Edmonton Notes for May 26, 2019

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Taproot reported on Friday afternoon that the Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market is returning to 104 Street starting June 15. I know some will be happy with the news but I can’t get past what a total gong show this has become. I feel bad for all the vendors who are caught in the middle and will be the ones to suffer. Our beloved downtown market has lost its way.
• You have probably received your 2019 property tax notice by now as the City mailed them out on Tuesday. “A typical single-family home, assessed at $399,500, will pay $3,628 in property taxes this year.” The payment deadline is June 30.
• Mayor Iveson met with Premier Kenney before the throne speech, a meeting he described as “positive”. The mayor was looking for confirmation that funding for the west LRT won’t disappear along with the carbon tax, but he didn’t get it. “We didn’t secure that definitively today, so it’ll be a continuing conversation with government,” he said.
• Council’s urban planning committee has directed Administration to start enforcing noisy vehicles. “This is costing the city in terms of health, in terms of economics,” Councillor Henderson said. “It’s just something we gotta stop.”
• I am very much looking forward to downtown’s first playground, coming this summer to McKay Avenue School. Emily is going to love it.
• Police chief Dale McFee says a rise in neighbourhood petty crime is a symptom of social woes. “Your crime issues in Edmonton are 100 per cent social issues,” he said.
• An ETS bus driver became a star on social media briefly for helping an elderly passenger with her groceries. “It’s a lot of negative stories out there,” driver Chad Makar said. “Sometimes, a small gesture like this is good to… give some people some hope out there that there is some good gestures still being done in society.”
• The Eskimos won their first pre-season game today against the B.C. Lions with a final score of 22-7.
• The Prospects won their home-opener and the next game to start the season 2-0!
• David Climenhaga has a feature on Dale the Street Preacher. “In addition to standing on a soapbox containing an electronic amplifier and preaching a rather strident version of the Christian gospel that doesn’t shy from blunt talk about hellfire, Dale is out there fighting for our fundamental constitutional rights to say what we think and worship as we wish, even if that means not worshipping at all.”
• The federal government has announced up to $4.3 million for Canada Soccer to prepare to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Edmonton is one of the candidate host cities.
• Troy and I discussed a bunch of small-ish updates on the latest episode of Speaking Municipally.
• Get the latest on Media, Tech, Food, Health Innovation, Music, Business, and Council with Taproot Edmonton’s latest roundups.

Upcoming Events

• The next Machine Learning 101 takes place at lunch on Tuesday at Amii.
• The Edmonton Career Fair & Training Expo is at the Edmonton Convention Centre on Tuesday.
• The 2nd annual RISE Reconciliation Film Festival runs Tuesday to Saturday at Metro Cinema in the Garneau Theatre.
• Carrie Underwood performs at Rogers Place on Tuesday evening.
• Nerd Nite Edmonton’s 50th show takes place on Tuesday evening at the ATB Financial Arts Barns.
• The 2019 Edmonton Heritage Council AGM takes place on Wednesday evening at City Hall. It’s the tenth anniversary – see you there!
• ConnectAd is hosting Ad Grants 101 on Thursday morning at Work Nicer Beaver House to help non-profits get free Google advertising.
• The Edmonton Prospects host the Okotoks Dawgs on Thursday evening and the Brooks Bombers on both Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.
• High Level Line Society is hosting its AGM on Friday evening at the Edmonton Tower.
• The Edmonton Craft Beer Festival takes place Friday and Saturday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• Bonnie Fest 2019 takes place on Saturday at Bonnie Doon Park.
• Edmonton’s NextGen presents the Edmonton Timeraiser on Saturday evening at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre.
• The Edmonton International Cat Festival is back for another year on Saturday at the Robbins Health Learning Centre at MacEwan. See you there!
• FC Edmonton hosts Cavalry FC on Saturday at Clarke Field.
• The Heart of the City Music & Arts Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday at Giovanni Caboto Park.

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