The Pulse: Nov. 3, 2021

Edmonton is finally getting its own mountain bike park, adding to already established skills areas in the region in Devon and Strathcona County.

The park will offer a dedicated space for Edmontonians to learn and practice mountain biking. It is slated to be built in Queen Elizabeth Park — the onetime site of a wastewater treatment plant — and will sit at the heart of more than 150 kilometres of single-track trails in the city. The Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance (EMBA) is working to design and build the park through the City of Edmonton's Community Group Led Construction Projects process.

"Skills parks give users a safe and engineered space to progress their skills, no matter their skill level. We are hoping that the park serves as a stepping stone to improving mountain biking in the city as a whole," said Josh Nowochin, a director for EMBA and chair of its bike park committee.

Nowochin added that Edmonton's single-track is a "well-kept secret" and the new bike park could help draw more visitors to the city. But that's still farther in the future — Nowochin told Taproot that they're aiming for it to be complete by the end of 2023.

In the meantime, EMBA is inviting Edmontonians to fill out a survey weighing in on the design, which will be used to determine which skill-building features and new single-track trails will be built. Once that's decided, the association will embark on fundraising for the park, seeking donations, grants and other forms of financial support from various levels of government, businesses, the community, and others.

• Five years into its existence, ICE District is looking ahead to bringing more residential development downtown in 2022. Despite drops in revenue during the pandemic, the community revitalization levy that helps support ICE District is projected to generate between $710 million and $825 million, which is less than the 2019 forecast, but "is sufficient to fund all currently approved projects and most or all of the unfunded downtown catalyst projects," the city told Global News.
• Edmonton's integrity commissioner, Jamie Pytel, has been appointed to review HR policies for staff at the Alberta legislature in the wake of a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and excessive drinking last fall.
• The family of a woman who was struck and killed by a train in southeast Edmonton is calling for pedestrian barriers at the intersection of the CN Rail line and Maple Road.
• A 19-year-old from Little Red River Cree Nation alleges that an Edmonton police officer kicked him in the head in December of 2020, leaving him with a hole in his skull, reports the Edmonton Journal. Pacey Dumas and his family are suing Const. Ben Todd, Chief Dale McFee, and six unidentified officers for damages in a case that has been under investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team for months.
• New parking restrictions came into effect in the Wolf Willow neighbourhood on Nov. 1, permitting only residents to park near a popular trailhead. However, other residents have noticed that trail users are parking just outside the restriction zone, creating traffic problems elsewhere in the neighbourhood.
• The City of Edmonton posted a photo of modular supportive housing units being installed at King Edward Park. The development will eventually be home to at least 30 people exiting homelessness.

Edify Magazine's annual Top 40 Under 40 list is out, and several Edmontonians who work in health innovation and health care made the list. Here's a look at who they are.

Raja Mita is the executive director of health innovation for Alberta Innovates. He has a PhD in experimental cancer treatments, and works with health innovators across the province "to break down barriers, deliver their discoveries to clinics, and help patients as soon as possible."

Chris Terriff and Dr. Marc Curial (who is also an emergency physician at Misericordia Community Hospital) co-founded MACH32 in 2019. The company focuses on new medical devices: it produced an aerosol containment tent to help keep health-care workers safe during the pandemic, and is currently working on an "EpiPen for trauma."

Two other honourees are tackling the opioid crisis: Dr. Josh Fanaeian, an emergency physician at Royal Alexandra Hospital, has worked to create a treatment protocol for people with an opioid use disorder, and Dr. Mohit Singh is the chief of addiction medicine for Alberta Health Services Edmonton Zone.

"I love that so many young Edmontonians are dedicating their careers and time to making real-world improvements in health and things that impact the social determinants of health. It gives me hope for the future," Clare Gibson, one of the judges for this year's competition, told Taproot.

Clare Gibson is a former health researcher and the founder of Allegorical Alchemy, which specializes in films relating to health and social issues.