Posting over the holidays has been fairly light as I have been enjoying a much-needed break, but I have posted a few things at Edmonton Etcetera and will get back to normal this week. Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
- Happy New Year! It was relatively warm on Friday night for the fireworks at Churchill Square.
- Edmonton’s first baby of 2011 was born at 12:04 AM, and sadly, our first homicide of the year came just a few hours later.
- According to the City of Edmonton, the amount of waste processed at this time of year is double what it is normally. Be smart about recycling your holiday waste!
- The arena was back in the news this week, as the report on the Katz Group’s rezoning application was released. The Charrette has a nice overview here.
- The 2011 Donate-a-Ride campaign kicked off on Thursday at City Hall. Over the last 15 years, the program has donated 752,782 tickets worth over $1.2 million.
- Christmas might be over, but you can still help the Christmas Bureau by making a donation.
- Mill Woods Town Centre, built in 1989, has been acquired by Bayfield Realty Advisors and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust for $94,600,000. The deal includes the shopping centre, medical office building, and 6 acres of vacant land for future development.
- Here’s another video from Edmonton Tourism, this time showing off local attractions through the eyes of a runner.
- Should Councillors be tweeting? I thought Adam made some good points in his post on the issue.
- Sharon has a great recap post for the local food scene – Epicurious in Edmonton: 2010 in Review.
- Speaking of food, Valerie has been posting a fantastic Food Trends 2011 series. Here is the entry I’m included in!
- I never thought I’d see it, but the Edmonton Journal featured a tag cloud on its front page this week! I look forward to much more in 2011.
- The Edmontonian also has a tag cloud and a feature on 2010 Headlines.
- Georges Laraque had a letter published this week, once again urging the City of Edmonton to move Lucy the Elephant.
- Detroit is in town Tuesday night to play the Oilers, and the Islanders visit on Thursday.
- MacEwan’s Showcase Band Concert takes place on Friday evening.
- The Regina Pats play the Oil Kings on Saturday night.
- Next weekend, Deep Freeze takes place on Alberta Avenue. It’s the first of the Winter Light events.
Happy New Year!
MasterMaq's Blog 
Hi, Mack. Thanks for linking to my Tumblr – you made my day! I just started it over the holidays, encouraged and inspired by your Edmonton Etcetera (http://edmontonetc.ca), Andy’s Pensees In (http://penseesin.tumblr.com) and Adam’s mind grapes (http://bingofuel.tumblr.com), among others. It’s sort of a blog with training wheels, at least the way I use it. My resolution is to keep it up once I’m back at work.
The tag cloud in the Dec. 31 Journal was the product of the number-crunching and creativity of Lucas Timmons, as well as the editorial smarts of Kerry Powell and Barb Wilkinson, I believe (most of this happened while I was away). We will definitely be doing more data visualization and data journalism in general in 2011. If you or your readers have ideas you’d like us to pursue or neat examples you’ve seen elsewhere, let me know. As you have noted before – https://blog.mastermaq.ca/2010/11/09/two-reasons-journalists-should-learn-to-love-excel/ – we have a lot to learn, but we’re working on it.
Happy New Year to you and Sharon!
Thanks for the comment Karen! I’ll definitely have some suggestions for you. Happy New Year!