September 2 Edmonton Headlines
Good Friday to you, Edmonton. Ready for the long weekend?
The City released a short update on what City Council did this week. The three and four paragraph stories are great for you and me to get a glimpse at what our elected officials are talking about, and it’s bad news for newsrooms that put out the same length, or shorter stories.
That Council Roundup is an example of media and public relations skipping the middleman of newsrooms. There are a few in Edmonton (and every city) that write very little on City Hall. When they write very little they are often doing no more than what we see from the City itself in this Roundup; a few quick notes on what was on the agenda and what happened. Newsrooms are going to have to add some depth and perspective to their stories or risk people skipping them and just checking on the official Roundup.
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I like the gusto of outgoing Premier Ed Stelmach. He says his Conservative caucus is willing to give Edmonton money for a downtown arena, but it’s a decision that he won’t have to give final approval to. Well played.
Speaking of Stelmach…capital region municipalities want to build a better integrated transit system and he doesn’t think that’s a good idea. I take back my kudos. There’s also a consideration for an outer ring road for Calgary?! Geez. I hope Alison Redford or Doug Horner become the next premier and move on some highs-speed rail.
Calgary prosecutors will look at whether a trio of Edmonton police officers went too far during the arrest of an Edmonton shop owner. His own store’s surveillance video will be part of the evidence they can look at.
Surely the irony of attacking the Edmonton salon which produced a domestic violence ad is lost on the vandals. If you want to do something productive to show you don’t think domestic violence is a good way to sell a business, boycott the place or donate to the Bad Ad Fund.
We’ll probably be paying more for water, but it’s not clear if that will be on tax bills or EPCOR bills. Meanwhile…at EPCOR Tower…that utility is already going to try to boost fees for sewer and and drinking water. Of course, they are mulling the decision.
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Minimum wage went up with the new month. And it really is a minimum (even more so for those in jobs serving alcohol).
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Lloyd Robertson anchored his last national newscast last evening.
August 10 Edmonton Headlines
This was the scene Tuesday at 9pm. So bright!
While this column spins its way around the downtown arena quite a bit, municipalities do get the worst deal when it comes to taxes. Provincial governments, which have power over municipalities like Edmonton, should think about changing the tax rules to allow cities and towns to tax more than property.
Police want you to be on the lookout for an older Chevy Suburban after a shooting in south Mill Woods. The two guys shot are known to police and aren’t talking. No crime should go unpunished, and no crime is more important than another to the victims. But this kind of crime, a shooting that happened in public, is one that justifiably leaves people upset and scared.
We should hear more from the police chief today on new plans to take on violent crime, but the largest way to solve such problems lies outside of policing with social agencies, housing, mental health, and addictions treatment, community groups, and school and recreation resources.
Here’s a good example of a couple of guys who used sports to get university educations.
While there’s going to be a need to involve all kinds of other groups in keeping our city as safe as possible, police budgets are not going to get smaller in the near future.
Five years after a man was shot by Edmonton police the case is still in the courts in appeals and reviews.
Alright, that’s where we’re starting today, but next we’re heading to Whyte Avenue. (more…)
July 20 Edmonton Headlines
It’s a big day at City Hall. There’s a new downtown arena report before council, with a few more details about how much more it’s going to cost to build a replacement for Rexall Place and that Northlands won’t sign a non-compete clause.
More information on what’s happening today, with answers to Councillor Ed Gibbons’ questions, here at this PDF. Some of the (non)answers, even if you’re in favour of the downtown arena, might make you groan.
Councillors will also discuss whether to give Northlands a little more than $700,000 to fix seats in Rexall Place.
The Way We Green, the City’s 30-year environmental policy is also up for debate. I don’t see why it wouldn’t pass. A few developers and pesticide-users were complaining about losing money, but Edmonton needs to have a document that helps shape our environmental policies – and we should have such policies underlying big decisions and projects.
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, man of the people Kerry Diotte wants to talk about mosquitoes.
Don’t forget about the war on weeds. Councillor Bryan Anderson is trying to lead that for the City of Edmonton.
Another day, another historic building in the news.
