Edmonton on February 16, 2011
Centuries from now, when this broken beer bottle is found encased in ice by aliens, they will wonder who we were.
Let’s talk airport, Edmonton.
We can now look at the five proposals for the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) lands. If you’re at City Hall you can see displays from the five companies vying to design the new neighbourhood. But if you’re reading this right now you’re probably at your computer, or on the bus, or somewhere not City Hall, so hit up the website!
I’ve only watched three of the five videos so far, and the third one (from the Netherlands) is my favourite to this point.
The City also released the 2010 Edmonton Transit Service stats, and boy are we flocking to the expanded LRT. 20,000 more people jumped on the train last year, mostly due to the new stops at Southgate and Century Park. There were a lot more riders on buses too.
Starting today, you can give the City some ideas of what to do with the Kinsmen Sports Centre. Mayhaps some kind of giant velcro wall…
Here’s a restaurant you may not want to eat at. We need health reviews posted in restaurant windows.
A pair of Edmonton women are being recognized as top professionals.
*****
The Progressive Conservative leadership race is starting to get crowded, as Alison Redford joins the other three guys. By announcing the next morning she also steals a little ofI’ll get excited when Carl Benito runs for Premier. Benitomania!
*****
Edmonton is among the Canadian cities waiting to hear if we’ll be hosting the 2015 Women’s World Cup, and the 2014 Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Both of soccer.
Those perogies you bought at the grocery store are probably from right here.
David vs. Goliath vs. Airport
By Gregg Beever
I consider myself to be a reasonably politically savvy dude. A steady RSS feed of the CBC, the Edmonton Journal, and Jeff’s daily link dump here at the edmontonian arms me with just enough knowledge to claim my wildly inflammatory political opinions aren’t completely unfounded.
I’m familiar with the majority of the local and national movers and shakers, and I mostly understand political and electoral speak.
Mostly.
Plebiscite is a word that has been kicked around a lot with the coming closure one of the Edmonton City Centre Airport’s (ECCA) runways next month. I understood what the word meant, in context, but had to look it up in the dictionary to be sure I grasped the meaning completely.
There is virtually no way to look up a word in the dictionary without feeling stupid. I know, because I do it often trying to avoid sounding like a dolt in front of you guys.
Now you know why I mostly write about movies. Movies are easy and fun; the petition to keep the ECCA open is complex and not that much fun to read about. So let’s discuss it, shall we?
June 22 Headlines
Some days I wonder what I’ll talk about before I just link to all the headlines of Edmonton.
Some days I actually can’t think of anything and just throw you right in.
Today, today is a day where I’ve got something good for you.
I recommend you head on over to Mack’s blog for a taste of journalism. Mack’s gone beyond the initial coverage of the “new” group fighting to keep the City Centre Airport open. We heard this was some kind of collection of business people with few financial ties to the airport or interests in keeping it open, they just thought it would be a good way to make Edmonton a better city. Go read the story and see how independent of the City Centre they appear.
Then come back for more stuff. Like the fact Edmonton is now home to “The World’s Greatest Salesperson.”
from the Edmonton Journal:
New Edmonton LRT route will link city’s corners (Don’t screw this up, current and future city councils and city administration.)
Affordable housing project mired in fight for funds
Recession turns tables on restaurants
National Aboriginal Day opportunity to share culture
Final arguments begin in landmark Metis hunting trial
And another one from the Journal’s look into, and around, the Syncrude duck deaths…this time we’re talking about reclaiming the oilsands. A verdict in the trial is expected Friday.
Former Alberta Tory minister expected to join Wildrose (They may be landing Fort McMurray area MLA Guy Boutilier. They may also be considering a new constitution for Alberta.)
from the Edmonton Sun:
Edmonton police chief out another month
At last…we have a real soccer team
And, in southern Alberta…flood fears swell…
from 630CHED/iNews880:
Auditor expresses concerns about parks (There could be a tree planting monopoly.)
Speaking of Monopoly…Edmonton is on the Canadian version.
Province’s GreenTRIP to pump $800M into Edmonton-area
DUI charges stand in Khabibulin case
from CBC Edmonton:
Homicide police probe Edmonton blast (Four people are dead, it flattened part of a neighbourhood.)
Edmonton festival fiscally sound (I didn’t think there were questions about the Edmonton jazz fest, but I guess since Calgary cancelled theirs without much notice it was worth checking.)
