Ottawa

An Ottawa couple is reeling after a scam phone call from who they thought was a representative from TD Bank cost them $13,000.

Janel Nguyen and her partner Evan Dudley say that what seemed like an ordinary phone call from the bank's fraud department turned out to be a scammer trying to gain access to their identity and credit card information.

Since Jan. 1, police say they've charged 32 impaired drivers in Ottawa, an average of two per day.

Ontario Provincial Police reported more than 11,000 impaired driving charges in the province in 2023, with 50 fatal impaired driving-related collisions.

Seven fire trucks remained on the scene midmorning Wednesday at a barn fire on Mansfield Road near Richmond in which 24 calves died.

Ottawa Fire Services said it was called at about 2:30 a.m., when the dairy farm operator reported a major fire in a 30-by-80-foot barn at the rear of his property.

The following school boards have also moved the PD day to April 8:

• The Upper Canada District School Board
• Renfrew County District School Board
• Renfrew County Catholic District School Board
• Limestone District School Board
• Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic District School Board
• Hastings-Prince Edward District School Board

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has not yet decided on a change, according to a spokesperson.

On Jan. 16, CTV News Ottawa aired a story about a retired Ottawa couple who were scammed into using their line of credit to purchase cryptocurrency through a 'financial advisor'. Two weeks later, a fraudulent rendition of that story, made with deepfake AI, surfaced on Facebook.

Scammers had taken the original cautionary tale and, in a deeply ironic twist, used it in an attempt to dupe more people into falling for investment scams similar to the one that had tricked Doug and Victoria Lloyd.

"I stepped up to the counter to pick up my car and they said, 'You're over 74, You can't have a car,'" he said.

What he missed was in the fine print of Routes Car Rentals' Rules and Restrictions page in Travelocity. In the "Merchant Rules" section, it notes an upper age limit of 74 years of age for local renters...

The 54th season of the Rideau Canal Skateway starts Sunday, January 21, 2024, at 12:30pm. The Skateway will be open between the Fifth Avenue and the Bank Street access points.

Edit: The time has since been changed from 9:00 to 12:30, and the length has been shortened from Pretoria to Fifth.

Half a story, told from the 1% perspective, is a trope with the CEEB these days. A manufactured crisis to elicit a singular response. Pity the poor land owner, being held hostage by the big bad tenant. Boo fucking hoo.

Anyone ever had their accommodations "renovicted" or been left idle for a year so the rapacious land owner could jack the rent up? I have and it fucking sucks.

I guess when the system works in favour of the land owners, it's all OK and just a bunch of whinging peasants. Coverage of renovictions? Puh-shaw!!!

So cry me a river, CEEB, your shilling for the land owners rings pretty hollow here.

It all started with an online video of what appeared to be Elon Musk promoting a new investment opportunity...

Hopefully we grow some this new year!

Does anyone else feel like the quality of the morning start up really took a nose dive lately?

Big fan of this over-all except this part:

Since then, city staff have worked with the applicant to reduce the size of the replacement duplex, Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King told council last week. King is also chair of the city’s heritage committee. City council signed off on a new plan that reduces the building’s footprint to cover about one-third of the lot, increasing the “soft landscaping” on the property.

As if the workers at the hospital didn't have enough to deal with.

Mercato Zacconi's owner says business 'unfairly targeted' by AGCO inspector

Is this article for real?

Hiya. Someone suggested I post here so hopefully it's ok. My name's Gwen. I'm a pretty mentally scarred late 20s post op trans girl who never really recovered from getting kicked out over trans stuff 5 years ago. I live in community housing in downtown Ottawa, on disability for now and finising my last 2 uni courses eventually and deal with major weeks to months long episodes of bipolar crash, severe depression, anhedonia. Probably have undiagnosed adhd and autism. When I do get a spark of life (usually around other people) I'm an audio-visual art nerd, possibly wanting to get into filmmaking and writing as a dream but probably trying to go back to the genetics lab I worked at over the summer (if u want to get into film/writing/art together let me know, collaborating with others over a shared project really focuses me and brings me back to life).