Five years after a man died following a police chase, the fatality inquiry report carries a recommendation for emergency CPR training for officers.
Hey kid. Psst. Hey kid. You want some candy?
Alberta Hospital is trying to find a missing patient, and an escaped patient.
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We’re about a third through a ten-year plan to end homelessness in Alberta. That should stay in place for the new premier, and poverty has to become part of the plan.
Big oilsands equipment won’t be making its way to Alberta through Montana right now. I like that the Montana Department of Transportation took the time to have Imperial Oil fill out an environmental assessment. That shows dedication to preserving the environment.
Meanwhile…on the side of the border…China is making its moves to get into the oilsands game…Oh, and energy ministers want to find ways to send more oil and gas to places other than the U.S.
The Premiers are going to talk about the economy.
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Eight Edmonton restaurants, and one in St. Albert, made it into “Where to Eat in Canada.”
It’s Edmonton: The Musical, at the Avenue Theatre.
July 5 Edmonton Headlines
There is a fist joke here. But I'm taking the high road.
Good morning Edmonton. All caught up after the long weekend, are we?
Canada Post’s strike and lockout can be blamed for delaying at least one hearing at City Hall. Though, the councillors and staff who put the matter over should be thanked for doing so, since they probably could have gone ahead.
MacEwan’s got a neat summer program. They run a “get ready for post-secondary school” week for aboriginal students making the transition to college and university.
More bike lanes! (And paths. And connections.)
Edmonton’s Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Boys & Girls Club are all the same organization now.
The U of A’s first chair of Islamic Studies has died while overseas.
An Edmonton school, and a Beaumont one, is off to England for some Shakespeare.
Triathletes heading down to Hawrelak Park this weekend might not be swimming in bird poop. Well, not as much bird poop.
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For the public healthcare supporters (which is most of us, I presume) you can’t get a better example of private healthcare than a bunch of seniors being evicted.
The province’s top cancer doctor (top as in head the head of administration) is retiring after four decades in medicine.
Yeah, an oil spill would probably hurt support of an oil pipeline. Speaking of spills…Alberta’s got a nice big role in the ones that happened on federally-regulated lines…
A new deal between the federal government and the provinces should bring more than $150-million to Alberta to build affordable housing.
While a couple of the Progressive Conservative leadership candidates (Alison Redford and Gary Mar) are stacking up the money, Doug Horner is showing off his Tory MLA supporters.
If you don’t want to get hit by lightning, stay out of Thorsby.
Long weekend…driving blitz…lots of tickets… You’d think that since it’s always the same story on long weekends police would just enforce the rules of the road in full-force all of the time. Instead of every couple of weekends.
There’s a shortlist for the team to build the new Royal Alberta Museum.
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Edmonton’s got some serious tacos going on now.
Lunch Gets the Square
Photo: Paul Poulsen
(I already apologize for my weak Hollywood Squares attempt in the headline.)
We’re coming up on lunchtime here in Edmonton, so I think it’s the perfect time to mention that Churchill Square will be “Live at Lunch” this week. (Which will be lots of fun when it’s sunny.)
Today, there are supposed to be puppets and plays (for the kids).
Wednesday you can learn about sustainable food options and solar power, while listening to Canadian Idol finalist (and Edmontonian) Martin Kerr.
Thursday is when it gets crazy, with Zumba, storytime for grown-ups, stand-up paddleboarding in the City Hall fountain, and chess. Friday will be mix of activities for all ages, with more puppets, Snakes’n'Ladders in the Square.
There’s also wifi in Churchill Square, and should be food trucks (plus Three Bananas has great pizzas and coffee). Get out there and enjoy your public square, Edmonton!
May 4 Edmonton Headlines
Good day, Edmonton. Looks like another fine, spring day in the city, though I blame the Conservative majority for my raging allergies.
The Katz Group was chatting about the downtown arena with business folks, in a closed meeting. It was reported to be a “positive” meeting. For something that seems so welcome I can’t understand how no other developers or businesses have stepped forward with money or the intention to build in the “entertainment district.”
