [Skating reservations]

▪️Local mom and pop company Shopify has decided that Making America Great Again is bad business. The company had been providing the online shopping cart services to US President Donald Trump's campaign website and to his hotel business. Shopify said that Wednesday's riot at the US Capitol building was against their terms and conditions. [CTV]

▪️The Ottawa Senators have officially been allowed to play hockey at Canadian Tire Place. Let's hope that this encourages the Sens to start. The Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture, Lisa MacLeod, granted Ottawa and Toronto special permission to use their home ices in the NHL's new Northern Conference. The Sens first match will be against Toronto on January 15.  [CTV]

▪️The Urban Winter Trails Alliance has created the Rideau Winter Trail. If we get any snow, it will be a great, new 9 km route for for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, walking, or fat biking.  [Ottawa Citizen] [Map]

▪️There is still time to tell the City and the developer that the design of the new addition to the Château Laurier is an abomination which would be rejected as a power station for being too on-the-nose. The City is inviting people to a round-table information session on Wednesday, January 13 – but you must register 48 hours ahead of time. [Ottawa Citizen] [Register]

THE OTTAWAN

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?️ The Best Of Ottawa Awards 2020 

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