Happy long weekend! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Edmonton startup Jobber has expanded to Toronto with a new office “to support the rapid growth of its global customer base.” Congrats to Sam, Forrest, and the team!
• The downtown office vacancy rate in Edmonton has nearly doubled in the past year to 15.3%. That compares to 23.9% down in Calgary.
• David Staples spoke with Councillor Michael Oshry about his decision to not seek re-election.
• Dave has updated his list of candidates intending to run in the 2017 Municipal Election. The list now includes school trustees too.
• Congratulations to the recipients of the 2017 Mayor’s Awards who were recognized for “making Edmonton a more inclusive city for persons with disabilities.”
• Now that we’re into grass growing season, the City is encouraging residents to go bagless and leave grass clippings on the lawn. I love the video they made to promote this! Don’t feed the grass monster!
• The Art Gallery of Alberta has announced that admission is free on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and hours have been extended to 8pm.
• Ledcor is donating $250,000 to the University of Alberta’s new David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management.
• A public hearing will take place on May 29 to discuss new rules for residential development in Edmonton’s Mature Neighbourhood Overlay.
• The World Indigenous Nations Games are taking place at Enoch First Nation in July but organizers are still trying to secure $25 million in funding from all three orders of government.
• Heads up if you’re driving in Oliver: beginning Tuesday, May 23, 102 Avenue will be permanently closed to westbound traffic from 116 Street to 121 Street.
• Chad Huculak perfectly captured the meme-ories from the Oilers’ playoff run this season!
• Michael Jenkins, the city’s “bug guy”, says we can expect fewer mosquitoes and other pests this season thanks to the relatively cold, dry weather we’ve been seeing.
• Looking to enjoy a patio with your pooch this summer? Linda has a list of dog-friendly patios and markets in Edmonton.
• Edmonton’s Front Yards in Bloom program has kicked off for another season. “This year, citizens can nominate their neighbours’ yards in one of five categories: General, Edible, Natural, Public Spaces and Uniquely Canadian.” That last category was added to celebrate Canada 150.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Upcoming Events

• Opera NUOVA’s 2017 Opera & Music Theatre Festival started this weekend and runs through the end of June.
• Mayor Iveson will deliver his 2017 State of the City Address on Wednesday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• On Wednesday evening at City Hall the Edmonton Heritage Council is hosting its 2017 AGM. See you there!
• Also Wednesday evening is Fresh MEAET, a micro-fundraising event in support of food & urban agriculture initiatives in Edmonton. Tickets are just $15.
• Martin Kerr is performing at the Winspear Centre on Wednesday evening!
• The TALES Storytelling Festival takes place Thursday through Sunday in Old Strathcona.
• MADE is hosting an event featuring Bryan Lee of Design Justice at the Chvrch of John on Thursday evening.
• The second annual In Her Shoes Gala takes place Friday evening at the River Cree Casino & Resort.
• The City Market Downtown returned to 104 Street this weekend!
• The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is hosting the Festival of Health on Saturday at the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy. Registration is free!
• IDEA is kicking off a speaker series on Saturday with an event called The Future of Infill in #YEG taking place at the Boyle Street Community League.
• Reconciliation Week kicks off on Sunday!
• Pecha Kucha Night 28 is coming up on June 1 and tickets are on sale now.
• Be sure to check out Taproot Edmonton’s summer festival & event listing for more great events!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Nagar Kirtan Edmonton, photo by Premier of Alberta

