AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-09

[joeiannuzzi]

What`s Behind the Curtain?
Alberta
2008-09
Daily Online Edition
AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-09

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

MMYYAREA

Examples

0908ALTA for Sept 08 Alberta

0908CALG for Sept 08 Calgary

0908EDTN for Sept 08 Edmonton

0908REDR for Sept 08 Red Deer and surrounding areas.
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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.

The daily posts will continue as there is an enormous demand for this information.

 

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0908EDTN
Cleaning up airport costly, says Caterina

Cleaning up contaminated soil at the City Centre Airport could cost $1 billion, says a city councillor vehemently opposed to shutting down the gateway and selling the land.

The warning comes despite a new report from city administration that says the remediation required is not that significant. The report was prepared for a public hearing at City Hall tomorrow on the future of the airfield. Coun. Tony Caterina said the document doesn`t paint an accurate picture because tests were only conducted on the western and eastern peripheries of the airport.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2...627711-sun.html

 

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0908CALG
Customers bid fond farewell to St. Regis

At the St. Regis Hotel, some customers were such permanent fixtures in the tavern, manager Shirley Corsie joked they had to be moved with the chairs on which they sat in order to conduct renovations a few years back.

"They`ve been coming so long they`re like pieces of furniture," said Corsie. "They all had their spots where they always sat."

The fixtures included 80-year-old Jack Clarke who was nostalgic as he drank his last glasses of draught beer at Legends Tavern in the St. Regis Sunday.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...b4-bca106faa1ac

 

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0908CALG
City braces for traffic woes today

It`ll be a day of mood swings as commuters head back to school or work today after summer`s break.

Depending on where you`re driving, ongoing construction on Deerfoot Trail and in the west end may make you miserable, while a smattering of completed projects in the east end could cheer you up.

A number of major projects have wrapped up over July and August, the city`s peak construction months.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...08c99af&p=1

 

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0908EDTN
Sherritt extends timeline

EDMONTON -- Sherritt International is delaying a plan to build a $3.3-billion coal gasification project southeast of Edmonton due to uncertainty over carbon dioxide regulations and products the plant could make. The original plan was to file its environmental-impact assessment on the proposal this year and start construction next year, with production to begin in 2012.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2008/08/30/6614416-sun.html

 

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0908ALTA
Regulators clamp down on Freedom Investment

More trouble for the Vancouver-based Freedom Investment Club, this time from the B.C. Financial Institutions Commission.

On Wednesday, FICOM issued a cease-and-desist order against the club and various related parties after learning they were promoting investments in subprime mortgage properties in the United States without being licensed under the B.C. Real Estate Act.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/columni...b6b2688&p=1

 

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0908REDR
Gas price boosting tourism

High fuel prices may actually be a boon to local tourism, say industry leaders and operators.

Agri-tourism entrepreneur John Mills, creator of the Bowden Sunmaze, said on Monday night that he had an extremely busy summer. Outside of the rainy weather on Sunday, his long weekend was as good as it gets.

"This year has been fantastic."

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ng_tourism.html

 

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0908EDTN
Northerners declare airport essential

EDMONTON - Northern mayors and aboriginal leaders fought back Tuesday against any proposal to close the City Centre Airport and turn the area into a major new community.

Many of the 30 speakers at a public hearing argued service at the downtown airport should be increased, not eliminated, because the facility is so important to link businesses, hospitals and governments across Alberta.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...0c-03bf43460b9d

 

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0908EDTN
City ranks No. 1 for new projects

EDMONTON - A U.S. business magazine ranks Edmonton as Canada`s top metropolitan area for attracting economic development projects.

The Edmonton region leads Canadian metro areas in corporate facility development, Site Selection (www.siteselection.com) said in its September edition.

The rankings are based on a tally of new private-sector projects and expansions which cost $1 million or more in capital investment or created at least 50 new jobs or involved new construction of at least 20,000 square feet.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...5b-40a05d6de649

 

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0908ALTA
Disabled tapped for Alberta workforce

Alberta`s loud "help wanted" cry must be answered by more aboriginals, immigrants and people with disabilities if the province wants to survive the looming exodus of baby boomers from the workforce, a business leader warned Tuesday.

