Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Edmonton’s Catalyst Theatre is taking its acclaimed productions to London and New York!
• Here’s the latest issue of Profile Edmonton, in which Bob Black of the Katz Group calls the proposed downtown arena “the first step in the development of a walking culture.”
• If you really want to talk about a walkable downtown, check out the new Capital City Downtown Plan, which is nearing completion. There’s an open house taking place at City Hall on April 8 (on ShareEdmonton).
• Nominations are now open for the 2010 edition of Avenue Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40.
• The City is considering an estimated $27.4 million upgrade to Scona Road between Saskatchewan Drive and the Low Level Bridge.
• Crews are now working to sweep streets and fix potholes. If you want to report a pothole, you can call 311 or fill out the online form here.
• The Art Gallery of Alberta has announced six summer exhibitions, the first of which opens May 29.
• Edmonton Fire Rescue services is accepting firefighter applications until April 16.
• Vue Weekly’s Golden Fork Awards are back. You can fill out the entry form here by May 2.
• The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225, was in Edmonton this week to transport a load of helicopters and other supplies to Afghanistan. If you’re on Facebook, you can see EIA’s photo album here.
• The City exercised its emergency powers this week and suspended the business license of Gingur Sky Bar & Grill for 14 days.
• Though the election is still many months away, more and more candidates will be announcing their intentions in the coming weeks. Councillor Sohi is running again, in Ward 12.
• The St. Albert Cultivates the Arts Committee is holding a logo competition for the St. Albert Arts Festival.
• You can provide input on the Northwest LRT here.
• In case you missed it: Here are the TEC VenturePrize Semi-Finalists for 2010. The awards luncheon takes place on April 15 (on ShareEdmonton).
• The Food Bank’s Expressions of Hunger contest is no longer accepting entries, but you’ll soon be able to vote for your favorites online.
• Coming up on Tuesday & Wednesday: open houses for The Way We Live (on ShareEdmonton).

An under construction shot of the new Epcor Tower:

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Stay off the ice!
• It’s official: Mayor Stephen Mandel announced this week that he will seek a third consecutive term as mayor. A recent poll found that about 75% of Edmontonians feel Mandel is doing an acceptable job.
• The Edmonton Auto Spring Works, a historic building believed to have been constructed in 1904, was destroyed by a fire last weekend. Damages to the building and its contents were estimated at $2.5 million.
• The grand opening of the South LRT Extension to Southgate and Century Park is scheduled for Saturday, April 24. The trains and tracks are now being tested.
• Also on transit: City Council approved a one-year pilot program for reserved parking spaces at LRT park-and-ride lots.
• Nominations for the Edmonton Youth Excellence Awards are being accepted until April 13 at midnight.
• Richard Brommeland, Business Development and External Relations Director at the National Institute for Nanotechnology, is joining the EEDC board of directors effective April 15.
• Here’s your chance to own a piece of Olympic history: the Paint the Town Red banners are going up for sale.
• Construction will begin later this year to remove the lights at Anthony Henday Drive and Cameron Heights. The goal is to remove all traffic signals from the ring road by 2015.
• On Tuesday evening, a bunch of Tory MLAs went on a guided tour of Rexall Place, courtesy of Daryl Katz. Related: McKeen thinks Katz’s plan done properly will electrify downtown.
• The U of A announced that the originally proposed fee of $550 has been reduced to $290.
• If you’re on Facebook, here are some recent photos of Edmonton International Airport’s Expansion 2012 project.
• This year’s Indy will be known as the 2010 Honda Indy Edmonton. The event takes place July 23-25.
• On Tuesday, head down to City Hall during the lunch hour to salute the accomplishments of Edmonton-area Olympic and Paralympic athletes (on ShareEdmonton).

