We are a family of seven – Mom, Dad, and five young children, ages 11, 9, 7, 6 and 4 – who, over the past year, have experienced both joy and heartbreak with relation to our family dogs. The story is a long one, which over its course has included incredible support and compassion from our community of Stittsville. ...

Pierre Jeaurond, a survey technologist with the National Capital Commission, explains how they measure the thickness of the ice on the Rideau Canal Skateway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrfZ1I8LMak _ This post was originally published Feb. 28, 2015. _

_ (Via City of Ottawa) _ ** Ottawa ** – Starting Friday, January 5, the City will handle calls about sick and injured animals and will take on responsibility for transporting them.  If you see an injured domestic animal, such as a dog or cat, or small wild animal, such as a raccoon, squirrel, rabbit or skunk, please call 3-1-1. ...

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/36948326@N02/16221745526/in/photolist-qHsFMG-bA7A9H-qUSFPR-223pdUt-Sb9e6y-e3Fbvo-jnDpKA-bUSJCp-Nthr15-RAjd6U-qYJ8Bh-k3NSvC-f3E9iw-qJyQR8-nE1afw-9cmrBU-DrBFKY-e1pxzB-DC26zZ-k3LkRX-byuVme-p5jF1z-fi4crT-eZ2DM4-jH8qZt-bb2Sbz-bUSJCx-bJDUxx-dmGUDT-U7ySRq-fFC4A3-dU7b72-nXmrCn-qJrp5b-pNYnwZ-k3NQTu-e78rMW-jZWViV-Jw9sKd-rhTBRi-jH9R9j-dTMF9H-kbah3g-qCpjV9-q51RPN-hSjxCS-k3NRzu-4KRzc9-eHsdQL-qEa37U) Most of the Rideau Canal is now open, with a seven-kilometre stretch from Dow’s Lake all the way to Queen Street available for skating. Much of the canal is in good to very good condition, although the stretch from Concord Street North to Queen Street is listed as fair. ...

Forbes Travel Guide is gushing about Ottawa’s craft beer scene, highlighting some of the best breweries, tours, brew pubs and festivals. _ Canada’s national capital, Ottawa, now has one of the country’s most active craft beer scenes, with nearly two dozen small-batch breweries and beer-focused experiences in and around the city. ...

[caption id=“attachment_74427” align=“aligncenter” width=“1000”] Long Ma can walk, trot or gallop at a maximum of 7 km/h. It took him about an hour to travel from city hall to the National Gallery of Canada.[/caption]  Here’s our annual list of things that Ottawa was obsessed with in 2017. ...

The New Year’s Eve 2017 party on Parliament Hill will be missing the music after the Department of Canadian Heritage cancelled planned performances due to extreme cold. But the celebrations will still have a fireworks show at midnight to ring in 2018, as well as viewings of the sound and light show Christmas Lights Across Canada. ...

How cold it is in Ottawa this week? ** Environment Canada ended and then re-issued an extreme cold warning ** https://twitter.com/CTVOttMornLive/status/946771652993585153 ** The Bell Capital Cup has cancelled outdoor games on the Parliament Hill rink due to brittle ice conditions. (It’s too cold for the ice! ...

[caption id=“attachment_85324” align=“aligncenter” width=“1000”] Guy Laflamme, executive director of Ottawa 2017, sat down with ottawastart.com for a year-end interview. (Charlie Senack for OttawaStart.com)[/caption] After helping to put on over 200 events to commemorate Canada’s 150th, Guy Laflamme, executive director of Ottawa 2017, said he is glad it’s all coming to an end. ...

Here’s a cool graphic from the City of Ottawa that really puts into perspective the size of Ottawa. That’s right – Ottawa is geographically larger than Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal combined. As David Reevely notes, this is pretty much Mayor Jim Watson’s favourite map (and he’s been flashing it around for years, too). ...