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Tuesday May 21, 2024

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Today

🌧️ Moderate Rain
High 23° Low 16°
🌞 5:25 am🌛8:33 pm

Tomorrow

🌧️ Moderate Rain
High 27° Low 16°
🌞 5:24 am🌛8:34 pm

See the 8 day forecast at the ottawan weather

 

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HELLO OTTAWA

If you are anything like us, this was the first real weekend spent working in the garden. And now, everything hurts.
 

Mailbag:

✉️ Reader Alyson writes: ‘A wonderful newsletter as always but as a St Catharines girl who moved to Ottawa to attend Carleton in 1992 and never left, please ensure you spell the name of my birthplace correctly. It’s with an ‘a’ not an ‘e’ - you have the French spelling.’

(I had no idea it was spelt that way. St Catharines with an ‘a’ apparently never made it to Vancouver. My apologies – Darren)

✉️ On Thursday, we referred to the official responsible for the Federal payroll, Alex Benay, as the ‘Chief Information Officer for the Federal government’.

Reader Gautam writes that Benay has not held that position since 2019, he is currently Associate Deputy Minister of Enterprise pay coordination.

Dominic Rochon is the current Chief Information Officer of Canada.

Thank you for the correction, Gautam.

– Martha and Darren

    Number 

    • 33,864
    • – The number of false 911 calls in the first three months of 2024, down 42 per cent from the previous year. The Ottawa Police Services Board credits the reduction to a software update to Android phones, which made setting off the emergency SOS feature harder. (Josh Pringle at CTV)

    Ottawan of the Day

    • Laurence Wall
    • – The longtime broadcaster with CBC Ottawa has announced his retirement, effective May 30. Wall began his career at CKY Radio Winnipeg in 1979, moving to Ottawa in 1993. Many may recall Wall’s mellifluous tones as the voice of the National Research Council's official time signal. (Trevor Pritchard at CBC) 

    Quote

    • “

    • It’s just kind of steamrolled into something that probably shouldn't have gotten to this point and I think it was handled in bad taste

    • – Stittsville resident Rob Lafleur who was one of several residents on Kearnsley Way ticketed by Ottawa ByLaw for having basketball nets on their lawns which could be used by their kids on the street. Lafleur suspects the tickets may be in retaliation for a complaint that he made to the City. Residents on neighbouring streets with similar basketball nets were not ticketed. (Sam Houpt at CTV)

    Sports

    • ⚽ CPL Atlético Ottawa 1 – Pacific FC 0 last Friday
    • ⚾ FRONTIER Ottawa Titans 5 – Sussex County Miners 2 last Sunday
    • ⚾ FRONTIER Ottawa Titans 0 – Sussex County Miners 3 last Saturday
    • ⚾ FRONTIER Ottawa Titans 4 – Sussex County Miners 10 last Friday

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    CITY HALL AGENDA

    What’s going on at City Hall

    Planning and Housing Committee
    Wednesday, May 22 at 9:30 am

    • Zoning By-law amendment – 224 Preston Street
    • Zoning By-law amendment - 1927 Maple Grove Road
    • Zoning By-law amendments – 451 Smyth Road
    • 2024 O-Train proximity study guidelines update

    📋 Agenda

    WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

    🚊 O Train

    •  St Laurent station will remain closed as workers continue to repair the ceiling. The station was closed to passengers last Friday after an inspection found ‘a few of the suspended ceiling tiles above the platform were disrupted’. Trains will continue to run through the station but not stop. A shuttle bus will connect passengers to Cyrville station. It’s possible that the station may reopen Wednesday. (Isabel Harder at CBC)

    ⚡ Battery Farm

    •  A Gatineau battery farm operator is trying again to build a facility in West Carleton. Evolugen has signed a contract with the Independent Electricity System Operator to build a battery farm near Fitzroy Harbour, which would buy cheap Hydro One electricity at night and sell it back dearer during the day. The contract, however, will be cancelled if City Council does not vote to support it. Last autumn, local residents were not convinced at a public meeting which resulted in City Council voting against it. (Guy Quenneville at CBC)

