Edmonton Notes for 5/25/2014

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

90 Ways to 90%

The City of Edmonton has launched a new campaign called 90 Ways to 90%. It aims to encourage Edmontonians to participate in the effort to divert 90% of Edmonton’s waste from landfill (a figure that currently stands at around 60%). Here’s a short video I made about the campaign:

Headlines

• Congratulations to the Edmonton Oil Kings on winning the Memorial Cup! They defeated the Guelph Storm by a final score of 6-3. What a great way to end a great season.
• The Freedom of the City is the highest honour a municipality can grant a military unit, and that’s exactly what the City of Edmonton granted the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in recognition of the regiment’s 100th anniversary.
• Keep an eye on your mailbox this week: property owners will start receiving their 2014 property tax notices in the next few days.
• To better leverage its substantial land holdings, the University of Alberta is proposing the creation of a land trust. The plan will go before the board of governors in June.
• The City posted a year-in-review for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services this week. In 2013, they responded to more than 39,000 calls for service, including 3,278 fires and 25,510 medical calls.
• It’s going to take some investment, but Mayor Iveson still feels the City should move ahead with the ambitious plans for the Blatchford redevelopment.
• The Edmonton Police Service’s latest Citizen Satisfaction Survey shows that 93% of Edmontonians have confidence in EPS.
• Speaking of the police, they say they are going to crack down on noisy motorcycles this summer. I’m fine with people riding motorcycles, but the noise does get really annoying.
• The Safer Parking Initiative has come to Edmonton. The first two parking lots to be recognized are Main on Whyte and the University Hospital’s East Parkade.
• Congratulations to all of the Edmontonians and organizations recognized at the annual Mayor’s Awards.
• Thomas Lukaszuk is the latest to throw his hat into the ring as a PC leadership candidate.
• Check out Karen’s latest post to see what Edmonton bloggers have been up to.
• Here are Spacing Edmonton’s latest Urbanism Headlines.
• If you can afford the $250 ticket price, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be speaking in Edmonton on June 18.
• I absolutely love this tweet:

Mayor @doniveson & @EEDC you’ll love this student’s reflection! #yegdt pic.twitter.com/N6YondvBUe

— City Hall School (@CityHallSchool)

May 24, 2014

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Upcoming Events

• The International Children’s Festival starts this week!
• Jenny Smith is speaking at the Art Gallery of Alberta on Wednesday night for the Ad Club of Edmonton’s next Cultivate event.
• On Wednesday evening the 2014 RISE Awards take place at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• The following evening, IABC’s Capital Awards Gala takes place at the Old Timers’ Cabin.
• I’ll be at the Shaw Conference Centre on Thursday evening, where I’m hosting a poverty simulation with Omar Mouallem.
• Did you miss this season’s grand opening of the 124 Street Grand Market? Check it out every Thursday from 4pm to 8pm.
• The Good Hundred Experiment is back! The event takes place at Rundle Park on Saturday and Sunday. Sharon and I are looking forward to participating this year.
• Environment Week kicks off this weekend!
• Heads up: NextGen Month will kick off at Latitude 53 on June 4.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first What the Truck?! of the season. It was a busy, fun evening! Save the date for our next event: June 13 in Old Strathcona.