The top 10 Ottawa stories of 2017

It has been a busy year in the world of Ottawa news, with everything from maggot-infested rental units to a free farm being offered on Kijiji.

We've rounded up the most popular stories of the year.

Here's a look back at some of the highlights of 2017.

1. 'You can't do this to us': Fuming passengers stuck on planes for hours call 911

Passengers call 911 after being stuck for hours at Ottawa airport

7 years ago

Duration 2:12

Air Transat passengers call 911 after being stuck on planes for hours at the Ottawa airport, as stormy weather delays Montreal-bound flights

Passengers ontwo Air Transat flights were stuck on planes at the Ottawa airport for hours on Aug.1,after being diverted due to stormy weather.At least two of the passengerscalled 911 during the six hours the planes were sitting on the tarmac.

The incident launched a national inquiry, which recently culminated in the airline paying inconvenience fees to all passengers.

Read more.

2.The fresh, young face of Ottawa's opioid tragedy

The opioid crisisclaiming lives across the country tooka particularly sinister turn in the nation's capital when Grade 9 student Chloe Kotval, 14, died from an overdose on Valentine's Day.

Ottawa paramedics have responded to hundreds of overdoses in the last two years.

Many Ottawansmet shortly after Kotval's death to discuss how to fight opioidaddiction in teenagers.

Read more.

3.Rental unit overrun by maggots, mould and feces after city program fails landlord

Those are dried maggots: CBC reporter visits trashed apartment (The Investigators with Diana Swain)

7 years ago

Duration 5:00

'Those are dried maggots': CBC reporter visits trashed apartment - CBC Ottawa's Ashley Burke on a city-funded housing program that went horribly wrong. Watch The Investigators Saturdays at 9:30 pm ET and Sundays at 5:30 pm ET on CBC News Network.

An Ottawa man agreed to join a city-fundedprogram that matches private landlords with homeless people who need a permanent place to live.

Seven months later, his unit wastrashed and crawling with maggots. When you walk in the door, you werehit with the stench of rotting food and feces. The unit wasbuzzing with dozens of flies, covered in half-eaten perishables and littered in piles of knee-deep garbage.

Following the publication of this story, CBCNews learned the city had been warned of gaps in the program.

Read more.

4.Ottawa teacher sent home after cutting hair of 7-year-old boy with autism

An Ottawa teacher wassent home after he was accused of cutting the hair of a seven-year-old student with autism at school without permission from the boy's mother.

The teacher at Regina Public School in Ottawa's west end wanted Miriam Brandon to cut her son's hair, which was down to his shoulders.

The teacher complained that Dominic, who has autism, was chewing on his hair and that it covered his face.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Boardlater offered an apology.

Read more.

5.Love animals and hard work? You could take over this Smiths Falls, Ont., farm for free

Back in April,Stephen Overburywas looking for someone to take over his farmnear Smiths Falls, Ont.,as he preparedto return toJapan, where he hadlived for about 15 years.

But instead of selling it or renting it out, the 62-year-old wasoffering it up to the right person, in perpetuity and it wouldn'tcost a dime to take it over.

Read more.

6.'My heart was in my stomach': Homeowner learns too late she bought a former grow-op

Claudette Charron thought she bought her perfect house a fixer-upper in need of a little TLC, at a good price in a small community until she discovered there used to be a marijuana grow-op in the basement and the houseneeded tens of thousands of dollars of work to make it safe to live in.

Charron, her boyfriend and her 16-year-old son moved into their new home in Limoges, Ont., at the end of June 2016, one year after there had been a drug bust at the house.

Read more.

7.Artist defends eyeball tattoo that left Ottawa woman with partial vision loss

The artist who left an Ottawa woman with vision loss in one eye after a tattoo injection wentwrong was defending his actions, saying he didn't make any mistakes during the procedure.

Eric Brown tattooed the whiteof CattGallinger's righteye purple in an Arnprior, Ont.,studio after-hours on the night of Sept. 5.

Within hours of the procedure, Gallingersaidshe was in pain as the ink leaked from her eye. The next morning, it was swollen shut.

Months later, she still can't see properly and is waiting to find out if she'll lose her eye.

Read more.

8.'An absolute fiasco': Disorganized Canada Day security lines cause backlog

Canada 150's crowning event was one to remember, but maybe not for all the best reasons. Parliament Hill was the focal point of Canada Day, but many people sayit was the very thing that ruined the festivities.

Long security lines to get onto the Hill left many people huddled together for several hours. The crowd reached 25,000 by noon Saturday, and ebbed and flowed as the day progressed.

Once the designated stanchions had filled, the linespilled into the streets causing chaos.One woman waited in line for threehours before a police officer told her she wasn't standing in an official line.

Read more.

9.Why an Ontario woman is fighting for her right to swim topless

A woman who has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario wants to "normalize" the act of swimming topless, her lawyer told CBC News in July.

The human rights complaint began when the still-unnamed womanwas searching for a hotel for the occasion of her husband's birthday.

She asked several hotels if she would be allowed to swim without a top, as is her preference.

But several hotels said that she would not be allowed to swim topless, but was not given any reason or explanation.

Read more.

10.2 dead, 1 injured after shootout in ByWard Market

2 dead, 1 injured in ByWard Market shootings

7 years ago

Duration 0:33

The SIU is investigating a fatal police-involved shooting in Ottawa's ByWard Market on June 3, 2017. Two men died and one other man was injured in multiple incidents of gunfire.

A suspect exchanged gunfire with an Ottawa police officer in the earlymorning of June 3.It ended with two dead and one injured.

Friendsmournedthe loss of43-year-old Terrence Phillips, while othersprayedfor the speedy recovery of another man caught in the crossfire in what morphed into adeadly weekend in Ottawa's ByWard Market.

Read more.