Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• I have to mention this: Jennifer Fong’s latest reason to love Edmonton is our engaged online communities! Very cool that ShareEdmonton, The Edmontonian, I Heart Edmonton, and others were mentioned!
• A couple new recaps from me this week: Edmonton in 2009, and my State of the Edmonton Twittersphere – 2009 Year in Review.
• Apparently Edmonton’s property taxes and utilities are the third most expensive in Canada.
• Want to help out with the 3D buildings layer in Google Earth? The next focus is the University of Alberta campus.
• Great news: Police Service Dog Cora is expected to be back at work on February 3. She was stabbed in December while apprehending a suspect.
• The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation introduced its new board of directors this week. Bruce Saville is the new chair.
• Fascinating video from @ZoomJer – Under the Bridge: An interview with a homeless person in Edmonton.
• Couple of new newsletters: Original Fare’s Guide to Living Local, and the Next Gen Weekly Newsletter.
• Here are some great photos of City Council and some members of Administration, taken by Curtis Comeau.
• Interesting new conference coming up for City of Edmonton and University of Alberta IT employees: Technocon 2010.
• Music fans take note – Lilith Fair will be making a stop in Edmonton!
• Here’s a great post on EXPO 2017 from I Heart Edmonton.
• The City announced the formation of the Livable City Design Group, led by local firm Cohos Evamy. They’re tasked with completing the Capital City Downtown Plan.
• TEDxEdmonton is looking for participants and speakers! Apply now!
• The old Molson Brewery appears as though it will finally be protected and redeveloped.
• Just a few blocks away, 124 Street is blossoming as a rival to Whyte Avenue. And near MacEwan downtown, Healy Ford is leaving, opening up the potential for redevelopment there too.
• Some members of the City’s IT staff are in Chicago this weekend for CityCamp, to talk about Government 2.0.
• This one is interesting: North America’s largest eco city is being planned on 135 hectares of newly annexed land in St. Albert, a $1.8 billion project!
• Retiring City Manager Al Maurer has a warning for proponents of the downtown arena – don’t underestimate the public! I wrote about our new City Manager yesterday.
• The Edmonton Rush play their home opener tonight against the Buffalo Bandits!
• Bridal Fantasy is taking place tomorrow at the Shaw Conference Centre (on ShareEdmonton). Also tomorrow is the last day for Ice on Whyte (on ShareEdmonton).
• Coming up this week is DemoCampEdmonton10 (on ShareEdmonton) and the Social Media for Government conference (on ShareEdmonton).

Finally, Edmonton has its own mug at Starbucks!

What a week! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• The Olympic Torch Relay made its way through the capital region this week! It was quite an experience, with Churchill Square completely packed on Wednesday evening. There’s a good story on the planning that went into it here.
• Big news for the tech community: Open Data has arrived in Edmonton! You can check out the catalogue at http://data.edmonton.ca.
• WIND Mobile is gearing up for a February launch here in Edmonton, and is looking to hire dozens of full-time and part-time employees in the city.
• According to the Conference Board of Canada, Edmonton is the 7th most attractive Canadian city for prospective new residents.
• Sounds like last weekend’s Deep Freeze festival was a big success, with nearly 4 times as many people attending as last year!
• Two new directors were appointed to the EEDC board this week: Dr. Roger Palmer and Barry Travers.
• Here’s the latest Edmonton Next Gen weekly newsletter.
• Sharon and I checked out Moriarty’s Bistro & Wine Bar recently. Great to have another option in the core!
• The City of Edmonton is in the process of buying the notorious York Hotel. It’s going to be part of the Boyle Renaissance redevelopment.
• Very cool news from the Art Gallery of Alberta: Executive Director Gilles Hebert will host a private tour for local bloggers!
• Rick Mercer and Danielle Smith were at West Edmonton Mall this week filming a segment. I snapped some photos!
• Have $100 million sitting around? The former ING Building on 103 Street just north of Jasper Avenue is on the market for $108.4 million.
• From The Journal: For the first time in almost 70 years, it appears all city councillors are planning to run again in the next civic election.
• Ice on Whyte (on ShareEdmonton) started this week and runs until the 24th – don’t miss it!
• Fork Fest (on ShareEdmonton) starts today! It’s a great opportunity to sample some really tasty food at independent restaurants throughout the city.