Welcome to Spring! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Good news for supporters of the swimming pool at MacEwan – officials have decided to keep it open for at least another year.
• The Journal’s weekly readership increased by 14,700 last year. At The Sun, weekday readership grew by 7%. Also, The Journal earned a record six National Newspaper Award nominations for its work in 2009.
• Attendance at Winter Light this year passed the 100,000 mark.
• I knew the City Centre Airport issue wouldn’t end with Council’s decision. Airco is seeking an injunction to keep the airport open. A hearing could come as early as the end of April.
• Great post from Sharon: My 2010 Wish List for Edmonton’s Food Scene.
• More than 500 students marched on Thursday to protest proposed fee and tuition hikes.
• LRT passenger counts in 2009 were up 20,900 per day. Can’t wait for the new stations to open in April! Looks like the City is going ahead with an RFP for licensing mezzanine space in the downtown stations.
• The City has received far fewer property assessment complaints this year: just 516 have been filed, compared to 3860 in 2009.
• Looks like the Williams Engineering building downtown may be getting a green roof!
• The Valley Zoo introduced a baby squirrel monkey this week. It hasn’t been named yet.
• Don’t miss this great roundup of local happenings at I Heart Edmonton.
• Here’s the latest Edmonton NextGen weekly newsletter.
• The Mustard Seed Society will receive $12 million from the Alberta government to build 112 housing units for the homeless in Calgary in Edmonton.
• In case you missed it: State of the Edmonton Twittersphere for February 2010.
• More than 30,000 people have visited the Art Gallery of Alberta since it opened on January 31.
• Great post from Dave on closing inner city schools in Edmonton.
• The deadline for submissions for the Edmonton Food Bank’s Expressions of Hunger contest is fast approaching! Get your images, poems, or prose in by March 31.
• Monday night will be the 23rd Annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts (on ShareEdmonton).
• If you’re downtown on Wednesday, why not check out the free yoga session at City Hall?
• Thursday night is GalaGuru and Edmonton Twestival (on ShareEdmonton)! Hope to see you there (RSVP) – bring a donation for Twestival!
• Of course next Saturday is Earth Hour (on ShareEdmonton).
• See you in an hour or so at YEG Swap!

We had a really awesome sunrise in Edmonton this week:

