Thursday's got sunshine, strikes to watch, and dinner plans brewing

Morning. It's a proper summer day — 14°C, high UV at 6.0, and you've got nearly 16 hours of daylight before sunset at 9:34 PM. Grab the sunscreen if you're out for lunch; that UV's no joke. No air quality issues on the board.

If you're flying WestJet anywhere soon, clock this: the flight attendants' union just served a 72-hour strike notice. Worth checking your bookings and getting ahead of it before things potentially grind to a halt.

On the local front, a few things worth knowing. Alberta's moving to require employers to cover health benefits for workers over 65, which is raising some hiring concerns across the province. Meanwhile, the wettest summer on record is still doing its thing — we've hit over 500 millimetres of rain as July winds down. The river valley's going to be lush, anyway. There's also fallout from the Alberta disability payment system going sideways; thousands of people are short hundreds of dollars right now, which is rough. And if you caught the 2025 crime data Edmonton police released, property crime jumped 10.1% last year, though the severity index actually fell.

For dinner, you've got some solid options. Bazaar just landed at Station Park in Old Scona with authentic Ukrainian street food — perfect if you're craving something homey. Over on Whyte, Greg Sweeney's HOM Street Food has taken over the kitchen at Bibo's, so that's worth a try if you haven't checked it out yet. Coliseum Steak & Pizza up in Parkdale just hit 50 years in the neighbourhood, which is a hell of a run. And if you're into Hakka food, the brief mentions there's some solid authentic stuff around town — worth hunting down if that's your thing.

Tonight's got energy. You've got metal and hardcore at The Starlite Room with Iron Kingdom and W.M.D., comedy at Rick Bronson's if that's more your speed, or The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee over at the Citadel if you want something on the lighter side. The Buckingham's got HOMO-CIDAL IS DEAD later at 8. Pick your vibe — something's on for everyone.

Stay dry (well, relatively — we've earned a break from the rain). Catch you tonight.