Remember to bundle up warmly if you go for a walk. Also, bring a buddy.
Good morning, Edmonton.
First of all, I’ll kick things off with a shout-out to Geeks on Whyte for bringing my laptop back from the dead. Now, if I could just get them to buy me a new computer for work…
In the news, there’s lots out of the Alberta Legislature, what with the provincial budget pending, emergency room wait times getting longer, AUPE still fighting for Alberta Hospital and new license plates coming our way.
There’s stuff happening in Edmonton too. Check out some opinions on the downtown arena (We know that’s a done deal, right?) in the Journal. It’s sad to hear another ETS driver was assaulted on the job though.
Oh, and the City Centre Airport will never die. Never. Other cities will be building spaceports and we’ll still have the City Centre.
Construction of Art Gallery threw builder plenty of curves
After all the reform, waits still longer (Odd that they kind of just throw in some Wildrose Alliance at the end.)
Drug tool kit update for everyone (Just say no.)
How about more on the new arena?
Old-fashioned hockey fight over Oilers’ arena
Katz Group, Northlands need to learn how to play with each other
Stelmach issues budget warning (Gotta make the cuts…gotta make the cuts…)
Maybe the health whiners were right
More numbers on car plates (Get ready for seven characters, Alberta.)
NAIT students finding less work
Edmonton’s BioWare releases Mass Effect 2 to long lines (Did you get a copy?)
Flying Club lets lawsuits fly against City Centre
Woman gets life for role in brutal rape and murder (The Nina Courtepatte murder.)
Ex-councillor stumps for Edmonton on new Monopoly board
AUPE’s town-hall meeting on Alberta Hospital (is tonight)
Half-Dozen Edmonton Public Schools face closure (I repeat my confusion around the public system’s allowance of students to choose their school, outside of their home neighbourhood.)
Youth pleads guilty after teen’s ecstasy overdose (The teen girl that died at West Edmonton Mall.)
Tobacco researcher leaves U of A (To study tomacco, I bet)
Council fed up with city’s current snow removal process (Good. I’ve felt like I’ve been taking crazy pills.)
Kennedy defends claim that Alberta fish inedible (Here’s a good editorial on the topic, from the Red Deer Advocate.)
And a good day to you.
RE: City Centre Airport
It’s only in Metro Edmonton so that means it’s not a real story and doesn’t exist.
RE: Council fed up with city’s current snow removal process
Isn’t that like neglecting to wear pants to work and then being outraged that someone has the nerve to not wear pants to work? I’m pretty sure that council is the group that ultimately gets to decided on how residential snow removal is dealt with. If they don’t like how it’s being done, they should do it differently.
RE: Old-fashioned hockey fight over Oilers’ arena
Can someone explain to me what the fuck Northlands has to do with this? Katz owns the hockey team and could ultimately write the cheque to build a new arena if he decided. City council has said repeatedly that they won’t use tax dollars to fund a building. Northlands is pouting because they’re afraid they’re going to become irrelevant. So if Northlands is really a volunteer organization, why would they assume they should automatically be involved in any new building? Wouldn’t that be the equivalent of Big Brothers/Big Sisters demanding to be consulted before an arena is built? And if Northlands is subsidized by the City of Edmonton, doesn’t their participation in a new building mean council WILL invest taxpayer dollars in a new rink?
What do all these stories have in common? They illustrate council’s inability or unwillingness to do what they were elected to do: act as LEADERS and make decisions that will benefit Edmonton.
Should the City Centre Airport be shut down? Yes. Next issue.
Should city streets (all of them) be cleared of snow? Yes. Next issue.
Should the city invest money in a new arena? If the opinion of council is yes, then they should tell Katz the chill the fuck out and work with Northlands if he wants a subsidy. If council doesn’t think that that taxpayer dollars should be used, they should tell Katz to get stuffed and tell Northlands to shut their word holes.
Metro zing!
(I’m actually pretty good at remembering to check them now.)
This city council, like all forms of elected government, gets to blame the last guys for screwing everything up. Trouble is, with the sky-high election numbers of incumbents that sure is tough to do at the municipal level…Just plow!
I think Northlands is getting involved because they don’t see Katz or others putting up private money for the entire cost of the arena. If that’s the case, they’ll make the pitch that if city taxpayers are going to be on the hook they might as well have some pull via Northlands. It’s nice to see the whole thing is such a mess.