Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
- One of the bigger stories this week was the Edmonton Arena District Open House, which I wrote about here. There’s a good roundup of articles at theedmontonian.com.
- Thousands of Edmontonians showed up at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park last Sunday to help with the River Valley Cleanup!
- A new winter festival was pitched to Council this week, and they balked at the $1 million price tag. Yet they’re happy to spend almost as much on Winter Light?
- Apparently the value of building permits issued in Edmonton for March were down significantly.
- There’s a naming competition underway for the downtown portion of 104th Street! The deadline to submit your suggestions is May 22.
- Congrats to Mari Sasano, who was honored by the local chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association with its media award.
- Michael Janz announced this week that he’s running for Public School Board Trustee in Ward F.
- The AGA wants you to help make a music video tomorrow for Mother’s Day (on ShareEdmonton)!
- MediaCamp Edmonton took place today, and went very well! You can watch our opening panel here. I’ll be writing more about it soon.
- The building at Whyte Avenue and 104th Street (with the Starbucks in it) is up for sale for $12.9 million.
- Check out the latest episode of The Unknown Studio – it features local musician Erica Viegas.
- The Edmonton Rush lost the NLL Western Final tonight, but they should be very happy with an amazing season. I’m very excited for next year!
- Tomorrow (Sunday) is Homeless Connect Edmonton 4 (on ShareEdmonton). I’ll be there helping out.
- Also tomorrow – the last day of the Muttart’s bedding plant sale (on ShareEdmonton).
- Wednesday is the 3rd annual Festival Volunteer Fair, taking place at City Hall this year (on ShareEdmonton).
- The Edmonton Energy play their first game of the season at home on Friday against the Tacoma Tide (on ShareEdmonton).
- Coming up next Saturday: #yegHelp (on ShareEdmonton).
- For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
Police are cracking down on cyclists who use the sidewalks, with a focus on Whyte Avenue. Is this really the best they could do for signs?
MasterMaq's Blog 
Re: Cyclist Signs. Comment from a friend:
“dear whyte avenue. your neon spray painted anti-bike/rollerblade/skateboard logos offend me. give me a safe bike lane and maybe i won’t feel the need to ride on the sidewalk. great. glad we had this talk. again.”
There is a reason cyclists are using the side walks. There isn’t enough safe cycling in this city. The conversation shouldn’t be about discouraging people to ride their bikes, but on how to get more people on them.
What people need is a safe alternative to the side walk on Whyte. Why not make one of the back roads off Whyte a cycle path with reduced traffic and cycle right of ways? Unfortunately Edmonton is still focused on the car :(.
I agree with you Tys, great thoughts, thanks for the comment!
I for one would love to see more bike lanes and paths added around Edmonton! I think they would make for safer travels for everyone involved. As an added bonus, in the winter the lanes would provide a safe area for the snow to be pushed onto so that the lanes don’t get tighter in some neighbourhoods and areas.