Scientist apologizes to oilsands researchers
from CTV Edmonton:
Program targets violence in Edmonton bars
Officer dies after cruiser collides with semi (There are dangers beyond bullets for police officers.)
Also, I love how the oilsands are gaining from from the BP oil spill. There may even be a labour drought looming. But I’m concerned there would be talk of bringing in lots of foreign workers since we just heard there are more here now then during the last boom. Which says to me that we’re not exactly using them to fill gaps in the job market.
What a weekend
This is going to be a good one, Edmonton.
Just worry about the weekend. Don't look at Tuesday.
The weather is hot and sunny, Conan O’Brien is here, NHL playoffs are on TV, and the Edmonton Rush are home tonight (7pm) and trying to secure some Rexall Place playoff action for the spring.
I’m always a sucker to mention Winnipeg bands coming through town. Nathan is one such band that is worthy of your ears.
Buddy Guy, the dude who calls Eric Clapton in that cell phone commercial, is playing the Jubilee.
I’m grooving to some We Are Wolves as I tell you they’re playing the Pawn Shop. What did we do before YouTube?
Ghostkeeper is at Brixx. The Old Wives are at New City.
And there’s more!
You won’t believe all the good stuff ShareEdmonton has for you.
It’s time for the Edmonton Women’s Show. Which I predict will, predictably, have some soap opera star in attendance. Yup.
Saturday offers the rare treat of seeing inside the Edmonton Law Courts, cells, courtrooms, and more. Without a summons to appear.
The Winspear Centre will be pop-y with A Chorus of Hits.
And Edmonton celebrates Earth Day this Sunday, April 18. It’s not in Hawrelak this year, it’s at the City Centre Airport. Fort Edmonton Park. (I have no idea why I thought this was at City Centre Airport. This is my bad, not ShareEdmonton’s.)
I’m already tired.
p.s. If you didn’t see it already, Nikki “I Believe” Yanofsky is returning to the Edmonton International Jazz Festival this June.
Airport Closing? Make a video!
If you like videos filled with civic information (and who doesn’t?) you’re going to want to hit up the City of Edmonton’s “City Centre Airport Review” website.
The Review website has not gone away, even though the “review” is now done. The site has shifted gears to highlight the newest information on plans for the Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA) and they even have a sweet video all about closing the City Centre Airport.
I just want to download that great music they have in the video. It’s peppy, but puts me at ease.
Bringing Down the Room Since 2009.
Here’s the neat thing about this week: the whole social media involvement in the #ecca debate is pretty amazing. It’s an incredible time to be alive, because of all the power and possibility that the advance of technology has provided us. Like-minded people now have instant access to each other, and can mobilize in a way that would not have been possible in the past.
But Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. After all, we’re not the first generation who believed themselves to be revolutionary in their ideas. Maybe the difference this time is that we can choose to be self-aware enough to see any cause, even our own, from multiple perspectives.
My dad passed away last year; he was a blue-collar conservative guy, who had been raised in a time and place that valued money and security above more esoteric things, like social justice or civic activism. His number one concern was always money, and he always had a bone to pick with every level of government. Though I hated his politics, having to live with them was one of the great blessings of my life. I’ve learned that no matter what political differences two people may have, you can always find some common ground, somewhere.
When I look to the future, I hope what will make this period of time remarkable is that not only did we use technology to band together, under the intrinsic values we share; but that we won’t make the mistake of becoming blinded by our respective causes, whatever they may be. There’s always another side, Edmonton.
This video is from 1977, and it’s called “Edmonton: Transit in Transition.” (I know what you’re thinking: who would want to watch this? But it was the 1970s. What else were they going to watch, youtube?) For some reason, I found it incredibly humbling to watch an 8mm film online, while I got ready to post it to my webpage with the touch of a button. This is a world that my dad, who never quite wrapped his head around the internet, couldn’t even have imagined existing when he was my age. I hope we can always remember to find a place for him in it as well.
(*insert fart joke to break tension*)
See you next week, #yeg.
Photo by Ryan Engley
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…
Letter to the Editor – July 7/09
Re: “Close the City Centre Airport,” July 6
This park has an amazing glow. Photo: Janine Edwards
While visiting one of my fast-becoming-favourite Edmonton-based websites, I was surprised to find an editorial on closing the Edmonton City Centre Airport. I think everyone is missing the big picture here in all this debate.
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.