Happy Mother’s Day! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The PATH (Providing Accessible Transit Here) program will offer Edmonton’s most vulnerable “better access to education, employment opportunities, and various social services” by providing free transit passes. This is a big deal, as transportation can be extremely costly.
• ETS reallocated over 50,00 hours in the fall of 2016, changes that “improved on-time bus performance” and contributed to better customer service. They are gearing up to make another big change this fall. You can see the full list of changes in PDF here. The other thing ETS is highlighting right now is “major improvements” coming to several transit centre locations, including the replacement of three of the oldest bus transit buildings at Belvedere, Castle Downs, and Jasper Place.
• I can’t believe the “City of Champions” debate is going to come up again, but some people just can’t let it go. “In the end, the Oilers didn’t win. But Edmonton sure did,” wrote Terry Jones. While that’s a fair statement, we don’t need some ridiculously nostalgic signs to celebrate that. Here’s what I wrote about the debate back in 2015. The Journal’s latest editorial gets it right: “to outsiders and residents alike, it’s the endless bickering about whether Edmonton should be called the City of Champions that says more about the place than any slogan ever could.”
• City Council has approved “an ambitious Sustainable Buildings Policy”. The policy sets a standard for energy efficiency that is “the most ambitious for a major Canadian city with a carbon intensive electricity grid like Edmonton and second only to Vancouver.”
• Edmonton’s office vacancy rate has nearly doubled in the past year, to more than 15%. Some predict it could rise to 20% in the next year as more new office towers come online. That’s still below Calgary, but it’s not great. It may create an opportunity, though. Calgary’s Strategic Group wants to convert the Harley Court building to rental apartment suites.
• Ward 5 Councillor Michael Oshry announced this week that he will not seek another term. “It has been my pleasure to serve the citizens of the ward and the City of Edmonton,” he tweeted.
• I am excited to see the new bike lanes downtown! While the public launch is slated for the end of August, I’ve already seen some of them in use. The city is running a survey right now to collect feedback.
• According to Edmonton’s 2016 Motor Vehicle Collisions Report, “collision injury rates in 2016 dropped to their lowest level in 15 years.” That’s great news, but we still have a long way to go to realize Vision Zero.
• The City recognized the contributions that community members made to the Council Initiative on Public Engagement at a special ceremony on Wednesday. You can meet some of them at the new Engaging Edmonton site. My profile is here.
• The Oilers are out of the playoffs after a great run! Here’s a recap video from the team. Two of my favorite Oilers stories from the past week: Meet the Oilers fan who celebrated with Zack Kassian and Tweet showing Alberta boy goes viral during Oilers game. Our fans are great!
• From OilersNation: Edmonton Oilers’ championship hopes for the next decade may rest on Leon Draisaitl.
• It sounds like Alexander Prior, the new ESO conductor, is off to a great start, even though he doesn’t fully takeover until September.
• Today was our kickoff to the food truck season in Edmonton! Here’s coverage from CBC and from Global.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton at Night, photo by Andrew Kennedy

Upcoming Events

• Hip Hop on the Park is back for another year and kicks off on Monday!
• Head over to Startup Edmonton on Tuesday evening for PanEx 2017. I am excited to be showing off Taproot Edmonton!
• Evolving Infill is holding a series of public engagement events this week.
• Thoroughbred Racing is on once again at Northlands!
• The Edmonton Jewish Film Festival starts on Wednesday at Landmark Cinemas in Edmonton City Centre.
• The Downtown Business Association’s spring luncheon takes place on Thursday at The Westin with a discussion on our new bike lanes!
• Get the lowdown on moving downtown on Thursday evening as a panel hosted by FRAMS discusses the new Royal Alberta Museum.
• The next Dark Matters event at the TELUS World of Science is coming up on Thursday evening.
• EPL is holding the Capital City Press Festival celebrating Albertan writing on Saturday at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre.
• Save the date: the 2017 Mayor’s State of the City Address is coming up on May 24.
• Be sure to bookmark Taproot Edmonton’s guide to summer festivals and events in Edmonton for 2017! There’s something happening every weekend!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Oilers Bronze, photo by Jeff Wallace