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• City Council put $17 million of last year’s $33.7 million surplus into a rainy day fund.
• Wearing a seatbelt has been law in Alberta since 1987, yet many Albertans still choose not to wear one. March is Occupant Restraint Month, which means police will be raising awareness about the importance of wearing a seatbelt!
• The 2010-2011 Edmonton Opera season was announced this week. They’re teaming up with The Fringe!
• Here is the Edmonton Startup Index for March.
• The Edmonton Event Centre, The Bank, and Mirama were all fined this week for breaking fire code regulations. Almost 300 inspections were performed by fire prevention officers in 2009.
• The grass at Commonwealth Stadium will be ripped out next week, to be replaced with artificial turf.
• Latitude 53 has a new Writer in Residence program, and the first writer is Carolyn Jervis.
• The Christenson Family Foundation donated $2.5 million to MacEwan this week (it will be paid over 10 years).
• Here are the winners of the 2009 ACE Awards!
• The Winspear Centre launched a new website this week. Looks great!
• More details on the City’s plan to launch an iPhone application, host an apps contest, and more.
• Happy 15th birthday to local brewery Alley Kat! Also, happy 1st birthday to Alberta Primetime!
• The judge who presided over the city’s first “electronic trial” says the case has offered him “a glimpse of the future.”
• Lots of people are upset about the closure of the MacEwan pool. Both students and seniors have protested.
• Here is the latest Edmonton Next Gen weekly newsletter.
• Dragon’s Den will be in town on Tuesday and Wednesday for auditions. Details on ShareEdmonton.
• Coming up next Saturday is the inaugural Yeg Swap (on ShareEdmonton), which The Journal wrote about here.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Thanks to some fantastically warm weather, all City of Edmonton outdoor rinks and toboggan hills are now closed. Stay off thin ice!
• It is still winter though, so be sure to answer the City’s Snow & Ice Control Survey.
• As you know, the Dawson Bridge is closed for renovations. Here’s a great hyperlocal post on the bridge closure by Adam at the Unknown Studio.
• The Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe was sold this week for $47.8 million.
• Council is looking at ways to enliven Churchill Square, a discussion that led to my favorite quote of the week: “That’s the most expensive door I’ve ever heard of.” – Councillor Kim Krushell on the $500,000 pricetag for a square-facing door for Tix on the Square.
• WestJet now has non-stop service between Edmonton and Maui!
• The City of Edmonton is looking at licensing LRT mezzanine space in the downtown core to local retailers.
• Here’s an update on the Federal Building redevelopment on the legislature grounds.
• Students at the University of Alberta voted with an 89% majority this week to renew the U-Pass agreement for three more years.
• The City will open its first new transit garage in 25 years when the Centennial Garage opens in April.
• MacEwan took the first step this week in a 25-year plan to create a single, sustainable downtown campus.
• Apparently the recent LRT expansion has resulted in the largest spike in ridership since the LRT started operating in 1978.
• Edmonton has a new climbing habitat, called Climb Edmonton.
• Few event recaps: Edmonton’s First Ruby Meetup, Edmonton Foodie Meetup 3, and Launch Party Edmonton 1.
• A hiring freeze and rebound in the economy helped the City of Edmonton to an unexpected surplus in 2009 of $33.7 million.
• The Edmonton International Airport launched a new campaign this week called Stop The Calgary Habit, intended to encourage Edmontonians to fly directly from Edmonton, rather than making a connection in Calgary.
• Coming up on Saturday is TEDxEdmonton (on ShareEdmonton). Here are the speakers on Twitter. If you didn’t get invited, why not attend ALExEdmonton the night before instead?
• Also on Friday is Illuminations, Winter Light’s closing event (on ShareEdmonton).

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Fantastic post from Sharon – Edmonton’s Downtown Dining Week: Stagnant and Uninspired?
• Here is Avenue Edmonton’s 25 Best Things to Eat in Edmonton.
• The Edmonton Arena District, Katz’s organization supporting his arena vision, launched a website this week annoyingly named Revitalize Downtown. Also on the topic of Katz, check out this picture.
• Planning Academy starts again on March 2nd. It’s a great way to learn more about land use planning, urban design, and transportation.
• City Council’s expense reports for 2009 are now available.
• The City’s emergency office is embracing social media.
• Local startup Empire Avenue launched this week. Brittney has a good write-up of the site here.
• The deadline for filing complaints on 2010 property assessments is March 5.
• Edmonton International Airport is on the shortlist for international recognition at World Routes 2010 in Vancouver.
• The City is launching a temporary “wheeled recreation” site this summer near the Stanley Milner library.
• Edmonton Stories launched a redesigned website this week. I wrote about what’s next for the program here.
• Good post from Xanthe on Pecha Kucha – The Sound of Chit Chat.
• You can now get RSS and iCal notifications on road and traffic updates!
• Edmonton’s Municipal Development Plan, The Way We Grow, passed second reading this week.
• Launch Party Edmonton takes place on March 3 (on ShareEdmonton).
• Also taking place March 3 is Edmonton Foodie Meetup 3 (on ShareEdmonton).

