Calgary police walking to their own beat

The boys in blue are taking back the streets.

Sixty-two new beat officers will be foot-patrolling Calgary’s hot-spots to crack-down on street-level crime.

The return to a grassroots form of policing should allow our city’s finest to developing relationships with the public, cultivate sources, and to overall increase their presence in Calgary’s core.

Fifty of the new officers will patrol the downtown area that includes the beltline and surrounding inner-city communities. These officers, many of whom are from Britain and thus accustomed to this form of policing, will join the original 16 beat-officers who began the initiative 2 1/2 years ago.

The officers will work around the clock. The biggest boon from this onslaught of new recruits according to Chief Rick Hanson is that police won’t be siphoned from other areas of the city.

A peek into West LRT's future route

The people at West LRT have created a neat animated video showing the CTrain route  upon completion in 2012 as it meanders along Bow Trail from Calgary’s downtown to 69 St. S.W.

Its route begins at 7th Ave. and 11th St. downtown and pushes along an overpass to 11th Ave. S.W. The video then shows Sunalta’s elevated platform and then the route under Crowchild Trail, as it edges past 26th St. Station, past Shaganappi Golf Course and underground to Westbrook Station. The Ctrain emerges beside 17th Ave. S.W., before stopping at 45th St. S.W. and then on to Sirocco Station. The LRT, moving at a leisurely pace to a really, really mellow new age tune, eventually makes its way to 69th St. Station where it comes to a much needed rest.

Even if you’re not living in the Calgary’s southwest, the video offers insight into what our city will look like a few years down the road. The video was made by Riddell Kurczaba Architecture Engineering Interior Design Ltd.



Find up-to-date information on the West LRT project on calgary.ca

Taking the Bite out of Dog Attacks

The number of violent dog attacks are dropping in Calgary, according to The City’s top bylaw officer Bill Bruce, as reported in the Calgary Sun.

Bruce credits that decline to The City’s licensing program and dog owners becoming more responsible for their pets.

Last year, there were 145 dog bites among the 340 reported aggressive dog cases.

This is in stark contrast to 1985, when 621 dog bites were reported among 1,938 aggressive dog complaints.

Hopefully these numbers continue to drop and pet owners continue to be accountable for potentially pugnacious pooches, or as Bruce said to the Sun: "We're not dealing with the animal problem, we're dealing with the people problem."

City of Calgary employee to carry Olympic Torch

A City of Calgary Recreation employee is the first Calgarian chosen to carry the Olympic Torch in the relay for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Courtney Ferguson, 15, was awarded the honour in part because of her involvement with Village Square Leisure Centre and her active lifestyle. But according to her, she won the right to carry the flame by just doing what she loves to do: help children.

“Kids are the one thing I enjoy a lot,” she said, and it’s because of this that she’s been volunteering with kids programs for the past few years at the leisure centre before recently becoming a paid recreation staff member.

Over the course of being a day-camp leader, water slide monitor and on-call preschool teacher, Courtney heard about the Coca-Cola sponsored and ParticipAction designed SOGO Active initiative to help youth aged 13 – 19 become more active.

Courtney, who is home schooled by her mother Nicole, first heard she was chosen for the once-in-a-lifetime Olympic Flame run when a Coca-Cola representative called her house.

“At first I wasn’t sure if they were serious,” she said, “But after it clicked-in I was so excited!”

Courtney will run her 400 metre portion of the Athens to Vancouver torch relay for the province of Alberta, but is hoping she can do so in Markham, Ontario, in front of the cheers of her extended family.

Calgary Readies for Emergency Preparedness Week

This morning, Calgary’s Fire Chief Tom Sampson touted the need for families to be emergency prepared by assembling a 72-hour emergency kit.

Accompanied by police, EMS and The Salvation Army at Canadian Tire’s Macleod Trail south location, Sampson said that assembling contents for a 72-hour emergency kit is like investing in an insurance policy; "Only you’re investing in yourself and your family."

An emergency kit is essential to being prepared for an emergency he said, while displaying some of the essential kit items like candles, batteries and a flashlight.

Sampson said that 20 per cent of Calgarians polled, stated that they are prepared for an emergency – a number that isn’t nearly high enough.

“We’d like to see 80 or even 100 per cent of people prepared,” said Sampson.

Yvonne Borrows, The Salvation Army’s Captain, said “the more the public are prepared for an emergency, the better.” Her team provides relief and support in times of disaster to the public and first-line responders such as police and firefighters

The focus of the Canada-wide, 14th annual Emergency Preparedness Week, is to help people recognize that being prepared reduces risks when disaster strikes. An emergency kit will allow families to be better equipped during the initial days after a crisis while emergency responders are assisting the disabled, elderly and others that require urgent assistance.

The Calgary Fire Department has information on how to assemble a 72-hour Emergency Kit.

Music Monday at Calgary’s City Hall

City Hall was alive with the sound of music today as about 100 local students, along with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, performed a concert at the Municipal Building to celebrate the 5th annual Music Monday.

The short City Hall concert was highlighted by the students’ rendition of the song "Sing Sing" by Canadian singer-songwriter Serena Ryder. The beauty of the event is that our little concert in Calgary was being performed simultaneously across the country with an estimated 850,000 other music enthusiasts. The event is held on the first Monday in May every year to demonstrate the importance of music education, in our lives and in our schools.

Serena Ryder's "Sing Sing" can be heard on CBC's Music Monday page.

Motorola's Android phone, codename: Calgary

As code names go, this isn't on the level of 007, but if you’re a tech-junky, it's interesting to know that Motorola is set to unveil its first Android phone, codename: Calgary.

The cell phone maker is hoping that the Google Android operating system will become the dominant mobile device software.

We at The City's news blog can’t figure out why Motorola chose Calgary as a name for its sleek new offering – if anybody knows, please let us know.

The handset is expected to focus on social networking with a QWERTY slide-out keyboard according to the Boy Genius Report website; Wired.com also has additional information. Motorola has thus far refused to confirm that the Calgary is its new Android-based phone, so Calgarians shouldn't get to excited about speaking on their Calgary in Calgary just yet.