A balloon? You think a balloon one day a year will make up for you being a jerk? Or, at least something like that is how I picture this little guy getting left behind.

Hey, just because Valentine’s Day is over doesn’t mean we don’t love you, Edmonton. We’ll try to keep showing it.

On a more serious February 14 note, it’s a day to march and remember murdered and missing women.

A dangerous offender hearing is on to decide whether a man who attacked Edmonton bus driver Tom Bregg should be sent to prison without a release date.

Clear that ice on your sidewalk. You can avoid a bylaw ticket if you at least sand the crap out of all that ice.

An Edmonton police officer had her house burned down, and will likely end up testifying as a victim of crime instead of just an investigating officer.

99 Street and Scona Road is going to be one of the largest construction closures of 2011. So, you probably want to avoid that, starting in May.

Let’s see what else is going on…

Alberta Health Services says more hospital beds have improved emergency room wait times 20 to 20 percent. Or was it 2 to 3 percent…

Alberta’s political parties say post-secondary education could do better and have more funding, but they can’t agree on how that’s going to happen.

The U of A is getting ready to send its court sports (like basketball and volleyball) to the South Campus, so that means 50 years of history have a final chapter at its main gym.

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Looks like Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA Doug Griffiths is next into the race to replace Premier Ed Stelmach. I wonder where 630CHED/iNews880 learned of this news… (Check that first Griffiths link for a possible answer.)

The discussion around the way that story was presented was whether a newsroom claiming to have “learned” something meant they were trying to pass themselves off as the breaker of said news to their audience or if they were slyly admitting to their audience they weren’t first with the news but just didn’t disclose its source. Either way it’s old school news habits when a newsroom tries to pretend it’s the only source of information around. Your audience is smarter than that.

Maybe this post about sportswriters jumping over each other to post team lineups makes the point even better than I do.

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Weird, the website Griffiths is pointing people to in a news release isn’t live yet. (As I write this, anyway.)

Maybe fancier VLTs will get you gambling a little more. But totally within your limit, of course. Of course.

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You want to go to a meeting and tell Shaw what you think about usage based Internet rates? You better be one of the lucky 80. The rest of us can phone and e-mail our rants.

South Edmonton Common is getting a Lowe’s. Yay.

Well Edmontonians, if you haven’t gotten a gift for today, because you don’t need to I applaud you.

1. Traveling Tickle Trunk is CLOSED on Mondays! So picking up a toy may be a little bit tricky. Take a peek at their online store to see what’s available and just say “It’s coming!!!”
2. Kerstins IS open today. Go forth and pick up some top-quality chocolate!
3. I was in Chapters the other day and they have a lot of great books on the Kama Sutra. Sadly not the pop-up ones, but most had pretty good pictures.
4. Buy a bong and get a thong…classy!

Good luck. May the force be with you. And for all you single people out there, it’s just another day of the year with an even better day following it; February 15 is truly awesome because all the chocolate goes on sale.

Love LMC.

The event is about showing some love for Alberta artists. Oh, and it’s a protest to kick off a campaign to ask for more arts funding from the provincial government. The campaign is going to be called “I Love Alberta Art.”

So, if you want to check out a flash mob you should be at Churchill Square at 12:30.

Update: I hit up Wikipedia and, no, this isn’t technically a flash mob. I’m such a nerd.

Faxes are still the best way to send Valentine's greetings.

We love you, Edmonton. Happy Balemtime’s.

The homicide involving Edmonton’s Somali community, and a police detective’s reaction is still a story. The acting police chief (miss you, Mike Boyd) has written a letter apologizing for the statements about a lack of help with the police investigation. This is going to be one of the rare times I agree with the only criminologist Edmonton seems to have and say that if police aren’t getting help from witnesses to a crime then officers are allowed to say that.

Speaking of homicides…what’s up with all the killing this year?

The Edmonton Energy is back, for a full season this year. Oh, the Energy is our basketball team.

There’s plenty going on today…

Police across the province will soon have access to one database of information. This is a story worth reading.

Some interesting points to ponder after an ATV fatality inquiry. The key thing to watch the provincial government tackle will be age restrictions for drivers AND riders of the off-road vehicles.

There are going to be more cataract surgeries in Alberta. Meanwhile…at the Wildrose Alliance…private surgeries are being bandied about as the answer to healthcare troubles…

A couple of tweaks to rules will allow immigration officers to go into women’s shelters looking for people that may be on lists to be deported, though it appears it will be a policy with lots of discretion. And the shelters don’t have to tell officers of the Canada Border Services Agency if the woman in question is inside.

The Journal’s Todd Babiak went bowling. While that’s not exactly a great story, unless you love bowling, it is interesting to note who he was tossing strikes with. He was out with a representative of the Alberta Party, the Alberta Liberals, and a progressive Alberta Progressive Conservative.

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If you’re still looking for some dinner reservations tonight, check out Mack and Sharon’s rundown on what sounds the best. And The Charrette has some Edmonton Valentines if you forget to buy a card.

Edmonton’s BioWare continues to be recognized for fantastic work in video games. Speaking of tech-stuff…Startup Weekend just happened, over the weekend, and those crazy developers got some love in the news media. Good to see. Also interesting to see the games, software, and websites that emerged from 50-or-so hours of frantic work.

Edmonton’s got a new historic home.

And here’s a neat story about a Barrhead soldier who learned Pashto so he could talk to people in Afghanistan.

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.