Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Council narrowed the downtown arena funding gap this week. Well, kind of. What they really did was use the money they found between the couch cushions and placed a bet on the fact that they’ll find a similar amount there again in future years. Joking aside, I’m not happy about the use of MSI funding for this project. As Paula said, diverting MSI funding is “a disingenuous violation of the spirit of the framework agreement.” Dave called it a strange comedy of errors. In an interesting regional twist, St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, who is currently the chair of the Capital Region Board, said Edmonton shouldn’t be the only ones paying for the new arena.
• Speaking of regional issues, Doug Griffiths, Minister of Municipal Affairs for the province, said CRB members have until September to sort out their differences or the province will look at changing the boundaries. Make no mistake, if it comes to that Edmonton will come out on top.
• There’s no escaping the potholes this season, which is why they’re still in the news. Council assigned another $9 million to the problem, taking the total additional funding for 2013 to $21 million. Combined with the $4.5 million that was already budgeted, Edmonton is spending about seven times the average annual budget for potholes this year. Many are trying to spin that as a win, but the simply fact remains: we need some long-term funding solutions to our infrastructure problem. Our latest episode of Mack & Cheese discusses potholes too.
• The Edmonton Arts Council has appointed Paul Moulton as its next executive director. You can read the PDF release here.
• Our LRT launched officially on Monday and published a poll showing that nearly two-thirds of Edmontonians don’t want a private company to run the Southeast LRT.
• Looks like work on the new Renaissance Hotel at the Edmonton International Airport is progressing nicely! Crews installed the first of two pedway sections this week.
• Could the funicular be a gondola? Looks that way. As interesting as that sounds, I completely agree with Rossdale Community League president Lynn Parish, who asked: “Why are we not looking at this as one big package?” With the Rossdale Power Plant, the Walterdale Bridge, and other projects in the area, we’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we don’t try to connect them in some way.
• Want to start a restaurant chain? There’s no better place than Edmonton to begin, it seems. Boston Pizza, Earls, Pizza 73, Booster Juice, Wok Box, Famoso, Twisted Yogurt, and Oodle Noodle all got their start here.
• Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman is now the longest-serving member opposition MLA in Alberta’s history. Check the post for other Alberta Legislature milestones.
• Apparently New City Legion closed recently. Cue stories lamenting the Sidetrack Café!
• Nominations are open for the 2013 Top 40 Under 40. You’ve got until May 13 at midnight to make your suggestions!
• David Staples thinks the next mayor, assuming Mandel steps aside, will be a City Hall insider.
• It was pretty cool to see Edmonton show up on one of my favorite blogs, The Atlantic Cities, with a feature on Edmonton’s Streetcar Bookmobile. Here’s a video from 1942 highlighting the initiative:

Here are some upcoming events:

• Mobile Monday is back with an event focused on Open Data!
• They’re not mathematically eliminated yet, but it’s highly unlikely the Oilers will have a post-season. They host the Wild on Tuesday at Rexall Place.
• Graphic Content and Edmonton Girl Geek Dinners have joined forces to present The Fifth Element at Metro Cinema on Tuesday!
• The 11th annual TEC VenturePrize Business Plan Competition awards celebration takes place Wednesday evening at the Westin!
• The Edmonton Motor Show takes place at the Edmonton Expo Centre from Thursday to Sunday.
• Edmonton Opera’s Eugene Onegin starts on Friday, with additional performances on Sunday, and Tuesday and Thursday the following week.
• Saturday is going to be a busy day! There’s Eat Alberta at NAIT, the Edmonton Volunteer Fair at West Edmonton Mall, the Mercer Collective Makers Market at the Mercer Warehouse, the Edmonton Rush host the Calgary Roughnecks, and much more!
• The Edmonton Poetry Festival kicks off on Sunday and runs until the 28th. You can see all the events here.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

