Headlines: Sept. 26, 2022

· The Pulse
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  • Coun. Ashley Salvador said she'll make a motion this week to ask what can be done about illegal surface parking lots. "When I think about creating a vibrant Downtown, surface parking lots are not the first thing that comes to mind," she said. "This is prime land in our central core, and if we have property owners who are just sitting there speculating, I don't think that's good for anyone."
  • Staff Sgt. Michael Elliott, president of the Edmonton Police Association, is demanding an apology from Bear Clan leader Judith Gale for posting the social media video of a controversial arrest that went viral. Gale has since deleted her TikTok account but refused to apologize. "I will not apologize for looking out for my brothers and sisters – and that's that," she said.
  • Const. Natasha Green, an Edmonton Police Service officer who twice hit the ditch while driving drunk on the Anthony Henday Drive in March, has been fined $1,000 and given a 12-month driving prohibition. But Green remains at work in a "non-operational" role pending an investigation by the service's Professional Standards Branch.
  • Parents in Edgemont are quitting their jobs and moving out of the community due to the absence of a nearby school, according to Brianne Burritt, an Edmonton teacher and the director of communications for the Edgemont Community League. A petition supported by the community league has secured more than 900 signatures so far. "It's almost unbelievable for some people who are new, particularly to Edmonton, that there would even be an area like this that's so built up without a school, but it's quite urgent that we need one," Burritt said.
  • The new Islamic Family and Social Services Association community hub located behind MacEwan University has become a home away from home for many members of Edmonton's Muslim community, CBC reports.
  • The City of Edmonton and Strathcona County unveiled their new hydrogen fuel-cell buses at the Edmonton EV Expo on the weekend. The buses will be piloted in both communities in 2023 as part of the Alberta Zero Emission Hydrogen Transit (AZEHT) initiative.
  • The organizers of Pride Corner on Whyte have resumed their activity now that new safety measures and protocols are in place following recent threats of violence. "We just wanted to come out in full force and show Edmonton we aren't going to back down when people are going to threaten us in this way," organizer Erica Posteraro told Global News.
  • Premier Jason Kenney said at an event on Sept. 24 that he never intended to stay in the job for very long and that had he run for re-election he would have left 12-18 months afterwards. "I was never intending to be in this gig for a long time," he said. Kenney also said he would have gone farther on healthcare reform had it not been for the pandemic. "I think Canadians are now waking up to the reality that we do need fundamental health reform," he said.