Edmonton Notes for October 16, 2016

The winter weather hit us hard this week! There’s still a fog advisory in effect for Edmonton and freezing rain is expected overnight, so drive safely tomorrow. On the plus side, temperatures are expected to hit double digits again by the end of the week! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Former Alberta Premier Jim Prentice was among four who died in a plane crash this week. Here’s a statement from his family, a statement from Premier Rachel Notley, a statement from interim PC leader Ric McIver, and a statement from Mayor Don Iveson. The Journal’s editorial board wrote that “there was still a lingering sense that the 60-year-old had more to offer his province and his country.” Paula Simons wrote “I’ll always be sorry we never really had the chance to see what a Prentice premiership could have been.”
• The City says its winter roadway crews are “ready to plow into action.” You can check out the Major Roads Plow Map to see the progress of snow plows on major routes. Remember that sidewalks must be cleared within 48 hours of the end of a snowfall.
• City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to build a network of bike lanes downtown next summer. The $7.5 million grid will run along 100 Avenue, 102 Avenue, 99 Street, 103 Street, and 106 Street. It’s a start!
• This is bad news for downtown: the Province is moving 450 of its employees to other locations. That won’t help downtown’s growing vacancy rate, which currently sits at 13%. That figure should not be a surprise, given the large towers that are coming online now. Still, it would be nice to see the Government of Alberta lend its support.
• One of those new towers was Enbridge Centre, also known as the Kelly Ramsey Tower, which opened this week. “Enbridge Centre is downtown Edmonton’s first new Financial District Tower in 25 years.” Here’s a feature on James Ramsey, Edmonton’s Merchant Prince, from the Edmonton City as Museum Project.
• In case you missed it, this is a pretty amazing photo of Rogers Place (and here on Twitter) just before the first Oilers home game.
• Outside the bowl, it seems the beautiful Alex Janvier public art was covered up with garbage cans. Thankfully that didn’t last long and it is clear once again, hopefully for good.
• The City is reminding everyone to respect the rules for parking in business areas and residential neighbourhoods around Rogers Place.
• I’ve already commented on my issues with these two stories on Twitter, but here they are in case you didn’t see them: Tristin Hopper wrote in the National Post about the lack of parking at Rogers Place while Graham Hicks wrote in the Edmonton Sun about the impact of Rogers Place on downtown Edmonton’s nightlife.
• The Edmonton Public Library welcomed its first ever Illustrator in Residence this week, Dianna Bonder.
• More than 3,200 tickets were handed out during Operation 24 Hours this month, 2,645 of which were for speeding.
• Here’s a recap of the Alberta Open Data Summit from Troy Pavlek. “We have the opportunity to pave the way and shape exactly how we think a modern-era open city should look,” he wrote.
• The winners of the 2016 Edmonton International Film Festival were announced this week!
• The Edmonton Valley Zoo has been chosen to host a Canada 150 Celebration Garden.
• The next Municipal Election will take place a year from today, on Monday, October 16, 2017. Let the games begin!
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Premier Jim Prentice signing the City Charter framework agreement in 2014, photo by Government of Alberta

Upcoming Events

• This week is Small Business Week and also Edmonton Startup Week. There are dozens of related events to check out!
• You’ll need to stay caffienated to attend all of those events so you’ll be happy to know it is also Edmonton Coffee Week!
• LitFest continues this week at venues throughout the city. I’m looking forward to CANADALAND Live tomorrow night!
• The Oilers host the Hurricanes on Tuesday and the Blues on Thursday at Rogers Place. Sunday they are off to Winnipeg.
• Ready for Her: Edmonton is all about women in politics and it takes place Tuesday at the Lister Conference Centre at the University of Alberta.
• The Edmonton Career, Education & Settlement Immigrant Fair takes place at the Shaw Conference Centre on Wednesday.
• The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event takes place on Wednesday at the Edmonton Journal with the theme of running lean.
• Head over to City Hall at lunch on Thursday if you want to learn more about Edmonton’s Community Development Corporation.
• The next public meeting of the Edmonton Police Commission takes place on Thursday evening at City Hall.
• Chefs will be completing at the Gold Medal Plates on Thursday night at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• I hope you’ll join me and Karen on Thursday evening at the EPCOR Tower for Launch Party 7! We’re looking forward to showcasing Taproot Edmonton.
• Note the City Market Downtown has moved indoors now to City Hall for the winter.
• SkirtOberfest, a fundraiser for SkirtsAFire, takes place on Saturday at Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Opening Night – Rogers Place, photo by Jeff Wallace