Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The Artery will close its doors on March 31 after the City determined its foundation isn’t structurally sound. The City bought the building and will be demolishing it to make way for the Valley Line LRT.
• Do you want to save the McDougall Church? There’s a petition at Change.org that currently has 793 supporters. Council will be discussing the issue again this week, with a recommendation to ask the Province for assistance. Here’s a feature on the church from Vintage Edmonton. Jodine says the crisis at McDougall did not happen overnight.
• Taking the LRT to Southgate? There’s now free wifi at Southgate LRT Station, the first of a planned expansion throughout the network this year and next.
• The Freezeway was a hot topic of discussion this week, but not in Edmonton. Thanks to a BBC article, the idea was on the front page of Reddit and was also featured on Buzzfeed.
• Pothole season is here thanks to the warmer weather. The City filled 17,000 potholes in January alone.
• Representatives from the City and Leduc County met on Friday to further annexation negotiations. The next session is scheduled to take place on March 20, 2015.
• Avenue Edmonton’s Best Restaurants issue for 2015 is now available! Congrats to Rostizado, named Best New Restaurant!
• Council is starting to talk about where the next round of LRT funding is going to come from, and it sounds as though a PR campaign will be launched to help in that effort. Lorne Gunter says “the proposed lines simply won’t encourage enough people to get out of their cars and into transit.” He calls the proposed western leg of the Valley Line LRT “particularly insane.”
• Former Oilers captain Al Hamilton will be inducted into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame this year. Former Oilers assistant GM Bruce MacGregor and Oilers dressing room attendant Joey Moss will both be inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. Here are 20 questions with Joey Moss.
• This is a neat idea: a Twitter account that tweets suggestions from the Edmonton Public Library collection based on trending topics. Check out @edmontonreads on Twitter.
• Concerned about radicalization in Edmonton? “It is imperative we, as a police service and a society, look at terrorism and radicalization as extremist criminal behaviours,” says Insp. Dan Jones with the EPS Investigative Support Branch. “This criminal activity is not about placing blame on a specific race, religion, culture or community.”
• Did you miss Edmonton’s inaugural food fight? Here’s a recap from Cindy.
• Fewer young people are choosing to be entrepreneurs, but Edmonton may be bucking that trend.
• Former three-term City Councillor Una MacLean Evans died Tuesday morning at the age of 88.
• In case you missed it: Councillor Scott McKeen makes the case for a “wet shelter” for downtown.
• Edmonton is home to 347 bridges and overpasses currently, and each is inspected regularly by Senior Bridge Engineer Shiraz Kanji and his team. “This is a great time for bridges in Edmonton,” he says.
• One of the new bridge projects underway is of course the Walterdale Bridge. The 200-meter-plus arches were constructed in South Korea and are set to arrive in Edmonton at the end of March.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Hyatt Hotel Construction in The Quarters, photo by Darren Kirby

Upcoming Events

• Don’t miss the second Old Yeg Cafe on Monday evening, this time on historic neighbourhoods and the Mature Neighbourhood Overlay.
• The third annual Google in Education Alberta Summit takes place on Monday and Tuesday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• The Oilers host the Kings on Tuesday evening.
• Head over to the Yellowhead Brewery on Wednesday evening for the next Green Drinks themed Local Food DIY. Here are some of the featured guests.
• Pecha Kucha Night 21 takes place at Northlands Park on Thursday evening.
• The Oil Kings host the Regina Pats on Friday evening and the Calgary Hitmen the following night.
• Also Friday night, the Pedcrawl returns! Get lost in the pedway, learn something about wayfinding, and have some fun in the process!
• For 54 hours on the weekend, teams will work to turn their ideas for improving education into reality at Startup Weekend EDU Edmonton taking place at NAIT.
• Edmonton Coffee Week is coming up from March 7 to 15!
• The Edmonton Rush host the Calgary Roughnecks on Sunday afternoon.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Crashed Ice winds through the Shaw, photo by Darren Kirby

