Edmonton Notes for 3/13/2010

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• City Council put $17 million of last year’s $33.7 million surplus into a rainy day fund.
• Wearing a seatbelt has been law in Alberta since 1987, yet many Albertans still choose not to wear one. March is Occupant Restraint Month, which means police will be raising awareness about the importance of wearing a seatbelt!
• The 2010-2011 Edmonton Opera season was announced this week. They’re teaming up with The Fringe!
• Here is the Edmonton Startup Index for March.
• The Edmonton Event Centre, The Bank, and Mirama were all fined this week for breaking fire code regulations. Almost 300 inspections were performed by fire prevention officers in 2009.
• The grass at Commonwealth Stadium will be ripped out next week, to be replaced with artificial turf.
• Latitude 53 has a new Writer in Residence program, and the first writer is Carolyn Jervis.
• The Christenson Family Foundation donated $2.5 million to MacEwan this week (it will be paid over 10 years).
• Here are the winners of the 2009 ACE Awards!
• The Winspear Centre launched a new website this week. Looks great!
• More details on the City’s plan to launch an iPhone application, host an apps contest, and more.
• Happy 15th birthday to local brewery Alley Kat! Also, happy 1st birthday to Alberta Primetime!
• The judge who presided over the city’s first “electronic trial” says the case has offered him “a glimpse of the future.”
• Lots of people are upset about the closure of the MacEwan pool. Both students and seniors have protested.
• Here is the latest Edmonton Next Gen weekly newsletter.
• Dragon’s Den will be in town on Tuesday and Wednesday for auditions. Details on ShareEdmonton.
• Coming up next Saturday is the inaugural Yeg Swap (on ShareEdmonton), which The Journal wrote about here.