- With an 11-2 vote, city council has approved $18.3 million to support the conversion of the Coliseum Inn into 98 units of supportive housing. "This is preventative medicine," said Coun. Ashley Salvador, who represents the area. Councillors Jennifer Rice and Karen Principe were opposed.
- Transport Canada's Airport Critical Infrastructure Program is slated to provide $10.4 million in funding to the Edmonton International Airport to help it recover from the pandemic and to improve its IT infrastructure and cybersecurity.
- Wild swings in Edmonton's weather are causing issues for city streets, with chunks of ice blocking and subsequently flooding catchment basins. Andrew Grant, the city's general supervisor of infrastructure operations, said 1,003 of these have been cleared out of a total of 1,468 requests. "Crews are working 24 hours a day to clear these," he said.
- For Burn Awareness Week (Feb. 6-12), the city is reminding residents that the majority of home fires start in the kitchen and that Edmonton Fire Rescue Services responded to 150 such calls last year.
- Local intensive care physician Dr. Darren Markland says that it's too soon for the province to end the Restrictions Exemption Program, citing high hospitalization rates. Nearly half of the UCP caucus have released statements asking for the program to be removed or have expressed support for easing public health restrictions.
- The Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association is calling on the province to release more data about overdoses and overdose deaths. Alberta's substance use surveillance dashboard was last updated in January, but it only contains overdose death data until last October.
- Harm reduction organizations Moms Stop the Harm and EACH+EVERY have resigned from a provincial committee examining the potential of a safe supply of drugs to curb opioid deaths. On Friday, four opposition MLAs also resigned from the committee. "Instead of studying this important question of public health policy in good faith, UCP members are clearly intent on staging an extended political stunt. This is unconscionable," a letter from the NDP MLAs said.
- Aspiring Olympic skier Britt Richardson — who is ranked Alberta's fastest 18-year-old giant slalom skier — has strong ties to Edmonton. Her mother, also a skier, was born in the city and studied at the University of Alberta before ultimately settling in Canmore. Richardson is watching the Beijing Winter Olympics from home this week but has her sights set on representing Canada at the 2026 Italian Winter Olympics.
- Black hockey players in Alberta say that there needs to be more work done to combat racism and promote inclusion in the sport.
- Edify caught up with Hunter for a non-verbal interview, in which the Edmonton Oilers' mascot signed his answers, dabbed, and vogued.
Headlines
By Mack Male and Doug Johnson