The sidewalks on the north side of Jasper Avenue are open again, as you can see in this shot of the Cambridge Building by Darren.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Water smelling a little off this week? Don’t worry, it’s still fine to drink – the smell is apparently simply due to the spring runoff (though it does beg the question, what makes this year worse than previous years?). Here’s the EPCOR release about the odor.
• When will it end?! Another dump of snow was probably not the way that most Edmontonians wanted to start April.
• Looks like there is a campaign underway to challenge the privatization of the LRT called Our LRT. They launched back in October according to a news release on the site. I wrote about the decision to use a P3 here.
• The Master Agreement for the downtown arena will be discussed by Council on Wednesday. This week we learned that MacEwan University is prepared to spend $2 million on the community rink.
• People are still talking about Mayor Mandel’s memorable State of the City Address. You might want to check out Councillor Iveson’s post on the speech.
• A total of 1,938 property assessment complaints were filed by Edmontonians this year, which is a 17% decrease from 2012.
• After 25 years of making its way through Old Strathcona, the Silly Summer Parade has been cancelled.
• Canada didn’t have a very good March in the job creation department. Here in Edmonton, we lost 400 jobs from February, but the unemployment rate actually fell slightly to 4.2% because the labour force dropped by 1700.
• There’s a new exhibit on now at the Enterprise Square Galleries, a three-year pilot project between the University of Alberta and the City of Edmonton for exhibition space.
• The DONATE A RIDE program is now in its 17th year, and charitable agencies are receiving 91,710 tickets for their clients.
• The lineup for this summer’s Interstellar Rodeo sounds pretty awesome!
• Seems to me that the trade deadline gets more boring each year, but the Oilers did make a few deals.
• I meant to link to local clothing company Flavor’s spring release. Love the Edmonton scenes they chose for modeling.
• Sounds like Homeless Connect today was another gratifying and successful day for both guests and volunteers.
• Michael Walters announced on Saturday that he’ll be running for Council in Ward 10:

Here are some upcoming events:

• Head over to Startup Edmonton on Monday night for the YegDroid Meetup!
• Tuesday night is DemoCamp Edmonton 21. See you at the Telus Centre!
• Edmonton Opera’s Eugene Onegin starts on Friday, April 19, but the accompanying Opera 101 event takes place on Wednesday.
• The 2013 edition of the Bonfire Festival gets underway on Tuesday. It runs through April 14 at the Citadel.
• Head over to the Haven Social Club on Thursday for Nerd Nite Edmonton #5.
• Make It Edmonton runs all weekend long, though it’s actually more like Make It St. Albert, since this edition is at The Enjoy Centre.
• The Oilers host the Coyotes on Wednesday and the Flames on Saturday.
• Saturday is the 31st annual Edmonton Law Day.
• The Rush take on Rochester at Rexall Place on Sunday.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Saturday was International Pillow Fight Day! Photo by Nelson Webb.

Happy Easter! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein died Friday at the age of 70. Here’s the Edmonton Journal’s obituary, and here’s the Globe and Mail’s. You may also want to read Premier Redford’s statement. I really enjoyed Chris’ take on Klein. Dave has aggregated more coverage here.
• Leduc County is not happy about the City of Edmonton’s proposed annexation of 15,600 hectares to the south of our current boundary. Hopefully this public skirmish leads to improvements in our regional planning, because it won’t change the fact that Edmonton is getting that land.
• The City of Edmonton introduced its first ever blogger-in-residence on Wednesday. Scott McKeen will write on the Transforming Edmonton blog for six months.
• Edmonton’s NextGen presents Ideas for Edmonton, a crowdfunding model with a twist! Idea submissions and round 1 votes are being accepted until April 21. Check it out here.
• The cost of the new bridge over Groat Road on 102 Avenue will jump by $11.5 million partially to pay for drainage improvements, because the existing bridge is a steel grate that allows water to fall through and the one will be concrete. Makes sense right?
• Our city’s air quality rating is back down to “moderate” after rising late last week. You can learn more about the Air Quality Health Index here.
• Edmonton’s LRT stations will soon feature 55-inch screens showing weather, train arrival times, and ads. The displays are part of a deal with Pattison Outdoor Advertising.
• Former Edmonton teacher Mark Ramsankar has been elected president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.
• Here’s an update from the City on pre-construction activities for the new Walterdale Bridge.
• Should we turn the Rossdale Power Plant into an urban ruin? Creative though the idea may be, it like many other proposals fails to take into consideration the projects happening all around the site.
• Taylor Hall broke Gretzky’s Oiler record for the fastest hat trick on Saturday night as the Oilers beat the Canucks 4-0. The Oilers also broke a franchise record for fastest three goals from the start of the game. Speaking of Gretzky, he was in town on Wednesday hosting a partners breakfast.
• The developer of Northport Business Park, located at 170 Street and 129 Avenue, was the first to access the City’s Revolving Industrial Servicing fund, designed to attract new industrial development to our city.
• File this one under the heard-that-before and believe-it-when-I-see-it categories: the Kelly Ramsay block and two adjacent structures on Rice Howard Way will be turned into a $250 million office and hotel project.
• GreenTRIP funding is helping to expand C-Line bus service between Leduc, Nisku, Edmonton and EIA.
• It sounds as though the fire that broke out at Bubba’s BBQ on Thursday was the result of “an untended heating element.” Damage was estimated a $125,000 and sadly it sounds like everything was destroyed.
• Hey would you look at that, a project to map the pedway system that doesn’t cost $2 million!
• Have you seen Ontario’s very funny “social farter” PSA? Turns out the actress featured is Edmonton-native Kathleen Black.

