Edmonton Notes for 3/23/2014

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Deputy Premier Dave Hancock was sworn in this evening as the interim premier of Alberta, replacing Alison Redford after she announced on Wednesday that she would resign effective today. Here is her final blog post as premier.
• I was very disappointed to hear on Thursday at the opening of the Metro Line LRT to NAIT has been delayed again, this time to “the end of 2014.” The City says the new signalling system is to blame (and more specifically, the contractor). I understand it would take longer to ditch this contractor and bring someone new on board, which is why the City has stuck with them.
• The University of Alberta has begun the search for its 13th president. Board chair Doug Goss will lead the committee charged with finding a replacement for President Indira Samarasekera, with the successful candidate taking over on July 1, 2015.
• Congratulations to the Golden Bears hockey team on earning a record-setting 15th national championship!
• Are you a student looking to do something incredible this summer? You’ve got until April 4 to apply to Startup Edmonton’s Startup Summer Program.
• MacEwan University has announced that all South Campus operations will relocate to the City Centre campus in time for September 2014.
• Pay attention the next time you ride the LRT through Grandin Station as 80 feet of painted panels depicting “sacred symbols and imagery that reflect 10,000 years of Aboriginal history in the city we now call Edmonton” are complete and on display.
• I was happy to have participated in the Mayor’s Symposium on Poverty last week. The event marked the start of the new task force. For some additional background, see this post.
• Yellowknife mayor Mark Heyck was in Edmonton back in January to meet with Mayor Iveson and other members of Council. For some reason they only wrote about this now!
• Remember the proposal to widen 75 Street? Here’s how it could negatively affect the Valley Line LRT.
• I was in Calgary this weekend which only made catching the end of the final meeting of the season between the Oilers and Flames that much more painful.
• Sounds like finding your way downtown as a pedestrian could start to get a little easier next month when the City unveils a prototype of Walk Edmonton.
• I don’t think I have ever heard of a street in Edmonton where bollards were installed that didn’t result in most of them getting knocked down (104 Street, Capital Boulevard, etc.). What gives?

The last troops returned home from Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Upcoming Events

• The next Girl Geek Dinners event takes place on Tuesday evening at The Common.
• San Jose is in town to take on the Oilers on Tuesday, the Ducks are here Friday, and the New York Rangers are in town Sunday.
• DECL is hosting its first quarterly general meeting on Wednesday night.
• NDP Leader Tom Mulcair will be in town on Wednesday to speak to supporters at the Winspear Centre.
• Edmonton is the last stop on the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s national tour, with events taking place at the Shaw Conference Centre Thursday through Sunday.
• The fifteenth annual Taste of the Chamber takes place at the Jubliee Auditorium on Thursday!
• On Friday, the City of Edmonton Youth Council is hosting a YEG Youth Forum at City Hall.
• Saturday night from 8:30pm to 9:30pm, it’s Earth Hour!
• Also Saturday night, the sold out hot chefs cool bEATS event takes place at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• Heads up that Accelerate AB is taking plce in Edmonton in May. You have until Thursday this week to take advantage of early bird pricing.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Great shot of the Muttart Conservatory by Terry Lawson