Reader Ken Waplington writes: Re: Late local CTV Ottawa news(Jan 17/08). It was noted the closing of Throop Photo on Merivale Rd., sad! But in it's evolution, Throop Photo had an earlier life. When Westgate Shopping Center was opened on Carling Avenue, the shopping centre was touted as one of the largest & most modern in North Americal! ...

** From James Duthie’s blog : ** Recently, Sports Illustrated declared St. Paul Minnesota the new Hockeytown U.S.A, replacing Detroit. That angered folks in the 313 (which probably is not a good idea…I’m just sayin’). Throw Canada into the mix and you have an argument that will lead to either: ...

Dani from Postcards from the Mothership asked me to highlight the Canadian Blog Awards (CBAs). They’re accepting nominations until January 11th for Canada’s best blogs in a number of categories. Some Ottawa blogs that I’ll nominate: * Best Photo Blog: [ Watawa Life ](http://www. ...

It was ten years ago this week that a massive ice storm crippled our region. Several web sites are looking back on the events with some great photos and stories. Here are some links: Ottawa Citizen Hydro Ottawa CBC Ottawa: photos, stories CBC Archives Environment Canada Related:**Ottawa Weather Guide

Too bad we didn’t hear about this until after the contest was finished: Ottawa’s new Can-Am League baseball team – the one that will replace the Lynx as the main tenant at Ottawa’s baseball stadium – held a contest last month to name the team . ...

Miss Vicky has an interesting look at Ottawa’s new no-idling bylaw on her blog, pointing out at least twelve exceptions that allow vehicles to idle without penalty. I thought I heard that idling at drive-throughs was also permissible. Does anyone know which one of the exceptions covers that? ...

[ ](http://ottawastart.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/Watawa-life-C2-BB-Blog-Archive-C2-BB-Happy-New-Year_1199211343750-copy.jpg) Ottawa had a big fireworks show downtown on New Year’s Eve for the first time since New Year’s Eve 1999. It was two fireworks shows, in fact - one just before 7:00pm and one at midnight. Ottawa photographers were out in full force. ...

Reader Lawrence Bishop sent along these thoughts about the state of morning radio in Ottawa. What do you think? In regards to Ottawa Radio CBC is #1 CFRA is #2 both are talk radio stations! What that tells me as a former broadcaster, is Ottawa music stations need a real face lift, the only station that has a half decent morning show is located on CHEZ 106, this show has somewhat of a radio format with one problem if I have to wait for the news to get the weather on the hour and half hour. ...

An update on our post last week about car seats and winter jackets : * Yes, it is true -- wearing a winter jacket while in a car seat could be unsafe. * CBC Ottawa picked up on the story: [ Bulky winter clothing may create car seat safety hazard ](http://www. ...

Keelan from Capital PR rants about bad corporate e-Christmas cards: ** ** For me, nothing says “I refuse to put any effort or expense whatsoever into this” quite like an e-Christmas / e-Holiday card does... a lot of them have been very similar: a winter scene with the ‘cutting-edge animation’ of falling snow and some generic, unoriginal greeting. ...