Best on the Net: Sears closure, Bill C-10 and Cactus Club

It was another busy week on the blogosphere and I thought it might be good to provide you with a few links to some of the more interesting items posted online this week. Hope you enjoy.

Sears Closure

Miss604, FabulaVancouver and Vancitybuzz all chose to write about the announcement that Vancouver's downtown Sears store will be closing later this year. VancityBuzz speculates outloud that US-based department store Nordstrom have their eyes set on that location. He states:

It’s no secret that Nordstrom has been looking for downtown Vancouver space. What many don’t know is that they have been eyeing the Sears space for a long, long time. When and if they take over the space, I really hope they do a complete overhaul of the buildings outside. As it stands right now the Sears building is one of the ugliest around.

Miss604 posts some excellent historic photos of Sears over the last few decades. The photos are worth a look. She also writes:

While rumours are flying about what will move into the Pacific Centre Sears spot, which they took over from Eaton’s back in 1999, my immediately reaction was that now we can finally do something about that building.

Fabula simply asked her readers what they would do with the Sears property if they had the chance. So far over 50 comments and some very creative ideas starting to flow.

Cactus Club in English Bay

PriceTags writes about the new Cactus Club restaurant opening up on English Bay. He gives it a thumbs up:

Let me say right away that I think the new Cactus Club at English Bay, opening this weekend, is pretty darn good. Architects Acton Ostry have taken a sensitive, difficult site, respected the slope to the north, views to the east, bathhouse to the south, seawall to the west, and inserted a colourful building of attractive proportions.

Though it does block the view down Denman Street, the trade-off was probably worth it: the restaurant will add vitality to the beach, offer a range of food options and add some dollars to the Park Board’s coffers.

Bill C-10

Meanwhile what are we to think about a former BC Attorney General when he admits on his blog that he is talking to himself? The Plant Rant gives us his perspective on Bill C-10.

BCTF Strike

As parents scramble to find alternate care for their kids this weeks as the teachers go on strike, we thought you might want to read this before making any public commentary on the labour dispute. It's a copy of the BCTF collective agreement outlining all their current pay and benefits. Check it out.

Rize Development in Mount Pleasant

Fabula posted the thoughts of a couple of Vancouver opinion leaders regarding the Rize development currently before public hearing at Vancouver Council. Former city staffer Cameron Gray weighed in by stating:

A central problem with the current community planning process is that it doesn’t go beyond good intentions and get to the nuts and bolts of future development. The Mt. Pleasant Community Plan reads like motherhood and apple pie.

Should Kevin Krueger apologize?

The Victoria View blog written by Tom Fletcher took a jab at some of his media colleagues who have been on the attack against BC Liberal MLA Kevin Krueger this week. Krueger made some comments about the BC judicial system which caught the attention of a few columnists. Fletcher writes:

It started with Krueger turning his famous bullhorn heckling technique on independent Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington. Times-Colonist reporter Rob Shaw noticed he was repeatedly warned by deputy speaker Doug Horne. Shaw then grilled Krueger in the hallway about his behaviour. Krueger defended the tradition of heckling, ultimately suggesting that Shaw’s gum-chomping interrogation could be seen as equally rude. The ball was rolling.

The Vancouver Sun’s Craig McInnes weighed in with a brief history of Krueger’s alleged atrocities, culminating with the supposedly awful assault on poor defenceless Huntington. Here’s what I’ll add to that. Huntington is a former Canadian Forces intelligence officer, civilian investigator in the RCMP, and band manager at a remote northern native reserve. In a kitchen table argument, or for that matter a footrace or arm-wrestling contest, I’d be inclined to bet on her. At the very least, she doesn’t need to be cast as a helpless victim by some fussy English majors in the press looking for a heart-tugging narrative.

The Twittersphere was also hopping this week. A few of my favourite tweets include:

@BobMackin tweets:

Solution: make lifeguards the shepherds of lawn-munching goats. Oh, the goats are dead? Nevermind. RT @Fontaine_D: @Boldtcom

@GeoffPlant tweets:

Why is it that "the Oscars will continue after these messages" sounds more like a threat than a promise? #oscars

@KeithBaldrey tweets:

I'm shocked — shocked!! – high school students would pick Fri. aft. to stage protest walkout. But good 4 them for participating in debate.

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That's it for this week! Time permitting, I'll have another installment of Best on the Net next week.

- Post by Daniel

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