Edmonton’s capital budget (infrastructure like roads, LRT, and recreation facilities) is up for renewal this year, and councillors may have to make some tough calls about taking on debt and prioritizing Edmonton’s projects.
Nothing like a 300% fee hike to start the school year.
12 Edmontonians (one in each of the city’s electoral wards) will be applauded for being good neighbours. Edmonton is well represented in this year’s Alberta Order of Excellence inductions. Included in the list of recipients is longtime CFRN (CTV) broadcaster Bruce Hogle.
An Edmonton war hero has died.
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Alberta’s got its largest oil spill in 36 years.
Speaking of oil and energy… (more…)
April 6 Edmonton Headlines
It’s a big day in Edmonton, Edmonton. At least, it could be big.
City councillors are gathering at City Hall to discuss the downtown arena proposal from the Katz Group. The Mayor wants a decision on moving forward with talks between the City and the owner of the Oilers. A lot of councillors, and probably a lot of people in general, don’t know if there’s even enough information to make a decision. Plus, Daryl Katz seems to want the city to come up with more ways to recoup construction costs.
The mayor says he’d go to the Legislature to ask for some money, even though the province hasn’t been too keen on throwing around arena cash. That came in his State of the City address.
After the address he spoke with the Edmonton Journal’s editorial board (a selection of editors and writers from the paper) and said if this downtown arena doesn’t go ahead the Oilers are gone. If that’s the case I hope to one day ride our LRT to the northwest or Mill Woods, and write a lovely e-mail to Daryl Katz, informing him of how Edmonton’s tax dollars funded a great LRT system. And I’ll wish him well in Quebec City or Kansas or wherever.
Alright, we’ll all be watching that arena stuff today. Now let’s see what else we’ve got…
Final February Headlines
It's so hard to read a newspaper with mitts on.
It’s cold. It’s been snowing. It’s Monday. So let’s start with a new place to grab a drink.
Good points in this Metro column, about asking the downtown arena questions in a proper order.
Speaking of arenas…Northlands hired someone to look at the downtown arena situation. While this paper doesn’t necessarily shoot down the idea of what the Katz Group is proposing for downtown Edmonton, it sure sets some contractual benchmarks that would likely reassure any worried taxpayers.
City Hall is trying to get better at listening. Really, they are.
It’s not always easy to figure out why a city has a lot of homicides.
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Since the provincial budget came down Thursday, there are a few spin-off stories from the weekend…The provincial government is spending the money need on an expensive breast cancer drug. It’s not going to spend as much money on immigration and teaching English though…teachers are worried that cuts will mean fewer teachers in September…
It’s tax time and you’re being warned not to donate to shifty charities or tax shelters.
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The Alberta 55 Plus Winter Games (sports for those over the age of 55) ended on a sombre note in St. Albert, after an athlete died.
Wanna help the Alberta government put together a new trail map?
Hey antiquers, Mildred’s is closing at the end of March, so get your shopping on.
End of February Events
I’m going to kick things off with something I’m planning on attending; Gargamel at the Varscona. It’s a new play from Mostly Water Theatre’s Trent Wilkie (a friend of the website since at least October) about a man who’s lost his girlfriend in a horrific car crash, sustained a head injury, and is being pushed around by a ghostly Louis Riel. Then he fights God.
There’s just something about the ghost of Louis Riel that sealed this for me.
Sticking with theatre, Concrete Theatre presents Jeremy Fisher, a play for younger audiences, at the Stanley A. Milner Library, Friday and Saturday. Fringe Theatre Adventures and Edmonton Opera are wrapping up The Barber of Barrhead this weekend. Legally Blonde: The Musical also wraps up over at the Jubilee.
Sunday, you can help out the Brian Webb Dance Company at their art auction at the Sutton Place Hotel. Or party a little Saturday night, and help out Latitude 53, at 53 Ways to Leave Your Lover: Factory Party Edition.
You might have recently watched Adaptation and be into orchids. Good thing The Orchid Society of Alberta presents Orchid Fair this weekend.
In music… (more…)
Yo..ga…Yoga…Yoga!
