Complete: After 66 days the entire seven-kilometre Forks River Trail is closed for the season, Clare MacKay Vice-President, Marketing and Communications for the Forks, said this morning.

The River Trail is just over seven kilometres long, with half the trail stretching west up the Assiniboine River to Hugo Street, and the other half south up the Red River to Churchill Park.

The Assiniboine portion of the trail closed Monday, while the trail on the Red closed today.

An Olympic-sized skating rink in front of the Scotia Bank stage, and skating under the canopy are still open on land at the Forks, as are 1.2 kilometres of skating trails that are walking trails in the summer.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Warm-weather-closes-Forks-river-trail-for-the-season-193572171.html

TORONTO - Small businesses appear to be feeling more optimistic in early 2013, according to the latest survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The CFIB says its index rose a half a point to 66.2 in February on a scale of 0 to 100.

An index level above 50 means owners who expect their operations to be stronger in the next year outnumber those who expecting a weaker performance.

Small business owners in Alberta remain the most optimistic in Canada, with an index of 71, closely followed by Saskatchewan at 69.8 and Newfoundland and Labrador at 67.0.

Ontario (65.3), Nova Scotia (65.3), British Columbia (64.9), Quebec (64.6), Manitoba (63.4), and New Brunswick (62.2) are slightly below the national average while Prince Edward Island (54.1) saw a sharp drop in business confidence.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/small-business-confidence-gets-stronger-in-february-cfib-193766431.html

Complete: WASHINGTON - The world's largest museum complex is bracing for a $40 million cut in funding due to the budget stalemate in Congress, but the Smithsonian Institution vows to keep the doors open at its museums and National Zoo.

Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas says the attractions will maintain normal visitation hours.

Instead, the Smithsonian is preparing to absorb the funding cut in other ways. Maintenance and new construction will be delayed. Hiring will be frozen. Use of outside contractors will be reduced, as well as training, research and travel.

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough (cluff) wants to avoid a furlough of the institution's 6,000 employees.

The $40 million cut represents about 5 per cent of the Smithsonian's budget spread out from March 1 to the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/smithsonian-vows-to-keep-doors-open-regular-hours-at-museums-despite-40m-cut-from-congress-193555691.html

WASHINGTON - The government has no choice but to furlough air traffic controllers in the event of automatic spending cuts, raising the spectre of widespread flight delays and runway closures, the Federal Aviation Administration chief told skeptical Republicans Wednesday.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that one of two control towers at Chicago's O'Hare international Airport might have to be closed because there will not be enough controllers to meet minimum staffing levels. If that happens, Huerta said, the airport's north runway would be shut down, which would have a ripple effect around the country.

The spending cuts are scheduled to go into effect on Friday, but furloughs of air traffic controllers won't kick in until April because the FAA is required by law to give its employees advance notice. That will delay most of the impact of the spending cuts on air travel for at least a month.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/spending-cuts-could-force-busy-airports-to-operate-fewer-runways-air-traffic-controllers-say-193553611.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Feb.  '56)

Mayor George Sharpe told city council Monday night he had called a luncheon meeting for Wednesday of representatives of all Greater Winnipeg municipalities to discuss a referendum on liquor.

He said the mayors and reeves of the city and suburbs would familiarize themselves with the liquor bill and would see if it were possible to have one Greater Winnipeg referendum instead of separate votes in each municipality.

Failing that, he said, he would see if each of the municipalities could at least hold its referendum the same day.

At the next city council meeting, the mayor said, he would ask authority to strike off a committee and review the bill to see what avenues of revenue for the city were possible.

The city law department is already studying the bill with this purpose in mind.

Ald. Jack Blumberg declared he would not support any mid-year referendum if the city was to bear the cost.  The matter could be put off until the fall election, he said and would swell the turnout at the polls.

Ald. Slaw Rebchuck asked finance committee to consider a two per cent sales tax on liquor and every other possible revenue.  Ald. Walter Crawford, finance chairman, said every possible source of revenue for the city would be investigated.

BARCELONA, Spain -- A car that tells your insurance company how you're driving. A bathroom scale that lets you chart your weight on the web. And a meter that warns your air conditioner when electricity gets more expensive.

Welcome to the next phase of the wireless revolution.

The first wave of wireless was all about getting people to talk to each other on cellphones. The second will be getting things to talk to each other, with no humans in between. So-called machine-to-machine communication is getting a lot of buzz at this year's wireless trade show. Some experts believe these connections will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade.

"I see a whole set of industries, from energy to cars to health to logistics and transportation, being totally redesigned," said Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone Group PLC, in a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The British cellphone company has vast international interests, including its 45 per cent ownership stake in Verizon Wireless.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/the--internet--of--things-193767361.html