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• A terror threat against West Edmonton Mall was made in a recent video from Al-Shabab which encouraged action against shopping centres around the world. Here is the Edmonton Police statement, and here is a statement from Mayor Iveson.
• The City launched a new tool this week called 311 Explorer that lets you see 311 reports that have been filed around the city. There is open data for 12 categories of requests, including tree maintenance and potholes. Great to see!
• Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the Northlands Arena Survey. We received more than 26,000 responses! You can download the report in PDF here.
• From the Edmonton City as Museum Project, meet the father of Edmonton’s traffic circles, Noel Buckland Dant.
• Writing for Spacing Edmonton, Paul Giang has a list of 5 things ETS could improve for new users.
• Edmonton will be one of four Canadian cities to host the Magna Carta later this year as it travels the world to mark its 800th anniversary. It will be on display at the Alberta Legislature visitor centre.
• Shepherd’s Care Foundation can now begin construction on its Garden-Eden House facility for long-term care for seniors thanks to an Affordable Supportive Living Initiative grant.
• 104 Street is on its way to being Purple Flag accredited, the first area in North America to earn the designation for safety.
• Last year, more than 3,500 volunteers planted more than 40,000 trees and shrubs in Edmonton. Bookings for the 2015 Root For Trees program are now being taken.
• The Edmonton Catholic School District is facing $3.5 million shortfall for modernization projects.
• We’ve heard yet again that hockey players don’t want to come to Edmonton to play. But is that because of the city, or is it because of the team and its culture? Don’t miss this great piece from Wanye Gretz at OilersNation.
• The call for public art for the new downtown arena has closed, and more than 170 artists from around the world put their name forward.
• Our city’s very own clock tower moment has arrived: the Friendship Tower clock outside City Hall is losing time. (h/t Adam)
• In case you missed it, here is Karen’s family day edition of her local blog roundup.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Arena construction has crossed 104 Avenue, photo by Jason Woodhead

Upcoming Events

• Learn more about the proposed Healy Ford development on Wednesday at the DECL office.
• The Oil Kings host the Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday evening and the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday.
• The 7th annual Mac ‘n Cheese Affair is coming up on Friday at the Faculty Club. The event supports the Campus Food Bank Society.
• The Edmonton Rush host the Toronto Rock at Rexall Place on Friday night. Go Rush Go!
• The Oilers host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
• Video Games Live is Saturday night at the Jubilee!
• Want to learn more about what you can do with an Arduino? Check out this event at Startup Edmonton on Saturday afternoon.
• Also taking place on Saturday is Not Enough Fest Edmonton, an event for women, queer, trans and non-binary people who want to jam.
• Pecha Kucha Night 21 is coming up on March 5. The presenter lineup was announced this week!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Lions, photo by Dave Sutherland

Heads up! A parking ban has been declared and takes effect at 11pm tonight. Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• Blaming the Province’s financial situation, the City of Edmonton pulled the plug on its bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games this week. The committee will instead “shift its focus to 2026” but I don’t see how that’s going to be any more successful.
• From David Climenhaga: Where’s former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel now that his city really needs him?
• WestJet has launched a new daily Encore flight between Edmonton and Kamloops.
• Crazy dump of snow/rain the other day that is now almost gone again thanks to the warm weather. The City will begin neighbourhood blading on Tuesday.
• The City is looking for input on the Galleria project with a couple of open houses and an online survey that is open until February 27. Careful though, as Paula warned: “What colour is the sky in the Galleria promoters’ world? Through that pretty glass roof? It’s always blue.”
• To better accommodate detour traffic thanks to construction on the 102 Avenue bridge, the City will be restricting parking on Stony Plain Road starting March 2.
• The Edmonton Food Council is seeking new members. The deadline to apply is March 16.
• The latest population figures from Statistics Canada have made the Edmonton region the 5th largest urban region in Canada, surpassing Ottawa-Gatineau.
• Times Higher Education has ranked the University of Alberta at #87 on its list of the “most international universities.” That’s up nine places from last year.
• The Edmonton Police Service started using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, commonly called a drone) last year. The UAV has been used in over 15 major collision investigations.
• Have you shown how much you love Edmonton recently? Our city is trying to become the Earth Hour Capital of the World, and they need support through social media to make it happen. Tweet, Instagram, or vote online until March 28.
• Great to see a couple of Startup Edmonton companies finding success and growing beyond the space. Very exciting times for Edmonton’s startup scene!
• The 2015 CFL schedule was unveiled this week. The Eskimos will start the preseason against Saskatchewan in Fort McMurray to make room at Commonwealth Stadium for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• Looking to geek out in Edmonton? Here are five suggestions from The Local Good.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Talus Dome, photo by Kurt Bauschardt