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• City Councillors are not happy about the Local Authorities Amendment Act, which imposes stricter rules on campaign funding and disclosures. Councillor Iveson blogged his thoughts on the issue here.
• Edmonton will be one of three test sites for Shaw’s new gigabit Internet technology. Sign me up!
• On Valentine’s Day, Daryl Katz had an editorial published in the Edmonton Journal. He should just start a blog and talk regularly about his plans, thoughts, and opinions. Also: Mayor Mandel proposed a ticket tax this week to pay for a new downtown arena.
• Here’s the latest real estate market report from Schmidt Realty, and here’s the latest weekly update from the Edmonton Real Estate blog. And here is Jerry’s latest “baconlist” – million dollar homes in Edmonton.
• Mass Effect 2 players could win a trip to BioWare here in Edmonton!
• Here’s the latest Edmonton Next Gen weekly newsletter.
• Sharon had a great post this week on the Food Bank’s Expressions of Hunger contest.
• A few Edmonton things I wrote this week in case you missed them: State of the Edmonton Twittersphere for January 2010, a comparison of Journal and Sun headlines for January 2010, and an investigation into the cost of the residential speed reduction pilot (which you can learn more about here).
• From Graham Hicks: EXPO 2017 need not be a drain for Edmonton.
• Edmonton’s last wooden grain elevators are gone.
• Here’s the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations’ response to the 2010 provincial budget.
• An update on Edmonton-area highway construction from the Province of Alberta.
• Edmonton-based Driving Force and Upside Software both made the list of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.
• Here is Mayor Mandel’s speech to the Urban Development Institute about the arena and LRT construction.
• The City of Edmonton is looking for feedback on public washrooms for Whyte Avenue. Take the survey here.
• Did Edmonton get the short end of the stick in Vancouver? Apparently Edmonton’s exposure during Alberta Day was limited. If true, that’s our own fault.
• Warped Tour is apparently coming to Edmonton in August, though they have said that before and changed their minds.
• The Greater Edmonton Alliance wants you to join them at City Hall on Monday, February 22 at 6pm to show support for the Municipal Development Plan campaign.
• Coming up on March 6 – Open City Workshop: Building Community through Open Information (on ShareEdmonton).
• We’ve had some pretty nice weather lately – even some sun!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Maybe the biggest story of the week here in Edmonton was the new arena plan unveiled by the Katz group, and the fallout that went along with it. Don’t miss Paula’s column on the issue, or Don’s two posts.
• The other big story was the Alberta Budget announcement. Jeff has a great roundup at the edmontonian. Despite the spin from the government, funding for Edmonton was cut by about $100 million.
• That night, Edmonton public school trustees voted to start the closure process for three schools in the city centre.
• The City of Edmonton is asking for public input on three potential routes for the new NAIT to Northwest LRT extension. You can see the three routes here.
• An update on the building development plans for the former Alberta Cycle Building on Alberta Avenue.
• CTV Edmonton launched a new behind-the-scenes blog yesterday called Inner Tube.
• Here’s the Edmonton Startup Index for February.
• Edmonton based Fission Media has created ABto2010, an iPhone app to keep track of Alberta athletes at the Winter Olympics.
• Want to get your name on the venue currently known as TELUS Field? The Rexall Sports Corporation is now accepting naming proposals.
• An interesting new initiative called Downtown Proud enlists formerly homeless or unemployed people to help clean up 30 downtown blocks.
• February update from Homeward Trust. They’ve for a new Aboriginal Advisory Council, and are planning for Homeless Connect 4, set to take place on May 9.
• Submissions for Digital Alberta’s mediaFRESH 2010 Awards are due February 22.
• I like the use of data here: according to sales data from Amazon.ca, Edmonton is the 8th most romantic city in Canada.
• Building Design magazine ranked Edmonton’s own Stantec among the top 10 design firms in the world in five categories, and in the top 10 overall in North America.
• Edmonton is joining the North American Soccer League and will start playing next year.
• Another good roundup of events happening this weekend from the edmontonian.
• The third Edmonton Foodie Meetup is currently being planned for March 3.
• Family Day is Monday! Here are the relevant ETS service changes, and here are the dozens of events taking place that day. Enjoy!
• The 20th annual Silver Skate Festival (on ShareEdmonton) kicks off on Friday!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• During the first four days of opening events, close to 12,000 people visited the new AGA. Additionally, annual membership has grown to an all-time high of 2,250.
• The Kelly-Ramsay block on Rice Howard Way has been sold to John Day, whose projects include the Garneau Theatre redevelopment and the Sobeys Urban Fresh on Jasper Avenue.
• Nominations for the third annual Good Neighbour Awards opened this week. You have until March 1 to suggest someone!
• Hybrid Forge was selected as the winning company in the Leveraging Technical Expertise Locally pilot (see my previous coverage here). There were 14 total applicants, 6 of which had the opportunity to present to a review panel.
• The City of Edmonton Youth Council is displaying the Streets Speak mural series at City Hall from February 17 to 28.
• Full commissioning of the South LRT Extension from South Campus is underway! That means there will be a few service disruptions over the next week or two.
• More transit news: City Council confirmed that the NAIT line is the first priority for construction, and a new report suggests the City should spend $22.5 million over four years to implement smart cards for transit. Also, Transportation Manager Bob Boutilier says the LRT expansions could be completed by 2017, just in time for EXPO (if we were to win the bid).
• Congratulations to Ken Bautista and his team for launching Seek Your Own Proof this week! They also closed a round of financing with local VC firm Foundation Equity.
• The City wants you to share your views on the new plan for Fort Edmonton Park.
• Great post by Jordan Schroder on EXPO 2017 at theeedmontonian.
• Good news! Police Service Dog Cora is back in action.
• The incoming chair of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce says Edmonton’s future is in emerging as the global city for northern expertise.
• Edmonton is the 2nd most sustainable large city in Canada, and the 3rd most sustainable city overall, according to the Corporate Knights Magazine’s annual list.
• Two new Alberta websites launched this week: Productivity Alberta (details) and Apply Alberta.
• Congratulations to all the winners of the 2010 ROOPH Awards, recognizing individuals and organizations that are working to end homelessness.
• The application deadline for participants and speakers for TEDxEdmonton is Monday! The event takes place March 13.
• Sweeny Todd opens at the Citadel tonight and runs through the 28th (on ShareEdmonton).
• NAIT Info Week 2010 kicks off on Monday (on ShareEdmonton).

