Edmonton Notes for 7/3/2011

Happy Canada Day long weekend! Here are my weekly notes:

• It was revealed this week that the federal government appears to have yanked its support for our Expo 2017 bid because of fears the event “could lead to a request for a large-scale expenditure in Eastern Canada.”
• Congratulations to Anna Marie Sewell, Edmonton’s newest Poet Laureate!
• On Monday, the City unveiled the names of 23,000 citizens who have made a commitment to help build a racism-free Edmonton.
• This press release from the City strikes me as pretty disingenuous considering the cost overruns the 23rd Avenue interchange experienced. Bob Boutilier, GM of Transportation Services, was quoted: “Thanks to excellent project management work by the Roads Design and Construction team, we saved a considerable amount of money on the 23 Avenue/Gateway Boulevard Interchange project which will go towards priority roads and intersections that otherwise would not have been repaired until next season.”
• The Edmonton Eskimos won their regular season opener tonight against the Roughriders in Regina, 42-28. Then they tweeted this: The Edmonton Eskimos just checked into the #2K11Season on @FourSquare & ousted @CharlieSheen as the Mayor of #WINNING! #YEG #ESKS. Love it!
• The Edmonton Energy weren’t so successful today, losing 124-116 to the Vancouver Volcanoes in the IBL championship final. Great run though!
• The Oilers acquired six new players on Friday, and have agreed to terms with Nugent-Hopkins.
• According to a new report, Edmonton will need twenty-two new overpasses over the next thirty years.
• Cliff Higuchi is the new VP and GM of the Shaw Conference Centre, taking over for the retiring Mike Fitzpatrick.
• The Journal calls for an expansion of bus service to the airport.
• The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation announced this week that over $1.7 million will be gifted to charitable organizations as a result of fundraising efforts during the 2010-2011 season.
• In case you missed it: Paula Simons wrote about the Bank of Montreal building, scheduled to be demolished as part of GE Capital’s redevelopment of the old EPCOR tower.
• Energy-related leasing this year caused Edmonton’s industrial real estate vacancy rate to drop to 4.8%.
• Everyone is still looking for answers for Edmonton’s high homicide rate.
• ArtsHab Alberta Avenue is a new $3.7 million affordable housing cooperative building for artists.
• Did you remember to pay your taxes on Thursday? The City will collect a total of $1.3 billion in property taxes this year.
• For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
• At least eight Edmonton acts have been nominated for the 2011 edition of the Western Canadian Music Awards. The awards ceremony takes place in October in Whitehorse. Check it out here.
• The 24th annual edition of the Sterling Awards took place this week. Check out the winners here.
• There are some great Edmontonians on Alberta Venture’s 2011 list of the 50 Most Influential People in Alberta. Congrats all!
• Here’s a blog post about the City of Edmonton and IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge.
• The Brick’s annual Super Novice Invitational hockey tournament starts tomorrow morning and runs all week at West Edmonton Mall.
• The Works Art & Design Festival wraps up on Tuesday!
• Latitude 53’s Summer Rooftop Patio Series continues on Thursday, hosted this week by interVivos!
• The Edmonton International Street Performs Festival kicks off on Friday in Churchill Square. It runs through the 17th.
• Also Friday is the start of the Edmonton & Northern Alberta Historic Festival.
• The Eskimos are home to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday evening.
• Old Strathcona will be alive with the sound of music on Sunday as SOSFest returns.
• Also Sunday, the Avenue Goes to the Dogs festival takes place in Eastwood Park.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

The fireworks in Mill Woods, photo by Brittney.