Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Construction along both Jasper Avenue and Stony Plain Road at the same time could result in a traffic nightmare for commuters. “Surely it makes more sense to push through with the west LRT first and start work on Jasper Avenue once the trains are running,” wrote Paula Simons. Council voted to look at options like reversing lanes and smart traffic signals to allow both projects to go ahead.
• The Edmonton Tower has been sold to AIMCo for an undisclosed amount. “City tax records for 2018 show the building’s assessed value is $304 million.”
• Parkbus is launching a free shuttle between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park starting on July 28. The pilot will run Saturdays until mid-September. Here’s the FAQ page for the free service.
• There are no plans to change the name of the Edmonton Eskimos for now, says CEO Len Rhodes. He “noted the team will continue community engagement into 2019.”
• A new policy going to Council this week would set expectations for developers on the value of amenities given to the community when constructing new projects. “Two of the amenities councillors talked about most are both to attract families: the provision of not-for-profit daycare in the buildings and the availability of affordable three-bedroom housing units.”
• Councillor Scott McKeen shared a personal post recently about being sober for ten years. “But as I’ve become an advocate for some of Edmonton’s most vulnerable people — mentally ill, addicted and homeless — it felt hypocritical to hide my drinking career,” he wrote. Mayor Iveson tweeted a link to the post and said, “Councillor, thank you for your vulnerability, your courage and your commitment.”
• Voting is now open for Vue Weekly’s Best of Edmonton 2018.
• ICYMI, this visualization of Edmonton growing from 1917 to 2017 is pretty awesome.
• The Edmonton Oilers have re-signed forward Ryan Strome to a two-year contract.
• The first LRV for the Valley Line LRT is on its way to Edmonton. Looking good!
• From Elise Stolte in the Edmonton Journal: The all-new beach-lovers’ guide to Edmonton.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton Summer Cityscape, photo by IQRemix

Upcoming Events

• This is the final week for the Freewill Shakespeare Festival.
• The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival starts on Tuesday and runs to Sunday. This year the event has moved to Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park in Old Strathcona.
• Cultivate McCauley is hosting a Neighbourhood Garden Crawl on Tuesday evening starting at Giovanni Caboto Park.
• The next ArtTourYEG event takes place on Wednesday, this time from Churchill Square to Louise McKinney Riverfront Park.
• The grand opening of the Borden Natural Swimming Pool takes place at noon on Wednesday.
• ParityYEG is hosting a Founders Reception at CKUA on Wednesday. The organization is “focused on bringing gender parity to politics and public offices.”
• The first in a series of Thursday lunch hour tours of Chinatown takes place this week! Meet at Canada Place at noon.
• Lawn Summer Nights is back again on Thursday evening.
• Catch all the action at the FISE World Series Edmonton 2018 at Louise McKinney Riverfront Park from Friday to Sunday.
• Africanival takes place Friday to Sunday at 105 Avenue and 107 Street.
• Edmonton Ribfest takes place Friday to Sunday at Borden Park.
• Protons and Pyramids takes place at the Muttart Conservatory on Sunday to celebrate the opening of the new space-themed feature pyramid. The initial photos I have seen look pretty cool.
• Plan your calendar with Taproot Edmonton’s 2018 guide to summer festivals and events! It includes 75+ happenings you can look forward to this summer in and around the city.

Premier Notley celebrates at the Canadian citizenship ceremony, photo by Premier of Alberta

