HELLO, OTTAWA

Ottawa's secret pop culture attractiveness

Is it something in the water? Are we on the edge of a Sunnydale-esqe vortex of celebrity?

Last night, one of Ottawa's own, Kaan Gunesberk, was up for a Grammy award last night. The songwriter co-wrote “Circles’ for singer Post Malone, which was nominated for Song Of The Year. ‘I Can’t Breathe,’ sung by H.E.R., won in the category.

Last week, we all discovered that Ottawa Public Health had wrangled Ryan Reynolds to make fun of himself and pose as the Public Health's social media intern.

Last May, the Wu Tang Clan aligned itself with the Ottawa Food Bank and the Ottawa Mission, making t-shirts, food boxes, and sanitiser to raise funds.

Now, we find that the Sens Sickos – those Senators superfans who support the team BECAUSE of it's perceived haplessness – have the support of The Onion.  

The Senators have been raising funds for its charity by selling stands ins for the seats at Canadian Tire Centre. Now the Sickos have their own stand-in, drawn by The Onion's editorial cartoonist Stan Kelly (aka Ward Sutton) with his full support. (The actual stand in work was done by Ottawa history guru Andrew King)

What does this all mean? What makes Ottawa suddenly the best pal of pop culture? Answers to [email protected] please.

We'll see you tomorrow – Martha and Darren

#STATS

Weather: ☀️ Sunny. High of -3° 

Number: 21. The the number of people who have died from fentanyl overdoses in Ottawa since the New Year. 83 people died from fentanyl overdoses in 2020. [CBC]

Ottawan of the Day: Lucy Hempstead. The Richmond cyclist broke the women's Guiness World Record for stationary bike riding, racking up 681 kilometres in 24 hours. The record is 680 kilometres. Hempstead raised $6,000 for Crush COVID: Ride for Mind, supporting Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto.  [CTV]

Quote: “Well, you must be nice boys then” – Walter Gretzky, father of Wayne Gretzky, to Hollerado after they admitted they played at Wayne’s annual charity ball hockey tournament. Walter found the Ottawa band fan boying in front of his house. [NextMag]

Sports: Ottawa Senators 4 – Toronto Maple Leafs 3 last night; Edmonton Oilers 6 – Ottawa Senators 2 last Friday. The Sens meet the Vancouver Canucks tonight.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

? Vaccination tracker by Andrew Lam (@socialvizcanada)

1,158,355 doses have been administered in Ontario (80% of the doses available)

? At this rate, it would take 50.7 weeks to administer one dose to each person in Ontario. 

? Pfizer and Moderna vaccines delivery tracker
Federal Goverment database listing predicted future deliveries

? 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 15,562 confirmed cases of COVID‌-19, an increase of 224 since Friday, and 447 deaths, one new report.

? 73,009 doses of vaccine have been administered in Ottawa.
 

OUTAOUAIS

Outaouais Public Health dashboard

There have been 6,628 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 109 since Friday, and 167 deaths, no new reports.

? 18,422 doses of vaccine have been administered in the Outaouais
 

EASTERN ONTARIO

Eastern Ontario Health Unit dashboard

There have been 2953 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 10 since Friday, and 69 deaths, no new reports.

? 14,409 doses of vaccine have been administered in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

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.

⭕ People 80 years of age or older may now book their vaccine. The line-up is long – but the website is designed to keep you on hold. [Province of Ontario]

⭕ The National Advisory Committee on Immunization will determine in the next few days if people 65 years and older can take the AstraZeneca vaccine. Some European countries have stopped distribution will they investigate if the vaccine is related to blood clots. [CBC]

⭕ Pharmacies say they can vaccinate 1 million people per week if they had access to vaccines. [Toronto Star]

⭕ Returning overseas and can't find a quarantine hotel? Change your dates, says the Federal government. . [CBC]

⭕ Some of the worst COVID-19 breakouts have been in factories and warehouses like Amazon’s Brampton distribution centre, which had 240 cases last week. Some are calling for these frontline workers to have priority access to a vaccine. [Global]

 ? 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]

#WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

▪️ City councillor wants four-lane freeway removed from City's official plan The Alta Vista Transportation Corridor has been on the books for 50 years – a plan to bring in cars from the outlying areas to downtown through the Alta Vista and Capital Wards. Capital ward councillor Shawn Menard (Not Medez! Not Mendez!) says it is time to drop it: a world of 15 minute neighbourhoods and light rail doesn't need another freeway, and leaving on the plan means city officals will continue to assume that it will exist one day. [CTV]

▪️ City staff are looking to take advantage of glut of rental housing for affordable shelter. The idea would be that the City – or related agency – would rent apartments then sublease them to people in need. The landlord has income and repairs guaranteed, the occupant would pay what they can afford. A pilot project in London seems to be working well. [Ottawa Citizen]

▪️ YukYuks has been forced to move because the pub in which it was located has gone out of business. The comedy club has left Hooley’s Pub in Centretown and shacked up with Lago Bar and Grill in the Dow’s Lake Pavilion.  [Ottawa Citizen] [Yuk Yuk's]

▪️ Ottawa Police Service has decided to keep officer suspensions quiet now. The police will no longer tell other officers if one of their members has been suspended nor will they will confirm information to the media. This was revealed after a third police officer was suspended since the new year and no one was informed. [Ottawa Citizen] 

▪️ One year into the pandemic, Ottawa has the best employment rate in Canada. February's jobless rate here was reduced to 6.5 per cent from 6.7 per cent in January. [Ottawa Citizen]

#LIVE HERE

▪️ Homes with pools

THE OTTAWAN

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?️ The Best Of Ottawa Awards 2020 

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