Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
Headlines
- Election day is nearly here – check out Dave’s latest roundup of news. Should be an interesting couple of days until the polls close at 8pm on Tuesday. The Wildrose has unveiled a list of its top donors and says it has raised more than $1 million in donations. Sounds like the parties are focusing on Calgary as the campaign draws to a close. You can check out the latest polling data here.
- The City of Edmonton has appointed Todd Burge as the new Chief Financial Officer. He has been the acting CFO since Lorna Rosen left in January.
- Council voted this week to remove the City of Champions slogan from our city’s welcome signs. Further changes will wait for a report on the costs and options.
- Property tax rates for 2015 have now been set, resulting in a 2.1% increase for the average single-family home, and an average increase of 7.6% for non-residential properties. Notices will be mailed on May 22 and the deadline to pay is June 30.
- From Spacing Edmonton: What will Alberta’s provincial election mean for its cities?
- Are you an Airbnb fan? The hotel industry is calling it a “serious issue” but the City says it is not pursuing active enforcement right now.
- Northlands held its AGM this week and reappointed Laura Gadowsky as the Chair.
- This is pretty neat – while performing soil remediation in the old parking lot at NorQuest College, crews found old building foundations that turned out to be the Tees & Persse Warehouse, built in 1913.
- Edmonton is now looking for its sixth Poet Laureate. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 29.
- Groat Road was closed this weekend and will be closed again next weekend to allow removal of the damaged girders to proceed.
- The City has launched a new Current Traffic Disruptions Map to show planned construction and events-related traffic disruptions. It’s all available in the open data catalogue too. Great to see!
- The Edmonton Rush have completed their regular season and are now preparing for the playoffs. They’ll play their first game on May 15 here in Edmonton.
- Jason Gregor provides some analysis of the changes that have taken place recently in the Oilers management.
- Mayor Don Iveson wrote this week about Edmonton’s Community Energy Transition Strategy. “While a core function of the Transition Strategy is certainly about meeting risk head on, it’s also about highlighting the key leadership role the City must take to drive change.”
- Have a favorite tree? Tell Dustin and he’ll add it to the YEGtrees Map.
- In case you missed it: Daryl Katz is teaming up with Joel Silver, yes that Joel Silver, to create Silver Pictures Entertainment, a new motion picture company. Bring on the hockey movies!
- For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.
There are placards up now at the Neon Sign Museum!
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday is Election Day! You’ve got from 9am until 8pm to vote. You can find out where to vote here. On election night, check out my results dashboard for live results.
- Green Drinks: Hidden Gems takes place on Wednesday evening at Yellowhead Brewery.
- The newly expanded Global Visions Film Festival kicks off on Thursday and runs for one week.
- The next Exchange.js Javascript Meetup takes place at Startup Edmonton on Thursday evening.
- Royal Bison returns on Friday and runs through Sunday at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre.
- The Art Gallery of Alberta’s annual fundraiser Art on the Block is back on Friday.
- Head over to Hawrelak Park on Saturday for Get Ready in the Park, part of Emergency Preparedness Week.
- I’ll see you on Saturday evening at La Cite Francophone for The Yeggies! You can get your tickets here.
- Ellevate, “a fun activity day for females of all ages”, takes place at the Saville Sports Centre all day Saturday.
- Sunday is Mother’s Day!
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
MacEwan Station & Rogers Place
MasterMaq's Blog 