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Happy Canada Day! It looks like the Legislature grounds had an amazing turnout today.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• City Council is looking to hold tax increases to the rate of economic growth. Councillor Henderson told Elise Stolte that a series of zero increase budgets in the 1990s “ended up costing taxpayers more on items like neighbourhood renewal, he said, because infrastructure got so bad the roads had to be completely replaced.”
• The calls for tax relief are getting louder, though. “It’s time to take pity on the poor taxpayer,” writes David Staples. “City council should give it a rest when it comes to property tax increases.”
• Frances Olsen and Diane and Iving Kipnes were appointed to the Order of Canada on Friday for their contributions to Edmonton’s health and arts.’
• Alberta Avenue may not lose its funding after all as City Council sent the recommendation back to Administration for more work. That’s positive, but we need to have some clearly defined objectives and metrics for these projects. Funding “revitalization” for 40 years doesn’t make any sense.
• Predictably, the Katz Group’s pitch to City Council for funding for the Ice District plaza was met with alarm. But it is “part of the normal course of business for the city, which already has deals with other developers to build pedestrian-oriented streets in major infill projects.” Council voted to at least talk with the Katz Group about the proposal.
• Congratulations to everyone recognized at the 2018 Edmonton Music Awards last week!
• The new Quarters Skatepark is located just east of The Armature on 102A Avenue. “The skatepark will be assessed over the summer. If it’s successful, a youth committee will be formed to work with the City and partners on a permanent Quarters location and advise on the design, function and security of the park.” I went to see it today, and well, I expected more. I guess it’s a good start!
• The City’s first electric, driverless lawn mowers “are currently GPS mapping their assigned area” and will be cutting the grass sometime in the next couple of weeks.
• Automated parking enforcement, on the other hand, has been postponed “to allow for consultation with people affected by changes to courtesy parking, identify and create more accessible stalls, and explore technology options for enabling placard holders to continue using EPark zones free of charge.”
• Albertans continue to carry more consumer debt than residents of other provinces. Edmonton is the third most indebted city in the province, after Fort McMurray and Calgary.
• Edmonton’s safe injection sites have shown early signs of success with “a combined 112 medical emergencies — a large majority of which are reversed overdoses.” About 650 different people have used the safe injection sites for a total of 9,213 visits.
• The Oilers signed Kyle Brodziak, Tobias Rieder, and Kevin Gravel today. Here’s a recap of Peter Chiarelli’s free agency press conference. Meanwhile, the struggling Oil Kings have hired a new president/general manager and a new head coach.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton Summer Cityscape, photo by IQRemix

Upcoming Events

• The 29th annual Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament takes place at West Edmonton Mall from Monday to Sunday.
• There are still two weeks left of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival in Hawrelak Park.
• Sand on Whyte continues in Old Strathcona until Sunday.
• This year’s edition of the Historic Festival & Doors Open Edmonton starts tomorrow! The festival runs through Sunday.
• The Found Festival runs Thursday to Sunday in Old Strathcona.
• The City of Edmonton’s Urban Renewal team is hosting ArtTourYEG – Ice District to Jasper Ave on Wednesday at lunchtime. Want to do a self-guided tour instead? Check out ArtTourYEG.
• Lawn Summer Nights Edmonton is back for another season. The first event takes place on Thursday night at the Commonwealth Lawn Bowling Club.
• The Edmonton Radial Railway Society is hosting a one-hour tour of historic Old Strathcona on Friday night. “After crossing the world’s highest streetcar crossing, you will be treated to a commentary about the Grandin neighbourhood and Edmonton’s first French Quarter.”
• Southgate Centre is hosting a pop-up roller rink! Join YEGDate on Friday night for a Rollerdate.
• I hope to see you on Friday night at the Edmonton Valley Zoo for What the Truck?!. Here are the menus.
• Opera al Fresco is at the University of Alberta Botanic Garden on Friday night.
• The Whyte Avenue Art Walk takes place Friday to Sunday in Old Strathcona.
• Seven Music Fest takes place in St. Albert on Saturday.
• The Shaw Conference Centre and Meuwly’s are hosting Charcuterie Night with Canada’s Top Chefs on Saturday evening.
• The next Instagrammable Walls of Edmonton Photo Walk takes place on Sunday in Old Strathcona. This one is a fundraiser for the Imagine Okuda Project!
• Savor Strathcona County 2018 takes place on Sunday in Sherwood Park.
• Plan your calendar with Taproot Edmonton’s 2018 guide to summer festivals and events! It includes 75+ happenings you can look forward to this summer in and around the city.

