My Blog - News From Our Fair City

It's important for me to keep informed on the events and issues facing our fair city. I like updating my blog regularly to share these items with local clients and also with those around the world. My hope is that it gives a more thorough understanding of what it's like to live in Edmonton, and informs you of the issues facing us. If you want to get in touch to discuss these entries, you can always give me a call on (780) 504-6674 or send an e-mail to ryan@philipenko.com.

Friday, July 15, 2011 - Alberta Health Care Speech Program Helps People Regain Speech

Alberta Health operates a program that helps people regain the power of speech after an illness or injury. It’s called the Speech-language Pathology Consulting Service and it works with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. This is an in-home service, with consultants going to patients, whether they are in supported or long care living facilities or still in their own homes.

The consultants treat people with different types of neurological problems, some caused from strokes, others by diseases such as multiple sclerosis or dementia. The focus is on aphasia, which is the loss of the ability to speak, either altogether or partially. Patients who have aphasia recover their speech in different ways. Some draw or gesture, others read and listen to words and sounds.

Once a patient starts to form words, pathologists will start to teach phrases and then move on to complete sentences. The goal is to have the patient eventually be able to carry on a conversation. The latter is the most stressful for patients because talking to people and adding the time factor of asking and answering questions makes the task more difficult.

The program has had great success, particularly if family members get involved in the rehabilitation. Just like riding a bike, the skill does usually come back. It just takes longer for some people.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 - Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Visiting Slave Lake Fire Scene

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have changed their Canadian itinerary to accommodate a visit to fire-ravaged Slave Lake in northern Alberta. The stop had been a consideration, but the royal couple held off on the announcement because they did not want to interfere with the town’s recovery efforts.

Slave Lake officials, when hearing the news, were delighted and somewhat humbled that the pair would stop by and visit with some of the firefighters and residents that lost their homes. Prince William and Kate will also take a tour of some of the worst hit areas destroyed on May 15th by a raging, wind driven wildfire. The entire town had to evacuate, without even having the time to take anything with them.

William and Kate are spending Tuesday in Yellowknife, and then are leaving for Slave Lake on Wednesday morning. The pair will take a day to spend with each other before heading to Calgary to take in the Stampede. Anticipation in that city is palpable. People started lining up Tuesday afternoon to get one of the 5,600 wristbands to be handed out on Wednesday morning. The bands allow the wearer to see the royal couple at either the Stampede or at the airport prior to their Friday flight to Los Angeles.

Saturday, June 25, 2011 - Development of City Centre Airport to be Family Oriented

Ever since there was an inkling that Edmonton was planning to close the City Centre Airport and develop the land, there has been controversy. Though there are plans for 15 months worth of meetings so the people of Edmonton can voice opinions on what they would like included in the development, the project is moving forward. Vancouver based designers Perkins and Will won the competition for the right to design the project, and they have been asked to create the community’s master plan.

The airport land is worth at least a half billion dollars and measures 217 hectares. Mayor Stephen Mandel has a vision of an urban utopia that can house and entertain some 10,000 families in the heart of the city. The idea is to have a range of housing types and prices, from condominiums that command $500,000 because of the water view of the future man-made lake, to smaller apartment style or row houses. But this is still in the idea stage, anything can happen.

Coun Kim Krushel, who is the representative for the area that contains these lands, stressed that affordability and being family oriented is important. And combining the building of homes with a fair amount of open space would make the idea of living downtown much more appealing. Being able to get to work quickly and easily is a definite plus, but having an eye-catching, pleasant place to live is key as to whether this community will catch on. Having plenty of greenery around is also environmentally friendly, which is one of the goals of the development.

Monday, June 20, 2011 - Canadian Western Bank and Alberta Share Success

Larry Polluck is the head of Canadian Western Bank and he has good news for that company’s shareholders. The first half of the fiscal year for 2011 showed a 13 percent increase in net earnings as well as a 15 percent jump in revenues. This is the bank that, starting in 1988, showed a profit for 92 consecutive quarters. Let’s just say the shareholders have become accustomed to favorable reports.

Even with those expectations, we are coming off a recession and this can only mean a positive recovery. Polluck noted that loans have done up seven percent, totaling more than $11 billion. Canadian Western Bank is growing twice as fast as other banks in Canada, which makes sense since the economy in Alberta, the bank’s territory, is showing similar growth figures.

Most of Alberta’s, and thus the bank’s, growth is due to the increased interest in the oilsands and the addition of the fracking process to the conventional mode of oil extraction. Fracking is a way to fracture solid rock in order extract oil from that rock. Canadian Western Bank is also seeing more loan applications, most of these also are related to the oil industry, whether for equipment, vehicles or building construction. The oilsands are doing so well that the only problem is a shortage of labour.

Back To Homepage - Real Estate Edmonton

Blog Archives

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - Friends of Provincial Politicians Jump Medical Treatment Queues

Friday, June 3, 2011 - GuZoo in Three Hills, Alberta Shut Down

Thursday, May 26, 2011 - Once There Were Five, Now There Are Three in City Centre Airport Competition

Monday, May 16, 2011 - Oil, Commodity Prices Rebound During Week of May 8

Friday, May 6, 2011 - Drivers in Edmonton Facing Road Closures Beginning May 13th

Friday, April 29, 2011 - Canadians Flock to England to See Royal Kiss

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - Mayfield Dinner Theatre Offers Latest Vision of Director Farren Timoteo

Thursday, April 7, 2011 - Scona Road Lane Closures Begin April 1st

Friday, April 1, 2011 - Crews Keep Ahead of Edmonton’s Massive Snow Melt

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - Welcome Home Program Helps Homeless Adjust To Community Life

Thursday, March 10, 2011 - New Roofing Materials Cost More, but Protect Your Home Longer

Friday, February 25, 2011 - Alberta School Budget Having Trouble Supporting Student Needs

Thursday, February 17, 2011 - Cheemo Perogies Have Fans across North America

Friday, February 11, 2011 - Central Edmonton Floods from Water Main Break

Thursday, January 27, 2011 - Edmonton Seeing More Roof Collapses Due to Heavy Snow Loads

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - Katz Group Almost One Step Closer To Building Downtown Arena Complex

Friday, November 26, 2010 - Premier Stelmach Tempering Economic Outlook with Budget Deficit

Monday, November 1, 2010 - New Animal Control Centre Opens its Doors

Friday, October 1, 2010 - Edmonton Seeing Light at End of Downtown Property Standstill

Monday, August 23, 2010 - Commercial Market Posts Increase Over 2009

Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Liberals Ask For Cooperation To Defeat Tories, Unlikely To Get It

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - Housing Starts in 2010 Far Better Than 2009 Despite Minor Slowdown In May

Friday, May 7, 2010 - City Council In A Hurry To Expand LRT System by 2016

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - Basic tips for climbing the property ladder

Monday, March 22, 2010 - Protect Second Homes With a House-Watch Service

Thursday, March 4, 2010 - Airports Square Off Over Northern Alberta’s Flying Habits

Saturday, February 27, 2010 - Controversy Surrounds Proposed Gravel Mine

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - Alberta Housing Starts Slip a Little in January, But Still 52 Percent Better Than Last Year

Friday, January 29, 2010 - Donation to Haitian Earthquake Victims

Monday, January 11, 2010 - Vintage Loss, Housing Market Gain