See the 8 day forecast at the ottawan weather

The City has opened up registration for women’s and mixed citywide sports. Play begins late spring and early summer but registration begins now.

Basketball leagues

The women’s basketball league runs from Wednesday, April 17 to Wednesday, May 22 at the Ottawa Technical Secondary School.  (Register)

Beach volleyball leagues

Mixed and women’s beach volleyball leagues run from late May to mid-August at Britannia Beach, Mooney’s Bay Beach and Petrie Island Beach. Play with a team of two, three, four or six players. (Register)

Pickleball leagues

Women’s pickleball leagues run from early May to mid-July at Pinecrest Creation Complex. Play with a partner in leagues for ages 18 and up or over age 50. (Register)

Softball leagues

The women’s softball league runs from Wednesday, May 1 to Wednesday, August 14 at various locations across the city. (Register)

Spikeball leagues

The mixed Spikeball league runs from Tuesday, July 2 to Tuesday, August 13 at Mooney’s Bay Park. (Register)

Pickleball, we’ve made our peace with. We understand that it's just giant version of ping pong on a tennis court.

But Spikeball? It looks like you stand around a kid’s trampoline and slam a tennis ball into it, which someone probably catches? Here’s a video that explains it.

– Martha and Darren

FOOD + DRINK UPDATE

•  Celebrate St Patrick's Day with an order of Shamrock shortbread cookies from Three Tarts, today through Sunday. Four packs are $16. 
•  Bread by Us’ Not Cross Buns have a funny name because they don’t contain dried fruit like Hot Cross Buns.  We would never turn one down, though. The bakery has also combined two powerhouse confections in its Mini Egg Nanaimo Bars. Both of the above are availalble for the Easter season only.
•  The Farm Store at Ferme Juniper Farm in Wakefield opens Friday (March 15) for the 2024 Spring season. It’s also time to order vegetable, greens, herb, and flower seedlings.
•  Aurelius has released its new Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar, perfect for drizzling over fruit or ice cream or even stirred into yogurt. Sign us up. From $8.99 for the 60ml bottle.
•  The Purdys Eid Mubarak Gift Box contains 25 of the chocolatier’s most popular chocolates, presented in a celebratory package. $35 + tax and shipping.
•  The Pie Bar of Westport is taking orders for luxury Easter pastry boxes. They also have Hot Cross Buns.
•  1 Elgin’s Easter Brunch has breakfast and lunch options. Sunday March 31, $52 per adult and $25 per child, plus tax and gratuity.
•  The Algonquin Times has a feature on culinary and catering management graduate Barbra Dean who has found success cooking with cannabis via her company Incredible Edible Chef. 
•  Ameya Charnalia at Eat The Strip’s review of the fare at Merivale Station Restaurant could be summed up in one word: huge. Says one of his readers, ‘Definitely mom and pop. Portions are huge. Prices are low. Food is terrific. You get a huge plate of coleslaw each with most entrées. Hidden gem’. 
•  Peter Hum in the Ottawa Citizen writes that at his first visit to Bite & Bite Shanghai Fried Bun, the server said ‘Please follow the instructions and don’t hurt yourself’, referring to the laminated cards the resto provides on how to properly eat the buns.  He also dined at Sammi & Soupe Dumpling, and noted the dessert chocolate-filled xiao long bao. 
•  Hum also does a round up of the food choices at the Ottawa International Airport. His personal picks were the panini with potato chips from the Canal Market Hall and the French onion soup at the Big Rig Kitchen & Brewery.

OTTAWA STATS

Ottawans of the Day

• Renée Dahn and Erik Johnson-Scherger
• – The duo are Ensemble Allure, an experimental classical music combo. Ensemble Allure has just released its début album, Dual.  (Sarah Crookall in Apartment 613)

Quote

• “

• I don’t look forward to retirement — probably because I will never have one. But I love what I do

• – Artist Kaitlin Milroy who is supporting efforts to increase artists incomes in the upcoming 10-year culture plan by the City. (Joanne Laucius in the Ottawa Citizen)

Sports

• 🏒 NHL Ottawa Senators 2 – Pittsburgh Penguin 1 last night

CITY HALL AGENDA

WHAT OTTAWA IS TALKING ABOUT

🚌 OC Transpo

•  Will the new electric bus fleet be charged by natural gas? Ottawa Bulldog, citing anonymous sources, says that the City is installing two four megawatt generators powered by natural gas because Hydro Ottawa cannot supply electricity at the new fleet’s homes. Eight megawatts could power a city the size of Brockville, says the site. 
  
  As Hydro Ottawa could not provide the electricity, the contract to build the generators was given to Envari, a Hydro Ottawa subsidiary. 
  
   (Ken Gray in Ottawa Bulldog)

🔕 Federal Public Employees

•  Two more Federal Public employees have been fired for having Federal contracts on the side. The Office of the Auditor General has let go two people and is investigating a third for holding contracts without disclosing this to managers. None of the people involved were auditors themselves. (Peter Zimonjic at CBC)
  
  ➕ Related The Department of National Defence says that it actually has no rules against staff having contracts with itself or the Federal government. It also has no idea how many contracts it has with staff.

