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Headlines: Aug. 11, 2026

· The Pulse
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  • Westrich Pacific has acquired Edmonton City Centre in a court-approved receivership sale. The downtown property fell into receivership last July, owing $140 million to its creditor. The Edmonton-based developer said it plans a multi-phase redevelopment of the 1.4-million-square-foot site, including about 1,500 residential units where the former Hudson's Bay store once stood. New retail, entertainment space, and a rooftop Nordic spa are also planned, with construction on the first phase expected to begin in early 2027. Westrich co-CEO David Sanche said in a statement that this is "the most exciting project of our careers."
  • Two more people have been infected in a tuberculosis outbreak spreading among people experiencing homelessness in Edmonton's inner city, bringing the total to five confirmed cases tied to a strain first identified in October 2025. The province said risk to the general public remains low, but contact tracing is ongoing. The outbreak "is a concerning and disturbing reflection on health conditions in Edmonton," said infectious disease specialist Stan Houston, adding that long-term control requires addressing the lack of adequate housing. "This is fundamentally not a problem that has a technological solution," he told CBC. "It's a problem that has a social solution. And until we address some of those issues better, TB is not likely to go away."
  • Edmonton city councillors approved a pilot project to expand naloxone training to transit inspectors, stopping short of letting any city employee who wants it to volunteer for the overdose-reversal training. More than half of Alberta's opioid deaths happen in Edmonton. Mayor Andrew Knack asked, "If you have first-aid training, if you can do CPR, why shouldn't you be able to do that?" University of Alberta physician Sumantra Monty Ghosh dismissed safety concerns raised in a report to community and public services committee, while Civic Service Union 52 president Bryce Jowett said any expansion must let employees opt out "free of coercion or consequences." Council will revisit the issue in October.
  • City council's community and public services committee has declined to advance debate on the long-planned Rollie Miles Recreation Centre. The south-side project, intended to replace the Scona Pool that closed in 2022, will remain unfunded through at least the next four-year budget cycle. Mayor Andrew Knack said the $130-million project would eat up 10% of the city's capital budget over four years. Coun. Michael Janz of Ward papastew, whose query brought the issue to committee on Aug. 10, expressed frustration at the delay, given how treasured the shuttered pool was and how eager residents are for a replacement.
  • Members of Edmonton's Somali community are rallying around the family of Faisal Hussein, the 12-year-old boy whose remains were found near Calling Lake on Aug. 6. Jibril Ibrahim of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton told Postmedia the group is trying to determine how the boy ended up so far from home. RCMP told CBC the boy was not reported as missing before his body was found. They are investigating his death as a homicide.
  • Sturgeon County formally declared an agricultural disaster for the 2026 growing season after record rainfall flooded fields, delayed harvests, and left many farmers unable to get equipment onto saturated land. County council voted unanimously to request additional support from the provincial and federal governments. One hay and grain farmer said he measured about 22 inches of rain this year — an all-time record — and had yet to harvest a single bale.
  • The board of the St. Albert Public Library has estimated it will cost about $100,000 in 2027 to comply with the UCP government's Bill 28, which requires certain books to be held in secured storage areas. Former library CEO Peter Bailey, now a senior fellow at the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, said most Alberta libraries appear to be opting for compliance rather than mounting a constitutional challenge, which he considered disappointing. "Freedom of expression is at the core of what libraries are," Bailey told David Climenhaga of AlbertaPolitics.ca.
  • More than 7,000 athletes between the ages of 6 and 21 are competing across Edmonton this week during the nine-day Alberta Indigenous Games. The annual event has been held in the region since 2011 and is expected to generate $28.5 million in economic impact, the city said in a release. "The Games begin with sport, but their impact lasts much longer," said Martha Campiou, the event's president and chair. "Young people leave with greater confidence, stronger relationships and a deeper sense of what is possible."
  • A Court of King's Bench justice has granted the University of Alberta permission to dissolve a research trust named for Yaroslav Hunka. The Ukrainian veteran served in a Nazi-linked Waffen SS unit during the Second World War. Justice Debra Yungwirth said she was not deciding whether Hunka was a Nazi or a war criminal, but rather whether the university had the right to return the $30,000 trust because of reputational damage. Hunka's son Martin, who made the donation, is considering an appeal. The university said it will keep eight similar endowments for the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies intact, but will spend $100,000 over three years on education about the Galicia Division's history.