Hey, Edmonton, if you’re looking for some yoga, of the free and entry-level variety, the City of Edmonton’s got you covered.
Active Edmonton is offering free yoga on Wednesday (and Wednesdays through June 29) to try and get you moving. So, head on over to the City Room at City Hall tomorrow at lunch. I guarantee yoga will pack on fewer calories than a midday poutine.
A couple of the Wednesday sessions will take place at CBC Centre Stage, in City Centre Mall, so you may want to check the schedule so you don’t freak out a City committee that’s had its meeting run into lunch. Although, that would probably liven up the meeting…
Melted Events
We did not forget about events. We were just, uh, distracted thinking about which ones we’d most like to do this weekend.
Winter Light keeps the good (winter) times going with MELTDOWN! It’s a winter arts party at the Jubilee Auditorium.
Awww...
The World’s Longest Hockey Game goes this weekend, and it just so happens to be a fundraiser for the Cross Cancer Institute.
Tailz is having a Valentine’s pet wash for HART (Humane Animal Rescue Team). I bet Sally is already there, waiting for cute puppies to arrive.
You might be able to Skate, Rattle & Roll Saturday at City Hall. But if this warm weather continues, it doesn’t look promising.
You might want to bring your great, tech, ideas to Startup Weekend.
In sports news…the Edmonton Rush are home to the Washington Stealth tonight. Then the Edmonton Oilers are home Saturday to the Ottawa Senators and Sunday to the Anaheim Ducks.
In music news…a couple of bands that helped us out with music for our election show are going to blow up Wunderbar tonight. It’s Van Gohst’s album release and they’ve got help from N.N. (who safely made it back from Japan Music Week at the end of 2010) and The Blame Its.
There’s a crazy good show at the Myer Horowitz Theatre: The Provincial Archive, Wool on Wolves, and The Deep Dark Woods. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.
Over at The ARTery, tonight is Rockin’ Robin’s Rockin’ Sockhop, with Kaley Bird, Sidney York, and Beekeeper.
On The Rocks has something called Seven String Sunday, with Shane Philip and Jeff Morris this Sunday.
Our friends over at S.I.R.E.N.S. have a Bouquet of Blues for your Valentine’s weekend. It’s a great bluesy show with Bruce Conte, Amos Garrett, and Jimmy Guiboche and the Fender Benders.
Speaking of Valentine’s, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s got Love Will Keep Us Together.
You could always go to the movies. Though, Gregg says you’re better off renting this month.
More Christmas
We know you didn’t get your fill of Christmas over the weekend. Even though there were plenty of holiday goodies.
Good thing the holiday train don’t stop rollin’. (I was just comparing the holiday events to an unstoppable train. But there’s an actual Holiday Train too. That’s in Edmonton on Friday.)
All week you can catch school choirs singing your favourite songs of the season at City Hall. They’ll be there when you take an extra long lunchbreak. You’re encouraged to bring a donation for the Edmonton Food Bank.
And tonight, at the First Presbyterian Church (10025 105 Street), you can catch The Many Moods of Christmas with the Greenwood Singers and and U of A’s Faculty of Education Handbell Ringers. If that’s too short notice, they’ll do it again on December 15, at the All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral (10035 103 Street).
Do you think they can make iPhones?
Sign of the times?
Municipal election signs bloom every three years.
Yesterday afternoon, I sat down with the Internet to catch up on the news. That’s right, I don’t only get my news in the mornings with the edmontonian – sorry Jeff. So what did I see? “No tickets issued to Edmonton election candidates“.
No tickets issued? Wait a moment… Haven’t I seen signs on the side of the road just this past weekend? I don’t want to name names…
But Lee Permann, have you taken any signs down?
If you run during an Edmonton election, you’re supposed to remove signs from public property by 10 days after the election. If you fail to do so, you receive a $250 ticket. Seems simple enough right? You park in a no-parking zone, you get a ticket. You litter, you get a ticket. You ride the LRT without paying, you guessed it – a ticket!
So why is the city not giving tickets to candidates who have littered our streets with election signs? (more…)
Where we’re going we don’t need roads
Roads aren't just for cars anymore.