After a massive 7-1 victory tonight at Rogers Place the Oilers have forced a Game 7 against the Ducks. Exciting times!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Edmonton has been selected to host the 2018 Cities and Climate Change Science Conference next March. “The event promises to be a pivotal milestone in developing the global understanding of how climate change will impact cities and the role of cities in tackling climate change.”
• Our first What the Truck?! event of the season is coming up on Mother’s Day at Northlands from 12-7pm. We hope to see you there! Here’s the lineup and here is Liane Faulder on what’s new this year plus some tips for first-time attendees. We have also shared some details on our plans for the rest of the season.
• It has been so great to see the downtown bike network take shape over the last couple of weeks! Learn more about the project here.
• A few hundred people marched against safe-injection sites this weekend, but Rev. James Holland, who has led Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples on 96th Street at 108th Avenue for 22 years, is in favor of the sites.
• Andrea Burkhart will be EndPovertyEdmonton’s first Executive Director when she joins the organization next month. She has spent the last six years as founding Executive Director of ACTAlberta, the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking Alberta Association.
• FC Edmonton is running a contest for minor soccer teams to win tickets to an upcoming home match!
• CBC has a nice feature on Edmonton pop singer Ruth B. “I’m from Edmonton,” she worried. “How was anybody ever going to hear about me?”
• Another season of construction is now underway at Blatchford. “The work planned for the first part of 2017 includes installation of storm, sanitary and water servicing as well as piping for the district energy sharing system. Once the deep utilities have been installed, the project team can move forward with Stage 1 local road construction.”
• The City has extended the deadline for non-profit groups interested in leasing space at MacEwan West until May 18 at 4pm.
• Warmer weather means motorcycles will soon be a common sight on city streets! May is motorcycle safety month in Alberta.
• Today was the kickoff for the 30th anniversary of River Valley Clean Ups! Help keep one of our city’s best assets clean.
• Candace Makowichuk is the City of Edmonton Cemeteries’ artist-in-residence. Here’s an interview at the Latitude 53 blog.
• After originally announcing a date later in the month, City-owned grass sports fields are now open to all users as of Monday, May 8.
• The City is turning the alleyway between 104 Street and 105 Street just north of Whyte Avenue into a public plaza and now they’ve teamed up with the Old Strathcona Business Association and Edmonton Naming Committee to hold a contest to name the space. Submit your name to the Name That Alley competition by May 18.
• Nathan Fillion was in Edmonton this week and had some fun hiding signed t-shirts around the city.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Upcoming Events