Here are some upcoming events:

• The Oilers host the newly Iginla-less Flames tomorrow night.
• Green Drinks returns on Wednesday with an Activism & Advocacy theme.
• Design changes for the Northwest LRT will be discussed at a public meeting on Wednesday.
• The City of Edmonton’s Planning Academy gets underway for another season beginning on Thursday. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about urban planning.
• I’ll see you Thursday at the Spacing Edmonton Launch Party!
• The Rush are finally back in town on Saturday when they host the Colorado Mammoth.
• GlitterBall is a sexy evening of music, dance, and more taking place on Saturday at the Artery.
• University of Alberta students will be looking to set a world record on Saturday at the Crush Exam Stress and Just Dance event.
• Edmonton’s tenth Homeless Connect event takes place on Sunday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Great shot of the Muttart Conservatory by Cezary Kucharski.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• It snowed all day Thursday, wreaking havoc on area highways and roads. More than 100 people were injured in accidents on the QE2 which impacted somewhere around 85-100 vehicles. Now there are fears about flooding – all that snow has to go somewhere!
• City Council approved The Way We Prosper this week. The plan outlines five major strategies to guide Edmonton’s economic and growth agenda. See also the latest Council Roundup.
• Did you turn off the lights for Earth Hour yesterday? EPCOR reports that power usage in Edmonton dropped about 3% as compared to the previous Saturday.
• According to MoneySense magazine, Edmonton is the third best large city in the country, after Calgary and Ottawa. St. Albert topped the list of best small cities, with Strathcona County just behind.
• Some good news from the federal government – funding for the Edmonton Homeless Commission has been renewed.
• Edmonton has been selected to host 11 matches in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, including the opening ceremonies and first game!
• Local businessman Patrick Devaney has decided to sell his Edmonton Pubs group in order to take some time off.
• In case you missed it, here’s my recap of the Make Something Edmonton launch. Be sure to check out the website and add your projects! The Globe and Mail did a Q&A with Todd Babiak on the project.
• Here’s a look at new EPCOR CEO David Stevens and how he’s adjusting to the new job.
• The Edmonton Journal took a look at the rest of the submissions for the LRT line names, and found some pretty interesting results!
• Jack’s Grill has shutdown. Owner Mark Goodwin cited Corso 32 as a factor in his decision, but I think location is probably the biggest reason for the restaurant’s demise.
• The U of A’s Dr. Michael Houghton recently declined the Canada Gairdner International Award, worth $100,000, because his colleagues would not have been recognized alongside him.
• Edmonton’s Bernie Kollman and Rick LeLacheur have joined the Travel Alberta board of directors.
• Will he or won’t he? Mayor Mandel is widely expected to announce his retirement during the State of the City address on April 2, and that has some wondering what will happen to the downtown arena project.
• Sharon wrote a great post this week about the winter edition of the City Market Downtown and the challenges it faces.

