Edmonton Notes for 11/1/2015

I hope you made the most of your extra hour today! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• As I mentioned on Friday, the City has released its proposed operating budget for 2016-2018. The budget recommends a 4.9% general property tax increase in 2016 for all civic operations. You can provide your feedback here.
• A news release from the Province says that “this year’s provincial budget includes critical investments in Edmonton-area health-care facilities that will improve access to services for patients and families.” But the reality is that while Edmonton-area facilities will receive around $134 million, Calgary is receiving $830 million over five years for the Calgary Cancer Centre alone.
• On ring roads as well, Calgary seems to be getting the bulk of the funding. That led Paula Simons to ask, is Notley’s government taking Edmonton for granted?
• Well that’s a unique way to put it: Mayor Iveson hopes to get the region “hunting as a pack” and even co-funding regional projects. The Journal says he wouldn’t commit to running for a second term in 2017, but let’s be honest, what are the chances he won’t?
• This is great: Spider Mable is helping Edmonton Transit spread an important safety message to children with the help of other local heroes. The formal campaign launches in mid-November.
• The City’s partnership with Startup Edmonton, launched in the spring, seems to be off to a strong start. Roughly 30 City staffers have gone through the pre-flight program.
• According to the City, the 2015 Edmonton and Regional Household Travel Survey (“Making Tracks”) is 76% of the way to reaching its goal of 19,000 completed surveys. We filled it out a couple weeks ago! The last time the survey was completed was 2005.
• Congratulations to everyone recognized by Avenue Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2015!
• Here is the fifth and final entry in the “Innovation in Sustainability” series that the City has been running on residential infill. You can watch all the videos on YouTube.
• November is Family Violence Prevention Month here in Alberta. You can see a listing of events here.
• Interested in why Jeff Petry doesn’t play for the Oilers anymore? OilersNation has the story.
• Love vinyl? You’ll want to check out the new Record Collector’s Paradise in northwest Edmonton.
• In case you missed it, here is Karen’s latest roundup of local blog posts.
• From Transforming Edmonton: The Edmonton Drill Hall (re-named the Prince of Wales Armouries in 1921) was officially opened by Premier Borden on October 15, 1915.
• Fort Edmonton Park has been awarded the Alberta Tourism Award for Marketing Excellence for its “Edmonton’s Story, Make it Yours” campaign. Congrats! The campaign will continue into 2016.
• Want to get involved with EndPoveryEdmonton? There are lots of opportunities coming up!
• Have you got your flu shot yet? AHS says that about 280,000 Albertans received a flu shot in the first week of the vaccination campaign, including roughly 93,000 from the Edmonton zone.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

We do have some really pretty sunsets at this time of year!

Upcoming Events

• ERIEC is hosting a Business Leaders Corporate Breakfast on Tuesday morning with keynote speaker Lionel Laroche at the AGA.
• The Oilers host the Flyers on Tuesday, and the Penguins on Friday.
• The next Green Drinks event takes place on Wednesday evening at the Yellowhead Brewery. The theme this time is “greening your home”.
• Hundreds of Edmontonians will be in attendance on Thursday for Premier Notley’s State of the Province Address at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• Also Thursday at lunch is an End Poverty Edmonton Luncheon hosted by ECVO.
• The 7th annual Edmonton Timeraiser takes place on Thursday evening, this time at the EPCOR Tower. Here’s a feature on the event from The Local Good.
• Diwali (aka the ‘festival of lights’) is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated every autumn, and this year Northlands is hosting a big celebration all weekend long (though Diwali actually takes place November 10 and 11).
• There’s a free session taking place on Saturday called Understanding City Hall. Could be a good opportunity to learn more about how City Council works.
• Rodeo Week kicks off on Saturday! Should be fun.
• Planning your calendar for November? Check out Edmonton Tourism’s list of things to do.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Visitor Centre, photo by RemotelyBoris