Edmonton Headlines: Wednesday, March 15, 2017

It’s not going help in your neighbourhood, necessarily, but a number of crosswalks are going to get upgrades this year. Some of the upgrades will come thanks to some photo radar money. Even if all the “high-priority” crosswalks got safety upgrades this year, there’s still another 300 to go.

Speaking of prioritizing people driving…

It sounds like someone on the Edmonton Journal editorial board got stuck in traffic a few times during some recent construction (or maybe a couple of someones). The Jasper Avenue plans should be implemented, however, to the benefit of everyone living in Oliver, downtown and people traveling to those places and through the neighbourhoods. It is not a commuter vs. resident argument.

Watering down the changes just to shave a few seconds off someone’s commute if they’re driving should not be part of the plan. It shouldn’t be part of any road and traffic plans through Edmonton neighbourhoods, actually.

And I can recommend some podcasts to the Journal’s editorial board members if they need something to do in the car instead of being cranky on their drive downtown.

Fear at City Hall

City councillors are split on their safety. Staff from the City of Edmonton are recommending new safety measures, including a wall inside council chambers, bag searches and metal detectors outside of meeting rooms. City staff though, couldn’t point to an incident at a council chamber to back up the fears.

Staff did point to some of the more high profile violent crimes in the last few years to make their point. Their point being that a tiny wall in council chambers would stop people from running into the street with a gun, I presume.

City Council will decide next week whether or not to implement any of the recommendations, or if they should just let staff make the call.

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Seniors centres are looking at how to become community hubs. It’s a good story, with some of the needed thinking about or aging population. But I’m distracted by the Edmonton Sun’s stock photo and caption on the story.

Police beat

After two police shootings in less than a week, three officers are on leave as the death and injury are investigated.

RCMP in Sherwood Park are being criticized for a less than empathetic response to a woman who had been sexually assaulted. From the story: “The Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton offers training classes that first responders can take.” It is obviously very much in need.

Alberta stories

About half of the Albertans who have had medically assisted deaths in the last year have been from Edmonton.

More needs to be done for children in care of the provincial government, and this should extend to what happens as they leave the system. This story on a young man killed soon after leaving care is the latest reminder of the steps we are yet to cover.

Good news

An Edmonton pharmacy is one of the few to test a new quick HIV test in a community setting. More tests available to people in more areas is thought to be a key to getting more people tested and identifying they are HIV-positive.

Still finding clocks around your home that haven’t sprung forward yet? That could be a thing of the past now that an Edmonton MLA has tabled a bill asking to eliminate Daylight Saving Time in Alberta.

At City Hall

The Urban Planning Committee meets today, beginning at 9:30 a.m. See the agenda online. Watch or listen live to the meeting through the City’s streaming service.