March 11 Edmonton Headlines
These are The Mystery Ponies. They are quite good. You can see them play at yegswap March 20.
Good day to you, Edmonton.
Of course I scheduled an off-site meeting the weekday morning there’s the most news (Thursday). Sorry about that. We’ll get right to the show.
But before we get to the real news, the big news, the important news, I think we need to talk about this news: Conan O’Brien is coming to the River Cree Casino as part of his “Legally prohibited from being funny on television” tour.
That’s right, he’s on a 32-city tour and he’s coming to our neighbourhood. Stop saying we have to buy “world-class” with a new arena and Expo, baby, we just arrived.
Following up on that point, you actually become world-class by just doing what you do, and eventually others will want to be a part of your action. Sure, that will end up costing money somewhere along the way, but it’s not something you just buy with one or two big-ticket items.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Homeless in the River Valley (An audio slideshow.)
Edmonton City Council puts $17M into rainy-day fund (Interesting to note that the surplus is actually about $17-million since the rest had to go to “previous commitments.”)
Premier’s gaffe tars communications staff (The poor dears. Though, they have a big job making Ed sound on top of things.)
Alberta legislature question period reorganized after opposition complains
Edmonton’s NAIT to offer nanotechnology
Edmonton developer donates $2.5M to MacEwan
from the Edmonton Sun:
Website called waste of tax cash (No, we aren’t getting tax money to put out this fine product. But we’d take it. This is about Edmonton Stories.)
Businesses fined for fire code violations (I like that some just keep getting fined again and again.)
MLA heads to Europe to tout oilsands (At least we’re doing something about cleaning up the oilsands. We’re cleaning up its image. Don’t mention ducks, McQueen.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Companies spend $167M in Alberta land sale (Oil and gas companies, exploring for said oil and gas.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Parkdale School families gather to save school from closing (Now the Alberta Liberals are jumping on this issue, asking to examine the provincial-municipal policies that clash. Clearly you can’t be closing schools in areas where cities are trying to revamp the neighbourhood.)
City approves artificial turf for Commonwealth (Paula Simons has a few things to say about that.)
from Vue Weekly:
Sexual assault: defining assault
Lubicon rights: The right to govern (Did you know we had an internationally watched/panned land rights discussion happening here in Alberta?)
Aboriginal issues: increased role
Alberta economy, Oil and gas sector makes the rules (I guess people will make up their minds when they see the newest royalty review, today.)
from SEE Magazine:
The mystery of the vanishing home builder
Irrelevant and in your face (The Irrelevant Show is awesomely hilarious.)
from The Gateway (U of A):
Students’ Union prepares for march to legislature
Digital books seen as classroom alternative (And they might end up saving students money too.)
Stelmach’s back-paddling inane (Well, at least we know the Premier’s out of excuses for not paying attention to an international black eye.)
I’m with Coco.
Edmonton’s Headlines, now with less Corey
Good morning, Edmonton.
If you’re a child (or a teen) of the 80s then today has just a tinge of sadness. Surely we knew that Corey Haim had his troubles, but it doesn’t make it any easier to know he’s gone. And all we’ve got now are our VHS copies of The Lost Boys and License to Drive.
Oh, and Corey Feldman.
Man, there are a lot of mixed messages coming from the Alberta Health Services team. Thank goodness it’s not an important department.
At least when Ron Liepert was in charge we knew he was angry all of the time and we were probably going to see private health care options. Now, now I have no idea from one day to the next what’s up.
It’s time for a regime change! Just in energy royalties. We are Alberta and we don’t want to rush a government change or anything.
from the Edmonton Journal:
‘She was our little angel’ (Police are still investigating the death of a toddler in foster care, as a homicide.)
Tailings pond breaks law: federal officer (Someone tell the Premier, since he doesn’t look at the news.)
Student humour needs context (Scott McKeen on The Gateway controversy and other City Hall notes.)
Parkdale a victim of open boundaries (Finally, someone comes out and says what I’ve been thinking about the ability to choose whatever school you want, regardless of your own city neighbourhood.)
New iPhone app allows residents to report problems (You want to complain to the City of Edmonton? There’s an app for that.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Premier in the soup over ducks (Hey, the best part about the Premier not seeing the oily ducks is that it means he ignores all TV, newspaper and Internet news and opinion. So I could call him a dumb-dummy and he’d never see it. We should probably also do some sort of Premier Ed-Photoshop thing, as he’d also never see that…)
Edmonton eyes deal for artificial turf (Goodbye real grass, at Commonwealth.)
Residents asked to help clean up city (April 28 eh…I’m busy that day.)
Street sweepers at the ready (Yes!)
from The Canadian Press:
Minority report (Though, if “minorities” aren’t really a minority anymore, would you still call them that? Yeah, I just blew your mind.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Contract offer ‘intentionally provocative’: nurses’ union (Oh great, the team that can’t figure out which health care plan they’re using is negotiating contracts with one our most important unions…)
Heaven just got a little more Corey.
Edmonton Headlines, now cocaine-free
Look up, way up. Not that much up. Back down. Yeah, right there.
First up today, I’ve got this song from Johnny Cash stuck in my head because of all the Rahim Jaffer news.
That would be because the former Edmonton Tory MP was in court this morning, and pleaded out his charges.
This story leads me to think that something happened in the search, or other arrest procedures to force the crown to drop the drug charges. It’s not every day a judge is telling an accused how lucky they are to catch a break.
Anyway, more news to come and more Johnny Cash too.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Stephen Mandel should run again (Should he?)
Cuts to higher education a losing strategy, U of A president says (Duh.)
No ‘duck porn’ in Stelmach’s political pond (Why would he want to see what his province’s largest industry does? Meanwhile…back at the St. Albert Hall of Justice…)
Tripling of housing starts returns builders to pre-recession levels
City announces arts awards nominees
Hiring ‘climate’ still ‘mild’ (‘OK.’)
$5M project targets heart failure
Dow owners way of proposed changes to south-side off-leash area
from the Edmonton Sun:
Cop hearings set (Two cases that have raised many questions about police behavior.)
Ed calls foster child death ‘tragic’
Alberta NDP MP in Tory crosshairs (Because there’s nothing better to do with your time in politics than win, win, win. You can help people later.)
from The Canadian Press:
Magazine urges U.S. legislators to discourage oilsands development
from Metro Edmonton:
McCauley closing (Won’t closing schools in older neighbourhoods make the City’s growth plans, which call for more people in older neighbourhoods, useless? Or, what Paula Simons said.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
”Pay for performance’ incentives” idea sparks debate
from CBC Edmonton:
Kreviazuk to debut with Edmonton Symphony (The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has unveiled its 2010-2011 season!)
from CTV Edmonton:
Edmonton apartment building goes up in flames
from The Gateway (U of A):
Now onto the controversy! First, the controversy. Then, some news coverage. Finally, the response. Racist?
Research team uses nanotechnology to deliver targeted cancer treatment
President-elect discusses campaign
I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
March 8 Edmonton Headlines
I really dig these arftful boxes of sand the City is putting downtown.
Yes, there’s snow in the forecast. But in some of the sagest words to ever come from science fiction; don’t panic.
This has to be good news, what with the way our provincial government basically depends on energy money. And you didn’t help by buying all the bonds. More on the bonds from the National Post.
There are going to be more stories, I’d bet, on the Alberta foster care system in the next little while. This is because a toddler just died in care. And it’s being investigated as a homicide. So, you’ve got this, and this to start the debate. Sadly, the debate only tends to happen after such a bad incident.
