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Headlines: Aug. 13, 2025

· The Pulse
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  • The City of Edmonton is proposing an additional $8 million annually to amend the snow removal policy to allow for sidewalk repairs and improved active pathway clearing. Current funding for sidewalks has not kept pace with an 8% inventory increase over more than 10 years, creating service gaps. The plan, discussed during city council's community and public services committee meeting this week, also includes a one-time allotment of $1.43 million for equipment, targeting socially vulnerable areas, school zones, and bus stops. It allocates funds for proactive sidewalk repairs and 15 new bylaw enforcement officers. The changes require full council approval at the fall budget meeting.
  • Low-income tenants in Edmonton's Riverdale neighbourhood are fighting the sale of 20 affordable townhouses by HomeEd, a City of Edmonton-owned nonprofit. HomeEd CEO Nick Lilley said the nearly 50-year-old units, listed for sale in spring 2025, are too costly to update, and proceeds will fund new affordable housing. While Edmonton city councillors approved the sale in April 2025, Ward O-day'min Coun. Anne Stevenson opposed it, emphasizing that losing existing affordable housing in Riverdale is the "wrong direction."
  • Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz is proposing a motion to allocate $50,000 to address noisy vehicles, often linked to speeding and dangerous driving. The motion seeks to equip the Edmonton Police Service with SoundVue detectors from Intelligent Instruments to identify loud vehicles and pinpoint noise hotspots.
  • Edmonton Playgrounds will host its third annual Playground Crawl on Aug. 24 to collect food and funds for Edmonton's Food Bank during the back-to-school season. The free, family-friendly event invites participants to visit three new city playgrounds — Kensington School (10am to 11:30am), Hardisty School (12pm to 1:30pm), and Joey Moss School (2pm to 3:30pm) — and bring non-perishable food or monetary donations. Past crawls have brought in hundreds of pounds of food and raised more than $1,000.
  • Mill Woods residents in Edmonton remain without access to shared e-scooters and e-bikes, even after the City of Edmonton expanded the operational boundaries for these vehicles. Vendors Bird, Lime, and Neuron currently provide e-scooters and e-bikes in Edmonton.
  • In an opinion piece published in Postmedia, Ansh Gulati with the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition argues that Edmonton's proposed river valley bylaw falls short of adequately protecting the North Saskatchewan River Valley. Gulati highlights concerns that the draft Area Redevelopment Plan uses weak, non-binding language like "should" instead of "shall," eroding procedural safeguards. The piece argues the bylaw fails to reflect the urgency of the city's acknowledged climate emergency or sufficiently protect biodiversity, citing past public concerns over projects like the EPCOR solar farm and Hawrelak Park tree removal.
  • More than 1,000 children in Edmonton returned to school on Aug. 11. Students at St. Alphonsus School, St. Catherine School, and St. Teresa of Calcutta School start school about three weeks earlier than other students in Edmonton, but get longer breaks during the school year.
  • Edmonton's housing market saw a significant increase in new listings and total available inventory in July 2025, according to the REALTORS Association Of Edmonton. Despite this, sales decreased to 2,860 units, down from July 2024. While some property types like condos spend longer on the market, Edmonton real estate agent Michelle Patterson Nipp explained that the overall Edmonton market remains a seller's market, with about 2.7 months of inventory.
  • An 18-year-old man, who was 16 during the incidents, pleaded guilty to charges including arson, assault, and extortion in Edmonton's "Project Gaslight" investigation. The scheme targeted South Asian home builders with arsons and drive-by shootings between fall 2023 and early 2024. The youth was recorded smashing a security guard's car window on Nov. 29, 2023. The Crown proposed a three-year sentence.