• Capital Ideas bids farewell with a final event for members on Tuesday evening at the ATB Entrepreneur Centre in Edmonton.
• Head over to the Fantasyland Hotel on Wednesday afternoon for the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organization’s AGM.
• Game 7 goes Wednesday night! The Oilers are once again holding the Orange Crush Watch Party at Rogers Place. Game time is TBD, but tickets go on sale at 11am on Tuesday.
• Want to learn how to sell to the City of Edmonton? They’re holding a free 90 minute session on Thursday at City Hall to go through all the details.
• Another season of the 124 Street Grand Market kicks off on Thursday! This year they’re back to the original location at 108 Avenue.
• Evolving Infill will also be at City Hall on Thursday evening with a discussion on next steps.
• Startup Edmonton is celebrating five years in the historic Mercer Warehouse with a special event on Thursday evening!
• The Edmonton Gem & Mineral Show takes place at the Shaw Conference Centre from Friday through Sunday.
• Councillor Michael Walters is launching his re-election campaign on Saturday morning at the Yellowbird Community League.
• The City’s annual Get Ready in the Park event is coming up on Saturday at Hawrelak Park from 10am to 4pm.
• The Edmonton edition of the Alberta Bike Swap takes place on Saturday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• Sunday is our food truck kickoff at Northlands! Hope to see you there!
• Looking to get organized? Save the date: there’s a KonMari workshop coming up in Edmonton on May 27.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• City Council set Edmonton’s property tax rates for 2017 to reflect a 2.8% municipal budget increase. Taking everything into account, it works out to “a 3.3% overall increase for the typical single-family home and a reduction of about 2.6% to apartment buildings” while the “average overall increase to commercial and industrial (non-residential) property is 2.9%.” Tax notices will be mailed to all property owners on May 23 with the deadline to pay being June 30.
• Council voted 7-5 this week to approve the proposed 80-storey tower known as the Aldritt tower. Mayor Iveson voted against the project and wrote about his rationale. Councillor Walters also wrote about the decision saying the project is “out of scale with the river valley and out of sync with the Quarters’ ARP.”
• Councillor Ed Gibbons confirmed on Wednesday that after fifteen and a half years on Council, he will not stand for re-election in October which means we have an open race in Ward 4. “I leave council, but I remain a proud Edmontonian,” Gibbons said.
• I think as a community we messed up with the closure of Dollarama at Edmonton City Centre. Staff “received 3,000 calls from people wondering when the discount store would return,” according to a recent article. Lots of people shop there, from all walks of life, but the store is vital for those just scraping by. I’ll be very glad to see the larger store re-open.
• A total of $241,672 was raised during this year’s DONATE A RIDE campaign. “To date, the program has distributed nearly 1.4 million transit tickets valued at more than $2.8 million.”
• Tim submitted a FOIP request on MacEwan LRT Station and found it “was not designed or built to handle large crowds, despite being right next door to an arena and despite featuring prominently in the Ice District’s marketing campaign.”
• The City says the last steps in the Infill Roadmap were put into action in January, so they’re looking for Edmontonians to get involved in what comes next for Evolving Infill. Mayor Iveson says “our next big challenge is to deal with the cost and availability of infill.”
• Don Braid wrote recently that “Edmonton is crazed with excitement these days” while “Calgary is losing some of the old drive”.
• Edmonton is among the seven finalists for a global Intelligent Community of the Year award. You can check out some highlights on the City’s Instagram account.
• “Be a Good Fan” and “Make Good Calls” are a few of the messages the City has for fans celebration the Oilers playoff run. Remember there are parking bans and no-stopping zones in effect along Jasper Avenue and Whyte Avenue for both home and away games.
• Spring service changes for ETS went into effect today with frequency of service “reduced for post-secondary routes, school specials and 22 bus routes.”
• Urban Pedal Tours is a new business launching in May that will take guests on a 15-seat bicycle beer tour of downtown and Old Strathcona for $40 per seat. Cool!
• The City of Edmonton Youth Council is now accepting applications for youth between the ages of 13 and 23 by August 31. The deadline to apply is June 4.
• The Edmonton Arts Council is now accepting nominations for Edmonton’s seventh Poet Laureate.
• Looking for a great place to eat duck in Edmonton while the Oilers play Anaheim? Linda has the definitive list.
• Amazon.ca has expanded its free one-day delivery for Prime members to Edmonton and Calgary.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton – Oiler Country, photo by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

• The Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts takes place on Monday evening at City Hall. Get your tickets here!
• Amazing Agriculture returns to Northlands this week from Tuesday through Thursday.
• The Alberta Business Hall of Fame Gala is taking place on Wednesday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• The Oilers host the Ducks at Rogers Place on Wednesday evening for Game 4 then they’re off to Anaheim for Game 5 on Friday night.
• Head over to the EPL Strathcona branch to learn more about 100in1Day at the workshop taking place on Wednesday evening.
• Public Information Sessions being held by the City to share improvements to public engagement start on Wednesday this week.
• The Gateway Association’s Mayors Luncheon 2017 takes place Thursday at the Delta Edmonton Centre Suite Hotel.
• The 2017 VenturePrize Awards are taking place at The Westin on Thursday evening.
• Northern Lands is taking place at the Shaw Conference Centre from Tuesday through Saturday.
• Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!
• Homeless Connect Edmonton returns to the Shaw Conference Centre on Sunday.
• Our first What the Truck?! event of the year is coming up on Sunday, May 14! Also, we’re making some changes for this season.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton Oilers 2017 Playoff Scene, photo by IQRemix