Awesome before & after shot of Earth Hour in Edmonton by Darren!

Another great Earth Hour shot, this one by Hugh.

Here are some upcoming events:

• The City is hosting an information session on The Quarters Streetscape project on Wednesday evening.
• Also Wednesday is the University of Alberta’s Visiting Lectureship in Human Rights event featuring Lesléa Newman.
• Latitude 53’s latest Winter Salon is coming up on Thursday evening!
• Head down to Churchill Square on Thursday for lunch to celebrate spring!
• The Oilers host Columbus on Thursday, and Vancouver on Saturday.
• The Northern Lights Music Festival is taking place this weekend at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• If antiques are your thing, head over to the Edmonton Expo Centre on Friday and Saturday for the Wild Rose Antique Collector’s spring show.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Mark shows us that all that snow can be beautiful too.

Happy St. Patrick’s day!

In case you haven’t heard – the seasonal parking ban that went into effect on Friday was lifted at 7pm this evening. Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• The Edmonton Public Library celebrated its 100th birthday on Wednesday! And they announced an awesome surprise to mark the occasion – library cards are free until March 13, 2014! Mayor Mandel proclaimed March 13 as “Edmonton Public Library Day”.
• The Government of Canada announced $250 million in LRT funding for Edmonton this week, through the P3 Canada Fund. I wrote about the use of a P3 to build our LRT here.
• The City of Edmonton celebrated 2 million visits to Eco Stations on Friday! A total of 16,093,483 litres of household hazardous waste has been kept from landfills as a result. I’ve really got to make it to an Eco Station – old computer equipment is piling up!
• Terence Harding in Metro: Edmonton, we need to start saying no.
• Thursday was the final day for Government of Alberta Air Services at the Edmonton City Centre Airport – they moved to EIA on Friday.
• Plans have been released for the redevelopment of the Molson Brewery site in Oliver, but residents are concerned that the plans are too car-centric.
• Council has put the brakes on part of this year’s bike route construction following anger from homeowners and businesses along the proposed routes.
• Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of the North LRT tunnel construction. Can’t wait to see this wrap up next spring!
• The Edmonton Historical Board is seeking nominations for the Historical Plaque and Recognition Awards. You’ve got until April 2 to submit your nominations.
• Thanks to a $500,000 injection of funding from the City on Tuesday, the Art Gallery of Alberta will live to see another day. It has been running a deficit since 2010 apparently.
• It’s not looking so good for late night bus service. Council was not impressed with plans for a pilot, but will decide in April when a list of transit priorities is produced.
• We’re into year 5 of the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, and to kick it off four new members have joined the Edmonton Homeless Commission.
• Take a few minutes and make sure your waste collector can do his or her job safely!
• Here’s a letter from Leduc County Council to residents in response to the City of Edmonton’s proposed annexation plans.

Here are some upcoming events:

• I’m sure anyone selling green beer was happy the Oilers won tonight! They’re in action at Rexall Place again on Wednesday against the Sharks, and Saturday against the Blues.
• The new Edmonton Remand Centre is holding an open house for the next couple days. Stop in on Monday or Tuesday to tour the new facility.
• Head over to the Edmonton Journal on Wednesday for lunch – this week’s event is on hiring and retaining good employees.
• Thursday is the launch party for Make Something Edmonton. See you at the Avenue Theatre! (And just in time, here’s the Make Something Edmonton Launch Party in a Box!)
• Western Canada Fashion Week kicks off Thursday and runs through March 28.
• The Edmonton Home & Garden Show takes place Thursday through Sunday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• Earth Hour is coming up on Saturday from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. In 2012, power consumption in Edmonton decreased by 3.4% during the hour.
• Have you got your tux ready? The ACE Awards take place Saturday evening at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.ca.

Photo of the #CAPSE March on Friday, in protest of post-secondary education funding cuts. Check out Dan McKechnie’s photoset here.

