Valentine's Day prep; Ottawa transit public inquiry; Ottawa Arts Council wants your nominations

News, restaurants, events – discover what's happening in your city every weekday morning

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

HELLO OTTAWA

Valentine's Day isn’t loved by everyone, but if you want to show your particular person some extra love on February 14th, or you’re searching for a cute outfit to celebrate Galentine's Day instead, local makers and service providers have you covered.

▪️Ottawa’s Cara Bara Designs has gorgeously designed greeting cards with modern sentiments like “You’re Salty But I Love You” and “You’re My Cup of Tea”, all available on her website. You can also find a selection irl at Flock Boutique (1275 Wellington).

▪️We love the new little video by Blondie Apparel, explaining exactly what they mean when they say their stylish, casual fashions are Made in Canada. Everything from design, through milling of fabric, to the clothing tags, to the price tags... Yup, it’s all made in Canada.

▪️Sometimes a man’s grooming takes a back seat to his other responsibilities, so a gift card for a serious beard and hair trim is a great idea. In the East End, Fine Grooming’s four barbers offer trims, shapes, cuts, and buzz cuts for Ottawa’s stylish dudes, including kids and seniors. Not Your Father’s Barber in the ByWard Market offers classic cuts and treatments, and right now they’ll even throw in some swag if you dare to get a seventies album haircut (probably best not to do that for Valentine's Day though). In 2019 The Hare and Hound opened in the Little Italy building that once held the Joe Lerullo Barbershop. Soak up the history while you you get your trim.

▪️Putting chocolates and hearts together in one bite is Martha’s Valentine.s Day dream (hint hint, Darren). Aux Delices Bakery’s Dipped Menu includes Oreos dipped in chocolate with cute little hearts on top. Oh, and chocolate dipped strawberries. And chocolate dipped pretzel rods. (Seriously, Darren. Get ordering.)

January sales

Get an extra 30% off Vétements Mandala Wear during their Winter Sale. Winter layering tees and versatile transition pieces such as tunics are all available at reduced prices.

We'll see you tomorrow– Martha and Darren

❣️ Is there something that Ottawa should know about? Email to us at [email protected]. We read every single comment.

STATS

Weather: ❄️ 30% chance of flurries. High of -10°, low of -31°. There is an extreme cold warning this today.

Number: 2.8 million square feet. The size of the largest Amazon warehouse in Canada, which is located in Barrhaven. The site has just been sold to a real estate consortium. [Real Estate News Exchange]

Ottawan of the Day: Neha Sin. The singer has just released her new murder mystery song single, ‘Don’t Look For Me Now’. [Apt 613] [Don't Look For Me Now]

Quote: ‘"This whole food banking thing should be cut right down to minimal. So if somebody has an emergency, yes, but this is not an emergency’ – Karen Secord, executive director of the Parkdale Food Centre, reacting to a uOttawa study that shows food banks have migrated from an emergency service to a day-to-day resource. [CBC]

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Information is as of this morning. Changes are relative to yesterday.

ONTARIO

Ontario hasn't reported today yet, so this is all from yesterday.

hospitalizations	change	in icu	change
3,861	?-253	615	?25

cases	change	deaths
1,001,455	? 17,096	11,004?139

? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (5+)		88.6%
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (5+)		82.3%

Ontario COVID Page Ontario Vaccine Rates

QUEBEC

hospitalizations	change	in icu	change
3,278	? -21	263	? 0

cases	change	deaths
841,414	?2,977	12,936 ?85

? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (5+)		90.4%
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (5+)		83%

Quebec COVID Page Quebec Vaccine Rates

OTTAWA

hospitalizations	change	in icu	change
103	?10	17	?3

cases	change	deaths
56,193	?232	675 ?11

? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (5+)		905,912 (91%)
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (5+)		841,234 (84%)
? Eligible people vaccinated with three doses (5+)		496,162

Ottawa Public Health Ottawa Vaccination Rates. Ottawa Wastewater

OUTAOUAIS

hospitalizations	change	in icu	change
82	?-76	7	? 0

cases	change	deaths
32,309	?455	252 ?7

As of January 18, 2022 Updated Weekly

? Eligible people vaccinated with one dose (12+)		88.9%
? Eligible people vaccinated with two doses (12+)		86.1%

Outaouais Public Health Quebec Vaccination Rates

EASTERN ONTARIO HEALTH UNIT

The Health Unit is changing the way they report. In the meantime, they are not reporting cumulative cases, only current active cases.

hospitalizations	change	in icu	change
35	?5	7	? -2

active cases	change	deaths
3,175	? -29	149 ? 0

? Eligible people with one dose (5+)		179,283 (87.4%)
? Eligible people with two doses (5+)		166,481 (81.2%)
? Eligible people with three doses (5+)		88,145 (50.4%)

Eastern Ontario Health Unit

COVID-19 NEWS

⭕ Ottawa Public Health says that two doses of COVID-19 are not enough and urge the Province to make three doses the minimum for a vaccine certificate. [Ottawa Citizen]

⭕ There is a convoy of truckers from all across the country who are converging on Ottawa to protest Canada's vaccine mandates on truckers crossing the US border. [CTV]

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WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️The Ottawa Light Rail Transit Commission wants to hear from you in its public inquiry. The Provincial inquest is looking into all aspects of Ottawa's O-Train, from the issuing of contracts to the derailments in the autumn.But it's not automatic – the Commission will decide whether you are worthy of being heard from, and whether you can have access to documents. However, should you be qualified to address the commission, funding may be available for your research. [CBC] [Commission Website]

▪️The City does not have a single IT staffer devoted to mobile apps, it has come out. Despite cells phones being the number one way people access City services, mobile work is contracted out. The City wants to spend $1 million to hire nine new staffers in its IT department. [Ottawa Citizen]

▪️The Ottawa Police Board decides to limit public engagement at police board meetings and move it to new roundtables. The scheme will still allow the public to make statements at Board meetings, they just won't receive answers from the Board members or police any longer. The as-yet-accounced roundtables are intended to let the public have more indepth converstations with the as-yet-unknown members of the roundtable. [Ottawa Citizen]

▪️The Federal Government is desperately trying to collect its Phoenix System overpayments before it is barred by law in February. The beleagured Phoenix System was the Federal Government's payroll system that massively screwed up civil service salaries for several years: overpays, underpays, and sometime no pay to Federal workers. The Federal governent will be barred by law from attempting to collect overpayments from civil servants on the sixth anniversary of the problem, which is next month. Around a half billion dollars is still outstanding in overpayments. [Policy Options]

▪️The Ottawa Arts Council is looking for nominees for its inaugral Community Arts Educator Award. The award will recognize excellence in community arts education and the accomplishments of Ottawa-based artists who provide unique and creative learning experiences. This year's recipient will receive $3,000, membership to the Ottawa Arts Council, and a limited-edition print by Geraldine Taylor from her "Ode to the Experimental Farm". Nomination deadline is February 28. [Broadway World] [Nominations]

▪️Little Ray's Reptiles is asking for donations to keep the wildlife centre open [Ottawa Citizen] [Donations]