Capital Current

Ottawa Rapid FC and AFC Toronto offered fans an offensive showcase at TD Place on Aug. 9 as the teams recorded a 2-2 draw in Northern Super League action. Forward Melanie Forbes opened the scoring for league-leading Ottawa in the 12th minute. After Toronto defender Zoe Burns failed to clear the ball, Kayla Adamek intercepted it and sent a cross into the box, where Forbes tapped it into the net. Toronto equalized in the 33rd minute on a deflected shot by midfielder Sarah Stratigakis.

It took me nearly 20 minutes to find Waldo at the World of Maps on Wellington Street West. I toured the store three times, browsed the maps and board games, and carefully inspected the flags displayed in the window. I was determined to find the little guy to get my passport stamped. But the hunt was far from over. I kept walking down Wellington Street West to find Waldo at every participating store in last month’s innovative marketing initiative by the west-side Ottawa business district.

In Atlético Ottawa’s match against the Halifax Wanderers on Aug. 8, suspense and patience best described the scene at TD Place. Ottawa produced another late-game drama with a 2-1 victory at home against the visitors from Nova Scotia. The game lasted nearly three hours and 30 minutes due to severe weather conditions.

An Ottawa audience got its first look at a new Bell Fibe TV music docuseries celebrating Iranian-Canadian artists at an Aug. 6 premiere screening of the first two episodes of “Persian Pitch.” The event at Club Saw featured a screening of the series’ opening episodes, followed by a panel discussion with creator, director and co-producer of the series, Nickie Shobeiry, artist and music mentor Afta Hill, contestant Salar Karimi and Mariam Zohouri, the host.

An Aug. 10 open house for a sprawling newcivic centre and library branch in Barrhaven gave local residents a chance to see plans for the community complex and give feedback directly to municipal staff and city councillors. The open house for the civic complex was held at the Minto Recreation Centre with Barrhaven East and West councillors Wilson Lo and David Hill in attendance. The new facility would be located about one kilometre north of the Minto centre on Riocan Avenue.

Demonstrators gathered at the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in downtown Ottawa on July 25 to protest the Progressive Conservative government of Ontario Premier Doug Ford. The Ottawa rally was one of dozens of demonstrations organized across Ontario under the grassroots Fight Ford movement. Speakers repeatedly criticized the Ford government’s decision to close supervised consumption sites, while also raising concerns about the province’s response to northern First Nations displaced by wildfires.

A vegan barbecue, speeches from community advocates and the symbolic destruction of a pig piñata marked a protest outside Ottawa City Hall on Monday, where demonstrators demanded Ottawa police officers accused of gender-based misconduct be fired rather than allowed to resign quietly. The event, titled “No Pigs BBQ and Roast,” was organized by the Punch Up Collective, an Ottawa-based activist group focused on social justice, along with several advocacy organizations.

By Maryam Khan As children danced barefoot in front of the stage and others settled onto the hillside overlooking a forest on a summer Saturday evening, the Convent Glen Orléans Wood Community Association’s inaugural Music in the Woods Festival on July 25 delivered something Orléans has long been missing: a major live music event close to home.

Two new swimming docks opened in July on both shores of the Ottawa River, giving visitors additional places to cool off in the water. One is located on the shoreline at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, while the other is directly across the river at East Wharf, near the Rideau Canal locks at the foot of Major’s Hill Park.

By Théo Lemarchandel Atlético Ottawa defeated Pacific FC in a dramatic comeback on Sunday, July 26, as newly acquired Ottawa-born attacker Nicolas Fleuriau Château netted the winning goal in extra time and Gustavo Leal earned his first victory as the club’s head coach. Ottawa’s Emiliano García opened the scoring just before halftime (45+6’) after Pacific goalkeeper Sean Melvin failed to hold onto the ball after good save on a strong header by Atlético defender Enmanuel Mbomio Angue.