Are you as annoyed as me that we lost an hour today? Actually it’s more the hassle than anything. Make sure to check your smoke alarms!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• The Province unveiled its 2013 Budget on Thursday, and it was full of cuts as expected. Among those cuts – MSI funding was reduced from $1 billion to $896 million. Edmonton will see about $170 million of that. The University of Alberta was also negatively affected by the budget, seeing a 7.2% reduction in base operating funding (one of the changes they’re making as a result is the shuttering of two book store locations). Still no word on the missing $100 million for the downtown arena, but the Mayor isn’t worried.
• On Tuesday, the City announced its plans for annexation in the south. About 15,600 hectares of land, including the Edmonton International Airport, would join the City’s southern boundaries. In case you missed it, here’s my look at Edmonton’s history of annexations.
• Doug Griffiths, Municipal Affairs Minister, came under fire this week for comments he made about the urban/rural divide. “It could be asked by rural Albertans why 17 per cent of the population that lives in rural Alberta, that has all the oil and gas revenue, does all the work, all the farms, all the agriculture. And everything associated with it goes to support urban Albertans, who sit in high-rise condos and don’t necessarily contribute to the grassroots of the economy,” he said.
• Finally some good news for businesses along the north side of Jasper Avenue: the sidewalk between 101 Street and 102 Street opens tomorrow! All sidewalks along the north side of the avenue should be open by the end of March.
• The potholes have been pretty bad this year, and it seems a gamble by the Transportation department could be to blame. The real challenge is to figure out how to avoid budgeting on the ups and downs of each season.
• On the positive end of roads news, it seems that 63 Avenue from 99 Street to Gateway Boulevard is finally going to be fixed. The road was rated 0.1 out of 10 by the City last summer. It’ll cost more than $10 million to dug out and rebuilt.
• Parents are annoyed by the overcrowding taking place at southwest schools. ESPB decided that Grade 8 and 9 students at Esther Starkman will be moved to another school. Should planners have anticipated this overcrowding? Good question that I’d like to explore further.
• Last year’s Graffiti Audit found a 1.5% decrease in graffiti vandalism compared to 2011, a much smaller decrease than we saw from 2010 to 2011. Graffiti vandalism was found in 438 locations, down from 543 in 2011.
• Here’s the latest Council Roundup. They approved the revised Downtown CRL boundary, and also approved funding to construct a retaining wall along Saskatchewan Drive.
• A new Edmonton-led study could set a world standard for treating heart attack patients.
• Could City departments soon be home to artists-in-residence? It’s an idea the Edmonton Arts Council is currently exploring.

Cool shot of the new Jasper Place Library by Nelson Webb.

Here are some upcoming events:

