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· The Pulse
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  • The Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition (ERVCC), which has fought for years to overturn city council's 2020 decision to approve rezoning for the E.L. Smith Solar Farm, must pay $32,689.51 to cover some of EPCOR's legal fees, a provincial judge has ruled. ERVCC's judicial review was dismissed in January, but chair Kristine Kowalchuk said the group has filed a notice of appeal. EPCOR said it spent nearly $240,000 to defend the project and was hoping to recover about 45%.
  • City council has approved a rezoning application for a 40 to 45-storey tower proposed by Stantec and Limak Investments at the site of the Horne & Pitfield warehouse on 103 Avenue at 104 Street. The developers have pledged to preserve the brick facades of the 111-year-old building and take responsibility for their maintenance as a municipal historic resource. "We've landed on a decent compromise to retain the two key facades of the building that have the most prominence and profile to the surrounding streets," said David Johnston, the city's principal heritage planner, noting that high demand is pressuring the city to approve development projects in the area.
  • Police Chief Dale McFee said he remains opposed to decriminalizing drug possession despite city council's decision earlier this week to pursue an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. "There's nothing I've seen in evidence to show that this will actually make anything better," he said.
  • Seven youths have been charged with attempted murder in the case of sixteen-year-old Karanveer Sahota, who passed away last week following an attack outside McNally High School. Edmonton Police Service deputy chief Kevin Brezinski said the charges may be updated as they were laid before Sahota's death.
  • Last week, city council's executive committee unanimously accepted a report on the progress of the Edmonton Economic Action Plan, a 10-year road map approved by council in 2021. Stephanie McCabe, the city's deputy manager of urban planning and economy, said action the plan is "on track" with 2,222 building permits issued for industrial, commercial, and institutional projects in 2021.
  • Five educational plaques explaining the history of the South Alberta Light Horse Regiment, which has squadrons in Edmonton and Medicine Hat, were unveiled in Light Horse park on Wednesday. The plaques, detailing the regiment's participation in both world wars, were developed with help from the Dutch Canadian Club, which helped put up an Anne Frank statue in the same park last summer.
  • Parks Canada announced that 40 wood bison from Elk Island National Park have been safely relocated to Alaska as part of an ongoing restoration project that has successfully established a population of 100 wood bison in the region since 2015. Elk Island has relocated almost 3,000 plains and wood bison to conservation groups and Indigenous groups over the past 100 years.
  • The Edmonton Oil Kings defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-1 at Rogers Place on April 21 to kick off their Western Hockey League playoff series. The Oil Kings finished second in the regular season.