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Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Flair Airlines is moving its headquarters to Edmonton and will use the Edmonton International Airport as its main transfer hub. “As such, that makes us Edmonton’s hometown airline,” Flair executive chairman David Tait said at the announcement Tuesday morning in downtown Edmonton.
• The northeast corner of Jasper Avenue and 108 Street could look very different if a plan to build two high-rise towers atop retail podiums goes ahead. “With so many different downtown highrise projects in the works right now, it remains to be seen if there’s a market to support them all,” wrote Paula Simons.
• Accidental Beach is back, and this time the City says it is prepared with “security, parking restrictions, dog laws and booze bans.”
• Overall ridership on ETS fell about 3% from 2013 to 2017 according to a new report. “ETS spokesperson Tarra Kongsrude said the ridership drop between 2014 and 2016 was a reflection of an economic slowdown.”
• The City of Edmonton is launching a solar grant program to incentivize homeowners to increase the energy efficiency of their homes. “The program offers homeowners a $0.15/watt incentive to help install solar systems and produce renewable energy. This incentive, when combined with the $0.75/watt incentive available to Edmontonians through Energy Efficiency Alberta, helps homeowners cover up to one third of the installation costs.”
• Edmonton could ban right turns on red lights at certain intersections to help the city move closer to achieving Vision Zero. According to the City’s Gerry Shimko, “downtown and Whyte Avenue are some of the locations where turning left or right is causing some of the major collisions.”
• Tim Querengesser makes the case for an urban growth boundary for Edmonton. “Our planners and thinkers treat land like it’s endless, free and easy – and they seem unbothered when it sits empty, idle and unused. And we pay the price for all this.”
• Starting Monday morning, the 242 randomly selected applicants for cannabis stores can submit their development permit applications. “A Liquor Depot employee was granted 26 permit application appointments, while Fire and Flower Inc. has 10.”
• How a law student accidentally became the unofficial ambassador of K-Days. “Bachewich now feels compelled to attend K-Days this year, where his cousin suggested he should go shake hands with attendees and ask them if they’re having a good time.”
• Neighbourhood renewal is coming up for Old Strathcona and it could look quite different from previous renewals, with “a new mix of sidewalks and streets designed to slow vehicles to 30 km/h.”
• The deadline to nominate a front yard in bloom is June 30. “A yard can be a source of food, a public gathering spot, or even a sky high balcony.”
• A local grade 12 student who is relocating to Waterloo, Ontario has created a ‘Cool Places in Edmonton Guide’ to show the places he will miss most. Let’s hope with his passion for the city he returns to make an impact here at some point!
• ICYMI: The #yeg hashtag turned ten years old this week!
• The Mill Creek Ravine Pedestrian Bridges “officially reopened June 22, 2018, on budget and four months ahead of schedule.” The $7.7 million rehabilitation project involved three trestle bridges and two glulam bridges. “In recognition of historical significance, and largely as a result of public feedback, 20-25% of the original wood was used in the rehabilitation of the trestle bridges so as to maintain their authentic look and feel.” We went to see them today – worth the visit! Here are my photos.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Upcoming Events