Then it will be shuffled off the front pages by bikini girls, Oscar winners and Daryl Katz begging for money. Alright, one of those is just the Sun, and one actually has an impact on the future of our city, though dead kids surely impact our future in some way.
Oh, and something about this Sarah Palin headline sends a chill down my spine. This story on Rebooting Alberta only moderately helps to warm that chill. The Journal’s got more on the Alberta Party too, in a story here.
Wait, that chill is back.
from the Edmonton Journal:
School key to McCauley’s fate: parents (Good luck convincing the school board of that.)
Court goes digital for first time
Mandel plays role of reluctant politician well. And so, we wait… (Will Mayor Mandel run again?)
Conservatives fall out over Morton budget (Let’s remember he came to the post of finance after the budget had been pretty much sent to the printer.)
Let’s set the record straight on tailings ponds and elections
from the Edmonton Sun:
Pool closure doesn’t wash with swimmers
MLA proposes beauty pageant to boost tourism (Good on the Sun for asking about Carl Benito’s “foundation.”)
Grieving Edmonton woman fundraising for Canadian Avalanche Centre
from Metro Edmonton:
‘I don’t know anybody who could afford it’ (A cancer patient is raising money for treatment not covered here.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Time to book your campsite (Go. Go now. Online.)
Pandas finish fourth place in women’s volleyball
Former Taekwondo instructor given seven years in prison
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta man’s death sentence upheld in U.S. (This is a story we’ve heard plenty about up here.)
Avatar art director studied Alberta oilsands
from CTV Edmonton:
Fox Drive closed until next week
from Global Edmonton:
Taxi Tax (Insurance surcharges, as Metro can show you, aren’t a “tax.” Add a dictionary to the animal books, Global. And the Sun says cabbies are going to ask the City to takeover their dispatch too.)
The Oilers have won two in a row. Didn’t anybody tell them to keep gunning for the first overall draft pick?
March 5 Edmonton Headlines
Welcome to March 5, Edmonton.
Just waiting for the bus.
While that really means very little (unless it’s your birthday, then Happy Birthday!) it does mean it’s Friday. Boo-to-the-motherflippin’-Ya.
Before I forget to mention it, Parliament returned to “work” this week and they brought down the federal budget yesterday. Alberta Finance Minister Ted Morton likes it, so that will make up a lot of minds without even following this link to read more about it.
I caught this story via my Google Alerts, it seems those dastardly environmentalists are now paralleling the oilsands to the storyline in Avatar. Thankfully, nobody has seen Avatar and won’t know about the tale of resource plundering and destruction…wait…I’m being told at least a few people south of the border might be aware of the Avatar storyline…
And, holy crap, the city has more money than it thought! Don’t let Daryl Katz know.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Edmonton’s Eastwood parents get questions answered at round table discussion (A new format for school closure meetings, but will it mean anything different in terms of keeping schools open? Man, we talked about this a lot yesterday, and more today.)
Alcohol-fuelled sex assaults on the rise in Edmonton (Also of note here is that police say they’ll stop with the “lock your doors” mentality when there are assaults, as that tends to put the blame on victims and potential victims. This is something we’ve talked about with the Garneau Sisterhood.)
Snowfall stalled efforts to scare off birds, trial told (The Syncrude trial.)
Bland, barren Churchill Square needs a funky facelift
Alberta being hit hard by H1N1 flu again not likely, expert says (But I have all this hand sanitizer yet to be used.)
Edmonton concert to raise funds for struggling Haiti
Edmonton Transit bus crash sends driver to hospital
from the Edmonton Sun:
Big boost in LRT riders (Don’t I know it, being jammed in there every morning.)
City holding data workshop (The more government data and information available the better.)
Well-known Old Strath shop to close (Bugs ‘n berries is done.)
Edmonton’s Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe sold for $47.8M
Local pizza among world’s best
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Full-body scanners come to EIA
2010 Stollery Radiothon (They raised $1.3-million over at Corus Radio.)
Foster mom granted a new trial
from CBC Edmonton:
Size of meth seizure worries police
from Global Edmonton:
Katz group plans to rezone arena land
Grant MacEwan University to close pool (Controversy!)
from The Gateway (U of A):
Dehod newly elected SU President (Now, to not resign under unknown circumstances, like the last guy…)
PAW, U-Pass; Yes Millennium Villages No
U of A professor receives eugenics research grant
Farm workers call for better protection
Dive right in. Well, unless you’re at MacEwan.
March Forth
Edmonton became part of a special club last night.
The Room club. I’ll blog about that a little later, when I’ve had more time to digest one of the western world’s greatest artistic achievements.
For now, we will talk news.
Oh, and before I forget, Adam, over at the Unknown Studio, is taking a hyper-local look at the 2010 closure of the Dawson Bridge. It’s good stuff.
Also, I like that the Edmonton Oilers are so bad…(How bad are they?)…they’re so bad, that if other teams give up goals, any goals at all, it’s seen as terrible play. *sigh* There’s always next year.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Edmonton school serving at-risk students faces closure (Pretty much every other school closure story I ask about the idea of letting students go to any school in the city, instead of just their neighbourhood school. So, I ask again, what does that serve, in the long-term? How does that build communities? Doesn’t it just enforce the big-box lifestyle of driving away from your home to get things?)
Edmonton walking device ‘has absolutely changed my life’
Syncrude noise cannons in place when inspector arrived
Oilsands image back in the tar (Syncrude, by going to trial, hurts their image more.)
Foul duck pictures may have PR benefit (Really, do you guys think this is true?)
Syphilis crisis must be recognized, fought properly
Edmonton pawnbroker attacked with hatchet from his shop (Yikes, there are a lot of “terms violated” comments removed from this story. Suffice to say, I get the feeling commentators don’t have a lot of sympathy for pawn brokers or some of their usual customers. Also, maybe don’t sell hatchets. There’s a sketchy convenience store by my house, alluded to here, that sells axes and swords. I won’t be surprised if something like this happens there.)
MacEwan to close pool in July to expand fitness centre
Report estimates Alberta has almost 700 grizzly bears
from the Edmonton Sun:
City cracks down on garden centres (You know, from the last two stories you’d think we’d have solved all of our really big problems.)
A lesson in racism? (Some thought-provoking ideas raised in the speech.)
Prof hosting dinner in the dark for research funds
Two different stories (I wish they could put the dog on the stand for a third version.)
Officials eye pub-crawling partiers
from the Edmonton Examiner:
City seeks input on public washroom design
West Edmonton Catholic school spared closure (I repeat my questions to you, from the above school closure story.)
Not too late to nominate a neighbour (Maybe all of our neighbours are jerks?)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Winnipeg’s derelict buildings bylaw looks good to Caterina (And Caterina would look good in Derelicte.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Disabled raiser human rights complaint over transit costs
from CTV Edmonton:
Vigil pays respect to Mayerthorpe’s “Fallen Four” (It was the 5th anniversary of the Mountie murders, yesterday.)
18-month-old foster child dies in Edmonton hospital
from Global Edmonton:
Making the square more user friendly (I think we all know the answer is more arena.)
from Vue Weekly:
Face the facts (How are women in Alberta doing?)
In a word (That’s a take on Israeli Apartheid week. There are events over at the U of A.)
