Edmonton Notes for January 19, 2020

Let’s hope the cold snap is now over! It was so cold that two LRT rails cracked.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Manulife Place is getting a $30 million makeover complete with "a major modernization of the exterior façade with multi-level transparent glazing and bright, new signage." The news came just days after Holt Renfrew closed after 70 years.
• The New York Times wrote about Edmonton’s winter strategy. "For the past eight years or so, Edmonton has been rolling out an official strategy to encourage its residents to embrace winter rather than hibernate."
• Yardstick has announced it is merging with ProctorU to form Meazure Learning. "Yardstick’s management team and headquarters will continue to be based in Canada, with planned expansions for its locations in Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton."
• What should we look for in a new City Manager? Keith Gerein argues we need an innovator. While I agree, I don’t think’s the main area to focus on. I talked about that in the latest episode of Speaking Municipally.
• The Realtors Association of Edmonton is forecasting modest growth for 2020 and says the mortgage stress test "has absolutely killed and stolen the equity from homeowners and it has killed the market here."
• Fire & Flower announced this week that it now has 46 open and operating cannabis retail stores. They plan to continue growing in Alberta and Ontario as licenses are made available.
• Prairie Sky Gondola thinks they’ll have 637,000 customers and more than three million trips in the first year of operation. They have the money to move forward, according to director Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson.
• The City of Edmonton has won a global Smart 50 Award for its AI-based solution for safety codes inspections.
• Voting is now open for the 2020 Hockey Helps Kids contest which raises awareness and funds for local charities in partnership with the Edmonton Oilers. Cast your vote by Feb. 19.
• An 11-year-old red panda named Pip died recently at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, apparently from natural causes.
• The Edmonton Eskimos have announced their coaching staff for the upcoming season. Scott Milanovich was named head coach last month.
• MacEwan University is cutting 10 positions due to provincial funding cuts. They’re also planning for an additional 6.5% cut this spring.
• Get the latest on Media, Tech, Food, Health Innovation, the Region, Music, Arts, Business, and Council with Taproot Edmonton’s latest roundups.

Upcoming Events

• GO WEST 2020 runs until Tuesday evening at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
• Young Professionals in Energy is hosting OneSoft: Story of an Edmonton Tech Startup to $70M Public Company on Tuesday evening at Enbridge Centre.
• The Edmonton Coalitions Creating Equity Team is hosting a stakeholder gathering on Wednesday afternoon at the Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre to explore "the trends and statistics in the reporting of hate crimes and incidents in our community."
• Alexisonfire performs at Rogers Place on Wednesday evening.
• Tony Brar, Oilers TV Reporter, is speaking about his story and experience at NAIT on Thursday afternoon.
• Dark Matters: Superhuman takes place Thursday evening at the TELUS World of Science.
• Winterruption YEG, the new winter music festival, runs Thursday to Sunday at various downtown venues.
• The 2020 Leading with Literacy Breakfast takes place on Friday morning at The Westin Edmonton.
• The Edmonton Renovation Show runs Friday to Sunday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• The 2020 Alberta Student Leadership Summit takes place on Saturday at the SU Building at the U of A.
• The Edmonton Pet Expo runs Saturday and Sunday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• The Harlem Globetrotters perform at Rogers Place on Saturday evening.
• The University of Alberta Annual Round Dance takes place on Saturday evening at the Van Vliet Main Gym.
• Poppy Barley is hosting its annual sample sale on Saturday and Sunday at the Poppy Barley Warespace (10226 111 Street).
• Kingsway Mall’s annual Lunar New Year Celebration is on Sunday afternoon.
• Swing ‘n’ Skate is on at City Hall every Sunday until Feb. 23.

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