Dig into a big breakfast of fried, scrambled or poached eggs on toasted bread, accompanied with sausage, bacon, roasted tomato, mushrooms and a hash brown, or the vegetarian option of sautéed spinach and ricotta.
Sounds alright doesn’t it? But before we could enjoy any of this at Il Baretto at 1 Hobart  Place in the city, [...]

Sometimes we get a media release that leaves us speechless.
Canberra CBD are making known their arrangements to reduce the Civic’s yellow rivers of a late night.
A urinal trial in late-night city hot spots will begin tonight (Thursday 14 March) to gain data on the issue of public and illegal urination.
An initiative of Canberra CBD Limited [...]

We visited the store in Gungahlin on the weekend and was advised by the sales person that Camping world Gungahlin and Tuggeranong are in receivership. 
Tuggeranong has been closed and all stock has been transported to the Gungahlin store

AHAACT have voiced fears that the ACT will lose out due to the election timetable.
In a major blow to the local economy, more than $6 million will be wiped from the sector with Federal Parliament not sitting for a majority of the second half of the year, the AHA survey of leading hotel accommodation businesses [...]

It looks as though another suburb’s shops are facing an uncertain future.  Last night I noticed that the Higgins Foodworks shop is newly decorated with “For Lease”stickers.   A quick google reveals that a small unit for medical / consulting  is also available – this I presume is the doctors surgery.  
This is of [...]

Michael Brand of the Art Gallery of New South Wales says he is going to go to the feds cap in hand and ask for a contribution to the gallery’s plans to double in size by 2021 at a cost of many millions of private philanthropy dollars/taxpayer dollars.
It will be interesting to see how the [...]

Word reaches us that the exciting world of IT entrepreneurship is coming to ANU next week:
In a full-day event called TECHCONNECT, taking place at the ANU Commons on 14 March, aspiring startups will hear from the likes of John De Margheriti, founder of BigWorld and Ken Kroeger, founder of Seeing Machines on why [...]

After many long years of hosting a decaying eyesore the people of Macquarie at last have a demolition site to look at.
Who would have thought this day would come!

The Canberra Times has the news that Ply ACT is singing with the Choir Invisible which will cause disruption to numerous major builds around town:
Ply ACT issued a statement late on Monday night confirming it had entered into voluntary administration with sites affected including the $550 million Nishi Complex in New Acton, the Astin Apartments [...]

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous has sent this in:
The following concerns are raised regarding demolition activity at 102 Northbourne Avenue, Braddon:
1. Unsafe building practices
No fall protection has been installed on demolished apartments. See below photo of construction worker washing out apartment without fall protection. Ground is slippery from washing out building materials and [...]

Do you know the height restrictions for buildings in your street? The proposal by Geocon for a 35 storey residential building in Belconnen has forced many enjoying suburban bliss to focus on the reality of increasing densification in Canberra. Most Canberrans are completely unaware of the zoning regulations that apply to their home. A developer [...]

Andrew Leigh has tweeted that the Chamber of Commerce’s long serving supremo has passed away after a lengthy illness.
Vale ACT Chamber of Commerce & Industry head Chris Peters, a strong advocate for business in #Canberra. He’ll be greatly missed.
— Andrew Leigh (@ALeighMP) February 27, 2013

The Chamber of Commerce has made this statement to its members:
The [...]

Canberra CBD has put out the word on a changing of the guard.
New CEO for Canberra CBD Ltd
Canberra CBD Ltd CEO Steve Gregory has announced his resignation from the position effective 8 March 2013. Steve has accepted a national role in the area of defence.
Although sorry to see him go the Canberra CBD Ltd Board [...]

Shane Rattenbury announced the start of a $1 million upgrade to the Waramanga shops today.
“The Waramanga upgrade will include a new retaining wall and paving around the shops and
car park area; better lighting; a drinking fountain, bench seats and new garden beds.
“It will also include provision of bike racks, an access ramp and parking for [...]

Microsoft has set up a lounge at the ANU where students can use their products to study or relax. Microsoft is probably hoping to lure some students away from the Apple brand. If they wanted to create a positive experience for students to associate with their products, they probably shouldn’t have included a Kinect.
In a [...]

Andrew Barr’s office has pushed out the news that the ACTTAB privatisation will be overseen by consultancy juggernaut PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC):
The study will identify the full range of future ownership options and the issues associated with each. The various options range from retaining full government ownership and possible improvements to existing operational/governance arrangements, or the partial [...]