The Urban Farmer: Concrete jungle no more (Time to get growing.)
from SEE Magazine:
Delicate pruning or hatchet job? (Just talkin’ bout the Alberta Budget.)
Hit me up with your thoughts and feelings, Edmonton.
Oh, and if you could set up a meeting for me with Leonard Asper, I’ve got a media venture he can throw money at.
March 3 Edmonton Headlines
Holy sh*t, that coffee is free.
Look, I know it’s Roll Up The Rim time again over at Tim Hortons.
And I know I’ll end up buying a few of those flashy red cups, and winning my yearly two cookies.
But right now (until March 14 anyway) I’m giving my coffee money to McDonald’s. And by money I mean no money. And by McDonald’s I mean a fast food chain that at least understands apostrophes.
Until the 14th, McDonald’s is giving away free coffee. Free. Coffee. Every. Day.
Now, I’m always suspicious of these things, as though I’ve missed the fine print where it says I actually have to buy 18 breakfast burritos to get the coffee. But there is no fine print. And it’s all day, not just breakfast hours.
So, if you only have one fast food corporation to give $0 to for coffee in the next two weeks, make it McDonald’s.
Then stop going there. It’s way funnier if you steal their coffee for two weeks and reward them with patronage to better coffee shops.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Lawyer dismisses dying duck video (Is it totally weird to anyone else that Syncrude apologized for killing the ducks but is so vehemently fighting the charges? Oh, it’s about money…)
Stollery Hospital expansion underway (Look ma, no more tents!)
Sale of capital bonds doesn’t come close to $100M goal (Back to hoping for high oil prices.)
I can’t keep quiet about the city’s crackdown on noisy motorcycles (I have been waiting for this column from Scott McKeen.)
Climate ‘misinformation’ troubles builder (But does ‘pollution’ trouble him?)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Whitemud Park gets $3.6M for bathrooms, trailhead building
Speed babysitting finds match (Why doesn’t Edmonton just have a Babysitter’s Club?)
Edmonton investors given cash boost
from Metro Edmonton:
MacEwan kicks off 25-year-plan for new centre
Sample the best of downtown dining (Don’t mind if I do.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Lower speeds not enough, say residents (50 km/h, 40 km/h, 30 km/h…Or my proposal: 150 km/h, but we get steel walls around our houses to deflect the idiots that need to speed half-a-block to the stop sign.)
Alberta bankruptcies on the rise
EIA sidesteps trash talk with Calgary (It’s not like they are trying to keep people away from Calgary or anything…)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta promotion at games cost $14M (Thank goodness we’ve got money to throw around these days.)
from CTV Edmonton:
High-profile Edmonton professionals support Katz online (Oh no, the millionaires have figured out YouTube.)
Questions persist five years after RCMP murders (It was five years ago, today, that four mounties were shot near Mayerthorpe. You probably remember where you were.)
By the way, you should probably make yourself available for the evening of March 20.
March 2 Edmonton Headlines
Good morning, Edmonton. Hope things are just ducky for you.
Oh, that’s going somewhere.
First though, the New York Times is talking oilsands. I know some people in this province probably cringe when you put oilsands and New York Times in the same sentence. You’ll have to read to see if its good or bad.
Speaking of the oil patch, the Globe and Mail (Also a frightening paper to some, I’m sure.) has a story on whether we are seeing the beginnings of another labour boom that will leave us with sky-high prices.
But, back to being ducky.
The case of Syncrude and the oily ducks is finally in court. This is the story that really helped put Alberta on the map. The maps of multiple environmental and animal-rights groups.
Not an oil patch duck.
We first heard that 500 ducks died an oily death on a tailings pond, thanks to an anonymous tipster. Later, we found out it was more like 1,600. Syncrude faces some hefty fines if they are found guilty of not doing enough to protect wildlife in the area of their work.
There’s even an oilsands-duck quiz, courtesy of the Journal’s Graham Thomson. (I’ve given you a couple of answers in the previous paragraph.)
Oh, and this photo to the right is pretty much only for Global Edmonton staff. This is a duck. I know you might think it’s a tortoise or an armadillo, but it’s a duck. You guys can e-mail me anytime you run an animal story and aren’t quite sure.
Wait. Scratch that. It’s TV. They do a buttload of useless animal stories, especially involving water skis. Don’t e-mail me. Just buy some picture books for the newsroom.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Grant MacEwan University begins $20M expansion
Skip Cowtown, travellers urged (The Edmonton International Airport wants you to stop driving to Calgary for flights. Maybe, instead of creating fake picket lines, they should spend their time convincing Air Canada and West Jet to schedule flights here. The Herald’s Don Braid has something to say about this.)
Job-training cutbacks another blow to laid-off working poor (Also from the Herald, Support for job seekers, students hit as Alberta shifts spending priorities.)
Infected babies dying as syphilis rate soars
Councillors scrap proposed skateboard site
Tougher bylaws, heftier fines sought by police to muffle noisy bikers
Alberta film industry in crisis, union claims
His talent speaks volumes (Oh, it’s just another improv comedian profile and it…wait…he’s deaf?!)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Olympic heroes return (They come bearing gold.)
Heritage fest to host 64 countries
Lemurs replace mating flamingos (The lemurs aren’t new, but this does answer what happened to the sloths.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Local Chilean lends helping hand
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Housing sales soar in Edmonton (Quick, buy my condo.)
from CTV Edmonton:
The Oilers are back on the ice, so how about a couple of stories about their players?
They’ve dealt Denis Grebeshkov for a 2nd round pick, and injured goaltender Nioklai Khabilbulin is alleged to have been super-drunk while driving.
from The Gateway (U of A):
There’s more on the U of A student elections: Candidates, referenda make final arguments at Horowitz Forum
Unofficial opposition emerges against Yes side of Millennium Villages referendum (Should students be forced to pay a charity?)
Students to decide PAW centre, U-Pass
Israel Apartheid Week underway
March 20.
Golden Headlines
*contented sigh* Good morning, Edmonton. Did you sleep well?
Of course you did. Canada’s men’s hockey team won motherflippin’ gold.
No offense to the women’s team, or the curlers, or skiers, or any of our other amazing Olympic athletes, but most of the hopes and dreams were tied into the men’s hockey tournament. And Sidney’s stick ending it in overtime was about the only way it could have ended, isn’t it?
Also, since Canada won more gold medals THAN ANYONE EVER BEFORE at a Winter Olympics I say we owned that podium. To be honest, I didn’t even know that meant we were supposed to lead the medal count. I just took it to mean we had to do really well (we did) maybe have our best-ever games (we did) and show the world we’re not too shabby on the snow and ice. (Mission Accomplished.)
Oh, and speaking of golden (arches) you can get free coffee at McDonald’s for the next two weeks. These promotions are about the only time I frequent Mickey D’s.
from the Edmonton Journal:
How about we kick things off with a series of stories about public-private health care. Ok: Is Alberta ready for more private health care?
Demand draws medical brokerage to Alberta
And back to other stuff: Perhaps ducks didn’t die in vain (The Syncrude duck deaths, in court.)
Good morning class, welcome to Oilsands 101 (Satire is so good, when done well.)
New spaces relieve pressure on childcare at Edmonton Garrison
Officer’s record justifies firing — EPS
Electoral reform bill will overhaul antiquated, partisan system
How equalization harms Ontario, Alberta and B.C.
Accountants-in-training offer tax help to low-income filers
No. 1 fitness chain finally coming to town (We’ll soon have the good life. You’ll get it once you click on the story.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Digital signs seen as a distraction (Do they catch your eye, while driving?)