• There are a bunch of festivals still underway this week, including the Edmonton International Jazz Festival, The Works Art & Design Festival, and the Freewill Shakespeare Festival.
• The Oilers are hosting their 2018 Development Camp this week at the Downtown Community Arena.
• Kaleo is performing at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on Monday evening.
• MacEwan is hosting a pop-up workshop at Roundhouse on Tuesday to “envision a temporary animation on one of MacEwan University’s parking lots along 105 Ave.”
• The Feats Festival of Dance kicks off on Wednesday.
• Vance Joy is performing at Rogers Place on Wednesday evening.
• Sand on Whyte starts in Old Strathcona on Friday.
• If you’re a fan of The Bachelor, you’ll want to know that Arie & Lauren will be at Knoxville’s Tavern on Friday evening.
• The Eskimos host the BC Lions on Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
• Downtown Discoveries is running free bike lane tours downtown on Saturday. The meeting point is Alex Decoteau Park.
• Sunday is Canada Day! The Legislature grounds will be packed throughout the day I’m sure. The big fireworks finale takes place at 11pm.
• Also Sunday is the Blues on Whyte Block Party.
• Save the date: the next What the Truck?! event takes place at the Valley Zoo on July 6. Here is the lineup.
• Congratulations to Linda and Brittney on the super-successful Instagrammable Walls photo tour! For future dates, join the Facebook Group.
• Note that due to construction around Churchill Square, a number of festivals have relocated for 2018.
• Plan your calendar with Taproot Edmonton’s 2018 guide to summer festivals and events! It includes 75+ happenings you can look forward to this summer in and around the city.

High Level Bridge, photo by Viktor Push

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Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The Province announced it will spend $100 million to widen to six lanes an 18-kilometre stretch of the southwest leg of Anthony Henday Drive between Whitemud Drive and 111 Street. “Completing the Henday has made a huge difference to commuters and goods movement. But with all freeways, they tend to become their own worst enemy and attract a lot more traffic,” Mayor Don Iveson said Monday.
• “Edmonton built only 25 units of housing for the chronically homeless last year.” That’s far less than the 916 units still needed.
• Issues with the Metro Line LRT are still not resolved, and now the next deadline is “tied up in legal wrangling.” Mayor Iveson is asking for patience, saying “we’re as frustrated as anyone.”
• FIFA picked the North American bid, known as United 2026, to host the 2026 World Cup which means Canada could host around 10 games. Here is how Edmonton stacks up against other bid cities.
• A new group calling itself Prosperity Edmonton has sent a letter to City Council asking for tax relief. “If Edmonton businesses struggle, Edmontonians struggle,” they wrote.
• “On Monday, the United States Conference of Mayors endorsed the so-called Edmonton Declaration, a locally created document that asks municipalities to take a stand on rising global temperatures.” The three-page document spearheaded by Mayor Iveson calls on all levels of government to recognize targets set under the Paris Agreement.
• Congratulations to all the Edmontonians recognized in the City’s Salute to Excellence awards for 2018. Allan Scott, former CEO of EEDC, was recognized for his work on behalf of the Art Gallery of Alberta.
• Tim Adams shares that after starting Free Footie here in Edmonton 10 years ago, the free soccer league has now grown to 100 teams!
• Want to cycle across the Groad Road Bridge? You could get a $100 fine if you don’t dismount.
• Here is Paula Simons on the proposed superlab parkade in South Campus: “It’s silly to have four such powerful actors — the province, the city, the university and AHS — acting at cross purposes, without decent communication.”
• Graham Hicks wrote about the 747 bus service to the Edmonton International Airport. “Any city worth its salt has user-friendly, inexpensive and modern public transit between its airport and downtown,” he wrote, before listing all the issues with Edmonton’s service. “I cannot imagine making a worse initial impression on economy-minded tourists.”
• Friday, June 15 was proclaimed World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Edmonton. “Elder abuse can happen in any place and any culture,” said Councillor Scott McKeen. “Together, service providers, community partners, government and professionals can support our seniors to help them be healthy and safe by identifying barriers and reducing isolation.”
• The Minchau Blacksmith Shop building in Old Strathcona has been saved from demolition, at least for now.
• Starting in 2019, the league the Edmonton Prospects play in will be known as the Western Canadian Baseball League. Edmonton will host the league’s all-star game on July 8, 2019 and again in 2020.
• Have your say on the Jasper Avenue New Vision by filling out the online survey by June 29.
• The goats are back! A herd of 200 goats returned to Rundle Park this week as part of the City’s GoatWorks project.
• For all the latest news in Edmonton tech, check out Taproot Edmonton’s Tech Roundup.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Upcoming Events

