Salaries for non-unionized workers in Manitoba are expected to rise at one of the fastest paces in the country -- an average of 3.3 per cent -- in 2013, according to a new forecast from the Conference Board of Canada.

In its Mid-Year Pulse Check report released Tuesday, the Ottawa-based think-tank said resource-rich Saskatchewan and Alberta are the only provinces expected to see bigger average salary increases this year, at 4.0 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively. That compares to a projected national average growth rate of 3.0 per cent.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/wages-of-non-unionized-tobans-to-beat-national-average-report-190982051.html

EDMONTON -- Several scientists who study polar bears are considering what might once have seemed unthinkable: feeding the bears.

As sea ice disappears and habitat deteriorates in some polar bear ranges, a newly published paper by 12 of the world's foremost experts suggests it's time to consider how to manage increasingly troubled populations.

One ideais to set out big piles of polar bear chow on the tundra. "We just raise it as one of the options," said co-author Andrew Derocher of the University of Alberta...        ...Derocher said the paper is intended to put the issue before the public. He said the discussion should involve a wide array of participants, including hunters, scientists, Inuit, tourism operators, environmental groups and the public.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/feeding-polar-bears-on-the-table-scientists-190982021.html

In a sign of the current austere climate, more than 200 Greek nationals raised £12,000 to pay for the advertising space in an attempt to give their country’s tourism industry a boost.

The money to rent the billboard space for two weeks – in one of London’s most visited and high-profile locations – was raised through “crowdfunding” (individuals pooling their money) through the website loudsauce.com, reported Travelmole, an online travel industry news website.

It is part of a wider initiative called Up Greek Tourism, run by volunteers in order to promote Greece as a holiday destination overseas.

http://www.businessinsider.com/200-greeks-pooled-their-money-to-launch-a-tourism-campaign-2013-2

MANAMA, Bahrain - Debt-burdened carrier Bahrain Air grounded all flights Wednesday after announcing plans to shut down operations and sell its assets amid struggles to rebound from the Gulf nation's unrest-driven downturn and competition with bigger rivals.

The small, privately run airline is among the most high-profile corporate victims from Bahrain's political crisis that erupted two years ago. The pro-democracy uprising by majority Shiites brought a sharp economic slump, but the kingdom's Sunni rulers claim growth is returning.

Government envoys and Shiite opposition groups opened talks this week aimed at easing the tensions, but unrest flares almost every day and continues to take a bite out of business, especially in the travel and tourism sectors.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/bahrain-air-shuts-down-amid-debt-struggles-in-crisis-torn-gulf-nation-190976681.html

Complete: HOUSTON - A cruise line says it is making passengers stranded aboard a disable ship as comfortable as possible, contradicting accounts of some passengers.

Carnival Cruise Lines President Gerry Cahill says his company is working to keep the thousands of passengers safe and comfortable as the vessel is guided to port in Alabama. Meanwhile, some passengers have complained to relatives about hot, dirty conditions aboard the Carnival Triumph, including tales of overflowing toilets and limited food.

Forecasters predict a front to bring increasing winds, a little more roll to the seas and isolated showers to the path of the ship. However, the Coast Guard and cruise line say they don't expect passengers to see a noticeable change in shipboard conditions.

Carnival says the ship is expected to arrive in Mobile on Thursday.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/cruise-line-some-passengers-in-dispute-about-conditions-aboard-disabled-ship-in-gulf-190978751.html

Chicago Tribune Editorial:Oh give me a phone, where the buffalo roam... Actually, don’t. Please.

The National Park Service is under mounting pressure to allow wireless coverage in the peaceful unplugged spaces where the deer and antelope play. What a terrible idea. The great outdoors is supposed to be about twitter without the capital "T." How are you supposed to hear it if your cellphone is chirping?

Park managers in Yellowstone and Glacier national parks are considering requests from telecommunications companies that want to erect or upgrade towers, according to a Reuters report.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/Keep-cellphone-service-out-of-parks-190914621.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Feb.  '59)

KENORA Ont. (Special) — The Canadian government travel bureau m Ottawa will spend $1,500,000 on publicity in the United States in 1959, Allan Field, bureau director, told the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters’ Association convention here Tuesday night. This is a quarter million dollars over 1958 spending, he said. Of course the price of advertising has increased 35 per cent from last year, he said, so the bureau is not really spending more but keeping abreast of the times. Mr. Field urged the tourist outfitters to make guests stay satisfied so they will come back again; this because 46 per cent of all new business is the direct result of satisfied customers telling their friends about the good times they have had. With the opening of the St. Lawrence seaway and the royal visit, 1959 promises to be a good year in Canada for tourists, he said, and the bureau will endeavor to promote Canada in as many ways as possible. Mr. Field said nowhere in the world do tourists get fairer treatment than in Canada, and he hoped that the tourist outfitters and their organizations would work to make the tourist business the No. 1 business in Canada instead of the No. 3 rating it now holds.