Edmonton Notes for 1/27/2013

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• This was the week the arena deal got done. Well, “done” in the sense that there’s still $114 million missing but everyone all of sudden seems cool with that. Councillor Iveson was one of the three who voted against the deal – he shared his thoughts here. Meanwhile, Northlands has announced it will be competing in the concert business and will renovate Rexall Place.
• The results of the 2012 Homeless Count were released this week, and they’re down again. A total of 2,174 homeless Edmontonians were counted, 247 fewer than in 2010. In related news, the Edmonton Police Service has a new plan to target the 50 heaviest users of Edmonton’s emergency services.
• Edmonton International Airport released its 2012 figures this week. Turns out last year was the busiest year in EIA history, with 400,000 more passengers served than in 2011.
• For some reason, three articles about Edmonton made the rounds online this week. They’ll make you angry, they’ll make you cheer! Start with The Edmonton Oilers Are A Useless Franchise, move on to Oh Edmonton, You Beautiful Swirling Mass of Contradictions, and then finish with Deadmonton: There is no such thing.
• The Financial Times of London has issued its list of the top business schools, and the U of A comes in at #100 globally and #6 here in Canada.
• The City is hosting a couple of information sessions this week on designing streets and neighbourhoods. This is part of the Complete Streets project.
• Public School Trustees voted this week to spend $3.2 million to purchase six new modular classrooms to expand space at some of the most overpopulated schools.
• Thankfully, a plan to make entrance requirements for Victoria School stricter (which may have forced students living around the school to go elsewhere) was defeated.
• Here’s the latest Council Roundup.
• Looks like the new Jasper Place Library is going to be quite an attractive building when it opens at the end of February!
• It may be a ways off still, but the City is doing more prep work for the new Walterdale Bridge.
• Elise reports that the City has heard complaints about suburban-style front garages coming to mature neighbourhoods – new wording discourages them.
• The Province is in a bit of a pickle at the moment with a slump in oil revenue, and health care may feel the effects as Premier Redford looks to make spending cuts.
• From Dave: Alberta’s new federal ridings have been released.

Edmonton Landscape (winter) by Brennan.

Here are some upcoming events:

• International Week 2013 kicks off on Monday and features more than 50 free presentations all week long. Check out the blog post for a great overview.
• The Oilers host the Avalanche at Rexall Place on Monday evening.
• The next Edmonton Girl Geek Dinner is taking place on Tuesday.
• The Oil Kings host the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday, and the Swift Current Broncos on Friday.
• There’s another Way We Green lunchtime speaker series event taking place on Wednesday, this time on food cultures for sustainability.
• Edmonton Opera’s Les Contes d’Hoffman kicks off on Friday.
• The Edmonton Rush will take on the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday at Rexall Place.
• Looking for some outdoor fun? Ice on Whyte continues all week! And nearby, be sure to check out the Canoe Theatre Festival.
• Fork Fest continues this week at participating restaurants.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Justin Piercy says he has been “eyeing this shot up for literally a few years” and finally went for it. I’m glad he did!