The Pulse: Sept. 23, 2021

Here's what you need to know about Edmonton today.

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Essentials

  • 15: Sunny. Wind becoming northwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 near noon. High 15. (forecast)
  • 20yrs: Alberta reported its first COVID-19 death of a person under 20 years old. (details)

YEGPodfest

Playing it by ear: YEGPodfest celebrates audio storytelling with online festival


By Paul Blinov in the Arts Roundup

No matter how niche an interest of yours is, there's probably a podcast about it.

The second-annual YEGPodfest is celebrating everything podcasts have to offer with three days of online conversations, panels, and workshops.

"The great thing about podcasting is that the means of production and dissemination are easily available, so there's an inherent diversity of voices and content out there," festival producer Fawnda Mithrush told Taproot.

That diversity is on display in YEGPodfest's lineup — this year's events range from book-focused panel discussions to a conversation with the host of LifeJolt, a podcast about women who have experienced (or are experiencing) Canada's correctional system. There are also masterclasses on audio storytelling and improving podcast listenership, and more.

While there isn't a particular theme to the festival's programming, Mithrush notes some patterns have emerged in the final lineup.

"It was almost impossible to avoid discussions on the political landscape," she says. "Especially with shows like The Strategists, Women of ABpoli, and The Flamethrowers, there are some fascinating angles on how different voices shape our perceptions and awareness of politics."

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Headlines


By Michelle Ferguson

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A map of Edmonton's Karhiio ward

Karhiio: Where the candidates stand on the People's Agenda


By Karen Unland

Taproot asked candidates to complete a 30-question survey based on what we heard when we asked what key issues people wanted the candidates to be talking about as they compete for votes in the 2021 municipal election.

Here are the answers we've received so far from the candidates in Karhiio:

We have not yet received finalized surveys from Muhammad Herman Gill or Sana Kakar. We will update the links above when we receive them.

Want to see which candidates line up best with your own stances? Take the survey and find out.

For more coverage of the 2021 municipal election in Edmonton, visit edmonton.taproot.vote. And for more on the origins of this project, visit our People's Agenda page.

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A clipping from Sept. 23, 1974.

A moment in history: Sept. 23, 1974


By Scott Lilwall

On this day in 1974, one of Edmonton's oldest churches was seeking a new congregation after being turned into a nightclub.

The 1974 version of a nightclub might be a bit different from what we're used to in 2021, with Friar's boasting dancing, dinner, and a show by the Lee Kenniston Set lounge band.

The impressive brick building that housed the church and then a nightclub has been on 96th Street for more than a century. In its early days, the church served as a vital part of the community for Edmonton's growing German community.

German-speaking residents were rare in Edmonton's early days as a town, with the 1885 census counting only about a dozen people of German origin in the area. As railways grew and transportation became easier, more arrived and by the turn of the century, German-speaking arrivals from Germany, Russia, Austria, and the United States began to settle in and around the city.

The First German Baptist Church was founded in 1900 - the building was quite small, with room for only about 50 people. That proved to be inadequate for a growing community, and it was expanded twice over the next decade. Eventually, the building was sold and a new, larger church was built in the same location.

The church served as a gathering spot for the city's German-speaking community for decades. Shortly after the Second World War began, the church changed its name to Central Baptist and began offering English-language services.

In the 1960s, most of the church's congregation began to move to Edmonton's rapidly expanding suburbs. In 1967, the Central Baptist followed, moving to the south side. The building that had once been the centre of the community sat empty for awhile, before being converted into a steakhouse and eventually Friar's nightclub. By the end of the 1970s, Friar's became a popular disco spot in the city.

However, the nightclub eventually shutdown and the building was abandoned until 1993 when a new owner returned it to its religious roots. It became the Mustard Seed Church, a Christian non-profit that provides support services to unhoused and vulnerable people. Since then, it has provided food, clothing and emergency shelter for Edmonton's unhoused, and has been a partner in the city's plan to eradicate homelessness. As temperatures drop this fall, the Mustard Seed recently put the call out for donations of cold-weather clothing, as well as hygiene products.

This is based on a clipping found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse — follow @VintageEdmonton for daily ephemera via Twitter.

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Edmonton Short Film Festival

Weekend agenda: Sept. 23-26, 2021


By Andy Trussler

Photo: Edmonton Short Film Festival/Candace Makowichuk

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