Edmonton Notes for May 28, 2017

Edmonton Notes 3 Minutes

I can’t believe it’s nearly June, but I am enjoying how green everything has become around the city! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

  • Fifteen regional municipalities have voted to create a new entity “to promote the Edmonton Metropolitan Region to the world.” The budget for the first year will be $1 million and an organizational meeting is slated for June 8.
  • The City has mailed your annual property tax notice. All taxes are due by June 30, 2017. “This year, a typical single-family home, assessed at $397,000, will pay $3,378 in property taxes.”
  • If you missed Mayor Don Iveson’s State of the City address, you can read his remarks in PDF here. He officially announced he will seek re-election as mayor in the municipal election in October. “Edmonton is on the verge of something extraordinary and I’m inspired by the opportunity to make change ours,” he wrote.
  • New data from Statistics Canada shows the median income plunging 15% in Calgary but surging 13% here in Edmonton to $88,900 (in 2015).
  • The latest Taproot story looks at synchronizing traffic lights and why we so often run into red after red, as drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
  • MacEwan University president David Atkinson is stepping down in June and will take a year off before returning to teach English. “When I arrived here, there was a blue thing out on that wall that just said MacEwan and now it says MacEwan University.”
  • An interim report from the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission proposes creating three new urban ridings (one each in Calgary and Edmonton, plus another near Cochrane) by consolidating rural ridings. “We have ridings drawn to disproportionately favour rural voters — and parties with strong rural bases,” wrote Paula Simons. Thing is, nearly 75% of Albertans now live in urban areas. The final report is expected in October.
  • Hockey Canada and the City are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding to pursue a new Hockey Centre of Excellence where Northlands Coliseum currently stands. But will it require a new building? It may be the most cost-effective option.
  • Edmonton Fire Rescue Services installed dual-sensing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in approximately 250 homes this weekend. Last year firefighters responded to 107 fires in homes with missing or non-functioning smoke alarms.
  • Burrow Cafe in the Central LRT Station is closed for equipment repair and a rethink as business has not been as brisk as other Elm cafes. I only ever make it in the afternoon, and when it’s open, the place is usually deserted. I always thought rush hour would be busier though.
  • Sounds like the new Snow Valley Aerial Park is off to a strong start.
  • For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

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Lifelines, photo by Jeff Wallace

Published by Mack Male

Mack is on a mission to change the world through code and prose. An entrepreneurial journalist based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Mack is the co-founder of Taproot Publishing, a digital publishing company that helps communities understand themselves better.

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