Edmonton Notes for September 4, 2016

Happy long weekend! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• You’ve no doubt seen the horrible video of a group of men in a car yelling racial slurs at Jesse Lipscombe in downtown Edmonton. Jesse later met with the mayor and now they have teamed up on the #MakeItAwkward campaign to call out discriminatory and ignorant behavior.
• The latest municipal census puts our city’s population at 899,447. I wrote about it here and Dave says the results “could give some indication into how provincial electoral boundaries in the city will be redrawn for the next election.”
• Former Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong died on Saturday at the age of 86. Here’s a statement from Premier Notley. Online condolences can be shared here.
• The City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Police Association have “settled a retroactive collective agreement for 2014, 2015 and 2016 through binding arbitration.” Wage increases of 2.4% in 2014, 2.5% in 2015, and 2.75% in 2016 were awarded.
• For the 5th consecutive year, Edmonton has been awarded a score of AA+, the second-highest possible, from credit agency Standard & Poor’s.
• Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain finished first in the Elite Men’s race at the ITU World Triathlon Edmonton today.
• The federal government has agreed to put $143.9 million toward more than four dozen Edmonton transit project, CBC Edmonton reports. “Today’s agreement means projects that are not only shovel ready, but also shovel worthy, can proceed without delay,” Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi said at the Alberta legislature.
• Councillor Tony Caterina’s son Rocco is planning to run in Ward 4 next year if current councillor Ed Gibbons chooses not to run again.
• Do you love Edmonton? Then you might want to support Emil Tiedemann’s campaign to print a book called 101 Reasons Why I Heart Edmonton. He’s looking to raise $6,000.
• NorQuest College is facing a “massive privacy breach” as well as fraud that cost the college nearly $2 million in damages.
• Paula Simons on Rogers Place and ICE District: “The pace and scale of development is dazzling — more like something you might see in Shanghai or Dubai than Edmonton.”
• Changes to park & ride at the Belvedere, Century Park, Clareview, and Stadium LRT stations took effect on September 1. “Across the system, ETS now offers approximately 1,700 free stalls and 2,300 reserved paid stalls at the above-mentioned LRT lots.”
• “When Fort Mac needed you, you were there.” Check out the #WeAllResponse microsite.
• Gretzky’s Wine & Whisky is Wayne Gretzky’s new restaurant which opened on Friday at the Edmonton International Airport.
• Police are urging motorists to slow down on the High Level Bridge after catching multiple drivers travelling more than double the posted speed limit.
• Three new schools opened in Edmonton this month, part of the 32 school projects that were completed this month across the province.
• Stand Up To Cancer takes place on Friday, September 9 across Canada and the U.S. and a number of buildings are being lit up in support including Edmonton’s High Level Bridge. It will be lit red, orange, and yellow from September 7-9.
• Here’s the first of a three-part chronicle of Edmonton’s Italian community. In it, “Adriana A. Davies highlights the people, places, and motions that were at the heart of Italian immigrants finding a foothold in Alberta and Edmonton.”
• Major ETS bus service changes went into effect today. “This year, the changes are bigger than ever with 50,000 service hours being reallocated to improve on-time performance and to serve higher demand routes.”
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Upcoming Events

• Monday is the final day for the Tour of Alberta!
• There’s a public meeting and Belgravia Traffic Street Lab event taking place on Tuesday evening at St. Paul’s United Church.
• The next Green Drinks takes place on Wednesday at Yellowhead Brewery with a theme of Sustainability on Campus.
• I’m participating in the YEG Downtown Speak-off on Thursday evening at the Centennial Pavilion in Churchill Square. Hope to see you there!
• Kaleido is back! The family arts festival takes place Friday through Sunday on Alberta Avenue.
• You can get a tour of Blatchford on Friday afternoon! Meet at the old airport control tower.
• Head over to Strathearn Park on Saturday afternoon for the 2016 edition of the Strathearn Art Walk! Here’s a preview from Linda.
• Churchill Square will be busy on Saturday with the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival! Don’t miss the 1000 lit wish boats around 8pm.
• Thousands of people will get their first look inside the new arena at the Rogers Place Open House on Saturday.
• The next #YEGparity Speaker Series event takes place on Saturday morning at ATB Place and features Kim Armstrong, Deputy Minister of the Status of Women.
• Help celebrate 40 years at the Muttart Conservatory on Saturday!
• The City is hosting another Big Bin Event this weekend at the Jasper Place Fitness & Leisure Centre.
• The Eskimos host the Stampeders at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Beautiful Morning to Build a Bridge, photo by Dave Sutherland