Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
Headlines
- Rachel Notley was sworn in as Alberta’s 17th Premier today in front of thousands of people on the steps of the Alberta Legislature. Eleven other MLAs were named to cabinet positions and were sworn in today as well. On Thursday, Brian Mason was appointed the new Government House Leader.
- The lovely weather we’ve been having may be great for food trucks but it’s not so great for firefighters. Fire bans were issued in Edmonton, Strathcona County, and Fork Saskatchewan this week. You can see full details for the province here.
- Congratulations to the Edmonton Rush on winning the West Division and advancing to the Champion’s Cup Finals! They’ll face off against the Toronto Rock, with game 1 taking place in Toronto on May 30 and game 2 here at home on June 5.
- The Rush were in the news earlier this week after owner Bruce Urban criticized Council and the City for their apparent lack of support. Mayor Iveson fired back and said that Urban walked away from a potential sponsorship arrangement.
- The first KLM flight from Amsterdam landed at the Edmonton International Airport on Wednesday. The service is now offered Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays year-round, with a Friday flight slated to being June 22 for the summer. “Today, we are proud to add Edmonton as our 5th Canadian gateway bringing our offer this Summer to 39 weekly flights between Canada and The Netherlands,” said Erik Swelheim, KLM CFO.
- It’s property tax time! Expect to see your notice in the mail in the next few days. The City will collect about $1.7 billion in property taxes this year.
- Another big change for the Edmonton Oilers this week as Todd McLellan was named Head Coach.
- Dave reports that former councillor and mayoral candidate Karen Leibovici is rumored to be preparing to seek the federal Liberal Party nomination in Edmonton-West.
- Congratulations to Carley-Jane Stanton, Cory Rakowski, Heather Shewchuk, Jimmy Shewchuk, Philip Yu, Shirzad Chunara, Simone Demers Collins and Thomas Lynch-Staunton, who are the newest members of the Edmonton Food Council.
- Here’s a feature on urban farming in Edmonton from The Local Good.
- The University of Alberta is set to welcome Canada’s ice-core archive, a collection of samples that offer a peek into the past 12,000+ years of history.
- Congratulations to the recipients of the 2015 Mayor’s Awards, which recognize citizens who are working to remove barriers to make Edmonton an inclusive city.
- It hasn’t been said publicly, but I’m hearing that the City is hoping to open the Metro Line by the end of the month. Doesn’t seem likely, but field training is underway.
- And on the subject of transit, here’s a look back at 70 years of trolleys in Edmonton.
- For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.
Swearing In, by Premier of Alberta
Upcoming Events
- The International Children’s Festival kicks off on Tuesday at the Arden Theatre in St. Albert.
- The Edmonton Public Library is hosting a series of conversations on the future of the Stanley Milner library over the next few weeks. The next session is Wednesday at the downtown library itself.
- On Wednesday evening, Edmonton’s NextGen hosts its next DARK MEÆT event at the EPCOR Tower.
- Edmonton’s newest co-working space celebrates its grand opening on Thursday at TRTech.
- The 4th Good Hundred Experiment kicks off on Friday evening and runs all weekend at Rundle Park.
- Have some large waste to get rid of? The City is hosting another Big Bin event on Saturday and Sunday at Rexall Place.
- Head over to Servus Place in St. Albert for the second annual eek! Comic & Pop Culture Fest, taking place Saturday and Sunday.
- If felines are your thing you won’t want to miss the Edmonton International Cat Festival, which happens Saturday at NAIT.
- Also Saturday is the return of On the Spot with a popup market at Latitude 53.
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
We had a great kickoff to our 2015 What the Truck?! season yesterday in Churchill Square! Couldn’t have asked for better weather. We’ll have a recap up tomorrow but in the meantime, here’s one from Cindy. Thank you to the thousands of Edmontonians who came! Our next event will take place on June 14 on Capital Boulevard.
What the Truck?! at Churchill Square, more here
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