Gas Power and Water behemoth ActewAGL are letting us know they’ve won a Roy Morgan Research award:
At an event in Melbourne this week, Roy Morgan Research Chief Executive Officer Michele Levine announced the results of customer satisfaction ratings, collected through its 2012 Consumer Single Source survey of over 50,000 Australians and its Business Single [...]

The ABC has the news that even the Labor movement dominated Clubs aren’t willing to spend money on the possibility of Labor winning the next election:
Members met on Thursday afternoon to decide on whether to begin the trial organised, or delay until after the September polling date.
ClubsACT chief executive Jeff House says managers are [...]

The ABC has reassuring noises from Zed Seselja over not needing to fear an Abbott Government because the job losses will only be 4,000 rather than 12,000:
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pledged to cut 12,000 jobs from the Commonwealth public service if he wins government in September.
But Mr Seselja has told a Legislative [...]

Most people want to remain independent throughout retirement and to stay in control of where and how they live. But your ability to do so may depend on your health and physical well being. As we age, some things become harder to do on our own.
For many people navigating the aged care area [...]

I am curious to hear if anyone has had any success taking a real estate through the Tribunal and Fair Trading?
We decided to break a 12 month fixed term lease by 6 weeks. Since the moment we told the real estate, we have copped hell from them. They were given 5 weeks’ notice prior to [...]

The Economist has an article on the future of retailing.
It’s UK centric, but it rings true for what makes a pleasing shopping experience.
Shops must become “brand ambassadors”, complementing websites. That means keeping the whole range in stock, having good customer service and being sufficiently appealing that people will travel a long way to visit [...]

The ABC has the truly remarkable news that:
Almost half of Canberra businesses inspected have been caught selling cigarettes to children.
As RiotACT is amongst the we suspect large group of Canberra businesses that don’t even sell cigarettes our minds boggle as to which software consultancies and hairdressers are moonlighting in the ciggie trade.
Sadly it [...]

Matt Watts has emailed in the latest reports from his trench warfare over the Belconnen Community Council.
He’s sent in a letter from the Office of Regulatory Services which calls for a new Annual General Meeting to resolve the disputed presidency. (pending review, appeal, and mediation, once again procedural fairness overrides anything resembling justice).
Matt’s also provided [...]

Last month I wrote about the plight of a group of residents in a greenfields estate in Watson, who have been almost 8 months without a fixed-line phone or internet connection. You can read all about it here.
After making that post, there was a small amount of fuss kicked up:

A member of the Department of [...]

The ABC has a lengthy report on development plans around Woden with the proposed mega towers being scratched and more parking on the table:
Land Development Agency (LDA) chief executive David Dawes says the two development applications for the land bordered by Melrose Drive, Furzer and Corinna streets, and Aviation House, have been withdrawn following [...]

Wanted:
Someone who wants to make a fortune selling bagels at the farmers market.
All you need to do is show up on time and serve people in a timely manner.
It is also recommended you bring enough change so you don’t have to beg for change from other vendors EVERY WEEK.
Discuss.

Government News has the story on Finance consolidating thousands of procurement files into one single CSV file which will be of great interest to all of you trying to sell to Government:
Speaking at the Kickstart technology media conference on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, newly appointed Australian Government Procurement Coordinator and Chief Technology Officer, [...]

Goodfood brings word that Canberra’s top restaurant (in vertical metres at least) is closing its doors after getting the love birds out tonight.
Two years of unpaid rent can do that to a business.

The Property Council has announced the ACT’s nominees for the 2013 Property Council of Australia / Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation and Excellence Awards:
“These three projects demonstrate the ACT property industry’s commitment to excellence,” says ACT Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia, Catherine Carter.
“Two of the nominees have been recognised for breathing new life [...]

The Magistrates Court has released the findings of the inquest into the Hotel Diamant fire.
The background by Coroner Walker is certainly far reaching:
When humankind learned of the quality of fire as a tool in cooking, a seductively dangerous relationship emerged. Whether in the home or commercial kitchens, fires related to the cooking process are [...]

Joy Burch has announced the passage of new racing laws:
New laws enabling the ACT racing industry to directly set and collect product fees from wagering operators that bet on their racing meets passed unanimously in the Legislative Assembly today.
The product fee is a charge that is paid to the ACT racing clubs for use of [...]