Union stumps for Alberta Hospital
Fugitive hunters can’t escape budget cuts (Soon, they’ll just contract it out to Dog.)
Edmonton nightclub shot up (Signs of spring: robins, club shootings.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Fans at Rexall Place revel in hockey epic
from 630CHED/iNews880:
EIA launches anti-Calgary campaign (Wouldn’t their beef actually be with carriers like Air Canada and West Jet, choosing to run flights out of Calgary?)
from CBC Edmonton:
Canadian Blood Services reaches out to ethnic donors
Albertan worries about parents in Chile (That country suffered one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Murders rob Alberta, Somali community of youth (This story’s got some depth on the many, many Somali-Canadian murders we’ve seen here in Edmonton, and Alberta.)
from Global Edmonton:
Zoo-lympics (First, very respectful of your animals, Valley Zoo. I mean, you’ve already got a date in court. Second, pretty sure that’s not a tortoise, Global.)
Bask in the golden glow, Edmonton. It will lose it’s shine once the Oilers take the sports pages back.
Headlines Aren’t That Scary
I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night, Edmonton.
I thought I would just drink coffee and do some sketching to stay awake...wait...what is that in the corner?
Gateway Editor-in-Chief (and damn fine trivia player) Mike Kendrick went and blogged about an Internet meme that will haunt my dreams. And probably some of my waking life.
He wrote about the Slender Man. Of course, my interest was piqued and I went and read what he had written about said Slender Man days before. Wow, big mistake.
It was a big mistake in the same way seeing The Blair Witch Project was. I let myself get into the story and it scared the crap out of me. I clearly didn’t learn my lesson, as I spent my evening catching up on the video entries in this story.
There’s some Internet history to all of this as Mike explains. The story I’ve been following is all shadows and atmosphere and shaky video with audio distortions. Scary though.
In all seriousness, what’s being done with the YouTube and Twitter accounts is a good story. It’s good because it’s genuinely creepy but it’s also a really good use of social media as a way to tell a story. It proves to me that narrative won’t disappear if paper books slip off our shelves and movie theatres go dark. We humans like telling stories and we’re going to find ways to do it.
But in this case, it’s turned my computer into a box of nightmares.
If you’re going to delve into the story of the Slender Man, I recommend you let Mike set it up, then use the “Marble Hornets” Twitter account as your guide, it adds to the story and gives you the links you need. Then you and I both will sleep with the lights on…waiting for the next entry…
Now, let’s hope some news headlines can remind me that there’s no such thing as the Slender Man.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Leibovici must tread carefully on arena issue (Interesting questions about perceived conflict of interest.)
Wheels in motion for skate park in downtown Edmonton
$3.6M makeover mulled for Edmonton park
Albertans who don’t vote should be fined, NDP says (Ah, good old negative reinforcement.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
City targets noise motorcycles (This must be music to Scott McKeen’s ears.)
Alberta wage growth slow (Except for MLAs. They boosted their own pay to sit well for a few years. This is a good time to remind you to read SEE’s story on Mill Woods Tory Carl Benito.)
City megachurches boast espresso shops, gyms (It’s almost enough to get me out of bed early on Sunday.)
from The Canadian Press:
Jim Dinning named new chairman of Canada West Foundation
from Metro Edmonton:
Doctor returns after treating Haitians with ‘great hearts’
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Edmonton Public School Board reviews 76 schools in Edmonton (So, is the EPSB just getting to the point where their only job is to close schools?)
LRT “nowhere man” lacked “a ticket to ride” (Two Beatles references in one headline? If Sally was here she’d ask that someone please tell Ed Mason he’s not writing for a classic oldies station. Oh, and I’m sure the woman pushed around by that “teenage tough guy” appreciates your musical knowledge.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta gas well site still on fire (It’s been burning since the world’s been turning…oh, actually it just started the other day.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Edmonton’s Chinese community airs concerns to police chief
from Global Edmonton:
Forcing charity (Over at the U of A.)
There’s no such thing as the Slender Man…there’s no such thing as the Slender Man…
February 25 Headlines ya’ll
Woo…look at me…I’m a cool kid using a Mac.
Anyone else see these circular clouds last night. I blame UFOs.
Oh, I guess you can’t actually see me. Umm, I’m on a Mac this morning.
The biggest thing is the different keyboard. Don’t you hate how a different keyboard, or even a different set up from your usual typing position, totally throws everything off? So, when you try and write stuff you end up throwing in extra letters or leaving out others. Damn you, different keyboards!
I think if I had to use one of those gel, roll-out, keypads I’d never be able to write.
Shoot. Now all this talk of not being able to write properly via this keyboard has psyched me out. Now I’m typing even worse. I need to get out of my own head.
…Think about Team Canada…think about Team Canada…ahhh….sweet, sweet Team Canada…
Here are a couple of stories from the energy world, including how Syncrude is scrapping plans to upgrade that black gold here in Alberta, and how we are supposedly “hurting our golden goose.” As many, smart, people pointed out on Twitter and in the Edmonton Journal comments yesterday, the guy leading this study has more than a few connections to the good old oil industry.
Ooh, looks like Bell, Telus and Rogers can suck it.
I didn’t mean that, Telus. I love you, I love my BlackBerry. Don’t take this out on me.
And if you read just one story today (But of course you read all of these stories, every day, right?) read the one from SEE about Tory MLA Carl Benito’s “foundation.” More like The Human Fund.
from the Edmonton Journal:
City sues Gem Theatre owner (The plot thickens.)
Edmonton hospital part of pilot to reduce hospital wait times
Gov’t unimpressed with cities’ green proposals (What if they just say they’ll bury all the bad stuff underground, then can they have some money?)
Let’s act on driver distractions
City shortchanged on ridings report (Check it out from CTV, below.)
NAIT students fear fee hike (Heck, I fear fee hikes.)
Wildrose MLA pushes for spending bill
Principal’s sexual conduct betrayed sacred bond of trust
Koreans on roll to snap up more Alberta oil assets
from the Edmonton Sun:
Plea posted on Kijiji to find killer
Mill Woods Rapist stays behind bars
from the Edmonton Examiner:
Not your ordinary ball (Alright, let’s be mature and keep the “ball” jokes to a minimum in the comments.)
Clareview multiplex to house library, rec centre
from Metro Edmonton:
Officer ‘had no other option’ in shooting: Response Team
Ben Harper to headline Folk Fest fundraiser
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Councillor disappointed with Katz web message (Hey, vague generalities are what build cities, Henderson.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Massage parlour proposal dropped (Chalk up a win for the TonCat.)
Guilty plea in firebombing of Millwoods house
from CTV Edmonton:
Commission recommends four new provincial constituencies (Or you could move the boundary lines around a little and make a vote in Edmonton or Calgary count as much as one out in rural Alberta. Just sayin’.)
New study looks at cost of burying high-voltage transmission lines
Katz launches website promoting downtown arena project (I’m Daryl Katz and I love Edmonton. Now give me some candy. By candy I mean money.)
from Vue Weekly:
Municipal Development Plan: The Way We Grow Food
Government spin in the classroom (Students need to learn the facts. The facts of oil. And how amazingly awesome it is. Just ask that guy from the U of C.)
from SEE Magazine:
Whatever happened to the Benito foundation? (Maurice Tougas nails him! I bet Scott’s Tots know how the people of Edmonton-Mill Woods feel.)