🚨 Prescott Train Accident

•  The Transportation Safety Board says a collision between two trains in Prescott may have had alcohol involvement. Three crew members were injured, one seriously, when a 202 car train collided with a two engine train in 2021. The person suspected of alcohol involvement, however, is the rail traffic controller working in Edmonton. (CBC)

🛒 Donovan Burey’s Weekly Grocery Store Flyer Review

•  Every week, Donovan Burey gets up early and finds the deals in the area grocery store flyers. Some current deals are Ocean’s canned tuna at 99¢ for a 170 g can at Food Basics and boneless skinless chicken breast for $4.66 per lb at Metro. (/Ottawa) 

MORE FROM THE OTTAWAN

• 🍺 Our Ottawa-Gatineau Craft Brewery Map

•  

• 🏆 The Best Of Ottawa Awards 2023

•  

• 🎧 Best Podcasts from Ottawa

EVENTS

Is there an event we should know about?
Please use our easy event submission form

Today

•  International Film Festival of Ottawa opens with a Red Carpet screening of Seven Veils, followed by a Q & A with director and writer Atom Egoyan. Also showing: Heat Spell, a 14 minute short from Quebéc.

•  American-Irish supergroup Cherish the Ladies appear at Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe for one night only.

•  Osgoode Township Museum’s March Break activities cost just $5 per child (and are free for accompanying adults). Today’s theme is Archeology Day.

•  ByTowne Cinema: Jumanji, Anatomy of a Fall, The Player, Io Capitano

•  Mayfair Theatre: Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse, Perfect Days, The Boy and the Heron, One from the Heart: Reprise.

  Gigs

•  Vocal Jazz Jam with Gerri Trimble. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

•  Arm’s Length’ the Wax Bodega Tour. Club SAW

•  Girls to the Front with host Kristine St. Pierre and guests KJ Thomas and Erin Marcellina. Irene’s Pub Restaurant

•  Jon VW. Broadway Bar & Grill

•  Arm’s Length. Club SAW

•  Open Mic. Pour Boy

Tomorrow

•  The International Film Festival of Ottawa continues with I Used to be Funny (Canada), Dead Cat (Québec) and Driving Mum (Iceland, Estonia) and The Company We Keep (Québec)

• The Ottawa Improv Festival (March 14-16) brings performers from home and abroad to town for edge-of-your-seat theatricality, learning, and fun. Watch as these fearless thespians create shows on the fly, using suggestions from the audience. Tickets for the festival, which takes place at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, start at $30.
   

•  Osgoode Township Museum’s March Break activities cost just $5 per child (and are free for accompanying adults). Today’s theme is Heiroglyphs Day.

•  Candlelight Concerts are back with a Tribute to Coldplay, performed by a solo pianist.

•  Musique 3 Femmes, whose mandate is to present operas by female composers, present Opéra d’aujourd’hui at the Pavillon Pérez Building, U of Ottawa School of Music. 10:45 am to 12:45 pm.

•  Bytowne Cinema: The Muppets Take Manhattan, Io Capitano, Ciné-Club d’Ottawa: La suit du 12, Anatomy of a Fall

•  Mayfair Theatre: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, 500 Days in the Wild, Perfect Days, One From the Heart: Reprise

  Gigs

•  Beats and Boards. Art House

•  Trivia Night. Royal Oak Beechwood (upstairs at 1Up)

•  Siji Olunga. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

•  Bingo Thursday. Braodhead Brewery

•  Trivia Night. Southside Tap and Grill (4 Lorry Greenberg Dr)

•  Comedy Night. Pour Boy

•  D12. Bronson Centre

•  Allison Russell with Aysanabee. National Arts Centre Babs Asper Theatre

•  James Keelaghn, Jez Lowe. Red Bird

•  Irene’s Blues Sessions. Irene’s Pub Restaurant

•  Mööse Knuckle Boylesque. LIVE on Elgin

•  Boogie ON, Dance Along Silent Disco. House of TARG

•  Board Game Night. Ottawa Trans Library

Friday

•  The Ottawa Improv Festival continues until tomorrow (Saturday March 14). Tickets for the festival, which takes place at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, start at $30.

• The International Film Festival of Ottawa continues with Atikamekw Suns (Canada, in French and Cree with English subtitles) and the short film Katshinau (Canada, in French with English subtitles); Chuck Chuck Baby (UK) with short film Donna (Ottawa); and Solo (Canada) with short film Blond Night (Quebec, in French).

•  Osgoode Township Museum’s March Break activities cost just $5 per child (and are free for accompanying adults). Today’s theme is Art Curation Day.

•  Iron Cabaret’s burlesque show FrostBite features silks, aerial, trapeze and pole dancers. Three shows at Gladstone Theatre today and tomorrow..

•  Bytowne Cinema: Anatomy of a Fall, Ru, One Life, Love Lies Bleeding

•  Mayfair Theatre: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Perfect Days, The Taste of Things, The Thing

  Gigs

•  Brian Wallin Music, with Baby Richman. Irene’s Pub Restaurant

•  The Rump Revue Burlesque Show Ottawa. Café Dekcuf

•  Sorry Snowman, Ruby Doom,Backseat Dragon, Static Safari. Rainbow Bistro

•  Julie Stella. LIVE on Elgin

•  Peter Turner and Peter Brown. Montgomery Scotch Lounge

•  Nathan Bishop MacDonald. RiverOak Cidery

•  Metalian. House of TARG

•  Glimmering Dolls: Lana Del Rey Dance Party. Mavericks

•  Blingo Night. Pour Boy

Just Announced / Now Booking

• Feel like a bit of daytime dancing? Siempre Tango Ottawa presents The Afternoon Milonga, a tango until sundown experience (well, 6:30 pm) on Saturday March 23. Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar St.

• Make Easter even sweeter with a Hummingbird Chocolate workshop. Choose from Paint Your Own Chocolate Bunny (March 15 or 24) or Paint Your Own Giant Chocolate Egg (March 17).

• Stittsville’s Goulbourn Museum is looking to fill two summer positions with post-secondary students: Programming Assistant and Market & Outreach assistant.

DEALS OF THE DAY

BUT, ONE MORE THING ...

RAPID RESPONSE QUALITY CONTROL

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