The Pulse: June 10, 2022

Bike Index, the non-profit bike registry that makes it easier to reunite cyclists with their stolen bikes, appears to be more popular in Edmonton than anywhere else in Canada.

The U.S.-based website allows people to register their bikes for free by inputting a serial number, description, pictures, and contact information. It has been particularly embraced in the Edmonton region, with more than 50 retailers, police services, and cycling organizations listed on the site as partners.

"There are a small handful of distinct people that are solely responsible for us being in Alberta," Bike Index co-founder Bryan Hance said, pointing to the people behind the Stolen Bikes Edmonton and Stolen Bikes Calgary Facebook groups as the first to push bike owners to use the platform. Following their lead, dozens of partners have come on board, including the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) in 2019.

EPS averages about 3,500 bike-theft reports per year, said Const. Kenny McKinnon. Prior to partnering with Bike Index, 50 to 100 bikes were recovered each year, he estimated. Since the registration system was integrated into EPS operations, nearly 100,000 people have registered their bikes in Edmonton, and recoveries have steadily risen: 123 in 2019, 307 in 2020, and more than 600 in 2021. (These figures don't include unregistered bikes that were recovered or bikes returned without police involvement.)

McKinnon said that when he first proposed that EPS develop a bike registry of its own, the service didn't share his sense of urgency.

"When I chatted with them, they said, 'Yeah, we might be able to take a look at it within the next couple years,'" McKinnon remembered. "I was like, well, this is a problem right now."

McKinnon and Det. Dana Gehring began researching the idea. They looked first to other jurisdictions like Vancouver, the bike theft capital of Canada, which had noteworthy success with the Project 529 registry program. But then they realized several local shops were already using Bike Index.

• A Healthy Streets Operations Centre in Chinatown is part of the public safety plan for the downtown core and transit system announced by the city on June 9 in response to demand from Justice Minister Tyler Shandro. The hub will provide services similar to the many other outreach teams that currently patrol downtown streets and transit corridors. Coun. Tim Cartmell told Postmedia the hub has resources to run for about three months, and he'll be seeking another $5 million at a future council meeting. The city also acted on its promise of a $300,000 grant for increased security for Chinatown businesses. After announcing the plan, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi made five requests to the provincial government regarding police funding, homelessness, shelter standards, addictions, and mental health. "If our provincial government is really serious about the safety and well-being of Edmontonians and they've asked us to step up — we have stepped up — and I hope they will step up as well," Sohi said. "Because a lot of the areas, the root causes of crime are houselessness, mental health, addictions, crisis, and those are provincial areas of responsibility."
• Ambulances in the metro region responded to more calls in Edmonton than they did in their home municipalities last year, according to Alberta Health Services data obtained by the Alberta NDP. The figures show ambulances from St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Fort Saskatchewan, and Strathcona County were diverted hundreds of times because of a shortage of ambulances in Edmonton. That's the opposite of what should be happening, Mike Parker of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta told Postmedia. "Edmonton should actually be the hub to back up those other communities … the one that has the available resources to support outlying areas," he said.
• Design students from MacEwan University came up with some design solutions to transit safety issues as part of a partnership with Edmonton Transit Services. Third-year student Vik Chu conceptualized an app that lets trusted contacts know when a trip is completed successfully, while fourth-year student Lisa Cox developed infographics about existing safety tools that will soon be implemented by ETS.
• Alberta has reported 1,247 COVID-related deaths this year compared to 1,038 over the same period in 2021, an increase explained by two damaging Omicron waves that hit harder than Delta. "I think the amount (of deaths) is still staggering for those of us in health care to see," said Dr. Neeja Bakshi of the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Health Minister Jason Copping said the sixth wave seems to have passed.
• The Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital has spent 20 years helping trans and gender-diverse Edmontonians develop a voice that aligns with their gender expression. The voice and resonance program used to get about five referrals a year, but it now receives up to 60 clients annually. "Globally, we're seeing that the need for service outstrips the resources," said Teresa Hardy, a speech pathologist with the program. "But thankfully, more and more people are getting trained to provide the service."
• A jester statue from West Edmonton Mall, one of many the iconic decorations removed from the Mardi Gras-themed Bourbon Street when it was rebranded as BRBN St. in 2011, is now owned by northwest resident Marlene Alexander, who bought it at a garage sale. Matthew Dutczak, a self-proclaimed mall historian who runs the YouTube channel Best Edmonton Mall, talks about the decorations in his episode on Bourbon Street.
• Global News spoke to exhausted Albertans trying to renew their passports at Canada Place in downtown Edmonton, including a family that drove in from Leduc four times. Service Canada is struggling to keep up with the post-pandemic demand for passport services.
• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi posted a photo of himself in an Avalanche jersey, having lost a bet with Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock after Colorado swept the Oilers out of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This weekend, you can have fun while learning about renewable energy, hear some music, attend a sexy art party or a late-night drag talk show, get rid of old electronics for a good cause, or brunch with Mayor Amarjeet Sohi in support of 2SLGBTQ+ youth:

• June 9-12: Sustainival at Kingsway Mall in the west parking lot
• June 10: Summer Electronics Drive at 18116 102 Ave for Power Up the Planet
• June 10: ESO at AGA: Fantasy and Transfiguration at the Art Gallery of Alberta
• June 10: MINBID Classic at the Foundry on Whyte
• June 11: Highlandia Music Festival at Henry Martell Park
• June 11: Dollhouse After Dark! at Nextfest
• June 12: 17th Annual Mayor's Pride Brunch at MKT Fresh Food

Find even more fun things to do in the Arts Roundup.

Photo: Sustainival, billed as the world's first green midway and carnival, has returned to Edmonton for the first time since 2019. (Sustainival)