• The Edmonton Public Library is celebrating its 100th anniversary on Wednesday – check out all the festivities here.
• The Oil Kings are in action at home this week against Saskatoon on Tuesday and Red Deer on Saturday.
• The Oilers return from their road trip to take on Detroit on Friday and Nashville on Sunday.
• CPRS Edmonton is holding its 50th anniversary conference on March 13 and 14.
• The next Mercer Collective Maker’s Market takes place on Saturday at the Mercer Warehouse.
• Hungry? Downtown Dining Week takes place from March 15 to 24.
• Have you been reading about Make Something Edmonton this week? The launch event is coming up on March 21.
• Early heads up on the City’s Run Walk Ride 4 Traffic Safety event coming up on April 27 at Concordia University College.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Great outdoor shot by Dejan Galetic taken in the Brookside neighbourhood of Edmonton.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• As of Thursday, Edmontonians had already called in 3,176 pothole complaints, up from just 142 a the same time in 2012. Yikes!
• After meeting with the Province, it seems the City is ready to scale back the Downtown Revitalization Levy. The low-end projection is now just $612 million, enough to cover the cost of the downtown arena, but perhaps not the many other important downtown projects that are relying on the CRL for funding.
• Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths on the suggestion that the Province expropriate the City Centre Airport lands from the City: “Why would we spend $500 million just to upset a municipality that has a population close to a third of the entire province?”
• Council gave the Horse Hill ASP first and second reading this week, giving preliminary approval to the area that could be home to 70,000 residents one day. It’ll now be considered by the Capital Region Board before returning to Council for third reading and final approval. Here’s the speech that Janelle Herbert from Riverbend Gardens made at the public hearing (her farm could be significantly affected by the proposed highway).
• We need to repair and preserve the McKay Avenue School. If you haven’t already done so, read Paula’s important piece here.
• I can’t wait to go check out the new Jasper Place branch of the Edmonton Public Library. The LEED Silver building cost $14 million and features an undulating concrete roof with no support pillars inside. The original Jasper Place Library was built in 1961, was repurposed in 1988, and was shut down two years ago to make way for the new building.
• Edgar Schmidt, Superintendent of EPSB, announced his retirement this week. He’ll step down effective August 31.
• The multi-sport park site at Ellerslie Road and 50 Street has been named Ivor Dent Sports Park after the former mayor who was “instrumental in bringing the Commonwealth Games to Edmonton 35 years ago.”
• ETS has now begun replacing the rails between Churchill and Central, which means you can expect delays on the LRT until the end of April.
• There’s a page on Facebook called Save The Walterdale Bridge that was created on February 10 (I think by ETS Operator Mike Royer). It has already amassed over 1000 likes. “Why spend $4 Million to demolish a piece of our history, when we can retain it for cyclists and pedestrians and create something unique?”
• The City has improved its online registration system to enable reservations for picnic sites, gazebos, and outdoor tennis courts.
• Is your bus route the 6 or 33? If so, you might have been one of ETS’ new compressed natural gas buses, undergoing testing as part of a two-year pilot project.
• Could cuts and tuition hikes be on the way for the University of Alberta? President Indira Samarasekera has called for a change in the U of A’s funding model, saying that “one size does not fit all.”

Fear upon the bridge, by Justin Piercy.

Here are some upcoming events:

• Thursday is budget day, so be prepared for a wave of provincial news this week!
• This Old Edmonton House is back, with the first seminar taking place tomorrow. There are a variety of topics being featured until April 17.
• The next Green Drinks event takes place on Wednesday, and the topic this time is YEG Hidden Gems!
• The City is working with Strathcona County to widen 34 Street from Whitemud Drive to Baseline Road. There’s an information session taking place on Wednesday.
• This year’s SkirtsAfire arts festival kicks off on Thursday on Alberta Avenue.
• Also Thursday is Edmonton’s 15th Pecha Kucha Night, taking place this time at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• The Canadian Business Leader Award Dinner takes place on Thursday at the Shaw Conference Centre. Pat Daniel, former CEO and President of Enbridge Inc., is this year’s recipient.
• The Alberta Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards take place on Friday at the Winspear Centre.
• The Price is Right Live! takes place at the Jubilee Auditorium on Sunday.
• BlogWest takes place Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at The Westin.
• Alberta’s Kevin Martin finally scored a win today, defeating BC 10-3. The Brier continues through Sunday.
• For more events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Groat, by Darren Kirby.

Next weekend is Daylight Saving Time, so heads up that we lose an hour on March 10!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Great news for regional transit! Twelve municipalities in the region have agreed to fund a joint study on the possibility of creating an integrated transit network.
• Between EPSB and ECSD, the estimate for maintenance is around $750 million. Many schools need major overhauls, with four of EPSB’s schools falling into the “poor” category.
• Plans for the proposed Performing Arts Centre will be released tomorrow at Executive Committee. I’m not at all convinced that we need this building, even if it is primarily funded by philanthropic contributions. I hope the plans go beyond “build it and they will come” like so many others.
• I’m not sure I would have wanted this assignment, but the result is an interesting read: Omar Mouallem was sent to WEM for three days and three nights and was not allowed to leave!
• Construction of a new $5 million beach at Hawrelak Park could begin as early as this fall. Sketches peg the location as adjacent to the existing lake and parking lot.
• Apparently thousands of ornamental trees in our city are being attacked by black knot fungus. This and other diseases are taking a toll. The City used to replace 600 to 900 trees each year, but since 2002 that number has jumped to more than 4000.
• Ever wonder which neighbourhoods generate the most sidewalk complaints? Turns out McKernan and Strathcona top the list.
• Hey Edmonton movie makers! Jeff has the details on some upcoming events you don’t want to miss.
• In case you missed it, transit ridership increased by 3.1% in 2012, continuing a trend that began over ten years ago.
• Will the former CEOs of local tech success stories BioWare and Upside Software strike gold again with NPO Zero, their new venture focused on helping non-profits?
• The Junos are coming up in April – here’s the list of Edmonton nominees.
• The ETS Customer Service Centre has moved from Churchill Station to the main floor of City Hall.
• This is older but I wanted to include it: EPCOR has restructured its corporate senior management team.
• Be sure to check out these other fantastic roundups: Council Roundup for February 20, #yegdt notes for February 21, and Family Day Roundup. 

