Ottawa school board votes against mandatory masks and a popular beach closed for the summer: Top stories this week

A woman wears a mask in Ottawa's ByWard Market.

Ottawa's public school board decides not to make masks mandatory in schools when mandates end and a popular beach will be closed this summer.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.

Five students from India identified as victims of fatal crash on Highway 401 near Trenton, Ont.

Five students from India were killed in a crash on Hwy. 401 in eastern Ontario.

Ontario Provincial Police say a tractor-trailer and a passenger van collided at approximately 3:45 a.m. March 12 on Hwy. 401 between Belleville and Trenton.

The OPP told CTV News Toronto that just before the collision, the van stopped in a live lane of the highway and one person got out. Const. Maggie Pickett could not say why the van had stopped.

Five occupants of the van were killed in the crash, while two others were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Police identified the victims as students from India who were attending schools in Montreal and Toronto.

Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a crash on Highway 401 between Trenton and Belleville that left five people dead. (Kimberley Johnson/CTV News Ottawa)

COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS LIFTING

Masks will no longer be mandatory in most city of Ottawa facilities and public schools on Monday as the Ontario government continues to lift COVID-19 restrictions.

Mandatory masking requirements will not be in effect when students return to class on Monday at Ottawa's publicly-funded schools following the March Break.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board rejected a plan to keep masks mandatory in schools. Trustees voted 6 to 6 on a motion to keep masks mandatory in schools, meaning the motion was defeated.

OCDSB board chair Lynn Scott sent a letter to Education Minister Stephen Lecce and chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore asking for a gradual approach to lifting COVID-19 restrictions.

The city of Ottawa will scrap its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for most municipal employees and contractors.

Starting April 4, the city will no longer require municipal workers to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19. The move will allow most unvaccinated employees to return to the workplace.

Vaccination will still be required for workers in high-risk setting, such as paramedics and employees in long-term care, shelters and respite centres.

Unvaccinated employees working in non high-risk settings that were placed on leave for failing to comply with the mandatory vaccination policy will be allowed to return to work starting April 4.

Face masks seem to be emerging as an important accessory to any outfit as Canadians start to settle into ‘the new normal.’

Cyclist dies after being struck by city grader in Ottawa’s east end

Ottawa police and the city of Ottawa are investigating after a cyclist died after she was struck by a grader in the east end.

Police say a municipal grader struck the 43-year-old woman at the intersection of Donald Street and North Driver Road Thursday afternoon. The victim died in hospital.

"The Public Works department, and the entire City, are saddened by this tragic incident and would like to extend our deepest condolences to the cyclist’s family and friends," General Manager of Public Works Alain Gonthier said in a memo to council.

"The City is also providing supports for the operator involved as this has been a traumatic experience for them."

Cyclist Gilles Mantha cycled by the area shortly before the fatal crash.

"I saw the city of Ottawa clearing snowbanks that didn't need to be cleaned … they were melting quite fine," Mantha said Friday. "There was very little snow to be moved but there they were. I went by them and I saw as a cyclist, half of the road is taken up at this point so you end up … you're with traffic."

A cyclist died after being struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Donald Street and North River Road. (Ian Urbach/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa police ticket partiers, tow cars during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

Ottawa police and Bylaw Services officers issued dozens of tickets and broke up 12 "significant parties" in Sandy Hill and near Carleton University, as Ottawa celebrated St. Patrick's Day.

Thousands of people packed bars and restaurants on Thursday to enjoy the first St. Patrick's Day without COVID-19 restrictions in three years.

"I have butterflies in my stomach. It felt like it was my wedding day this morning," Heart and Crown owner Shauna Bradley said, adding it was expected to be the busiest day at the pub since 2019.

Police and bylaw officers increased patrols in the ByWard Market, Sandy Hill, the Glebe and Old Ottawa South to monitor any house parties on Thursday.

Dozens of tickets were issued for various bylaw infractions and provincial offences, including two tickets for noise violations at house parties in Sandy Hill.

Fifteen parking tickets were issued and six vehicles were towed for illegally parking.

St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Sandy Hill. (Ian Urbach/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa's Westboro Beach to close for the summer

A popular beach will be closed this summer for renovation work.

The city of Ottawa announced late Friday that Westboro Beach will be off-limits as the National Capital Commission conducts work on the beach pavilion and landscape.

The plan includes a year-round Park Pavilion, a renovated lifeguard space and rehabilitating the existing Strutt pavilions with washrooms/change rooms to meet accessibility standards.  There will also be improvements to the park landscaping and safety improvements along the multi-use pathway, while the parking lot will be moved to the south side of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

Ottawa's beaches at Britannia, Mooney's Bay and Petrie Island will be open this summer.

Residents take advantage of the sunshine at Westboro beach on Colonel By Day Monday, despite the possibility of a fourth wave of COVID-19 with the Delta variant surging in different parts of the world. (Colton Praill/CTV Ottawa, August 2, 2021)