— Your Evening Update — 

October 29, 2024

Tonight, perhaps as you’re reading this, the community is coming together to mourn Brkti Berhe, who was killed last week in a shocking stabbing attack. That a mother’s life was taken in broad daylight, in front of her children, shocks the conscience.

We’ll have coverage of the vigil this evening on our website from reporter Catherine Morrison and photographer Julie Oliver.
It has been a violent year for Ottawa.

Yesterday, a man was stabbed to death in Vanier, becoming the 22nd victim of a homicide in 2024. With two months still left in the year, we’re closing in on an awful record.

2024 is already the third-most deadly year for the city since 1981, according to Statistics Canada. There is a tie for the most homicides in modern Ottawa history, with 24 in both 1995 and 2016.

This trend is distressing, and one we will continue to report.

Here's your news for the day.

Story idea, comment or question? You can reach out at ottawafeedback@postmedia.com. We can't reply to every email, but we do read them all. So get in touch!

PHOTO: Jean Levac / POSTMEDIA

Working from home full time would cut public service emissions significantly: report

By Catherine Morrison

Just over a month after federal public servants were forced back into their offices at least three days a week, a report by Carleton University researchers found that letting government workers in the Ottawa area work from home full time would reduce their workplace emissions by 25 per cent.

The report — which was funded by the federal government and surveyed more than 1,500 employees from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) — compared the carbon footprint of government workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Quebec when working from home and the office.

Researchers concluded that working remotely significantly cut down those emissions.

READ MORE ON THE STUDY RESULTS

 HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION 

Woman charged with second-degree murder in fatal Vanier stabbing

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PHOTO: Tony Caldwell / POSTMEDIA

These Halloween ice creams made in Hintonburg are deliciously nostalgic

By Peter Hum

Until last week, I seriously undervalued ice creams with bits of candy bars mixed into them.

Give me a refreshing strawberry gelato any day. If I was feeling more decadent, some rich, no-nonsense dark chocolate ice cream did the trick.

But for me, chunks of Skor or Butterfinger bars in my dairy desserts were just too-sugary distractions. Or so I thought.

Four words changed my mind. The first one was “Halloween.” The other three were “The Merry Dairy.”

GET THE SCOOP ON THE SPECIAL FLAVOURS

 UOTTAWA RESEARCH 

Drug used to slow ALS progression shows promise in treating deadly brain cancer

PHOTO: Tony Caldwell / POSTMEDIA

Rare Ottawa antique collection burns in devastating daytime fire

By Joanne Laucius

Clem Smith has spent almost a lifetime restoring and refurbishing horse-drawn conveyances.

On Monday, Smith, 86, watched in horror as his Kinburn barn was engulfed in flames, creating a plume of smoke visible for miles around.

The barn held dozens of historical treasures, including a hearse that dated back to the 1850s, a landau that reportedly once belonged to the reviled Montreal business tycoon Sir Herbert Holt and a two-wheeled gig that belonged to lumber baron J.R. Booth.

In total, some 30 horse-drawn vehicles and four tractors, some painstakingly refurbished, others built from scratch, were destroyed in the blaze. So were the harnesses, some more than a hundred years old.

HERE'S THE ONLY THING HE SAVED

 SPOOKY STUFF 

The horror paradox: Why things that scare us can make us happy

• A GAME OF INCHES: Ottawa Senators can relate to emotional Al Pacino movie speech

• OC Transpo LRT resumes in east end after minor repairs at St-Laurent Station

• Denley: Proposed Ottawa bylaw to limit protest sites is both fair and overdue

• Live Nation Canada president has high hopes for new ByWard Market club

• Salgo: How many public servants does Canada actually need?

• ON FIRE! Redblacks QB Brown heads into playoff debut with 845 yards, 7 TDs in last two starts

THE NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD PUZZLE

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