Downtown Morning by brardj

Here are some upcoming events:

• The new Civic Precinct Master Plan will be presented at City Hall from 11am to 5pm on Tuesday.
• Edmonton Girl Geek Dinners returns on Tuesday evening at Accent Lounge.
• The Global Visions Film Festival gets underway on Wednesday.
• The next UX Edmonton Meetup takes place on Wednesday evening at Startup Edmonton.
• If you love TED videos, you’re going to love this week! Wednesday is the latest installment of TED Talks @ Lunch and Thursday is the next in the TEDxEdmonton Salon Series on designing spaces.
• Are you a mom entrepreneur? If so, don’t miss Start Up Mamas taking place on Saturday.
• Hurry, hurry hard! The Tim Hortons Brier starts on Saturday at Rexall Place.
• Pecha Kucha Night returns on March 7 at the Edmonton Expo Centre. You can check out the list of presenters here.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

The Pearl Tower under construction, photo by Darren

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• I think it’s great that the City of Edmonton has picked up a couple more engineering awards, but this misleading refrain is getting old: “The 23rd Avenue/Gateway Boulevard Interchange, which improved traffic flow through one of Edmonton’s busiest intersections, finished on schedule and under budget in October 2011.” It was actually finished five years later and cost three and a half times more than originally expected (there’s more background here).
• If you haven’t already read this love letter to Edmonton by Omar Mouallem, you’re missing out!
• City Council decided to vote based on their personal fears this week rather than on the public involvement and research conducted by Administration in defeating the proposal to implement Internet voting. Very disappointing.
• Transcend Coffee announced on its blog this week that the Jasper Avenue location will be closing on February 28. “Unfortunately, despite continued revenue growth, Transcend Jasper did not achieve a sustainable level of profitability and even our most optimistic projections did not show that trend reversing.”
• Corb Lund, Jay Sparrow, and Mitchmatic all racked up six nominations in this year’s Edmonton Music Awards. The show takes place on April 28.
• I’m sure that potential candidates would like Mandel to announce his plans sooner than rather than later, but he’s in the driver’s seat and he’s going to make them wait until his state-of-the-city speech on April 2 to find out whether or not he’ll run again in October.
• Were you disappointed with the new LRT line names? Read Adam’s take. I think he’s totally right.
• In other LRT news, we could have a new signature bridge for the southeast leg if Council approves the design on February 20. I really love the existing, wooden Cloverdale pedestrian bridge, but I’m happy to see this moving forward!
• The cost of preserving and redeveloping the Rossdale Power Plant could reach as high as $87.3 million, putting the plan’s future in jeopardy.
• Here’s another way you can enjoy winter: kicksleds!
• Tomorrow will be an interesting day at City Hall with Executive Committee discussing amendments to the zoning bylaw that would implement residential infill guidelines. Among those opposed, oddly, are 28 community leagues that want Council to do a better job of consulting with affected communities. While I can’t argue with improved public consultation, I do think we need to move forward here. The guidelines probably don’t go far enough actually, considering they primarily affect areas zoned RF2, RF3, and RF4, even though most mature neighbourhoods are zoned RF1. The Residential Infill Guidelines were approved in June 2009 – it’s time to start implementing them!

The Hamptons, photo by Fophotography.