(Actually we will need roads.)
I had a fantastic Saturday in Edmonton. Here’s where I’ll tell you why it was such a good day.
Of course, the weather was beautiful. Sunny, hot, blue sky with puffy white clouds, just a few minutes of rain early evening…perfect summer day stuff. That always puts a bounce in the step.
But it was more than that. I got a haircut. That’s always nice too, but not really what this is all about.
I saw an Edmonton that was for the urbanite. It was walkable, transit-connected, bike-orientated, local, for just about everyone, and fun.
I tweeted that it was a glimpse into what Edmonton could be in the future, at least on a regular basis, and I stand by that.
Let me walk you through what I did, to explain.
The main part of this story begins on the High Level Bridge Streetcar. I finally got to ride one of the streetcars that wasn’t the Australian one. That one is nice, but they have three of them and I’ve never been on the other two.
I finally got a different ride, on the German streetcar. It’s red and sleek and feels a little more modern than it’s Aussie counterpart. Riding an old, yet new, form of transit from the southside, across the picturesque river valley, is always fun. And it doesn’t take more than 10 minutes to get to the Grandin area (109 Street south of Jasper Avenue).
The streetcar is a good time, but it’s also a great example of re-purposing old tracks for something that can continue to be used. It also makes me sad that we had streetcars a long time ago and they’re all gone now. Especially when you hear about the new, low-floor LRT that will likely be running down the centre of main streets, mimicking that streetcar of old.
Edmontonians are even braving winter to commute to work on their bicycles.
Off the streetcar, I walked about six blocks to the Bikeology Festival happening in Beaver Hills House Park, at Jasper and 105 Street. This is one of Edmonton’s many, many, summer festivals. This one is all about the bicycle though.(June is bike month in Edmonton.)
I chatted with the Edmonton Bicycle and Touring Club about day-trips and evening rides they do in and around Edmonton. They’re seeing a surge in popularity. They also do a handful of rides between Jasper and Banff, some very rugged and others with stops and proper rest places on the way.
The Edmonton Bicycle Commuters’ Society was on hand, talking about the best way to get to work, dressing for the weather, and tune-ups. I really get the sense that Edmonton’s bike scene is growing. If it’s not expanding, people are certainly more open about loving their bicycles, and using them for more than just some summer exercise.
(Don’t forget to track down a map of all the city’s bike trails and routes!)
This year, if you headed just a bit northeast of Bikeology, you found more bikes and more options to driving your car on the road.
The City held its first Park(ed) event on 102 Avenue, between 104 and 100 Streets. In conjunction with Mountain Equipment Co-op’s Bikefest, you saw a lot of two-wheeled options to the automobile. You also saw that roads don’t always have to be for cars and trucks.
Besides bikes and walking, the point of Park(ed) was to take over parking spaces. People got to throw down some AstroTurf (if they wanted) and set up camp (as you can see to the right, sometimes literally) in a plot of pavement usually reserved exclusively for a car, truck, van or motorcycle. It was a great street party, and fun for the whole family, but it was also about re-thinking the city.
We have a few street parties through the summer, including the Art Walk on Whyte Avenue, but here we were, in the downtown core, walking down the middle of the street on a busy Saturday. I loved it. I hope people thought about that fact that we don’t have to build everything to suit the automobile.
We don’t have to turn every street into a giant sidewalk, but we can think about pedestrians, think about neighbourhood use, transit, bike lanes, all kinds of things that both move us around and get us outside to meet the community.
Fellow pedestrians, 104 Street can be ours!
Now, 104 Street, in my opinion, IS a street that could be pedestrian-only, between Jasper and 102 Avenue. If not all the way up to 104 Avenue.
The Downtown Farmers’ Market takes the street over every Saturday through the spring, summer and some of fall, it’s already narrow, it’s becoming one of the greatest examples of a busy core with high population density, and its got plenty of street-level interaction and retail.
The farmers’ market (and the many others in and around Edmonton) is a another example of something we can keep moving toward; local food. It doesn’t have to be local at the exclusion of all other foods, but when something can be grown right here it’s often better to buy it right here. It at least supports the local food economy.