Winter is back, but at least the Oilers are in to the second round! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The Oilers defeated the Sharks on Saturday to win the series 4-2. The Oilers are moving on to the second round and will take on the Ducks. Here is the best of round one from OilersNation.
• The Journal’s editorial board wrote against the proposal to spend $220 million to raise a portion of the Valley Line LRT which would have tried to save drivers maybe 30 seconds. Thankfully, Council voted against the idea. The proposal was pretty ridiculous but it was politically savvy to have this come up now.
• Edmonton Police have not named victims in 6 of the city’s 14 homicides so far this year, and Chief Rod Knecht is defending those decisions. “We are trying to do a better job of this,” he said.
• Dave has an update on the list of candidates planning to run in the municipal election later this year. “There are 179 days left until Edmontonians cast their votes to choose their next city council,” he wrote.
• The 2017 infill construction season officially kicked off this week. “Infill helps make the best use of our existing infrastructure and creates more housing options for Edmontonians and their families, which is important for the social sustainability of our City over the short and long term,” said Mayor Don Iveson.
• Councillor Andrew Knack says the City should look at setting a hard target for achieving Vision Zero. We were surprised to learn when reporting on this issue at Taproot Edmonton back in December that the City did not have a target.
• The Edmonton Eskimos are expected to announce this week that Brock Sunderland will be the team’s new General Manager.
• Work is underway to decide the location of the controversial northeast bridge over the North Saskatchewan River. One route would take the road right through valuable northeast farmland, while another would run through a mined-out gravel pit and land expected to be used for suburban development. Though the bridge apparently isn’t needed for 25-35 years, development is already planned for the area and everyone is jostling for land rights.
• Becoming Edmonton is a new documentary series that “explores the lived experience of people coming to Edmonton principally from First Nations reserves or as immigrants and refugees.”
• Some 22,000 years of history melted at the University of Alberta recently where a freezer containing arctic ice cores failed.
• The Delton Apartment, built in 1915 on 118 Avenue, has been designated as a Municipal Historic Resource.
• From Chris Chang-Yen Phillips: 5 Things I’ve Learned As Edmonton’s Historian Laureate.
• Paula Simons wrote about the new Royal Alberta Museum. It’s still months away from opening, but it is starting to look pretty good from the outside!
• The City of Edmonton’s Planning Academy is back with courses running at the Edmonton Tower from April to June.
• Startup Edmonton is looking for a new Program Manager to join the team!
• Are you playing the City of Edmonton Archives’ Canada 150 trivia contest? Here are the answers for the “buildings” set of questions. You have until Thursday to answer the next batch of questions on education.
• There’s still time to fill out the Edmonton Food Council’s annual local food survey. “Results will be used to track how Edmonton’s food system is changing over time and produce an annual local food system scorecard.”
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Cranes, photo by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

• The 15 to Clean Challenge is underway and runs through May 7. The two-week long initiative is “designed to inspire Edmontonians to take 15 minutes to pick up litter in their community.”
• ECVO, the City, the United Way, and EndPoverty Edmonton are hosting a community roundtable dinner on Tuesday at the Santa Maria Goretti Centre to discuss Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.
• Head over to the ATB Entrepreneur Centre on Wednesday afternoon for an Introduction to E-Commerce presented by Alberta Women Entrepreneurs and featuring Ashley Janssen!
• Let’s Talk Health is the next panel discussion in the “Great Ideas. Great City.” speaker series and it takes place at City Hall on Wednesday evening.
• The Downtown Edmonton Community League’s AGM is taking place on Thursday evening.
• Sailin’ On is holding a lunch pop-up at Earth’s General Store downtown on Friday!
• The Edmonton Cottage Life & Cabin Show takes place at the Edmonton Expo Centre from Friday through Sunday.
• Dig In, St. Albert’s Horticulinary Festival, takes place at the Enjoy Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
• The spring edition of the Edmonton Woman’s Show is happening at the Edmonton Expo Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Rosies, the annual gala for the Alberta Film & Television Awards, takes place at the Shaw Conference Centre on Saturday.
• Jimmy Eat World is performing at The Starlite Room on Saturday evening.
• Northern Lands is coming up at the Shaw Conference Centre from May 2-6.
• Our first What the Truck?! event of the season will take place on May 14 at Northlands! Hope to see you there!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Let’s go Oilers! Round 2 here we come!