I’ll leave you today with a common sight around the City right now. I hope the ice sculptures at Ice on Whyte are ok!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• This post seems to have struck a nerve: Restless in Edmonton? Stop complaining, start creating.
• Another recap from me: Edmonton Transit in 2009.
• Here’s the latest Walkable Edmonton newsletter.
• Edmonton Next Gen has announced Pecha Kucha Night 6 and more in their latest weekly newsletter. Also, check out this video on Pecha Kucha Night in Edmonton.
• The City wants you to clear away snow and spread sand on the ice to make waste collection safer.
• Will the City’s growing debt load have an impact on its credit rating?
• Great post from Ken: Why Edmonton has the pieces for a great startup ecosystem.
• The restaurant inside the new Art Gallery of Alberta will be called Zinc, and will begin full lunch and dinner service on February 2nd. Also, check out Avenue Edmonton’s photo essay of the AGA.
• Another great collection of January events from Sharon.
• Here’s my recap of the first Winter Light event of the season, the Mispon Gala.
• Edmonton’s PCL Constructors has been named the best employer in Canada.
• The TEDxEdmonton website was updated this week with more details on the event and a call for presenters.
• Brad Stromberg, the city’s new film commissioner, says that Edmonton has what it takes to become a major film hub.
• City Councillors are getting a modest raise of $500.
• The report on Open Data goes to Council on Wednesday. I’ll have more this week, but you can read the report here in PDF.
• The Province of Alberta is providing $7.3 million to the Hope Mission for the construction of 52 permanent homes for the homeless in Edmonton.
• Edmonton Police unfortunately saw a big increase in the number of impaired drivers during the 2009 Christmas Checkstop campaign.
• The ice at Hawrelak Park is now open seven days a week. Get out and enjoy it!
• Good write-up on Hub Cigar and Newstand, which has been in business since 1910!
• Taking place today and tomorrow is the Deep Freeze Festival on Alberta Avenue (on ShareEdmonton).
• Coming up on Wednesday is the Olympic Torch Relay Community Celebration (on ShareEdmonton). The festivities get underway at 4pm at City Hall.

Welcome to 2010! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• The route for the Olympic Torch Relay was announced this week! You can learn more about the event here.
• A couple of recaps from me and Sharon, with more on the way: Edmonton Tech in 2009 and Epicureous in Edmonton: 2009 in Review.
• Speaking of food, Liane Faulder wrote an interesting piece on educating Edmonton about food.
• The Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) acquired a 50% stake in South Edmonton Common this week, for $39.2 million. The stake includes 60,000 square feet of fully developed leasable area.
• Edmonton’s first baby of 2010 arrived at 12:18am, a healthy 9-pound, 8-ounce boy.
• Starting Monday, the Dawson Bridge will be completely closed for the rest of the year to make way for a $22 million rehabilitation.
• Are the Edmonton Oilers a bunch of cheapskates? A restaurant in Calgary says they are, after fighting with the players over a bar tab on New Year’s Eve.
• Two Edmontonians, including Shrawan Kumar and John Stanton, were named to the Order of Canada this week.
• Great story about the McCauley Cup: On Christmas Eve several downtown police beat members hosted a shinny hockey game at the McCauley rink which saw several youth from the community participate.
• According to Police Chief Mike Boyd, crime dropped in Edmonton in 2009 by 2%. Also, EPS would like to remind you about the importance of intersection safety.
• Edmonton Transit has retired the last of its GMC vehicles, which means ETS is starting 2010 with a 100% accessible fleet. Awesome!
• The first Winter Light event takes place on Wednesday. Check out the Mispon Gala at City Hall starting at 4:30pm (at ShareEdmonton). See also Vue Weekly’s preview.

Merry Christmas Edmonton! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• It’s unfortunate this news came out during the holidays, when many people are taking a break, but I’m positive we’ll hear much more about it in the new year – a report from the City auditor found that $92 million was spent on consultants in 2008. Just incredible. City Administration will elaborate, but said most of the increase is due to increased construction.
• If you’re heading out for New Year’s Eve, don’t forget that that ETS is free (as is St. Albert Transit and Strathcona Country Transit). The rest of the holiday service details can be found here.
• As I mentioned this week, the holidays are always rough for local charities, but this year they’ve been hit especially hard.
• Local chocolatier Kerstin’s Chocolates held its first ever Name That Origin competition this week, which Sharon wrote about here. Such a great way for a small local business to build interest and spread the word.
• In a bid to cut costs, the University of Alberta is offering early retirement packages to all employees 55 and older who have worked for the institution ten years or more.
• We’ve had a lot of snow lately, but apparently the City is on track to come in slightly under budget for snow removal this year.
• More proof that the anti-idling issue is a silly one – the City is investing just $10,000 into the campaign.
• Good post from Brittney this week on Edmonton’s Twitter community.
• The Oilers lost their sixth straight game tonight. On the plus side, prospect Jordan Eberle scored twice today as Canada destroyed Latvia by a score of 16-0.
• For details on Edmonton’s New Year’s Eve bash, click here.