• The Summer Solstice Music Festival starts on Monday and runs to June 22.
• The Freewill Shakespeare Festival kicks off on Tuesday and runs through July 15.
• Learn about Alberta’s Economic Outlook with Todd Hirsch during the lunch hour on Wednesday at The Westin Edmonton.
• Edmonton’s NextGen presents MEAET powered by Pecha Kucha Night on Wednesday evening at Kingsway Mall.
• Thursday is going to be a busy day with Make Music Edmonton, the Edmonton Indigenous Peoples Festival, and the kickoff to The Works Art & Design Festival.
• The Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Visual Arts Alberta present A Celebration of Edmonton’s Visual and Literary Artists on Thursday evening at CKUA.
• The City of Edmonton is hosting an Idea Review for the Exhibition Lands on Thursday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• A launch event for Age Friendly Edmonton 2.0 takes place on Friday at City Hall at noon. “Join us for storytelling and refreshments as we reflect on the past 5 years and usher in a new era with Age Friendly Edmonton 2.0.”
• Celebrate the Shaw Conference Centre’s 35th anniversary on Friday with a patio party!
• The Edmonton International Jazz Festival starts Friday and runs to Canada Day.
• Fashion Fest takes place Friday and Saturday at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• The first Instagrammable Walls of Edmonton Photo Walk of the season takes place from 2-4pm on Saturday. Meet at the Alberta Avenue Community Centre!
• Kinsmen Park is where the Soundtrack Music Festival takes place on Saturday.
• The Africa Centre’s Africa Day Gala Dinner takes place Saturday evening at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
• Sunday is Vintage Day and the Friends Ukrainian Music Fest at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village.
• Pets in the Park takes place on Sunday at Hawrelak Park.
• Save the date: the Out of this World Opening Reception takes place on June 26 at the Muttart Conservatory. The sculpture exhibition will be on display until September 5.
• Save the date: What the Truck?! at the Zoo takes place on July 6!
• Plan your calendar with Taproot Edmonton’s 2018 guide to summer festivals and events! It includes 75+ happenings you can look forward to this summer in and around the city.

A new plaque in the Brewery District for the Edmonton Brewing & Malting Company building