Here are some upcoming events:

• Want to have your say on how the City designs streets and neighbourhoods? There’s another meeting coming up on Tuesday where you can provide input.
• The Oilers host the Stars on Tuesday and the Avalanche on Saturday.
• Thursday is of course Valentine’s Day, and if you’re looking for an alternative to dinner, Sharon’s got you covered.
• The Edmonton Rush are in action on Friday against the Washington Stealth.
• The 2013 Silver Skate Festival kicks off on Friday at Hawrelak Park.
• Winefest takes place on Friday and Saturday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• This year’s illumiNITE event takes place in the Alley of Light on Saturday and Sunday.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Cool shot of the CN and EPCOR Towers by Dejan Galetic.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Your new LRT names have been approved: Capital, Metro, Energy, Valley, and Festival. Many people were unimpressed or called the names uninspiring, but I think they’ll work well. I’m not crazy on “Energy” but I like the rest. Of course, it won’t matter much until we can build out more of the LRT network plan.
• The other big transit-related news of the week was the February fare increases. Cash fares jumped from $3.00 to $3.20, and the price of a bus pass went to $89. It’s crazy to me that the cash fare is $3.20 instead of just $3.25. Who carries dimes or nickels?
• Edmonton has been selected to host the 2014 International Triathlon Union Grand Final at Hawrelak Park.
• Lindsay Dodd, CEO of Savvia Inc., is the new chairman of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. He says the labour shortage is “our number 1 issue.”
• Council will vote Wednesday on whether or not to go ahead with Internet voting in the upcoming election. What Paula said: “Instead of fearing the future, let’s test it and find out how it works.”
• Speaking of the election, we’re starting to hear some announcements. Dave Colburn has stepped down from the school board and is considering running for Council, and Heather MacKenzie has launched her campaign.
• It seems Northlands wants to transform the K-Days parade into the Parade of Festivals. Even if this is a great idea, changing the content of a parade that already exists isn’t going to dramatically change Northlands’ fortunes (nor its image).
• There’s an updated set of proposed zoning changes going to Executive Committee on February 11. This’ll definitely be one to watch!
• City Council appointed Naseem Bashir to the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority Board of Directors this week.
• Does Edmonton need a new 10,000-15,000 seat stadium for soccer? The City will be looking into it with a report due by the end of the year.
• The week ended around the zero mark, but it sure was cold on Monday and Tuesday. If you haven’t heard it already, check out So Cold In The E by Jo Thrillz. Awesome!
• I really don’t understand why sometimes plans get approved even though they don’t have funding, and other times funding is approved even though there’s no plan. Like the $35 million that has been approved for some sort of project to people down to the North Saskatchewan River from 104 Street.
• Have you liked the Vintage Edmonton page on Facebook? There’s a nice write-up on it in the Examiner.
• The River Valley Alliance is running a photo contest until March 5. Submit your best winter river valley photos here.
• The deadline to vote for Avenue Edmonton’s Best Neighbourhoods issue is April 5.
• If you haven’t already seen it, check out the Love Letters 2 Strangers project. Looks like a great idea with Valentine’s Day coming up!

Here are some upcoming events:

• The Oilers host the Canucks on Monday and the Stars on Wednesday.
• Head over to the Timms Centre on Tuesday for the kickoff of the New Works Festival. It runs through the 10th.
• Sharon and I went to see Edmonton Opera’s Les Contes d’Hoffman today and really enjoyed it. You have two opportunities left – Tuesday and Thursday.
• The first ever Physical Computing Meetup is happening at Startup Edmonton on Wednesday.
• Also Wednesday is the next Green Drinks, this time focused on Good Business.
• Head over to Startup Edmonton on Thursday for the Exchange.js Monthly Meetup.
• There’s a Detailed Design Meeting for the Walterdale Bridge coming up at the Old Timers’ Cabin on Thursday.
• The City of Edmonton Youth Council is hosting a Youth Career Symposium on Saturday at the Fantasyland Hotel.
• Open houses are coming up at Edmonton Public Schools soon. Find dates and prepare here.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

I like this b&w shot of 104 Street by Darren.