Upcoming Events

• Happy Family Day! Enjoy free family activities at The Legislature and at City Hall, among other places.
• The Oil Kings have a home game on Family Day, hosting the Prince George Cougars. They host the Medicine Hat Tigers on Sunday.
• The Silver Skate Festival is on at Hawrelak Park until Sunday – don’t miss it! The Winter Triathlon takes place on Sunday.
• The Oilers host the Bruins on Wednesday night at Rexall Place. They host the Wild on Friday night and the Ducks on Saturday night.
• Thursday is Chinese New Year! Chinatown will welcome the Year of the Sheep on Saturday along 97 Street from 11am until 3pm.
• Coming up on Saturday and Sunday is the 5th annual Edmonton Flow Festival.
• The inaugural InFocus photography exhibition takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Harcourt House.
• Saturday is also the Coldest Night of the Year, in support of the Hope Mission.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton By Night, photo by Danny Roberts

I don’t often do this, but I have backdated this post (and actually posted it on Monday). Jetlag completely wiped me out Sunday when this would have normally gone up! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The City says it issued $4.625 billion worth of building permits last year, an increase of 17% over 2013. You can see monthly reports on construction permit values here.
• Congratulations to Westin chef Ryan O’Flynn on winning gold at the Gold Medal Plates competition over the weekend. He’s the first Edmonton chef to take home first place!
• A recent survey has found that 86% of callers to 311 are satisfied overall. In 2014, Edmontonians contacted the 311 Call Centre 2,192,863 times. And since the 311 app was released six months ago, it has been downloaded more than 12,000 times.
• The City filed an injunction against Uber to get them to cease operations.
• Within the next two months, a pilot project at Southgate LRT Station will make Wireless Edmonton available to Wi-Fi users! A step in the right direction.
• Could Leduc County and the City of Leduc tighten their relationship? A news release said the two will “evaluate and consider alternative governance models for the two municipalities.”
• According to Sandra Sperounes, at least six local acts have been signed to Canadian or American record labels over the last three months. Awesome!
• Five new routes have been equipped with Smart Bus technology: 12, 36, 123, 152, and 154. That brings the total number of routes with Smart Bus to 22. You can use ETS Live here.
• A new report from Alberta Environment says that air pollution at two out of ten Edmonton monitoring stations has exceeded government limits and must be reduced.
• All new schools built for Edmonton Public Schools will feature two gender-neutral washrooms. Jasper Place and Strathcona high schools already have gender-neutral washrooms.
• Do you miss Ryan Smyth? OilersNation did a pretty lengthy interview with him.
• The Local Good did a Q&A with Marissa Loewen on creating a resilient economy with pop-up stores.
• Following on from Premier Prentice’s decision to take a 5% wage cut, Alberta MLAs voted to do the same effective February 1.
• Want to file an appeal to the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board? You can now do that online.
• This spring, scientists at SNOLAB will switch on a dark-matter detector that was designed and built at the University of Alberta.
• Toronto chef Michael Stadtlander is NAIT’s new Chef-in-Residence for 2015.
• Here are the latest urbanism headlines from Spacing Edmonton.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Caution Hazardous Girders by More Bike Lanes Please