The most delicate topic (Sex. It’s sex. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. There, now it doesn’t even seem like a creepy and gross word.)
from The Gateway (U of A):
It’s election time over at the University of Alberta. If you’re a student, here are your crib notes:
U of A deficit likely to increase due to provincial budget cuts
VPX candidates address provincial, national PSE issues
Board of Governors candidates seek to improve student access
Don’t pollute the system with votes
Samsonow out.
Edmonton Humpday Headlines
Let’s get this mid-week party started with some headlines. (Do I know how to party, or what?)
The University of Alberta is part of a study looking at causes of Crohn’s and Colitis, and why the bowel diseases are so prevalent here in Alberta. (Wow, this party is turning into a downer.)
I was, pleasantly, surprised to see Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette trending on Twitter last night, and not just in Canada. It was nice to see plenty of American and worldwide attention on her short-program skate. Lots of people will be cheering for her to win tomorrow night, just days after her mother died.
(Photo: Hognose.com)
In lighter news, two snakes were temporarily lost at the Calgary Zoo, and I was already preparing to hide. Though not venomous, I was worried they could eat or choke me. Turns out they’re more scared of you then you are of them. They are still giant snakes though.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Council congratulates itself on 10-year-plan, but Metis unhappy (And Councillor Don Iveson has some thoughts on the plan over at his blog.)
Historic Gem Theatre down before its time
Driver distraction caused teen’s death (Alberta is behind just about everyone on distracted-driver legislation.)
School bus crash leads to call for tighter monitoring of drivers (The Edmonton Catholic School District didn’t know how many seniors were driving for them.)
Bill aims to aid more firefighters with cancer
Alberta’s pioneer of reclamation retires
from the Edmonton Sun:
Biggest bucks by Ben (More on the councillors’ budgets here.)
Living free and clean (A drug court success story.)
University launches questionnaire for binge drinking students
No ‘rough stuff’ in police takedown of man who shot cop dog: Court
from The Canadian Press:
Edmonton Eskimos report an operating profit of $416,482 from 2009 season
from Metro Edmonton:
Hospital rewarded for care of soldiers
Mother charged in deaths of her two toddlers (This is the story everybody has.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Ludwig says well on fire near his home
Council 2009 expenses released (You can take a look for yourself here.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alta. homicides worry Somali-Canadians
Former principal guilty of unprofessional conduct for sex with student (He’s also likely to have his teaching certificate canceled.)
from Global Edmonton:
St. Mark spared (The school does have to increase enrollment though.)
EAVB_OCASNCMJGK
February 23 Edmonton Headlines
Good morning, Edmonton!
I’m in a good mood today because I made all kinds of meals last night and I’m going to have the sweetest lunches ever, all week.
It’s the little things.
If you’re up for some numbers, the budgets and expenses of Edmonton city councillors and the mayor are out. This is nice information to read through in an election year. There will likely be a few stories on this in tomorrow’s headlines.
And hey, it turns out I’m not the only guy in town looking at headlines. Mack took a month’s worth of actual newspaper headlines, from the Journal and Sun, and word-clouded them. Take a look and see if anything pops out to you.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Oil and gas review has Liepert smiling
Golding’s ‘crude’ take on Riel stirs controversy, debate (Dave’s got the pamphlet at his website here.)
Charges against company dropped (And now we ask, why?)
Air Transat summer route restores non-stop flights between Edmonton, Frankfurt (Who wants to go to Germany?)
Music degree in tune with the times
from the Edmonton Sun:
Teen turns life around (See, there’s good stuff in the news.)
Grasshopper plague possible (Dun, dun, dunn…)
from the Edmonton Examiner:
Highrise condo proposed for downtown east (There’s a meeting about it on Thursday.)
from The Canadian Press:
Alberta to hold Senate vote in Oct.: Senator (I get that we like to think this will influence the federal government into providing an elected Senate. But, umm, won’t this just cost us money for no real reason?)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Time for a salary review, says Liberal MLA (And she says it should be done by an independent group.)
Council buries gravel pit idea for time being
from CBC Edmonton:
Business owners to fight massage parlour license (Tony Caterina is against something. But this time I’m kind of on his side. I know!)
Principal admits professional misconduct in relationship with student
from CTV Edmonton:
More Edmonton students caught cheating on diploma exam
MADD calls for change after rash of roadway fatalities (They want the blood alcohol limits dropped.)
from City TV Edmonton:
More puppies (And why the Edmonton Humane Society takes in all these dogs over here.)
from The Gateway (U of A):
Female athlete injury risk higher
Scientists decipher dinosaur colouration
That’s Tuesday for you.
Monday Morning Headlines
Good Monday morn to you, dearest Edmonton.
You just got knitted!
There’s not even space for me to impress you with my usual wit, humour and observation because the news is chock full of, well, news. I shan’t delay.
Fresh off choreographing the opening ceremonies in Vancouver, Alberta Ballet’s Jean Grand-Matire is back in Calgary, getting the newest celebrity collaboration ready. As the L.A. Times reports here, he’s been working on a show about Elton John’s life, ever since the pop star heard about the Ballet’s work with Joni Mitchell. (Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum is now on tour.)
Speaking of our ballet, Metro’s got a story called “Young hopefuls audition to attend Alberta Ballet school.”
I mentioned last week that a new political party had formed in Alberta. It’s got an old name though. The Calgary Herald’s got a brief story on it here, while Dave Cournoyer has some thoughts here.
According to this story in the Calgary Herald the Alberta Train over in B.C. is an Olympic winner.
Down in Calgary, kidnapped journalist Amanda Lindhout has spoken, for the first time, about her ordeal in Somalia, at a Somali-Canadian dinner. (I found the audio pretty quiet, so you may also have to crank up the volume.)
And Alberta’s Podloski claims CIS women’s hockey points crown. I love the fact she takes top spot on the CIS scoring list from another U of A Panda.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Future meals on council’s mind (Where will we get our food in the future?)
Alberta stores post biggest gains in two years
Northland issues extend beyond school
A true servant of the public (How would governments actually look if they took ALL of the advice of their auditors?)
Eloquent spending (Talkin’ bout the health care budget.)
Public works an economic building block: Stelmach
Climate-change deniers are channelling the tobacco industry
No Monopoly on good fun (Wait, you say, monopoly shouldn’t have a capital M. Unless…)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Lower speed limits worth a try (Six city neighbourhoods will be 40 km/h.)
Civic contribution limits overdue (Graham Hicks pulls out a few numbers from last election’s contributions. It appears that Don Iveson and Tony Caterina are least in the pocket of developers and unions. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation put the 2007 contributions online.)
Olympic shelves nearly bare (We love our Olympic gear.)
from The Canadian Press:
Prime Minister’s office condemns Tory MP who calls Louis Riel a ‘villain’ (If you want to see Edmonton MP Peter Goldring’s pamphlet, head to Daveberta.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Hundreds of orchids charm viewers at fair
from CBC Edmonton:
NAIT facing program cuts, layoffs
Payday-loan rule takes effect March 1
Myron Thompson bolts to Wildrose (He’s not in office, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t wield power!)
from CTV Edmonton:
Show home catches fire in south Edmonton (Firefighters are waiting for a new south station.)
from Global Edmonton:
Wiebo Ludwig protests (If nothing else, he has way more energy than most people.)
