It appears another independent bookstore is biting the dust. Collected Works announced this weekend that it is for sale and, if not purchased by Christmas, will close its doors. As one of the few bookstores that focused on local authors, this is one business that will be missed. In happier news, the Mayfair Theatre has reached its fundraising goal of $45,000 that will allow it to purchase a digital project and stay in business. Lee Demarbre, one of the four co-owners of the Mayfair, told Centretown News early this month that, without a... | Continue reading article

Downtown Ottawa will soon have a 3,000-square-feet location exclusively dedicated to creative projects. Called IdeaSpace, the site at 131 Bank Street is scheduled to open on February 1. The brainchild of the inventive folks at MediaStyle, a local digital public affairs agency, the site is meant to allow local residents to implement imaginative ideas. Possibilities could include, but are not limited to, month-long art shows, computer hacker nights, weeklong seminars, private parties, pop up restaurants, interesting weddings or a location for movie shoots. “What we have in store for the... | Continue reading article

This is old news, but old news you might not know about. Were you aware there was an old brew train recently uncovered underground at Lebreton Flats? Neither did I. The Citizen reports on it and highlights Ottawa’s booming brewery history of decades ago. The City of Ottawa has launched its updated, user friendly website at ottawa.ca. You’ll be able to pay for several city services online. The website also adapts to the mobile experience, whether you are using a smart phone or tablet. In other city news, the Rink of... | Continue reading article

Currently, the city doesn’t offer organics recycling for all multi-residential buildings but this might change. New guidelines are being discussed to standardize garbage and recycling bin requirements for multi-residential buildings, but there’s still lots to discuss. What other cities have multi-residential buildings compost? British Columbia may have a thing or two to teach us. Bitching about the price of gas? Count yourself lucky, Ottawa’s got the third cheapest gas in the country ($1.25/L in October) according to a Statistics Canada study. Cheapest cities? Not surprisingly, Edmonton ($1.14) and Calgary offer cheaper... | Continue reading article

Now that it’s 99% certain that CFL football is coming back to Ottawa, the search for a team name begins. While no one got too attached to the Renegades, the Rough Riders still resonates with many Ottawa football fans, but we know there won’t be 2 teams with the same name – albeit different spelling – in a 9 team league. The Citizen looks at Ottawa’s history for inspiration for a new moniker. What do you like? The 20th Ottawa Business Achievement Awards took place. Some of the winners included Halogen... | Continue reading article

According to Le Droit, Québec retail chain Simons came “à un cheveu” to move into the Rideau Centre. The owners of Rideau Centre, Cadillac Fairview, preferred Nordstrom over them. Simons is expanding beyond Québec and has recently opened a store at the West Edmonton Mall. While Simons still has hope of entering the Ottawa market, it’s also in talks with Promenade de l’Outaouais. The City of Ottawa thought it was being environmentally friendly when it purchased a fleet of hybrid buses. It turns out they city will be converting several hybrid... | Continue reading article

Does Ottawa truly have what it takes to be the shawarma capital of the world? A recent Citizen article explored this question, and while it didn’t quite come up with an answer, it did point out a lot of interesting peculiarities of the local shawarma scene. One of which is our habit of loading these delectable wraps with veggies, which apparently is something of a local affectation. Ottawa’s first-ever plaid parade for cyclists, part of our very own Support Local campaign, went off without a hitch yesterday and CBC TV... | Continue reading article

Opinion seems to be divided about the impact of Hurricane Sandy here in Ottawa. The Citizen spoke to an Environment Canada expert who downplayed the storm’s severity, but CTV and CBC bring differing opinions. Hold on to your hats for the next few days folks. In a disaster of a different sort, nearly 2,000 Ottawans were consumed by the hunt for brains during the annual zombie walk on Saturday. The Citizen got into the spirit by putting together an awesome local zombie survival guide that you can read here. Elgin... | Continue reading article

Good Monday morning readers! The big news of the week was Dalton McGuinty’s surprise announcement that he will be stepping down as leader of the provincial Liberal party. To add to the drama, early in the week, local MPP Yasir Naqvi was said to be contemplating a run for the leadership. Yesterday however, he confirmed that a leadership bid was not in the cards. There will be a memorial this morning for the Carleton student killed in a biking accident last week on Bronson Avenue. I can’t help but be reminded of... | Continue reading article

City Hall was buzzing this week with the debate over whether Ottawa should consider a proposal for a new casino from OLG. Many thought that the debate lacked the time or nuance required and addiction experts spoke out about the harmful effects a casino might have on the population. Council passed the motion with a vote of 19 to 5. The Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa is working to reunite a mother and her child after she gave birth in an Ottawa jail cell. The shocking story has been raising... | Continue reading article