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For quite a long time, West Park Bowling's large white-on-black letters spelled out only 
I believe this is the nearest place to Centretown to go bowling since the Kent Bowling Lanes on Catherine closed down and got converted to mini-storage. I remember they used to have disco bowling:
[Hm... I was going to give this post the label Singles, but there are two photos too many!]
Attendees were in the hundreds at the official reopening of the Sunnyside branch of the Ottawa Public Library on Thursday, August 26th. The soft strains of Irish piper Ross Davidson filled the newly airy room as guests gathered. Pamela Sweet, Vice-Chair of the library board, chaired the ceremony. After welcoming everyone, she spoke about the branch's long history.
"There has been a public library serving Ottawa South and the Glebe for over a hundred years. It changed locations a few times—it was in a private house, then Hopewell school, then a number of storefront locations—until the building we are now in was built in 1951."
There was a lineup at the front door when Sunnyside Branch reopened on Monday August 16 at 10 am after eight months of renovations. The $1.275 million for the project came from the infrastructure stimulus fund, supported equally by the federal, provincial and municipal governments.
Called "Summertime Reading", this beautiful painting by Old Ottawa South artist Crystal Beshara graces the children's library at the newly renovated Sunnyside Branch of the Ottawa Public Library. It was commissioned by the Friends of the Sunnyside Library, along with local artist Bhat Boy's "Jolly Old Ottawa South" which hangs in the main library upstairs.
Both restful and vibrant, the painting enhances the atmosphere of the Children's Room, and reflects the artist's own rural childhood. Children are excited to discover the smaller listening animals. (Can you spot the snail and the hedgehogs?)
It's that time again! Time to rifle your closets and scour your basement for stuff to sell at the annual OSCA community-wide porch sale Saturday, September 11, 2010 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm). Old Ottawa South is famous for its porches, and those porches make a great spot to display your wares, because the sale is on—rain or shine!
Ottawa shoppers will be thronging our streets in the thousands looking for everything from knick-knacks to antique bedsteads. New and returning university students are especially devoted to the annual September sale as they search for bargains to furnish their digs, so don't overlook that couch you've been meaning to donate to the Sally Anne, or that well-loved office chair you reluctantly replaced with a fancy new ergonomic one (but it's doing oh-so-great wonders for your back).
"The dangerous problem I see isn't that the OC Transpo union members are militant. They were pretty badly put upon at the time of the last strike, by managers who wanted to take away an extremely important element in their contract with apparently no understanding of why it was there in the first place (letting drivers, in particular, have considerable control over their own work schedules was a key move in an effort to detoxify the OC Transpo workplace after the deadly Pierre Lebrun shootings a decade ago). I can see where the militancy comes from, and anyway, tough but skilled managers can deal with a militant union membership in a non-destructive fashion. They did it after the shootings, for example."Leading up to the vote, on the OC Transpo livejournal, user roadwarrier came out in support of the agreement. Roadwarrier is one of the more vocal operators on the LiveJournal, and he tried to convince his brothers and sisters why it wasn't such a bad deal--or at least to explain why he was voting yes.
"Well gang, I was one of the big naysayers, no at any cost, with a serious vendetta against management. Quite frankly, I walked into the meeting ready to vote this thursday, ready to vote no at any cost, no matter how good the offer was.
"And I've done a 180. The executive has worked very hard to get some strong language and some real goodies for us. Stuff that's going to cost the company a lot of money and that really benefits us. Stuff that wasn't on the table when we walked and stuff that was on the table. At the end of the day, my gut tells me that this is a very good offer and the only reason the offer is so good is that the city knows they can't keep going with the way it is."
Calling all volunteers! Join the Carleton University community for our fall “Clean the Campus” initiative, Saturday, October 2nd, 9:00 am - noon. Local high school students are especially welcome to participate and will receive three volunteer hours. Bring your friends, family and coworkers.
Volunteers will meet at 9:00 a.m. in Room 208, Residence Commons
All participants will receive clean-up kits (gloves, bags, campus map, and garbage pickers) and instructions. Small groups of four or five people will be created and each group will be given a designated area of campus to clean.
At 11:00 am volunteers will meet back at Room 208 to return their clean-up kits.
Volunteers are then invited to enjoy a complimentary brunch courtesy of University Services at the Fresh Food Company (third floor, Residence Commons).
There is not an exact amount. We don’t know how much [the project will cost to finish]. If there is some increase, at some point in the future, about this, we will have no choice but to increase the property taxes [...] to me, it’s important to be prudent at this moment.
We have to look at efficiency, of course, but a tunnel is too much. It costs too much, and it’s painful for the residents for owing money for many years. So we have to find another way, more affordable, more realistic, and of course more articulated for the service to the residents.
Advocacy group shines a light on Councillors who voted in the public interest, and those who did not.
Today Our Ottawa is releasing a complete, colour-coded voting record for the term of our outgoing City Council from 2006-2010. This release declares the local advocacy group's preference on every key vote of Council, it clarifies Our Ottawa's positions and clearly identifies the Councillors most in need of replacing.
NCC chief executive Marie Lemay, Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien and Gatineau Mayor Marc Bureau met Thursday to discuss a plan to improve cycling infrastructure over the next 50 years and to create a safer environment for the region’s cyclists.It seems sensible to consider cycling when the region's municipalities work to integrate public transit. The two can often work with one another to provide transportation alternatives for residents, but serve more effectively as complements rather than mutually exclusive.
“If we do want to increase the percentage of people using their bikes to commute, we have to make the routes safer,” Lemay said. “The reality is, if people don’t feel safe, and if it’s not easy to do, the people that are not avid cyclers … won’t take their bikes.”
