- The City of Edmonton faces an $88 million budget gap for 2025, driven by inflation, revenue shortfalls, and new city initiatives, which could lead to a property tax increase of up to 13% without intervention. The current four-year budget calls for a 7% tax increase next year. Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said Edmontonians are "tapped out" following last year's 8.9% tax increase. "We have to start saying no...in order to manage the finances of the city," Sohi said. Chief financial officer Stacey Padbury told city council's executive committee that finding $60 million per year in savings or cuts without affecting core services, as council directed in 2022, "is almost impossible."
- Edmonton city council has approved the sale of naming rights for the Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre. As part of a 10-year sponsorship agreement, the centre will soon be renamed the Booster Juice Recreation Centre in Terwillegar, or simply the "Booster Juice Recreation Centre." The facility will continue to be operated by the City of Edmonton, with no changes to day-to-day operations. The sponsorship fee remains confidential to protect the city's financial interests in future renaming opportunities. Booster Juice was founded in Sherwood Park in 1999 and is headquartered in Edmonton.
- An undisclosed number of City of Edmonton, Edmonton Public Library, and Edmonton Police Service employees and their families had their data exposed due to a data breach blamed on a contractor. On Aug. 12, employees received a memo stating that a contractor with "limited" access to pension and benefits data exposed it to a third party. The exposed data includes information about family members listed as dependents, earnings information, and employee numbers.
- Although Edmonton is seeing relatively few mosquitoes this season, an invasive species called Culex pipiens is on the rise in Alberta. The species, first detected in Edmonton in 2018, is the primary vector of the West Nile virus in North America. Population numbers are driven more by heat than precipitation, said City of Edmonton bug scientist Mike Jenkins. Alberta typically sees a relatively low number of West Nile cases annually, with spikes every 5-10 years. In 2018, the most recent spike, Canada recorded 437 cases, with 50 in Alberta.
- Chris Wiebe, a lawyer who has worked with the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, wrote an op-ed arguing that the City of Edmonton's encampment evictions did more harm than good. After the Edmonton Police Service ramped up its efforts to remove encampments in January, provincial data showed a steep increase in frostbite-related amputations among Edmontonians without a fixed address. Meanwhile, Homeward Trust data indicates that the number of people living outdoors has increased since January.
- Some residents of the Allard neighborhood are upset that the City of Edmonton removed benches and a bridge from their community park. The benches, installed by a resident during the COVID-19 pandemic, were removed for breaking permitting requirements, according to administration. The bridge, which connected Allard and Cavanagh over a ravine, was considered unsafe, but residents feel it provided a convenient link between the communities.
- Bradlee Whidden, a policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, wrote an op-ed calling for the City of Edmonton to support businesses affected by construction, such as those impacted by the ongoing construction on Stony Plain Road. In June, council's executive committee voted to delay a draft policy to offer financial assistance, but the committee resumed deliberations on Aug. 14. The policy proposes dedicating 0.02% of the capital budget to support 100 businesses, which Whidden calls a "minuscule sum."
- The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating a fatal police shooting that occurred in south Edmonton at about 6am on Aug. 14. Edmonton Police Service officers with the unit that investigates child exploitation were executing a search warrant at a home in the Sakaw neighborhood. A suspect was shot inside the home after stabbing a police officer and was declared dead at the scene. The officer was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
- Alberta Health Services says there is a low risk of contracting mpox — formerly called "monkeypox" — in Alberta. So far this year, only seven cases have been reported in the province. Last year, three cases were reported, and in 2022 there were 44. This week, the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern for the second time. During the 2022-2023 outbreak, Canada recorded 1,541 cases and zero deaths.
Headlines: Aug. 15, 2024
By Kevin Holowack