The Pulse: March 10, 2021

The City of Leduc is partnering with TELUS to bring PureFibre internet service to the city's downtown core over the next two years.

TELUS will fund and oversee the project, which will include engagement with business properties in the area prior to construction. A construction schedule will be released in the future but will cover the city's downtown, business parks, and Leduc Common.

Work is expected to be completed by the fall of 2022. 

“As a community invested in the social and economic development of our region, the City of Leduc recognizes the importance of upgrading broadband connectivity for businesses and has explored options with private telecommunications companies to enhance connectivity to businesses in our city over the past several years," Mayor Bob Young told Taproot. 

"We are confident that the partnership with TELUS to bring PureFibre internet service to our business community will have a significant positive impact on the success and viability of businesses in our city, and will also enable the broader region to benefit from better connectivity in the long term."

• Albertans born in 1957, or 1972 if Indigenous, can start booking appointments for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on March 10. The vaccine is only recommended for adults 18-64 who don't have a chronic illness. Here are the details about how to book a COVID-19 vaccine as the province opens up the age range.
• Entos Pharmaceuticals said its COVID-19 vaccine is ready for Phase 1 clinical trials. "If I told you five years ago that a small company that started out with a dozen people brought a new vaccine from concept to phase one trials in ten months, you'd say it couldn't happen," said John Lewis, Entos CEO.
• Alberta's finance minister said more information about the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline will come as the province prepares its year-end financial report for 2020-21.
• "A heritage building in downtown Edmonton is primed for a second chance to shine while simultaneously offering a new lease on life to people who identify as women and are struggling with poverty or homelessness," reports Global News, who explained Stovel Block will aim to house up to 30 people who identify as women.
• Edmonton-based homeless advocate Vee Duncan is set to finish a 300-kilometre walk to raise awareness for Indigenous mental health and homelessness, according to CBC News.
• A nail salon owner rented her space for a birthday party last weekend, which turned into a party with more than 125 people and a DJ. Khrome Beauty Lounge rented the space in an effort to earn some extra money during the pandemic.

University of Alberta health research is getting a funding boost from the federal government through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to advance two projects: one that aims to better understand chronic health conditions and develop potential treatments, and another that investigates the impact of toxins on people’s health.

CFI is investing $3.9 million to support the U of A's Protein Misfolding Scientific Exploration (ProMiSE) team, led by David Westaway, who is the director of the university’s Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases.

Westaway said that the new infrastructure funding will help his team advance its understanding of misfolded proteins linked with dementia, and eventually develop potential treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and ALS.

"Proteins do useful things, they carry out actions, and those actions depend on them being in a specific shape, but if proteins get into the wrong shape, they will start performing malicious actions that damage our cells," explained Westaway.

This week's word is "astam" which means "come here" in Cree. Here's how to pronounce it.

The Cree word of the week was featured by local strategic communications agency Naheyawin in 2018. Republished with permission!