Less than a week until Christmas! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Finally, our LRT expansion is moving ahead. City Council passed west, southeast, and NAIT routes on Tuesday!
• City Council also voted to permanently close 102A Avenue, between 99 Street and 100 Street (between City Hall and Churchill Square). Long overdue!
• Last weekend was the coldest Edmonton has been in quite a while! We came close but didn’t beat the coldest day ever recorded in Edmonton.
• The City is planning a $100,000 pilot program next year to increase the number of solar panels on Edmonton homes.
• Edmonton was recognized with a Climate Leadership in Canada award at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit this week.
• Here’s the latest E-Link from Mayor Mandel, wishing you Happy Holidays!
• EEDC announced the results of a new economic analysis that found building a downtown arena and surrounding development would produce 30,000 person-years of work and generate $1.25 billion in wages.
• Interesting post on Edmonton’s Twitter community from a journalist in San Francisco.
• The Youth Emergency Shelter had hoped to raise $1 million this year, but they haven’t even hit $250,000 yet with only a few weeks to go.
• The new Art Gallery of Alberta’s opening events have been announced! They’ll launch with two admission-free days on Sunday, January 31 and Monday, February 1.
• Here is the latest Edmonton Next Gen weekly newsletter. They’re still looking for presenters for Pecha Kucha Night 6!
• The Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market is closed next Saturday, so they’re open on Wednesday, December 23 instead!
• Looking to check out some festive lights? The Legislature is lit up, as is Candy Cane Lane (between 100 Avenue and 92 Avenue along 148 Street).