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Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The Edmonton Pride Parade was very well attended yesterday even with a bit of rain! The parade was interrupted briefly by protestors demanding that police and military be prohibited from marching in future parades. Organizers agreed and have banned them from future parades “until the community feels that they have taken the necessary steps for all community members to feel safe with their presence.” Though many think of the Pride Parade as a big party nowadays, it has always been about activism and political struggle. It started in 1980 and “many people who took part wore paper bags on their heads because they were afraid of losing their jobs.”
• The Province introduced changes to support transgender and gender-diverse Albertans this week by enabling all Albertans “to choose Female, Male or “X” on their driver’s licences, ID cards and vital statistics records, such as birth certificates and death certificates.”
• Ward 11 Councillor Mike Nickel announced this week he is seeking the United Conservative Party nomination in Edmonton-South. “I want to go some place where I can keep pushing that agenda, where we are going to measure what we are going to do. I want results,” he said.
• Edmonton will be launching a pilot project in October with the Pacific Western Group of Companies to test electric autonomous vehicles manufactured by EasyMile (Calgary is doing one in September). “The pilot will give Edmontonians the opportunity to ride in the autonomous vehicle and provide feedback to the City of Edmonton.”
• Councillors Sarah Hamilton and Bev Esslinger wrote an opinion column in the Edmonton Journal arguing for the implementation of the GBA+ program, “an internationally recognized analytical tool used to examine how the diverse needs of citizens are served by policies, programs, services and initiatives.”
• Here’s the latest on the City of Edmonton’s harassment investigations from Elise Stolte: “Since November, when Edmonton was forced to hire an external company to take complaints and investigate them, more than 400 of the city’s 14,000 employees called with allegations. Sixty of those required a formal investigation.”
• It’s official: FC Edmonton will play in the Canadian Premier League when it debuts next spring. “FC Edmonton is owned and operated by the Fath Group headed up by Tom and Dave Fath. Jay Ball will lead operations of FC Edmonton as General Manager.” The club has also introduced a new brand identity with updated colors and a new crest.
• City Council decided this week not to go ahead with the proposed moratorium on raves. Instead, they’ll receive a report in October on harm reduction strategies and other safety plans.
• A new report suggests around 1,100 intersections need upgrades to support smart technology. It could cost $150 million to upgrade them all.
• The City of Edmonton has partnered with IFTTT for a new light installation at City Hall that translates air quality data into colour. “The light installation uses open-source code first developed by the City of Louisville. Jan Mußenbrock, an Edmonton developer with BetaCityYEG, used IFTTT to turn code into a bridge between Wi-Fi light bulbs and the Province of Alberta’s air quality health index data. The index is updated every five minutes.”
• Liz Nicholls has all the details on the 31st annual Sterling Awards nominations. The awards will be presented on June 25.
• Nearly 600 bicycles have already been stolen this year, so police are reminding cyclists “to take the time to ensure their bikes are properly locked up.” Last year, 2,171 bikes were stolen.
• Edmonton will study what other cities are doing to get rid of plastic straws and facilitate other plastic-reduction strategies. Councillor Henderson says “there’s an awful lot that still goes into landfill and there’s an awful lot that still goes into our water stream.” We did a story on plastic waste at Taproot back in September.
• Bill 10: An Act to Enable Clean Energy Improvements passed 3rd reading this week. “The City of Edmonton advocated for this tool since 2011,” tweeted Mike Mellross, Program Manager of Energy Transition at the City of Edmonton.
• “That’s right, sometimes in Edmonton we order you to wear a fanny pack,” tweets Jana Pruden. Haha!
• As of Thursday, only 4,000 tickets were left for the 2018 Grey Cup taking place here in Edmonton.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Premier Notley celebrates Edmonton Pride, photo by Premier of Alberta

Upcoming Events

• Indulgence takes place on Monday evening at the Delta Edmonton South.
• The 2018 Salute to Excellence Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place at the Winspear Centre on Monday night.
• The McCauley Garden Crawl is hosting its first event on Tuesday! They are doing one crawl per month through the summer.
• Eats on 118 returns with its first food tour of the season on Wednesday evening.
• Improvaganza starts on Wednesday and runs to June 23.
• Olympic athlete Jen Kish is speaking at the ATB Financial Arts Barns on Thursday evening.
• The ESO presents The Lord of the Rings Symphony at the Winspear Centre from Thursday to Saturday.
• This year the Night Market Edmonton takes place at the Alberta Aviation Museum on Friday and Saturday.
• Pure Spec 2018 runs Friday and Saturday at the Alberta Avenue Community Hall!
• The Beaumont Blues & Roots Festival takes place Friday to Sunday.
• They don’t call it “Super Saturday” for nothing! This year you can check out the Mercer Summer Super Party, Porkapalooza, WTS Kids of Steel, the Highlandia Festival, the 40th anniversary of LRT in Edmonton, and much more!
• IDEA’s 2018 Edmonton Infill Tour takes place on Saturday at various locations around the city.
• ZooFest, a fundraising event in support of the Valley Zoo Development Society, takes place on Sunday evening at the zoo.
• Save the date: Edmonton’s NextGen presents MEAET powered by Pecha Kucha Night on Wednesday, June 20 at Kingsway Mall.
• Plan your calendar with Taproot Edmonton’s 2018 guide to summer festivals and events! It includes 75+ happenings you can look forward to this summer in and around the city.

2018 City Hall School Citizenship Fair

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