Happy Easter! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
Headlines
- Groat Road is scheduled to re-open to traffic by 6am on Tuesday, April 7. The City will be evaluating the 102 Avenue bridge girders and will have a new schedule for the project in the weeks ahead. You can learn more here.
- If I see the phrase “cautiously optimistic” one more time…that’s again the latest from the City on the Metro Line. Thales, the signalling system contractor, handed over most of the documentation on March 23, but the City has asked for additional information.
- The Province says it is keeping its promise to follow through with building new schools across Alberta, and it has launched a new website to let you see the progress that is being made. It’s part of the Innovation and Advanced Education open data catalogue.
- It sounds like the McDougall United Church will be around for a while longer, as the Province has pledged $750,000 with another $500,000 coming from the City to support conservation efforts. Now a fundraising campaign will need to take place in order to win the historic resource designation and to preserve the building.
- Here is the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce’s response to the Province’s Budget 2015. “The budget that was tabled shows prudence in the face of current fiscal uncertainties, but will require discipline in order to reach long-term objectives.”
- Catherine Keill will run for the PCs in Edmonton-Centre and Harman Kandola will run in Edmonton-Ellerslie. Kandola was going to run in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview but he agreed to move to make way for Councillor Tony Caterina.
- The Edmonton Rush are currently 9-4 in the standings and with their most recent victory over Vancouver, the Rush have clinched a playoff berth.
- The new Kennedale Eco Station is now open at 53 Street and 127 Avenue. The facility also has a Reuse Area, where you can pickup large reusable items for free.
- The City’s attempt to get an injunction against Uber to stop it from operating was unsuccessful. Now the Edmonton Taxi Association is calling on the City to issue stiff fines and impound cars working for Uber.
- Big news in Edmonton: the beloved West Edmonton Mall whale is back! You’ll find it in front of Sears in phase one.
- Applications are now being accepted for Edmonton’s first ever Youth Poet Laureate. The position is a one-year term, open to Edmontonians between the ages of 13 and 23. The deadline for applications is Friday, April 24.
- Here are the latest urbanism headlines from Spacing Edmonton.
- What is Edmonton’s best street? 104 Street, according to Metro.
- Here is University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera on new revenue streams for the university: “We have to be more thoughtful about how we bring in more revenue. Other places have done it, south of the border. We have simply not had disruptive discussions, disruptive thinking. Why can’t we be the destination for every citizen in Alberta who wants to take courses in the summer or on weekends?”
- For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.
Photo taken with a DJI drone, by Paul, here’s another great one
Upcoming Events
- The Oilers host the Kings on Tuesday evening, and the Sharks on Thursday.
- DemoCamp Edmonton 28 takes place on Tuesday evening at the U of A.
- The 104 Street Steering Committee is hosting a community meeting on Wednesday evening at the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel.
- Also Wednesday evening, NAIT’s Hatch Startup Challenge is hosting a reception showcasing the winning teams.
- An open house on streetscape improvements in McCauley is taking place on Thursday.
- The Edmonton Motorshow takes place Thursday through Sunday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
- The 2015 Edmonton Volunteer Fair takes place on Saturday at West Edmonton Mall.
- The Calgary Roughnecks are in town on Saturday to take on the Rush at Rexall Place.
- #TasteofIceland in Edmonton takes place on Saturday and Sunday. For more details, follow @IcelandNatural on Twitter.
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
Credo Coffee, photo by Dave Sutherland
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