Upcoming Events

• DemoCamp Edmonton 27 takes place on Tuesday evening at the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science at the U of A.
• Are you a student looking to procrastinate? As if you needed help! Check out Procrastinite at the Myer Horowitz on Thursday.
• The Silver Skate Festival kicks off on Friday at Hawrelak Park! This is the festival’s 25th year.
• Winefest Edmonton is back on Friday and Saturday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• Saturday is of course Valentine’s Day. Don’t miss the Valentine’s Day Disco Skate at City Hall!
• Looking for more Valentine’s Day activities? Check out suggestions from Sharon and Linda.
• The Edmonton Rush host the Colorado Mammoth on Sunday at Rexall Place.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton Chinese New Year 2015 by IQRemix

I am in London, UK for the week on business! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• It was a week full of winter, even though it felt like spring for most of it! The Winter Cities Shake-Up conference took place all week, capped off by a big public event in Churchill Square. Here is Sharon’s recap of the market and festival. Edmonton’s Signature Winter Drink was announced – the “Traveling Mercies” by Transcend Coffee and Edmonton AM won. And don’t miss this recap of the Make Something Winter event!
• Councillor Amarjeet Sohi has announced that he will run for the federal Liberal party nomination in Edmonton-Mill Woods. A victory for him would be a big loss for Council.
• For the second year in a row, the City of Edmonton is a finalist in the Earth Hour City Challenge. Citizens are encouraged to show their support for the We Love Cities campaign on social media.
• It was another eventful week in Alberta politics. Dave has all the latest happenings here.
• Politician salaries were in the news this week. City Council received a 3.8% increase (as did Calgary’s City Council) while Premier Jim Prentice announced a 5% cutback for himself and his cabinet (and suggested for all MLAs).
• Capital City Records: Edmonton Local Music is a new initiative from the Edmonton Public Library to celebrate and promote Edmonton-made music, while also building an ongoing historical record of the local music scene (PDF). It is set to launch in the spring – you can learn more here.
• Uber has decided that all rides in Edmonton will be free, the latest tactic to push for legal status in our city (after which the free ride ends, presumably). This follows a petition the company posted online, which currently has a little over 8,000 signatures.
• The Oilers announced that their AHL franchise will be located in Bakersfield, California and will play in the newly created Pacific Division.
• The City and the Edmonton Nordic Ski Club are looking for your input on cross-country skiing.
• What do you think of the Freezeway idea? Crazy? Or crazy enough that it just might work? The concept is attracting attention far and wide.
• Daniel Zalmanowitz, Q.C., was appointed to Edmonton Provincial Court, Family and Youth Division, effective January 30.
• The City of Leduc recorded more than 2000 business licenses in 2014, setting a new record and increasing by 11% over 2013.
• Here’s a piece on the Omniplex at the Edmonton City as Museum Project.
• Apparently Holt Renfrew is looking to expand in Edmonton, but will it stay downtown?
• From Linda, here are 20 things to do in Edmonton for Valentine’s Day.
• For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Photo by Robert

Upcoming Events

• There’s another Valley Line Open House taking place on Tuesday evening at the Old Timers’ Cabin.
• There are information sessions on new Edmonton Public School sites taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
• The Oil Kings host the Hurricanes on Tuesday evening.
• Wednesday is Winter Walk Day – get out and enjoy the fresh air!
• The next Green Drinks takes place on Wednesday evening with the theme of Local Resilience.
• The Oilers host the Penguins on Wednesday evening.
• There’s a neat event taking place on Thursday at the Prince of Wales Armouries called Old Yeg Cafe. It is being hosted by a new group called Heritage Forward!
• The Flying Canoe Adventure returns on Friday evening at Mill Creek Ravine Park!
• The first Edmonton Resilience Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Looks like a great lineup of interesting topics!
• Will the groundhog see his shadow tomorrow?
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.