The Pulse: Jan. 9, 2023

Test your knowledge of Edmonton trivia alongside Coun. Michael Janz of papastew, Coun. Ashley Salvador of Métis, and Coun. Anne Stevenson of O-day'min in Speaking Municipally's annual Jeopardy episode.

Here's a sample of the questions-in-the-form-of-an-answer assembled by quizmaster Troy Pavlek:

• "The meetings, deals, and backroom dealing that went into opening a downtown building in September 2016 are documented in this book by Jay Scherer."
• "Maybe this municipality was a champion of regional transit when they signed on in 2018, but they pulled out before us, making them only a champion of dog food."
• "Until 2013, IATA told us we could use these three letters to refer to Blatchford."
• "We don't want to stump you on a clue about this YouTuber who has a one-handed cooking show that has been running for over six years."
• "The outer one — Anthony Henday — has just a single name, but Edmonton's inner ring road is composed of these five roads."

The episode was recorded just after council concluded its deliberations on the 2023-2026 budgets, so you'll also hear the councillors' thoughts on that, including some spiciness around whether Edmonton's decision not to contribute $13 million to the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission does indeed mean the "death of regionalism."

Hear their takes, get the answers to the above-mentioned questions, and see if you can run the board on the Dec. 23 episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast, which will resume its regular episodes after council returns from its winter break later this month.

• The city has developed a new tool called Lighthouse to help peace officers identify and track hate symbols that appear in public places. The city partnered with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to create the app and web-based tool, which will be used by frontline workers to photograph and upload images of potential hate symbols. The images are then stored with geolocation and time-stamp information to help identify wider patterns, and are categorized using information from the ADL hate symbol database. "This will be an important tool when it comes to supporting and strengthening investigations and for long-term geographic tracking of symbols in the community," said Kris Andreychuk, manager of data science and research for the city.
• An increasing number of paths in Edmonton's pedway system have been closed because of necessary repairs and in response to social disorder, causing people who use the network to encounter unexpected blocks and detours. One Edmontonian, Ryan Williams, found himself stuck as he tried to travel from a restaurant on 103 Street to his car in a nearby parkade. "It's a symptom of a much larger problem in our downtown core," he said. City-owned pedways are open from 6am to 11pm Monday to Saturday and 6am to 6pm on Sundays, but Coun. Anne Stevenson noted that some privately owned "crucial connections" have more limited access. Puneeta McBryan, executive director of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, said there is tension between businesses renting space that want predictable pedestrian access and property owners dealing with security costs. "This has to be resolved because there's so much activity that's now resumed downtown," McBryan said.
• A multi-day power outage at Edmonton's Law Courts building that forced delays and several high-profile cases to be postponed or relocated has sparked a discussion on the need for a new courthouse. The south tower of the building lost power on Jan. 3 and was expected to remain closed through Jan. 9 as crews work to determine the exact cause and a timeline for repairs. Danielle Boisvert, president of the Edmonton Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association, called the situation "chaos" and said it points to the need for the province to replace the aging facility. "When you compare Edmonton and Calgary's courthouses, it's like night and day, in terms of the efficiency and the infrastructure available," she said.
• Hawrelak Park will close for three years beginning March 13 as work on the $133-million rehabilitation project gets underway. The project includes major renovations of the park's utilities, facilities, open spaces, paths and roads. Most of the infrastructure hasn't been upgraded since it opened in 1964, said Brad Watson, a city program manager for facility infrastructure delivery. "I don't think people realize how much utility work is actually underground," he said.
• The province's first COVID-19 update for 2023 showed 912 hospitalizations, including 40 people in intensive care, as of Jan. 4. Since the last update released in late 2022, 64 more Albertans have died of COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 5,415 since the pandemic began. The update comes as the province identified the first cases of a new, highly infectious Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5. On Jan. 5, the province made the Pfizer bivalent vaccine available to everyone aged five and older.
• Edmonton's housing market is expected to see modest price gains in 2023, according to Re/Max Canada's 2023 housing market outlook. While average sales in Edmonton are forecast to fall by about 2% over 2022 prices, the report says demand for homes will be historically strong. One reason for the strong demand could be affordable prices, said realtor John Carter, broker/owner of Re/Max River City. "You can still buy a nice family house here for the average price," he said. The average price of a home in 2023 is estimated at $413,055.75.
• Flair Airlines became the official airline of Canada Basketball in a multi-year partnership announced Jan. 6. The deal means Flair will be the preferred airline for all Canada Basketball age-group players, coaches, officials and staff. "As Canada enters a golden era for the game, we're honoured to provide basketball players of all ages, and their families, with opportunities to travel to their next training camp, game or tournament through our new partnership with Canada Basketball," said Nelson Phillips, Flair vice president of marketing and communications.

This week offers opportunities to learn about racism, hear some poetry, explore Edmonton innovations, appreciate Plains Cree art, and gather with people engaged in health innovation.

• Jan. 10, 2pm: Racism — What to do? from the Centre for Race and Culture
• Jan. 10, 7pm: Book Launch: Another Way to Split Water by Alycia Pirmohamed at Audreys Books with guest readers Adriana Oniță, Nisha Patel, and Matthew Stepanic
• Jan. 12, 12pm: Lunch & Learn: Edmonton's Greatest Innovations (EDGI) from Edmonton Unlimited
• Jan. 12, 12pm: Pîkiskwêtân with Nôhkom Jo-Ann: Milner Indigenous Art Tour at PÎYÊSÎW WÂSKÂHIKAN
• Jan. 12, 4pm: Health Innovators' Meetup: Clinical Trial Supports from the Health Innovation Hub and Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation

Find even more things to do in Taproot's weekly roundups.

Photo: Elder-in-residence Jo-Ann Saddleback will give a tour of the Indigenous art collection at the Stanley A. Milner Library. (Edmonton Public Library)