AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-11

[joeiannuzzi]

What`s Behind the Curtain?
Alberta
2008-11
Daily Online Edition
AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-11

The following codes will be at the top of each post using an eight sequence alphanumeric description of the month, year and area:

MMYYAREA

Examplesght:100%">

1108ALTA for Nov 08 Alberta

1108CALG for Nov 08 Calgary

1108EDTN for Nov 08 Edmonton

1108REDR for Nov 08 Red Deer and surrounding areas.

If you wish to view only one area, you can use the advanced search mode and select the "Result Type" > "Show results as posts".

I have also color coded each area along with the caption to make it easier for you to simply scroll through the posts and locate the ones you are interested in.

All the small towns that have online newspapers are covered on Sundays.

 

[htimoffee]

How do I locate these reports?

 

[joeiannuzzi]

If you wish to view only one area, you can use the advanced search mode and select the "Result Type" > "Show results as posts".

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108EDTN
Green Hectares place to be for ag immersion

EDMONTON - A Strathcona County group is working to create what`s thought to be Canada`s first major agricultural training, education and business development facility on two quarter-sections east of Edmonton.

Green Hectares could attract tens of thousands of visitors a year with its combination of courses for young farmers, demonstration livestock and crop operations for city residents, an agricultural business incubator and an equine competition building, board chairwoman Laura Bodell said Friday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...d7-12c440269e92

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108EDTN
Old power plant`s future uncertain

EDMONTON - Epcor is preparing for the decommissioning of the Rossdale power plant in January, but still doesn`t know what will become of the building.

The project`s high price tag is to blame, said Sol Rolingher, chairman of the River Valley Alliance, an organization aiming to transform the Alberta`s river valley into an integrated, world-class park.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...db-b5fb902a35c7

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108ALTA
1,500 trees targeted to attack pine beetle

BANFF - Parks Canada plans to help the Alberta government`s war against the mountain pine beetle by removing about 1,500 trees attacked by the destructive insect.

Officials say they want to slow the buildup of the beetle population in Banff, thus reducing the number of beetles spreading eastward onto provincial lands.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...d4-586183da974f

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108ALTA
Oilsands stall seen as time to plan ahead

EDMONTON - The recent flood of project slowdown notices from Petro-Canada, Shell and Suncor is not all bad news for the group representing Fort Saskatchewan-area municipal governments.

"We can look at this as an opportunity to find out what we must do improve our ability to compete," Neil Shelly, executive director of Alberta`s Industrial Heartland, said Friday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...5a-251940043d72

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Living on the Hill

I`m looking out of my window at an incredibly blue and sunny Alberta sky that does not appear to be falling. Despite rumours to the contrary, life in the big city goes on and we should all be thankful to be living here and enjoying tremendous blessings compared to so many people in other parts of this crazy world.

We are constantly bombarded with negatives telling us that we should be tightening our belts and avoid spending. But fortunately our economy is fairly stable today, thanks to people who are still buying. I was with a car dealer last week whose sales chart showed that he`d sold four cars already that day. Even better, the Art Gallery of Calgary raised $90,000 at its recent auction to fund educational programs for school children, while an event for Opportunity

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/l...03-ee3f087e442d

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Condo projects feeling pinch as economy slows

Investors in the condominium real estate market are taking their lumps in the wake of a correction that is seeing projects delayed or even cancelled.

In Calgary, resales are down from a year ago, average resale prices have dropped and new condo starts are expected to plunge next year.

The situation is likely to worsen with a near-record number of new condos currently under construction and poised to hit the market.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...9d-fa9f1901a033

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
LRT won`t affect emergency response

The $700-million west leg of the LRT could cause a 96-second delay for fire trucks trying to leave a southwest station, but the city has come up with a plan it believes will nullify the delay.

A report going to a city committee next week says the street-level LRT crossing at 17th Avenue and 45th Street S.W. could "negatively affect" emergency crew response times when trying to leave the hall via that intersection.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...c3-be496200ef9e

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Developers smooth Plan It wrinkles

Calgary`s property developers and home builders are hailing a revised city growth blueprint that`s not "as scary" as it appeared months ago, when their associations demanded city hall delay its plan so they could lobby for changes.

Two of Calgary`s most influential lobbies -- the Urban Development Institute and Canadian Home Builders Association-Calgary Region -- had expressed fears that the new land-use and transportation plans under the Plan It Calgary project would choke off expansion of new suburbs and virtually spell the end of the single-family detached house.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...2d-cd59a88740cb

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Sales and listings gap narrows in Calgary

The gap between sales and listings of used homes is narrowing in Calgary, a sign that balance could be returning to a marketplace top-heavy with available inventory, says a national group.