It was great to see Bikeology connected to Park(ed) and the Bikefest, and all of it right by the always busy farmers’ market.
But that’s not all that happened Saturday.
Park(ed)’s reign on the street ended as you moved east down 102 Avenue, but I soon found myself at an energetic Churchill Square. The basketball nets were busy, people were making their way to the fountain at City Hall to cool off, ‘boarders were at the temproary skate park, street food was flowing (summer foods like ice cream and hot dogs), and there was even a rock show this weekend.
That all really melted together nicely, within a few, walkable, blocks. And it was another block to the bus, to ride back to the southside.
We talk a lot about making the city more sustainable, building more LRT tracks and getting more people out of their cars, revitalizing the downtown and older, core, neighbourhoods. There are certainly things that get in the way, like the Edmonton Public School Board shutting down central schools, and our endlessly growing roadways and sprawling suburbs.
But, I think this weekend proved we can become a different kind of city, without even changing all that much.
Churchill Square, on a sunny Sunday
Previous to this latest taste of winter, I enjoyed some of our more spring-like weather and wandered around Sir Winston Churchill Square.
I feel like if I don’t force myself to spend some time in the most obvious of Edmonton spaces I’ll end up running between big box centres and forgetting that there’s some pretty neat stuff here.
First thing I did was take a visual spin around the square. (more…)
Happy LunarNewYearValentine’sFamily Day
Before we go any further (do you love me, will you love me forever…) I just wanted to use this events-related moment to show you a couple of pictures of an event I saw at West Edmonton Mall last weekend. The Edmonton Table Hockey League was battling it out.
Let the tournament begin!
More difficult to score on than the Oilers.
Wow, this is looking to be one busy long weekend.
Sure, you’ve got all that stuff happening over in Vancouver, which will likely occupy some of your TV time but, hey, the weather isn’t the worst its been, it’s a long weekend and there’s lots happening in good old Edmonton.
In other good news, I’m getting some of these fun ideas from ShareEdmonton. You’ll especially want to hit up that website for all kinds of neighbourhood Family Day events happening all over Edmonton.
Let’s start with the most obvious, it’s Family Day on Monday. Not only does that mean an extra day to sleep in, it means more going on.
City Hall (and Churchill Square) and the Alberta Legislature will be open for events. City Hall’s event is part of the ongoing WinterLight festival. WinterLight is also doing something Saturday in Boyle Street Park.
As Sally wrote about earlier today, there’s a kid-friendly play at the Stanley Milner Library. You can catch it tonight, and there are two showings Saturday.
Maybe you want Family Day to be about looking into your family’s past. You can do that over at the Provincial Archives.
As for the Lunar New Year, you can check out the Year of the Tiger’s entrance at the Valley Zoo, Sunday, or in Chinatown. Firecrackers go off at 95 Street and 105 Avenue, Sunday afternoon. I’m sure there are smaller events around too, so check your local listings.
The Uptown Folk Club‘s having a WinterFest of their own. I bet there’ll be music.
Oh, if you’re looking for Valentine’s Day dinner, Mack and Sharon have some ideas. They’ve even peered into the menus and prices. Yes, things do get more expensive for this night out.
Speaking of Valentine’s Day, the Valley Zoo is also offering same-sex speed dating. I don’t know how else you could blow away Edmonton stereotypes than with the civic government hosting this. Bang.
There’s also two nights of “Animal Attractions” for any couple looking to take in the zoo at night.
Whatever you do, if you’re thinking about taking the LRT, remember that there are some service disruptions this weekend.
See you Tuesday, but I’ll bet we’ll all be tired from this exciting weekend!
Image: Environment Canada
Like there wasn’t enough of a storm brewing at City Hall this week……now there’s a tornado watch. (See what I did there?) Probably best to stay inside and follow @mastermaq‘s live-tweeting of today’s council proceedings (it’s under hashtag, #ecca).
Listen Up! (Or watch up?)
These people are your employees.
It’s City Council day!
That means your city councillors are busy discussing important issues that directly (and sometimes nearly immediately) affect your life in the city.