    🚨 Ottawa Police Service

    •  An internal review by the Ottawa Police Service found that officers were lenient to the Convoy anniversary protestors but not to pro-ceasefire demonstrators. On Feb 17, Ottawa Police told Ottawa ByLaw not to issue any tickets to protestors celebrating the anniversary of the Convoy by setting off fireworks and making noise. That same weekend, protestors over the Hamas-Israel war were issued tickets for using megaphones. The review found there was poor communication between supervisors and will be debated at next week’s Police Board meeting. (William Eltherington at CTV) (The Review)

    🏘️ Houses

    •  CTV has published the latest edition in its monthly series of Ottawa’s ‘eight most expensive homes’. The most expensive is a $7 million pile on the river in the Shirley’s Bay area. The least expensive of the most expensive is a cute 1910 six bedroom in the Glebe for $3.9 million. Nick J. Kyte with Coldwell Banker First Ottawa Realty says that unlike Vancouver, Montréal, and Toronto, ‘Here in Ottawa, the ultra luxury market is very [comparatively] affordable’. Oh, you know that there are photos. (Josh Pringle at CTV)

      ➕ Related The owner of a derelict farmhouse is being audited by the City under the Vacant Unit Tax bylaw. The owner says the house is, and has always been, uninhabitable but the bylaw does not have an exemption that covers this situation. 

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    MORE FROM THE OTTAWAN

    EVENTS


    Is there an event we should know about?
    Please use our easy event submission form

    Today

    Tomorrow

    Sunday

    •  Jana Salameh plays the Jukebox Lunch Concert at the NAC. Free at 12:10 pm, Peter A. Herrndorf Place.

    •  Help Stroked Ego celebrate 14 years in business with a visit to the store’s sale event. It’s a one day sale with a Photo Booth, drinks, and snacks. 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm at 131 Bank St. K1P 5N7

    •  ByTowne Cinema: Nostalghia (Restoration), I Don’t Know Who You Are with Panel Discussion, I Saw The TV Glow.

    •  Mayfair Theatre: Irena’s Vow, Wicked Little Letters, Le Cercle Rouge.

      Gigs

    •  Talk Dirty to Me: An Evening of Sin, Burlesque, Drag, & Variety Show. Rainbow Bistro

    •  Kentucky and D.B. Cohen. Overflow Brewing

    •  Switched-On Synths: Local Noise Vol. 1 with Sam Aleums, Day of Niagara, Annie Socoria. House of TARG

    •  Maude Audet. National Arts Centre

    •  The Desert Echo Duo. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

    •  Flora Luna. LIVE on Elgin

    •  Kate Weeks. Red Bird

    Just Announced / Now Booking

    • Singing Pebble Books is holding a Puzzle Swap this Saturday (May 25). Drop off your gently used jigsaw puzzle this week to receive a ticket to spend on a new (to you) puzzle on Saturday. 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at 206 Main St. K1S 1C6

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    DEALS OF THE DAY

    Almost everything is 30% off sitewide at Cheekbone Beauty. 

    BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

    Something for the trainspotters: Ottawa Railfans was invited by OC Transpo to tour the new Albion Yard, which houses the carriages for the O Train’s Line 2 and Line 4. There are plenty of photos of the new car barns and of the interiors of the new Stadler FLIRT carriages. 

    RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

     

    What did you think of today’s ottawan?

    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  Great

    ⭐⭐⭐   Satisfactory

    ⭐  Needs Improvement

    Comment of the week: ‘I have to smile every time you mention the Choosin’ Hat. Makes my day.’

    THE END

    the ottawan is written and edited every working weekday by Martha and Darren.

    Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at hello@theottawan.com. We read every single comment. 

    We’ll see you tomorrow.

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