Edmonton Notes for 4/10/2010

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Today was the official opening of The Centennial Garage, Edmonton’s largest bus garage. The $99 million project encompasses 7.1 acres and was built to the silver standard for LEED.
• City Council approved $100,000 this week to find ways to cut down on problem bars and nightclubs along Jasper Avenue.
• The City reached an agreement with the Edmonton Police Association this week. The average five-year constable will receive a 4.5% wage increase for each of 2009 and 2010.
• St. Albert mayor Nolan Crouse announced he’ll run for re-election in October.
• The City of Edmonton’s 2010 mosquito control program got underway this week.
• Edmonton-based Calder Bateman is one of the first ad agencies in Canada to officially adopt social media, hiring local guru Adam Rozenhart.
• Here’s the latest Edmonton Next Gen weekly newsletter.
• If you can, get outside and water a tree. This is apparently going to be a really difficult year for trees due to the lack of precipitation.
• Reg Cheramy was probably the first person in Edmonton to get an iPad.
• Edmonton is going to take a run at hosting the 2012 World Women’s Baseball Championships.
• Nice write-up on the effort to make 3D models of downtown and the U of A, led by Christian Nelson.
• Edmonton ranked number 5 on a recent national economic growth list.
• The Edmontonian did a great job of covering Western Canada Fashion Week. Click through for photos from the event.
• Finally: the White Pages will no longer be mass-delivered to customers in the Edmonton area.
• If you haven’t already, check out Edmonton’s people plan, The Way We Live, and then fill out the online survey. It closes April 12.
• A draft Master Plan Update for Fort Edmonton Park is available, and will be presented at the Community Services Committee meeting on April 19 (on ShareEdmonton).
• The Community Schools Coalition is hosting a rally for community schools on Tuesday evening (on ShareEdmonton).
• Coming up on Thursday is the Churchill Square Ideas Fair (on ShareEdmonton). It’s your opportunity to provide suggestions on how to improve Churchill Square.
• Also Thursday: the 2010 TEC VenturePrize Awards Luncheon.
• Coming up on the 15th is the first Connections 2010 event, part of the Great Neighbourhoods initiative.

Sharon and I checked out the Muttart Conservatory today! More photos available here.