WINNIPEG museums are decrying the city's plan to cut their funding by 10 per cent.

Last week, city politicians tabled the city's $920-million operating budget, the plan that outlines how much Winnipeg will spend on everything from police to insect control in 2013. The budget included a 3.87 per cent property-tax hike and a plan to find $13.6 million in savings by delaying filling vacant positions and reducing grants to non-profit groups by $358,000.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/museum-officials-decry-citys-10-per-cent-funding-cut-186909301.html

Portage la Prairie needs a new slogan and is hoping you can help come up with it. The Tourism Advisory Committee made a presentation to city council last night, where it discussed the new logo, it created back in the fall to improve the city's brand. Committee Member Guy Moffatt says the next step is coming up with a slogan to go with it.

Moffatt says the committee wants to launch a contest in late February or early March, where the public could submit ideas on what the slogan should be.

"What we are looking for, at the end of the day is a very catchy slogan. Nike has "Just Do It". "I'm Lovin It" is McDonalds and we're looking for something that is very crisp and concise. One sentence that is going to embody what Portage la Prairie is." says Moffatt.

http://www.portageonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30440&Itemid=524

Changes to hunting within the RM of Rockwood could be in the works.

The matter was discussed during the Jan. 9 council meeting, at which an official from Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship outlined some avenues for the municipality.

Regional programs manager Brian Joynt appeared at the council meeting in response to a hunting issue raised by some ratepayers at a December meeting.

“We want human safety, but we don’t want to tie the hands of those dealing with the negatives of wildlife,” Joynt said.

http://www.interlaketoday.ca/2013/01/14/rm-of-rockwood-protective-services-to-consider-designated-hunting-areas

They may have served the last Salisbury House Nip on Winnipeg's landmark Esplanade Riel footbridge.

The City of Winnipeg has terminated a leasing agreement with the venerable Winnipeg restaurant chain, which has operated a restaurant in the 4,000-square-foot outlet for the last seven years. On Saturday, it ran an advertisement in the Free Press inviting interested parties to submit written offers before 4 p.m. Jan. 31.

Salisbury House president and CEO Earl Barish said Monday he thought the chain had a deal with the city on a new five-year lease for the outlet, which is in the middle of the pedestrian bridge linking downtown with St. Boniface

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sals-on-way-out-at-esplanade-186909261.html

YOU calling Winnipeg cheap?

Meet two local entrepreneurs willing to make the leap of faith in the idea thousands of Winnipeggers will spend $85 to have dinner on the ice.

The chi-chi concept is courtesy of art gallery director Joe Kalturnyk and city chef Mandel Hitzer.

Hitzer, 30, owner of restaurant Deer + Almond on Princess Street, and Kalturnyk, 33, director of the Raw: Gallery on McDermot Avenue, will open a pop-up restaurant later this month at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. The restaurant's dining hall will be inside a steel and aluminum cone-shaped structure and its kitchen in a semi-attached cube.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/temporary-pricey-eatery-headed-to-riverside-186909021.html

Complete: Brandon won’t find out if it’s on the first round of communities to be served by WestJet’s new regional air service until next month, a spokesperson for the company confirmed yesterday.

Originally the Sun had reported that more details would be released on Jan. 21, but now the announcement has been pushed back to February according to WestJet public relations manager Robert Palmer.

"The announcement of the first few places we will fly to will be sometime in February," Palmer wrote in a email on Monday morning.

"But let’s be clear — and we’ve said this all along — if a community is not included in the first schedule, it does not mean it will not be included in the future. As more aircrafts are delivered, we can add more destinations."

But the reason for the delay is still unknown as Palmer refused to be interviewed further.

"To be honest, it’s really not worthy of an interview. Thanks anyway," he wrote when the Sun requested a brief telephone interview on Monday afternoon.

Although the highly anticipated announcement being pushed back may be disheartening for city officials, due to a lack of information, they are continuing to stay positive.

"We don’t know why so we’ll just continue to wait by the phone," Mayor Shari Decter Hirst said.

"This is quite a big plan that they’re pulling together, so I’m sure there’s lots of moving pieces that they have to put in place before they make any public announcements."

Last summer, WestJet offered more than 30 communities across the country a chance to make their pitch to tell the airline why they were the "right community" for the company.

Brandon made its 25-minute presentation alongside delegates from Terrace, B.C., and Radium Hot Springs, B.C.

Other communities known to have made presentations include Thompson, Yorkton, Sask., Cold Lake, Alta., Medicine Hat, Alta., Prince Rupert, B.C., Nanaimo, B.C., Cranbrook, B.C., and Fort St. John, B.C.

The Brandon community presentation included a Brandon-themed magazine and a list of 10,000 signatures proving that there is a desire for commercial air service in Westman.

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/westjet-says-decision-on-air-service-pushed-back-to-february-186921831.html?thx=y

A new survey from Thomas Cook Travel has found that 77% of Canadian families plan to hit the road and vacation in 2013, even if it means cutting back on dining out and entertainment at home in order to afford the trip.