Wow, I don’t think I’ve had such a busy Monday in some time. There’s plenty of good stuff to start your week. Look how much smarter you’ll be by Tuesday.
February 19 means headlines*
Know what that train is bringing your way? Yes, access to the southside of the river. But also headlines.
*Actually, you’ll find most days mean headlines around here. Sometimes I just lack that zest for a good headline. I think I used up my week’s wit with yesterday’s title.
Oh, hey, you want me to stop talking about headline headlines and all that nonsense?
Alright then…check this out: Rival Canwest bid emerges. I wonder if they’ll reconsider after Canwest tried to kill Gordon Lightfoot yesterday.
And how about this: Alberta health care is ill: MLA, it’s Raj Sherman promising Sherwood Park a hospital. Let’s keep that one on file with seniors’ care in Fort McMurray and a bunch of facilities in the Peace Region. Perhaps area MLA Iris Evans can win some sort of hospital sweepstakes?
from the Edmonton Journal:
Alberta EI numbers starting to fall
Mandel proposes ticket tax to pay for downtown arena (On the topic of this story, I stumbled across this website all about public funding of pro-sports facilities.)
Ticket-tax idea will help sell arena
Mayor sends signal to Katz city has its expectations as well
Zwozdesky apologizes for $1 billion slip
United Way raised $20.6M in Edmonton area (Ka-ching. No, no, I know that this money actually ends up helping people.)
Edmonton one of three sites for Shaw test of ultrafast net (But they’d never want you to use that power for downloading illegally. Right…)
from the Edmonton Sun:
City seeks green for LRT (Please sir, may we have some more.)
Boost to surgeries simply political survival
Premier gives up on Vancouver visit (More on all of this, down in CTV news.)
Suspension over hockey spearing
from The Canadian Press:
Premier wants to hear Mayor Mandel’s complaints about cap on election donations
The Economist article says Alberta Tories appear threatened by Wildrose Alliance (At the same time, there’s movement on the progressive side of Alberta politics.)
Ethan, Olivia repeat as top baby names for Alberta in 2009
from Metro Edmonton:
Emergency office rolls out social networking accounts (ZOMG! We were talking about this at ChangeCamp!)
We need to review how cities collect taxes
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Edmonton’s 2010 policing plan calls for crime reduction (Shouldn’t EVERY year’s policing plan do that?)
from CBC Edmonton:
Minimum sentences can be lowered: top court
from CTV Edmonton:
Mayor Mandel suggests city received lack of exposure at Winter Games (A couple points here: First, if the Alberta government wants to spend money they can choose which cities to promote, heck it could be Camrose day. Second, if the Mayor of Edmonton, and others connected to city tourism and promotion, didn’t know the provincial government was going to the Olympics and spending money, to talk up the province, they need to read my headlines every day.)
Court case for baby Isaiah put over, infant to stay on life-support
I feel like it was a good headline day. I certainly got some zingers in. Bring on the weekend!
…And Headlines for All
Dig that sunny blue sky!
Whew. Not only is there great weather today, I got caught up in the great chocolate mystery of the day.
The chat on Twitter was all about the fact Laura Secord has disappeared from Edmonton, and Alberta. Sure, we’ve got Purdy’s and there may be Laura Secord chocolate for sale at department stores but, damn it, she’s a Canadian legend. Why has she forsaken us?
Did she need to run somewhere in the middle of the night to warn somebody about a pending invasion? Did we just not buy enough chocolate?
Oh, looks like we didn’t buy enough chocolate.
In other news…I’d say it was already tough being an Oilers fan before this little incident. Well, at least the team is in the news for something other than losing. Losers however…
from the Edmonton Journal:
U of A reels from $20M surprise cut (Can the school take out some student loans to pay teachers?)
Edmonton Public warns parents of budget cuts
Shorter wait-lists excellent goal
Caring style healthy for Zwozdesky
Warped tour finally coming to Edmonton (Where are my nice skate shoes?)
Open house will reveal plans for new Clareview Rec Centre
from the Edmonton Sun:
Council members steamed over contributions crackdown
Off-track fun cut at Indy (In an effort to save you and me, the taxpayers, money. We have an arena to build, you know.)
Edmonton’s last grain elevator gone
Liberals decry private-clinic funding (You want more surgeries, you don’t want them at private clinics…next you’ll be telling us you want employment insurance and social programs. Commies.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Program bridge language gap in workplace
Man gets life sentence for 18-year-old murder (Cold case solved.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Everything old new again for Chief Electoral Officer (But it sounds like he’s not too concerned about boosting voting turnout.)
Join Together Alberta wraps up town-hall meetings
Scientists seek space rock in Alberta
from CBC Edmonton:
Stelmach misses Alberta day in Vancouver (I hope he at least found a VLT at the airport to try and win us taxpayers some money.)
Pathologists urge end to central testing plan
Realtor upset by international rental scam (The Nigerian scammers have taken Britain!)
from City TV Edmonton:
City News Headlines in a flash (Headlines? That’s a great idea! Wait…)
from SEE Magazine:
Looking to reboot and renew Alberta politics
Time for Katz to come clean on arena (Look, he’s always said, the city can borrow the $100-million he is going to put into the project.)
Verbatim from the Legislature (Your Alberta MLAs!)
Now get out there an enjoy some of this fantastic “winter” weather.
Edmonton Headlines for February 17
It's a canopy of ice.
It certainly feels like we’ve had more ice fog than usual. It’s like every couple of days that icy cloud descends on our city to leave us under a white dusting.
It also makes the trees look pretty, from a distance, and slightly scarier up close.
Seems it caused more than its share of problems with flights this morning too.
Well, as long as there are no monsters in the fog I guess we’re doing alright.
from the Edmonton Journal:
City must strike balance between transparency, moving agenda forward
U of A faculty accepts six unpaid days (They get to learn more about the financial situation of the school though.)
Conference hopes to inspire girls to stick with science careers
Wind-turbine plan envisions switch to nuclear
Fear grows of royalty fire sale
Rocketfuel Productions joins world of Discovery (Local biz makes good.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
City vows consultant fee clamp down (Right after they hire some consultants to tell them how to do that.)
Surgery fast-track plan unveiled (Awesome. I’m so glad we got rid of those Tories and their health minister who just wanted to cut and it looked like private health…wait…you’re telling me this is the same party? They watched the wait times get longer. They go back and forth between public and private, cut and spend debates every couple of years?)
Canadian cattle producers suffering
Stelmach going back to the Olympics (He better win a medal.)
Fire destroys Fort Chip. lodge (This story is in just about everybody’s headlines.)
from Metro Edmonton:
Edmonton doctor to lend helping hand in Haiti
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Jet diverted to City Centre Airport (You know this is already in the next wave of information from the “Keep it open” crowd.)
Former detective avoids jail time for tampering with son’s DUI (I’ve actually got this story down in CBC’s headlines, but wanted to point out we don’t “drive under the influence” in Canada. It’s known as “impaired driving.” Call me a stickler, but I want to point out somebody’s been watching Law & Order.)
from CBC Edmonton:
School board solicits cost-savings ideas from parents (I don’t know if this is what an interactive government is supposed to be about. Idea the first: ask provincial Tory government to fund education.)
Officer avoids jail time for interfering in son’s case
from CTV Edmonton:
Future of after-hours bar dicey after rash of violence (Quick, everybody to the York!)
Go own the podium.
Edmonton Headlines For All!
Good day to you, Edmonton.
I trust you are well rested after the long weekend. Did you get up to anything exciting?