Across the country, the balance between sales and new listings has stabilized in many major resale housing markets in recent months, says the Canadian Real Estate Association.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/n...8b-f25c6fb85612

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Builders get ready to heal cuts and bruises

Far from waving the white flag of surrender, Calgary`s housebuilding industry will start regrouping in preparation for the inevitable turnaround in industry fortunes.

At least that`s the way Cal Wenzel, president and founder of Shane Homes, envisions things shaking out for an industry he`s been involved with for nearly 30 years.

"In the short term, we`ll take some time to sit back and accept what has happened this year," he was saying at the recent 30th anniversary celebrations for Canyon Plumbing and Heating Ltd. "Then we`ll get on with making things better."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/n...2a-1456aeab51a4

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108EDTN
Old Strathcona`s ignored cousin may get a redesign

EDMONTON - If Old Strathcona is the favoured child of Edmonton neighbourhoods -- popular, attractive and fashionable -- Strathcona Junction is its geeky sibling -- plain-looking, insecure and ignored.

Located just south of Whyte Avenue between 99th and 105th streets, Strathcona Junction is a mish-mash of light industrial, small commercial and residential uses with a rail line running through it.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...be-0430b34ae6c0

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Historic American decision capturing Alberta attention

Despite most opinion polls and political pundits pointing to a Democratic win Tuesday, a couple of Barack Obama supporters in Calgary aren`t ready to declare the American election race over.

Mare Donly, who moved to Calgary five years ago from the United States, worries about possible voting irregularities, while expat Rita Sirignano wonders whether long lines at polling booths will deter voters who think Obama`s victory over Republican John McCain is a lock.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...2c-c97240a32e61

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108CALG
Traffic plan brought to public


Plans to widen a congested traffic artery in southwest Calgary have been reopened and with $20 million of city funding approved, all that`s left to do is find out what the public thinks. Dave Danchuk of Transportation and Infrastructure said the city is currently seeking public input on plans to widen 14 St. between 90 Ave. S.W. and Anderson Rd., a 2.5-km stretch that causes many headaches for commuters.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/1...287051-sun.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108EDTN
$2.3-million bid for Expo 2017 a bargain if it boosts Edmonton`s image

A couple of my friends recently travelled to Green Bay, Wis., to watch a Packers game. They attended tailgate parties, bought cheese-shaped hats and visited the statues and other hallowed grounds in and around Lambeau Field -- a structure that has only been in existence since 1957, yet resonates with emotion and mythology. For an afternoon, they also drove to Milwaukee, a city they knew only from the Brewers baseball team and reruns of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley.

In their minds, it was a small and ugly city, working-class and unremarkable. Sitcoms about ordinary people took place in Milwaukee because it was iconically, and comically, ordinary. Yet Milwaukee shocked them with its size, its grandness and its beauty.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...4c-97cac21b48b6

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108ALTA
Trade mission trumps economy meetings

Premier Ed Stelmach will skip national meetings about the economy in Ottawa next week to go to Europe on a trade mission.

Stelmach said Monday his presence at the meeting, hosted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and designed for premiers to discuss how Canada will deal with the international financial crisis, is unnecessary.

"We are at the table simply because Alberta`s economy is holding together the Canadian economy," he said Monday. "And that`s a very clear message."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...05-34e7f90c0b46

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108ALTA
Pipeline through mountain parks complete

EDMONTON -- The new large-size Trans Mountain pipeline, which traversed some the world`s most beautiful -- and environmentally sensitive -- landscape through Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park, is complete.

Kinder Morgan Canada said Monday the Anchor Loop project, a new 36-inch (91-centimetre) diameter line between Hinton and Jackman, B.C., just west of Mount Robson, is now operational. The new line runs beside the existing 24-inch (61-cm) line, which has been deactivated but could see service again in the future.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...e8-387c7060f496

 

[joeiannuzzi]

1108EDTN
Relief in diesel shortage: Strathcona refinery back in operation

CALGARY -- Imperial Oil has wrapped up maintenance at its Strathcona refinery in Edmonton, another development that should ease a diesel fuel shortage in Western Canada.

Imperial, the country`s biggest oil producer and refiner, completed work at the 187,000-barrel-a-day plant over the weekend and expects output of gasoline and diesel fuel to be back at normal rates in the next few days, spokesman Jon Harding said Monday.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...05-fc431d90090e