The survey reveals that 61% of Canadian families would spend less on eating out in favour of saving for a family vacation. Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are most likely to forego a meal at a restaurant in order to save cash for a trip (70%), while Atlantic Canadians are least likely to give up eating out, with only 44% saying they would eat in to save for their vacation fund.

http://www.canoe.ca/Travel/News/2013/01/10/20487346.html

GATINEA, QC (January 11, 2013) – Parks Canada today launched public consultations on proposed fee adjustments which will end the five-year Parks Canada fee freeze currently in place.

The revenue that is earned from user fees directly supports the quality services that visitors enjoy at national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas.

“I invite Canadians to visit the Parks Canada website to have a look at our fee proposals,” said Alan Latourelle, chief executive officer for Parks Canada. “I believe that what we have proposed is a very reasonable approach to ensuring services and programs for visitors remain economically viable and of the high quality visitors expect, and that Canadians continue to have memorable and meaningful experiences when they visit their treasured places.”

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=52139

TOKYO - Tokyo's Narita International Airport operator says 3,400 travellers spent the night in the terminal after snow caused airlines to cancel 71 flights.

In the season's first snowfall in the Japanese capital, about 8 centimetres (3 inches) of snow fell in central Tokyo and around Narita on Monday — a national holiday in Japan. The snow snarled traffic and caused train delays.

Airport officials distributed sleeping bags, water and crackers to stranded travellers. Normal flight operations at Narita resumed Tuesday, except for a few delays.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/3400-people-spend-night-at-tokyo-airport-after-snowfall-causes-flight-cancellations-186900671.html

HAVANA - Long lines are forming outside travel agencies, migration offices and the U.S. Interests Section in Havana on the first day of a new law easing travel restrictions on Cubans.

The law eliminates a number of bureaucratic procedures and costs that for decades have been both real and symbolic obstacles to travel by islanders.

It is not expected to result in a mass exodus from the island. But foreign embassies have reported a high volume of queries about entry visa applications in recent weeks.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/cubans-mass-at-travel-agencies-migratory-offices-as-eased-travel-restrictions-takes-effect-186786281.html

BANGKOK - An international conservation group on Tuesday urged Thailand to ban all ivory trading, warning that rising demand for tusks is fueling an unprecedented slaughter of elephants in Africa.

The World Wildlife Fund said "massive quantities" of African ivory are being imported illegally into Thailand, where they are carved into Buddhist statues, bangles and jewelry that are then sold to tourists or smuggled elsewhere. Although it is against the law to sell African tusks in Thailand, ivory from domesticated elephants can be traded legally.

"Many foreign tourists would be horrified to learn that ivory trinkets on display next to silks in Thai shops may come from elephants massacred in Africa," said Elisabeth McLellan, manager of WWF's Global Species Program. "It is illegal to bring ivory back home and it should no longer be on sale in Thailand."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/world-wildlife-fund-calls-on-thailand-to-ban-ivory-trade-to-save-african-elephants-186904941.html

Complete: Reese Lukei of Virginia Beach is known for his expertise when it comes to raptors, whether osprey, hawk or eagle.

As a volunteer research associate with the Center for Conservation Biology at William and Mary, Lukei takes part in many banding and research projects in the Hampton Roads area.

He is my go-to person in the area for all sorts of information about raptors, from identifying a photo of a hawk, to understanding the nesting habits of ospreys.

With that background who would have thought that this polar bear photo would also be Lukei’s. It was selected as one of the Best 2012 Animal Travel Photos by Smarter Travel.

In October, Lukei traveled to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, where he snapped this full front view of a polar bear, just coming up from the beach, as if it was walking up to say hello.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/raptor-expert-reese-lukei-takes-winning-polar-bear-photo

(A complete article published originally in the MFP, Jan.  '27)

The Dominion Bureau of Statistics estimates that during 1926 the sum of $184,000,000 was left in this country by tourists. It has been conservatively figured that from over 110,000 tourists who visited Winnipeg over $7,000,000 was the share of this amount accruing to the coffers of Winnipeg's business houses. Such is the handsome return from an investment of $28,000, made by a comparatively small group of business men for the operation of the Tourist and Convention Bureau. A cursory examination of where this money goes does not compare very favorably with the list of firms who subscribed to the Bureau As a large number of these visitors came by motor car it is fair to assume that some of their money went for the following essential services: Hotels, garages, filling stations and oil companies, tires and accessories, food, beverages. Out of all these so-called "essential services" in the City of Winnipeg only six subscriptions were received last year to the fund that made possible the work of the Tourist and Convention Bureau. Not many business men would clip coupons off bonds purchased by a fellow citizen and adopt the revenue to their own use. Is it not tantamount to the same thing to stand by and let your neighbor in business invest in the biggest industry in Winnipeg while you, by paying nothing, are restricting this enterprise; holding it back for lack of adequate working capital?'

Everybody in Winnipeg reaps a benefit from the tourist business. Every business man should support the fund that has and is doing so much to make this business a big dividend paying proposition. Be fair with yourself and with your fellow business men. Ask yourself the question: Am I cashing in undeservedly on somebody else's investment? Get behind the Tourist and Convention Bureau. Support it when you are called upon. It is an organization of Winnipeg business men working for you and for Winnipeg. Do your fair share.