On the list of big issues before summer break is the Scona Pool closure and the City Centre Airport closure. (Do we want to keep anything open anymore?)
You don’t have to head down to City Hall to find out what’s happening, you can listen and watch live, thanks to streaming audio of the meeting.
And it’s almost guaranteed safe for work. I mean, somebody could always go off…
Pt. 3: The stunning conclusion of….
“In the original draft MDP… that came forward, there was the notion of having food security as something that we would look at over the next ten years. But there really wasn’t any protection provided for agricultural lands or a guarantee of protection for agricultural lands within the city boundaries. So that’s what [the GEA] are looking to have.” – Councillor Karen Leibovici
I start today with a quote, because I figure it’s easiest to let someone who knows what they’re talking about do the recap for you.
Remember? Remember how I was learning about City Hall? I know you guys are probably now experts, and all caught up in that sexy City Centre Airport debate, but let me take you back for a moment to the Municipal Development Plan (MDP). Here’s the Coles notes for those of you who weren’t with us previously:
When it crossed councillors’ desks back in the fall of 2008, it looked like the MDP was going to include references to the City protecting agricultural land or property – while also encouraging community and personal gardening as a means of achieving food security (meaning: it looked like some of the existing land at the edge of Edmonton was going to be protected for agriculture – plus we’d all be encouraged to start gardening). By the time June rolled around, the document only referenced community and personal gardening. So what happened?
Well, based on my communications with several city councillors (alas, the Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) didn’t return my email) there were a couple of explanations. Here goes:
Question 1: Why did the protection of agricultural land change?
Councillor Linda Sloan, via e-mail: “The change re: agricultural lands in the MDP I suspect came about as a result of fierce lobbying to protect private property owners rights.“
Councillor Amarjeet Sohi’s executive assistant, Logan Mardhani-Bayne, via email: “During November’s Public Hearing, City Council passed several motions intended to address concerns about food security … Council’s intent was not to remove protection from the northeast agricultural area, but rather to incorporate agricultural use and food security into our overall development plan.
So basically, we’re never going to know exactly why it changed. It’s a very complex issue, and there are a lot of fingers in the proverbial pie – but for me, it seems pretty plausible that people who bought land that was zoned for agriculture became less than thrilled with the MDP suggestion that it would ALWAYS be zoned for agriculture.
Letter from the editor – Jeff – July 6/09
While I’ve now posted an opinion piece on the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), I put up a brief update last week that sent you off into the Internet for lots and lots of information.
I hope you’ve taken the time to read up on the airport debate and have sent off an e-mail (or letter, or even a fax) to your city councillor. They need to know what you want to do with that land.
At first I wanted to write a big, wordy, story about the issue. It was going to have history of the airport, and the debate, and lots of information on who wants to keep it open and who wants to turn it into a new neighbourhood. But why waste your time when a few websites had already provided that information?
I would have written a lengthy story if still employed by a media organization that had to prove to advertisers it had all the information its audience could want. But let’s be honest, sometimes those other sources do it first and/or better. Sometimes newsrooms just use the story from the other guys anyway. (Usually through newswire services.)
The great thing about the Internet is that I can check my ego at the (virtual) door and point you to information. Sometimes that’s better than waxing poetic anyway. the edmontonian doesn’t need to be the only website you read, it just has to be part of your Internet checklist for Edmonton stuff.
Thanks for already Bookmarking us. We hope to keep it worth your while.
Opinion: Close the City Centre Airport
This is not my airport.
I’m one of the many who will be watching Edmonton City Council. They’ve got one vote coming, before they break for the summer, that will impact the city for years to come. No matter which way it goes, there will be fallout. Who knew having two airports could be so contentious?
I didn’t live here when Edmontonians voted to shift all passenger air traffic to the International, in a plebiscite back in 1995. Even when I moved here in 2005, I didn’t even think there was much ado about the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), also known as the “Muni.” Maybe that’s because I, like most people in the city, have never flown on a private or charter flight from the ECCA, taken flight lessons there, or (thankfully) had to be brought in on STARS or a medical flight.