Why I'm writing this is because I'm looking for a gal or guy to make friends with and spend a decent amount of time with (at least once a week tho sustained contact preferred) to hopefully help get out of this unbearable slump I've been in since my summer genetics lab job ended. I really shut down after it and have been struggling to leave the house, get out of bed, clean up my tiny studio apartment, much of anything being alone. If ur similarly struggling...let's help each other back to life. If ur a kind soul not going through shutdowns like this but still want to get acquainted and be a supporting soul hit me up as well. A strong stable nurturing influence for healing would be nice. Someone to provide mutual support/discipline/accountability. Someone to feel safe with, comforted, reassured.

As bad as my bad state gets I do function quite well between crashes, being careful not to overload myself as bipolar mania tries to make me conquer the world so if applied correctly I can be someone unstoppable by your side. I just grew up very dependent on my parents which suited their abusive need for control over me so I'm not entirely independent, semi independent. Once I get functioning I'm a lot better like I said. Helps a lot to have external support/help getting back on my feet with this bipolar crash making it very hard to function alone. Working on lessening the severity of the crashes, have had success toning down mania so hopefully in time and with support the crashes will get more livable as the mania got more manageable as well. Even just getting out of the house to hang out with u would be a great start. So ya if uv been down like me or just down to be a supportive friend to spend time with feel free to message me in dms/chat. Thanks in advance for getting to know me

https://ibb.co/4gqX8fK

From the Citizen:

Police in Ottawa say they seized weapons and firearms after a fight which appeared to be linked to a soccer game broke out Saturday afternoon.

Police say they received multiple calls at about 2 p.m. reporting a “disturbance” on the 1800 block of Bank Street.

They say three people received minor injuries and refused treatment.

Videos circulating social media show a crowd of people running through clouds of smoke from what appear to be flares.

Police reported no arrests but say the investigation is ongoing.

Link to video.

The city of Ottawa is proceeding with Lansdowne 2.0, the $419 million second phase of the partnership with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.

After four days of delegations and debate, Council voted 16 to 9 in favour of the Lansdowne 2.0 plan, which includes a new 5,500-seat event centre, a new north-side stands at TD Place Stadium and two residential towers.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and councillors Catherine Kitts, Matthew Luloff, Allan Hubley, Wilson Lo, David Brown, Steve Desroches, Marty Carr, George Darouze, Clarke Kelly, Cathy Curry, Stephanie Plante, Laura Dudas and Tim Tierney voted to support of the plan.

...

Menard and councillors Ariel Troster, Theresa Kavanagh, Sean Devine, Jeff Leiper, Rawlson King, Riley Brockington, Laine Johnson and Jessica Bradley voted against the proposal.

New RSS recreation complex tucked into the budget!

That LRT, whenever it opens, is really going to drive development down here.

Hey everyone,

Kind of quiet here, so I thought I'd ask a question that's been on my mind for a while:

What would make Ottawa better, in your view? Big or small.

For me, it would be to improve the walkability. I walk, jog, cycle, motorbike, and drive, all fairly frequently. It drives me wild how long it takes (mid winter or bad weather) from the time I press a crosswalk button, to the time the lights change. I'd love to see that improved.

OC Transpo officials still won't provide a firm launch date next spring for the new north-south light-rail transit line, as construction continues on the line between Bayview Station and Riverside South.

"Spring 2024, but I won't give any month," Renee Amilcar, OC Transpo general manager, told the light-rail transit subcommittee on Friday.

Councillors were told that final construction, testing and commissioning of the system is underway, with work on the stations almost complete. As of this week, eight of nine trains are participating in testing on the transit system.

A presentation for the committee showed a possible launch of the Trillium Line between March and June.

...

This is just stupid.

I'm an atheist. A devout atheist.

This is not "secularism", it's stupidity.

As atheists, my family celebrates the traditional secular commercial Christmas. We will also happily attend Chanukah celebrations, Kwanzaa celebrations, winter solstice celebrations, Nicholas Day celebrations, Yule celebrations, Festivus celebrations, or whatever else we are invited to attend. Our beliefs are not so delicate that they could collapse just from being exposed to others joyous celebrations. We love participating in other people's joy.

This sort if fanatical secularism sucks all of the joy out of the season.