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Cold enough for you this week? The cold temperatures have been especially hard on our city’s less fortunate. It’s minus 30 right now, but oddly, it’s expected to get close to zero by the end of the week.
• City Council unanimously passed the 2010 Operating Budget this week, with a tax increase of 5% (3% for services, 2% for neighbourhood renewal).
• The Edmonton Oilers did their first webcast this week. They integrated CoverItLive and Twitter, which I thought was rather interesting.
• Here’s the Edmonton Startup Index for December 2009.
• Congrats to Transforming Edmonton on the first two weeks of content!
• Local entrepreneurs take note – the deadline to express interest for the Leveraging Technical Expertise Locally is December 15!
• Original Fare has a new website!
• The Art Gallery of Alberta and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts announced a limited, two-stage competition for a public art commission on the City of Edmonton Terrace at the new AGA building. Also, tomorrow is the AGA’s last day at Enterprise Square!
• In case you missed it: all Edmonton Public Library events are now at ShareEdmonton!
• The latest Edmonton Snow Angels were announced this week!
• From December 21 until January 3, children 12 years and under receive free drop-in admission to any City of Edmonton leisure, sports, and fitness facility.
• Students at the University of Alberta are facing a 1.5% general tuition increase, and a rent increase for student housing of 3.8%. And more increases may be on the way.
• Edmonton Stories is running a Torch Relay Route photo contest. The contest opens on Monday.
• Taking place today from 1-4pm is the Edmonton Journal Book Fair and Writers’ Festival.
• Make It Edmonton is on today and tomorrow! You can see times and tweets on ShareEdmonton.
• Today at 5:30pm: the TckTckTck Vigil For A Real Deal at the Legislature.
• The annual ETS Christmas Lights tours start up tomorrow evening! You can see all times on ShareEdmonton.
• Coming up next week: Startup Drinks, The Handmade Mafia Twilight Market, and the Holiday Tweetup.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• Congratulations to the City of Edmonton for launching the Transforming Edmonton blog. You can read a little about it here.
• This year’s Stuff A Bus campaign raised $17,000 and a total of 31,000 kilograms of food were collected for the Edmonton Food Bank. Well done Edmonton!
• Here’s the Original Fare guide to living local for December!
• A great story about composting at City Hall. Well done Ashley!
• JudyLynn Archer, CEO of Women Building Futures, and Indira Samarasekera, President of University of Alberta, have been named among Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
• The Katz Group has engaged AEG Development and AEG Facilities to advise on the new downtown arena. They have been involved with the development near the Staples Center.
• Edmonton officially launched its national bid to host EXPO 2017 this week. So far I’d say reaction to the bid has been mixed, at best. There’s an open house taking place on Tuesday afternoon (on ShareEdmonton).
• Google Street View finally launched in Edmonton this week!
• St. Albert has been selected to host the national winter Special Olympics in February 2012.
• Nominations for the 2010 Rooph Awards are now being accepted. The awards recognize outstanding organizations and and people in housing in Edmonton.
• Edmonton has been named the 2009 Sociable City of the Year.
• Local athlete Doreen Ryan will be Edmonton’s final torchbearer when the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay comes to town on January 13.
• The 22nd Annual Jingle On Indoor Santa Claus Parade (on ShareEdmonton) takes place tomorrow from 10 AM until noon downtown!
• Ready for curling? The Roar of the Rings (on ShareEdmonton) kicks off tomorrow!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• My favorite local post of the week comes from Sharon. She asked a number of local personalities for suggestions on local gifts to give or receive – check it out!
• The City of Edmonton announced it will be opening a third Eco Station on December 8th, located at 14710 Ellerslie Road.
• A number of Edmontonians attended the first public hearing on the 2010 City budget this week, and there will be many more opportunities to provide feedback. You can see upcoming related events at ShareEdmonton.
• Twenty-four school boards in the Edmonton area have received the Minister’s Education Leadership Recognition Award, for demonstrating significant improvement and/or high achievement in a number of categories.
• A new plan to attract visitors to Fort Edmonton Park would see a number of “interactive” components added to the park.
• The City of Edmonton is looking to fill the newly-created position of Historian Laureate.
• I think it’s safe to say that many Edmontonians were upset this week when it was announced that the 2009 Rexall Indy lost $3.9 million.
• The Journal wrote about Foursquare coming to town.
• More than 100 Edmontonians were honored with the 2009 Salute to Excellence Citation and Performance Awards. Congrats to all!
• Due to a large increase in use, the Food Bank is about $200,000 over its food-purchasing budget for the year.
• Also affected by the recession is the Youth Emergency Shelter Society, which is facing a $1 million shortfall.
• The warm weather has resulted in a longer than expected construction season which means the Quesnell Bridge project is ahead of schedule.
• Tomorrow is the last day for the Royal Bison craft and art fair (on ShareEdmonton).
• From December 3rd to 6th, check out the Butterdome Craft Sale (on ShareEdmonton)!
• Coming up next Saturday is Latitude 53’s annual winter fundraising gala, The Fine Art of Schmoozy (on ShareEdmonton).

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

• From the Edmonton Journal: a helicopter tour of the Edmonton river valley.
• On Wednesday evening the 2009 Edmonton Urban Design Awards were presented to ten projects that demonstrated a high standard for urban, architectural and landscape design.
• Have you seen the “hope springs eternal” transit map? You’ve got to see this.
• On the topic of transit, Paula wrote another great piece on the debacle that happened at City Council last week.
• In the latest issue of Vue Weekly, a profile of Duchess Bake Shop co-owner Garner Beggs.
• Has a buyer come forward for the Kelly-Ramsey block?
• A couple of new pages launched on the City of Edmonton website this week: 311 Online Services, and Neighbourhoods.
• Also new – the online agenda and minutes system for Council and Committee meetings finally launched. It’s so much better than the old Word document-based system!
• The mascot for the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton was unveiled this week. Very cartoonish – what do you think?
• The Christmas Bureau launched its 2009 campaign on Monday. This year’s goal is $1.6 million to provide for 65,000 people.
• Foursquare launched in Edmonton (and a bunch of other cities) this week.
• I recapped three events this week: Leveraging Technical Expertise Locally, Community Evening with Jim Diers, and DemoCampEdmonton9.
• Local software company Smibs Inc. launched a new product called VideoLobby at an exclusive TechCrunch conference on Friday! Only nine other startups were featured, and about 1000 people attended.
• Stuff a Bus is back all next week! Check out ShareEdmonton for locations and times.
• The annual Festival of Trees kicks off on Thursday the Shaw Conference Centre! You can see all dates and times at ShareEdmonton.