Ken Kobly, head of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, hailed the federal and provincial government`s confirmation Tuesday of funds for training programs to bring more people from those groups into jobs.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...91-52d32790f8a4

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
Grits likely to target Alberta

Premier Ed Stelmach is getting plenty of of private advice on how to handle himself in the coming federal election campaign. The gist of it is: Don`t be a pushover, but keep your temper too.

Stelmach will be goaded almost as soon as it starts. His strategists expect the Liberals to come after the province very quickly, swinging their Green Shift plan like a giant organic cabbage.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...19-444ba7fe9f36

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908CALG
Home prices skid nearly 10 per cent

The average MLS sale price for a single-family home in Calgary fell by more than nine per cent in August compared with a year ago, while the average condo price dropped by just over 10 per cent, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Sales in both markets also declined -- by nearly 11 per cent for single-family homes and more than 17 per cent for condos.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...2c-ab418414e85d

 

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0908ALTA
Alberta to lead salary growth

Rising incomes in Alberta -- they are already the highest and fastest rising of any Canadian province -- are set to once again lead the way in 2009 and they`re driving up salaries across the country, according to a report issued Tuesday.

According to the latest research by Watson Wyatt Data Services Canada, the Canadian salary survey arm of New York-based compensation consulting giant Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc., Alberta employers will lead Canadian salary increases with an average 3.83 per cent base salary hike in 2009.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...f7-8bf1362b834b

 

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0908EDTN
Fort Hills housing contract granted

The consortium proposing the $15.2-billion Fort Hills oilsands project has granted a contract to build, own and operate a housing facility with 1,016 beds, although the project itself hasn`t been given the final green light.

Texas-based Oil States International Inc., which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, announced Tuesday that its Edmonton-based subsidiary, PTI Group Inc., would manufacture, install, own and operate the facility. Its capital cost is included in Oil States` 2008 capital expenditures forecast of $344 million US.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e7-aa13a890537d

 

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0908ALTA
Alberta gets $316M for big job


Aiming to reduce the number of "help wanted" signs filling Alberta windows, Alberta inked a deal with the federal government yesterday that will inject $316 million to prop up the heated labour market. Calgary MP Diane Abonczy, the federal secretary of state for small business and tourism, said the investment will help Alberta`s economy train desperately needed workers to fill vacant jobs with a skilled workforce.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/0...645236-sun.html

 

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0908CALG
Rooming houses fly under radar

It`s a colourful old house in Mission, a bright blue wave mural covering its facade.

But it`s inside where the real wave hits your nostrils as longtime tenant Gordon Grant opens one of two unused and unplugged fridges speckled with green-black mould.

Directly above, the smoke detector is open, without a battery. Further inside, padlocked doors section off suites in what some of the eight residents dub a rooming house.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...b7-950c3521592b

 

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0908REDR
County studying turbine rules

Growing interest in green power has prompted Red Deer County to look at its rules for erecting wind turbines.

A resident in North Lane Estates, about four km north of Red Deer applied, to the county recently to set up a 10.67-metre wind turbine on his three-acre lot.

The landowner had previously received approval for an ornamental farm-style windmill, but then decided on a version that could generate power for features in a landscaped yard.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...bine_rules.html

 

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0908REDR
Authority hopeful Air Canada will be jazzed to land

Red Deer Regional Airport Authority plans to make a pitch for scheduled air passenger service to Air Canada executives in December.

Authority chief executive officer Liam O`Connell said a presentation made to the airline earlier this year was received favourably and led to a further one-and-a-half-hour conversation about the local airport`s potential as a destination for Air Canada Jazz regional flights.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ed_to_land.html

 

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0908REDR
Golf/RV resort plans scaled back

Developers have downscaled a proposed RV park two km north of Sylvan Lake because of concerns in neighbouring Sunbreaker Cove.

Frank Wilson of Sylvan Lake and Lance Dzaman of Red Deer plan to build Skyy Country Golf and RV resort along Rainy Creek Road to the north and Sunbreaker Cove Road to the east.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...caled_back.html

 

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0908REDR
County approves Hampton Inn

A 111-room hotel was approved on Tuesday for Red Deer County`s Gasoline Alley.

The Hampton Inn and Suites hotel is proposed for a two-acre site on Leva Avenue, which will be known as "The Strip" as Gasoline Alley redevelopment takes shape.

Hampton Inn is owned by the Hilton Hotels Corp., which has more than 2,800 hotels worldwide. The company has built about 30 mid-priced Hampton hotels in Canada.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ampton_Inn.html