May 20 Edmonton Headlines
Good Friday to you, Edmonton. Start with the downtown arena? OK!
The downtown arena is going to need money from the provincial and/or federal governments. While the provincial government says they won’t give money to a private business, I wonder if that’s not why the potential deal has the City of Edmonton owning the land and building, so it could be argued it’s a public facility. The ask better come quick, since a couple of potential Conservative premiers are ruling out the money.
The spend-crazy NDP don’t want tax money to go to the Katz Group’s new Oilers home. Because they hate the Oilers? Edmonton? Freedom? What’s with everyone wanting questions answered on this thing? Just get excited already. And, I’m sure school boards considering cutting teachers and staff to balance their budgets would agree, the Alberta government should fund the arena.
Does the arena herald a new era for downtown Edmonton? I would have argued 104 Street, a centralizing MacEwan University campus, LRT connections to the west and southeast, Capital Boulevard, and 109 Street’s makeover were doing that already.
OK, that’s the arena, now let’s see what else is going on. And there really is other stuff going on. (more…)
Back in Session Headlines
Good, snowy, morning to you Edmonton. We knew it couldn’t hold off forever.
Today is the first day of the fall sitting of the Alberta Legislature. Yay.
That means news stories will shift from all that municipal stuff we’ve been hearing about, to health care. There are some other things going on provincially (there’s always the oilsands) but health care reform and emergency rooms are dominating the headlines as the session begins.
Perhaps we’ll see a new head of Alberta Health Services soon. The health minister and CEO don’t always seem to be on the same page.
There are actually issues beyond health care and oil to talk about.
We could be looking at helmet laws for ATV and snowmobile riders, anger over a non-hospital in Sherwood Park, anger over a power line in the Capital region, the government can always refine child support rules, the Wildrose Alliance needs to start taking down the government a peg or two if it’s serious about anything (even if they aren’t popular in Edmonton), and progressives will continue to search themselves for ways to win seats in a long right-of-centre province.
Oh, and Syncrude got smacked with a $3-million fine on Friday, for the dead ducks. They’ll be paying a large portion of that fine to environmental groups, research, and training.
Come on, you’ve been missing Premier Ed… (more…)
A smattering of Canada Day
Here’s a few things we got up to on Canada’s birthday.
FIREWORKS!
Did you find a nice spot in the river valley to watch the fireworks? Maybe you saw them down in Mill Woods?
Watching dogs run and jump through an obstacle course as part of the Canada Day celebrations at the Alberta Legislature.
Sometimes they slipped and flipped off course. But in a cute way.
And, of course, what’s a holiday without reduced transit service to pack the trains and buses?
Transit boss #3: "I'm telling you guys, nobody will use ETS on a holiday full of big events."
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!
Why politics matter
Dustin McNichol is stepping up to talk politics here at the edmontonian. Politics matter. Really.
Dear Albertans,
Can we talk…about politics? Just for a little while? I promise I’ll be brief.
Before your eyes glaze over and you brush me off, let me explain. I know that politics is boring. Of course it is—who wants to pay attention to a bunch of old men in suits who drone on all day about nothing? Some of them have questionable judgment. I know that it’s often seen as childish, a waste of time, useless, irrelevant, etc…
Politics is full of strange rules and follows an even stranger logic. And, at the end of the day, it has no relevance on us or what we do with our lives anyway, right?
Wrong. (more…)
What exactly is a Byelection?
This is Paul Hinman's new house. Or something.
We know that not everyone has time to pay attention to politics.
We know that a lot of political information is forgotten after high school.
We know.
And we want to break things down so everybody can be an engaged citizen.
Part 1 of “Muddling Through: The Strange World of Provincial Politics”
By Dustin McNichol
Yesterday, Albertans got a chance to vote. But not all of us. Only those in the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore, where Wildrose Alliance candidate Paul Hinman won the provincial byelection.
A byelection occurs when an elected member of the provincial legislature vacates his or her seat at the legislature. Remember, every electoral constituency in the province gets one seat, and one member in each seat represents one constituency. Still with me? Good. (more…)
LEGO™slature!
So, I was having a lovely breakfast with some friends last weekend when my pal Ryan (of the blog GrandeFullBody) told me a magical tale of a replica of the Alberta Legislature made entirely of Lego. Obviously, I called him a liar, right to his stupid face. But then he then backed it up with this picture. (Sorry, buddy.)
Now, those of you in the know are going to be all like, “yeah, Sally, way to discover something that we knew about in 2005.” And I will reply, “Look, don’t ruin this for me. I did not live here in 2005. And based on the fact that rents have doubled since then, I’m going to say there are probably a couple of new faces in Edmonton who will find this to be completely new, completely dazzling information.”
YES, this is 4 years old. But that doesn’t change that it is GREAT. In researching (read = googling) the LEGO™slature and its history, I have learned 2 things: one, that apparently “legoslature” is a common American misspelling of “legislature”, and two, that it was created in honor of the provincial Centennial in 2005, by the Northern Alberta Lego Users Group.
…and just in case this ISN’T rad enough for you, how about THIS? THAT IS A LOT OF LEGO™, people. Did I just blow your mind grapes?
Anyway, I found this press release from 2008 that says the model is located in the East-West pedway of the Legislature. When I called Visitor Services to confirm it was still located there, the operator plainly informed me that it was, because it’s “too big to move.” GOLD, JERRY. GOLD! Thanks Ryan!
I love the smell of chlorine in the morning.
What, what, WHAT?! It seems the chain link fences have come down and the fountains have gone up on the Legislature Grounds. Staff were cleaning up the wading pool early this morning, which must mean that summer has finally arrived. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Jeff in the pool this summer; he prefers the Leg Grounds to city pools because of his whole never-nude thing.