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• It’s AGA weekend here in Edmonton! The official ribbon cutting ceremony took place this morning, and the public will start visiting tomorrow. Daryl Katz and his wife Renee donated $500,000 to the AGA this week. The Journal has an interactive tour online.
• Edmonton is the newest member of the Alberta Industrial Heartland Association.
• According to the Conference Board of Canada, Edmonton’s economy is set to grow 3.2% in 2010 on the strength of improving energy markets.
• On Monday, the City of Edmonton launched a new recruiting website that uses the concept of “talent hubs”.
• Local game developer BioWare is off to a great start with its latest game, Mass Effect 2. The company has sold over two million copies in the first week of release. Awesome!
• In case you missed it: my recap of DemoCamp Edmonton 10.
• Epcor is planning to demolish 5 of the 10 former Rossdale power plant buildings this summer.
• The Ice on Whyte festival recorded impressive final attendance numbers of more than 39,000 people. Over 50 volunteers helped make the event happen.
• The Oilers still haven’t won a game this year, but the Oilers Skills Competition seems to have gone fairly well. The team says that over 10,000 fans attended the event, with another 10,000 watching online.
• Edmonton International Airport (EIA) had a good year in 2009, and has lots planned for 2010 too.
• Also on the topic of aviation – the Edmonton Flying Club filed a lawsuit against the City over the closure of the City Centre Airport.
• St. Albert Transit is preparing to put up new signs that more closely match the design of the Edmonton transit signs. You can see the new design in PDF here.
• Two major events take place next week: Global Awareness Week at MacEwan (on ShareEdmonton), and International Week at the University of Alberta (on ShareEdmonton).
• On Wednesday evening we’re going to chat about MediaCamp Edmonton at Credo Coffee downtown – join us!
• Coming up on Thursday is Pecha Kucha Night 6. I’m really looking forward to it!
• Have you voted for Edmonton at MonopolyVote.ca?

Photos of the Next Gen Engage event that took place on Thursday evening.