Have you been taking in the Olympics? Have you been able to avoid the Olympics? While I’m not overcome with the “fever” I certainly watched the opening ceremonies.
There's nothing else on TV!
If you watched it and you weren’t following on Twitter you missed out on a great conversation. Man, we love our 3-hour artistic extravaganzas here in Edmonton.
Speaking of the opening ceremonies, was there enough French for you?
Before we jump into the headlines from our usual suspects, there’s good stuff from all around today.
There’s still talk about our provincial budget, again pointing out that we are betting the house on energy revenues. How about trying to redesign (read: diversify) our economy.
Weibo Ludwig is still in the news. Fighting the fight.
Did you see the stuff about mortgages today? The new rules will make it tougher to get a mortgage. It makes sense after you see our debt is at all-time highs in Canada.
And an Edmonton-based soldier has made his final trip back to Canada.
Now, on with the Edmonton show…
from the Edmonton Journal:
New Canadians sworn in on Flag Day
Promoting Alberta in Vancouver a junket of Olympic proportions
‘College girls’ overcome foster care, choose ‘white’ way out
Square alive with energy (Which is great for a weekend!)
Students can’t wait to enter House of Pain
from the Calgary Herald: Alberta government takes oilpatch education blitz to schools. (Really…)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Man dies after downtown shooting (This will explain all that police action at Jasper Avenue and 105 Street yesterday.)
Chinese community celebrates lunar new year
100-pound robot crime-fighter (We have the technology…)
from The Canadian Press:
Alberta government appoints Merwan Saher as acting Auditor General
Canada’s Family Day father “absolutely thrilled” with the holiday’s spread (In a very Edmonton twist, the Gettys went driving.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Memorial march for missing and murdered women
Rave reaction (Those kids and their raves!)
from CBC Edmonton:
Alberta to cut surgery wait times (More to come on this story…)
Ukrainian museum urges feds to make funding decision
from CTV Edmonton:
Board schedules public meetings to consider school closures
Whew! There’s a lot to catch up on after the long weekend. Now, make sure you read lots of news so your brain gets big and smart.
It’s February 12 and here are your headlines
THAT'S why everyone has red mitts!
Happy Friday, Edmonton!
Not only is it Friday, it’s the Friday before Valentine’s Day (for anyone who wants to get all lovey-dovey). If you’re thinking about where to go for a nice, romantic-sytle, dinner I’d suggest you see what the first couple of Edmonton’s online community have to say about that.
And it just so happens to be the Family Day long weekend. Thanks, Don Getty.
Although, I’m sure the Stelmach government doesn’t want Getty’s name being thrown around a whole lot. Getty’s best remembered, rightly or wrongly, for deficit-ridden governments that led to Ralph Klein’s cuts of the 90s. But he also gave us a holiday in February, which is pretty awesome.
Ooh, and don’t forget that the Lunar New Year is this weekend too. Man, our events listing later today is going to be fun…
from the Edmonton Journal:
Supporting sprawl is one dense idea
Edmonton deserves face-to-face with Katz
Hoteliers, developers support downtown project (Yet I don’t hear anybody offering up their money or plans for the proposed $1-billion in development.)
Downtown arena site looks like very tight squeeze
City curbs sky shuttle service (F this. I don’t want to pay $45 for a cab ride if it’s a few blocks to the nearest hotel and a $15 ride to the airport.)
Duckett ponders new health hires (Oh yeah, that guy is still in charge…)
Parks funding trimmed in favour of tourism (But if more people visit and there are less people taking care of the parks, then…my head hurts.)
Edmonton iPhone app tracks Olympic athletes
from the Edmonton Sun:
Washington trip to focus on energy exports (More on energy from the CBC’s Don Newman, below.)
Reducing Alberta’s carbon footprint
Rapist charged with breaching court-ordered peace bond (The Mill Woods Rapist case.)
from The Canadian Press:
People in Fort McLeod feel betrayed, no Alberta police college this year
from Metro Edmonton:
Buses to replace LRT this weekend (Boooooooooo! But woot to the eventual train to Century Park.)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Mandel wants arena proposal before council…soon
Alberta cities sent education tax bill
Promotional train of thought for Alberta (Can we call it the “Oil Express?”)
from CBC Edmonton:
3 officers face disciplinary hearings (This is the case from 2005 where officers rounded up homeless people, drove them around in the back of the paddy wagon, then dumped them across town.)
Law needed for rainy day fund: minister (You know, for after they spend it all.)
Stelmach defends higher health spending
Time for a reality check on Alberta’s ‘dirty oil’
from CTV Edmonton:
Katz breaks his silence on funds for downtown arena (So, if I offer you $100 for your meal if we go to dinner, then change it to $100 for my meal, you’re cool with that, right?)
Get your news all read up for the long weekend.
February 11 Edmonton Headlines
Sometimes I feel like I should be on some kind of perilious journey to east Edmonton, with a ring that I have to destory.
As always, Edmonton, Thursday is a busy news day.
We get SEE, Vue, The Gateway and the Edmonton Examiner headlines, on top of all our usuals. Today is a extra busy because I’ve picked up a few other stories on the radar.
Some of them are Alberta Budget related. (For more on the budget, so much more, go to the Budget Blowout.)
First there’s a take on Alberta’s governing Tories spending themselves out of deficit. Hey, that totally worked with my credit cards.
Over here you’ve got a warning to the Ontario government NOT to follow the Alberta lead of spending like crazy when times are tough.
Remember how the Alberta government projected a surplus in two years. Remember how they pinned all that on oil and energy prices pulling us through the dark days. Well, things just got real up in here.
Unrelated to the budget (even I have my limits) is this little nugget about the province’s 2009 farm crops. Seems we didn’t harvest as much the year before.
And they’re talking about the Oilers’ farm team down in Oklahoma. Just don’t let them know how things are currently going with the team…
from the Edmonton Journal:
Arena numbers don’t add up, figures reveal
Katz Group’s sense of entitlement won’t get arena built
Hard work ahead for school advocates (They’re trying to save schools slated for closure.)
Slot machine revenues not matching expectations (And you wonder why the provincial government has to think about budget cuts.)
Critics united in budget condemnation
from the Edmonton Sun:
City wants you to clean your sidewalks
Feds shortchanging province (…says health minister from government in need of lots of cash…)
from the Edmonton Examiner:
City launches new hall of fame
Zoo hosts same-sex speed dating event (Our zoo. In Edmonton. How great is that?!)
from The Canadian Press:
from Metro Edmonton:
City goes online for LRT input
Province adds 100 new cops, 35 for Edmonton
from 630CHED/iNews880:
NAIT LRT extension could cost $1. billion (I’d say it’s worth every penny.)
from CBC Edmonton:
Caution urged on Rossdale demolition
Give Katz Group vision a chance: Mayor (OK…)
Cuts to disability funding prompt Legislature protest
from Global Edmonton:
Bissell Centre birthday (I’m going to say it…I’m not exactly happy the Bissell Centre is 100 years old. It’s a great service but this means we haven’t figured out how to keep people off the streets for 100 years.)
from Vue Weekly:
Budget: Through the looking glass
And for Valentine’s Day: Sweet Lollapalooza: Worldly focus
from SEE Magazine:
Budget keeps the big boys happy
from The Gateway (U of A):
Experts weigh province’s nuclear prospects (Which way we go with energy generation will be a defining issue of the 20-teens.)