I didn’t even pay much attention when city council asked the administration to give them some ideas of what to do with the airport land, or when the public was first asked for input. I think I first took interest when the mayor gave his State of the City address. He questioned the future of the airport, and challenged Muni users to provide a vision for it in Edmonton’s plans.
That’s where the debate got interesting.
Do something about your airport
The fight for City Centre is on!
This WAS going to be a long, drawn out story about the history of the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) and the debate around its closure.
But instead, I’m just going to point you in the direction of a couple of websites that have all the information you’ll need to make an informed decision. Granted, it’s the decision of Edmonton City Council – but it’s your council and you tell them what to do.
So…poke around the “Save Our Airport” website to find out who wants to keep the municipal airport open, and why…then check out “Not My Airport” for more information, including opinions from those who want the land developed into a medium to high-density neighbourhood.
You can also follow (or participate) in a live debate on the City Centre Airport on Twitter. Jump into conversations with people using the #ecca hashtag, or search #ecca to find out what people are saying.
On July 8 Edmonton City Council meets to decide the fate of the City Centre Airport. It could be their final vote on the matter, ever.
Letter from the Editor – Jeff – June 29/09
Many colours of news coverage.
Here at the edmontonian, I hope we end up bringing you stories you aren’t seeing around town, in mainstream or alternative media.
I think we’ve already done that by getting out a couple of stories (uno, dos) on the new gas station being ripped up on Whyte Avenue.
We’ve also begun to break down City Hall. In order for people to be engaged they need to know how things work and that not everything is a mortal combat between two foes.
One neat thing I’d note in part two of the land-use debate is when Sally talks about being distracted by the person next to her. Some may see that as a throw-away comment, or a blogging style focused on the writer, but I think it does a lot to explain what happens to news coverage before it hits the newspaper, newscast or website.
Reporters get distracted. Strangers loudly unwrap candy and snacks at public meetings, gawkers pepper you with questions, people chat all around you, your Blackberry pings constantly…. So keep that in mind the next time you notice the Journal, Sun, CTV and CHED stories all have different portions of the same meeting or court case.
Yes, the reporters (and editors and producers, if any) will focus in on key moments, and of course, we all notice different details or find meaning in different quotes, but sometimes reporters miss something another other newsroom has – simply because of distractions or stepping out of the room. It’s because we’re human. We can’t get everything.
Remember that next time you hear conspiracy talk of news coverage; media overlords aren’t telling reporters how to cover a story. It’s just that sometimes nature calls – and you miss an interesting moment.
We’re certainly going to miss stuff here at the edmontonian too – but we hope to make it up to you by going beyond what happened, and telling you about why it happened, and what the backstory is. Then, when you want to rant and rave you’ll actually have all the ammo you need.
Pt. 2: Loud-whispering, sonic candy and a soap opera about land.
Alright. When we left off, I was having a very special feelings moment about just what it means to be at a City Council meeting: they’re just people, it’s just a process, we’re all free to be you and me, top notch, good times. But now it’s time for me to put away the Kleenex and the Eskimo kisses and get into the actual details of what happened.
GEA's Michael Walters addresses the crowd
First off, there were A LOT of people there. Hundreds. So many, in fact, that the Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) held a pre-meeting debriefing to explain the details of what was going on, and how to behave in Council Chambers (which was nice, because as I’ve already established, I was pants-wettingly nervous about being there in the first place). The rules were basically just to be quiet. You can’t applaud, cheer, boo, hiss, argue or “rabble rabble rabble” in any way.
"...and the race for the best seat at Folkfest begins!"
We were also instructed that the group was obviously over capacity for council chambers, and that any overflow of people could sit in the lobby or in an adjoining room and watch the whole affair on CCTV(on some pretty pimp TVs, I might add).
And then they let us inside. CHAOS! And by CHAOS!, I mean hundreds of people politely heading up the stairs, and then waiting patiently to get inside.
Once inside, it was standing room only. The council welcomed everyone, made a few jokes about how we’re welcome all the time if we’d like to come back and then they called the first of many speakers for the evening. (more…)