Tuition advocacy campaign begins
Student funding takes hit in provincial budget (There are always student loans.)
U of A shatters Guinness dodgeball record (Wait, if this is what our provincial tax dollars are going toward…)
Former Albertan hurtin’ for his hometown (The Rural Alberta Advantage is back!)
And just in case you were going to take the LRT this weekend, you should about the LRT Service Disruptions February 13 and 14.
But I don't want to go, Mr. Frodo.
If you want budget, you’ve got it
It’s the edmontonian’s Alberta Budget Blowout 2010!
I told you we should focus on the Edmonton news in the daily headlines, and here’s why: There is SO MUCH stuff on the Alberta Budget that it would have taken all of our focus away from the local news.
Which is, I’m sure, what the Katz Group was hoping for. But I digress…
The provincial budget is a big deal though. It sets the stage for health care, education, crime and punishment, transportation, cities (see, there’s an Edmonton angle) and a whole lot more. So, take a spin through all of these stories to get a taste of what we know so far. As the Journal’s Archie McLean says; we are only scratching the surface of the budget in the first 24 hours.
You’ll notice stories out of Calgary and other points. If the same company has newsrooms of different names (like Canwest with the Journal and Herald) I’ll note that. If they don’t it’ll just say CBC or whatever. I’m also bouncing around to some websites and blogs to get some more opinion and thoughts.
First, a basic budget breakdown.
Now…here…we…go… (more…)
Edmonton Headlines, really
Alright, let’s do something just a little different today.
Just a touch of snow this morning...
There are all kinds of Alberta Budget stories. Heck, you can’t turn around without seeing one. So…let’s do the Edmonton Headlines right now. Just Edmonton stuff.
Later (not too much later, but later enough that I reel the RSS junkies back in with a new post) I will compile a comprehensive (!) list of Budget stories, maybe I’ll even get you a roundup of online and blog links so you are about the smartest Budget person, ever, once we’re done.
Mostly, I want you to see the arena story. And the school story. Let’s not get all bogged down in budgetary matters. Yet.
Also, it turns out Japanese automakers are not better.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Billionaire expects city to pick up arena bill
Leave arena financing decision to council, says Mandel (Not to go on the ballot as a referendum…)
Smooth talker has rough road ahead in arena battle
LRT planners get extra $2M (And perhaps not in the most legitimate of ways.)
Locking courtroom door forces mistrial in sexual assault case
from the Edmonton Sun:
Oil and gas royalties may change
University given preview of $909-million Edmonton Clinic
from The Canadian Press:
Minister must protect Alberta caribou in face of industry pressure, groups say
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Hunger strike at the Edmonton Remand Centre (At least taxpayers save on food.)
from CBC Edmonton:
5 Edmonton schools set to close (THAT’S how you revamp older neighbourhoods. You force people to move to the ‘burbs.)
Edmonton will join NASL in 2011 (What’s that, you ask? It’s soccer, I say.)
Oilers put AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City (The way the Oilers are playing, they might as well be in the AHL.)
from CTV Edmonton:
Scary ride for passengers after man attempts to take over city bus (WTF is up with people getting violent on transit?)
Alright, I’ll see you later for the budget bonanza.
February 9 Edmonton Headlines
So, before we get all budgeted-out (and we will, just you wait) I
I don't want to shovel my front walk, let alone an LRT station.
figured it would be a good time to tell a story that really goes nowhere.
There’s this Toyota dealership by my house, and I often walk through its parking lot. Sometimes I feel bad about this and think I should go around and use the sidewalk. Only sometimes.
Most of the time I don’t feel bad since they have a giant parking lot that is so close to my house and easily cuts 38 seconds off my walk to somewhere else. There’s also the constant stream of dealership garbage, and tires, that rolls into our parking lot. So, I don’t really feel bad about cutting across their property.
To be fair, I’m sure drunk Whyte Avenue patrons roll a lot of the tires our way.
Plus, if the Toyota guys ever got up in my grill about my pedestrian ways, I’d probably just tell them I tried to stop and go in a different direction but I couldn’t stop.
You’re wondering why you even come here, right now, aren’t you?
About the Alberta Budget:
Spending cuts expected to be spread around
Alberta budget will ask all to ‘give up a little’ (No! Just cut all the arts funding or something.)
Morton’s first budget will be a tough one
Alberta Budget Day: Public agencies brace for cuts
Morton in no-win situation with budget (The budget isn’t actually his budget since he just became the finance minister.)
This is too delicious not to share with you. Mack tried the most obvious name and password combination and got in…to the Alberta Budget website. “Your Alberta Government, using “password” as a password since Geocities.”
from the Edmonton Journal:
Rowdy opening to spring session
WCB hostage case in disarray (Marked by a weird court appearance.)
Limits on taxis’ lifespan would curb emissions
Winds of change in green power
Fort update risks losing authenticity, prof says (If there’s anything authentic about Edmonton frontier days it’s a log flume.
Young Alberta athletes get early taste of Olympic glory
from the Edmonton Sun:
New sky shuttle service takes off
Rush demands break on Rexall revenues (Sounds like hockey is getting more than lacrosse.)
‘Unfair ruling’ on asking questions
from 630CHED/iNews880:
More trouble “on the buses” (Now I’m questioning whether all the news coverage is giving this kind of crime a “tipping point” effect.)
UofA researcher identifies concerns with CT scans
from CBC Edmonton:
Airport cab fare solution going to vote
Nuclear prospects worry farmers (Not quite Edmonton, but also important.)
from Global Edmonton:
YESS warning (Don’t get fooled by this scam.)
from CityTV Edmonton:
Downtown Proud (Cleaning up the streets.)
Are you already tired of budget stories?
February 8 Edmonton Headlines
Are you excited, Edmonton?
I’m talking about the provincial budget, of course. It’s revealed tomorrow. So, that makes today Provincial Budget Eve.
That’s the night when all the organizations and agencies that are funded, in whole or in part, by the provincial government fall into an uneasy sleep. They’ll dream of the Finance Minister, riding his magical sleigh, piled high with calculators and budget books. While they dream, the real minister will be dropping little notes into their stockings. It will either be continued funding, possibly even more funding (probably not in this economy), or a big red cut to their funding.
Exciting!
Or terrifying.
It depends how much you like stuff provided by the provincial government.
At least these guys appreciate what the pending cuts, and the cuts in the 90s, are all about.
In lighter news, they’re still talking about our new art gallery over here.
from the Edmonton Journal:
Old Strathcona alliance fights city plans to develop parking lot
Hertz car-sharing division launches first Canadian outlet at U of A (This, plus the car-sharing co-op, and you’d think everyone here isn’t driving giant trucks.)
Couple falls down condo ‘rabbit hole’
A flurry of government communication, lacking only co-ordination
The race is on, and the choices as of now are, well, diverse (There’s also an online push for Raj Pannu.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Groups fear drastic cuts (Mmm…budget cuts…)
Mounties to stay on highway beat
Alberta sees year-over-year decrease in beer sales (What is going on?!)
from 630CHED/iNews880:
LRT extension testing may cause some delays (But it will be worth it when we get sweet, sweet LRT.)
Edmonton housing starts up from a year ago
from CBC Edmonton:
Province to consult on new Health Act
Alberta challenges move to one securities regulator (Because scammers never cross a provincial border. It’s like a velvet rope to them.)
from Global Edmonton:
Dodge-off (Remember the 5 Ds!)
