A large sports bar opposite MTS Centre is closing in the midst of the NHL lockout.

Oreanna Cheater, CEO of 4Play Sports Bar on Portage Avenue, says the family-run business will close in the new year and reopen as a supper club in the spring. The family is bringing in one of Canada’s top chefs for the venture, Cheater said.

She denied that the switch is a result of cancelled Winnipeg Jets games.

“We figure this is best time for it, while the NHL is kinda quiet, so we don’t interrupt the fans and we can do all these exciting changes,” Cheater said. “Last year we started talking about it, and we just been putting the ideas together and finishing everything, so it was well-planned before the Jets were even coming.”

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/12/19/4play-sports-bar-closing-in-midst-of-nhl-lockout

A pending fight over the amount of money the Canadian Museum for Human Rights must pay the City of Winnipeg to service the federal institution is pretty much par for the course for such start-up projects.

The City has assessed the museum a $198,000 charge for payment in lieu of taxes as the federal government does not pay taxes on its own land. The Public Works and Government Services Canada objected to the amount and it will now go to a federal Dispute Advisory Panel (DAP).

“The property-value assessment process for the federal museum falls under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Act (PILT),” Angela Cassie, CMHR director of communications and external relations, said in an e-mail on Wednesday. “Finalizing the assessment involves a negotiation process between Public Works Canada and the City of Winnipeg ... These negotiations are still underway. This is a normal part of the process for establishing a new federal building.

“In the interim, payments have in fact been made to the City at the PILT valuation level.”

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/12/19/city-feds-at-odds-over-canadian-museum-for-human-rights-servicing-cost

Complete: The City of Brandon is undergoing yet another rebranding exercise, as part of its Roadmap for Growth 2014 Strategic Plan.

Late yesterday afternoon, the city’s communications director, Allison Collins, announced the implementation of a new modern logo that would “provide visual consistency across the city organization.”

According to the press release, the administration chose to create the new logo internally. The new organizational logo was developed using elements similar to those found in the city’s economic development department’s long-established logo, which was reflected in the new highway signage erected at Brandon’s entrance points this past summer.

The new logo will be rolled out in 2013 and, with a few very specific exceptions, will take the place of the City of Brandon Coat of Arms, City Crest and the “Green B” logos that have been used over the past number of years as visual representations of the city.

The city’s website states the administration still recognizes the historical significance and importance of the coat of arms and the crest, and will allow their use under special circumstances relating to governance.

No change will be made to current design of the city flag.

The city says the new logo will be used internally across the organization, as well as on media releases, city vehicles, public advertising, emails, Brandon websites and social media accounts.

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/city-unveils-new-logo-184250991.html?thx=y

WFP Columnist, Martin Cash: The latest chapter in the story of the Hecla Resort is about to begin, and this one is entitled the Lakeview Hecla Resort and Golf Course.

Lakeview Management Inc. closed the deal late last week to purchase the resort located 150 kilometres north of Winnipeg, which has been closed and in receivership for the past two years.

Keith Levit, Lakeview's president, said crews will be on site soon and he hopes to reopen the resort in the spring, coinciding with the opening of the Hecla golf course. Lakeview plans to turn it into a family-friendly resort affordable and enticing to budget-conscious Winnipeggers.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/new-life-for-hecla-resort-184225921.html

The Winnipeg Downtown BIZ has released its list of top 10 achievements from 2012.

The BIZ, a business advocacy agency that runs downtown programs, said the list offers a look back on 2012 and what has been accomplished in the heart of the city.

It was compiled by the downtown BIZ and via feedback on Twitter and Facebook.

Here is the group's Top 10, in no particular order:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2012/12/19/mb-downtown-biz-top-10-achievements-winnipeg.html

THE old Minaki Lodge site is making another comeback -- maybe.

Two Steinbach businessmen have unveiled a plan to turn the old Minaki Lodge site in northwestern Ontario into 56 apartment condo units and 96 ready-to-own cottages starting at $170,000 -- but do away with the unique nine-hole golf course built into the Canadian Shield.

Bob Banman, a former provincial cabinet minister, and Bob Schinkel, a real estate developer, have submitted their proposal to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/local-boys-plan-cottages-for-minaki-lodge-site-184226081.html

The head of a tourism lobby group in Ontario says the industry needs to re-invent itself in northern Ontario to survive.

The executive director of Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario said about 700 operators in Ontario have closed since 2005.

The organization tracks the number of hunting lodges, camping resorts and outfitters in the province and lobbies on their behalf.

Doug Reynolds, who will lose his job as executive director in the new year as the organization tries to cut costs, said the province’s tourism woes are caused in part by a high Canadian dollar and the recession.

But he also noted many businesses have not adapted to a changing clientele.

"And frankly, a lot of our traditional clients are just getting older,” he said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2012/12/19/sby-noto-tourism-changing-customer-demographic.html

NEW YORK, N.Y. - For more than 20 years, state park officials in Massachusetts have encouraged locals to get off the couch Jan. 1 and take a hike — nothing too strenuous, but a healthy way to start the new year.

Last year, a group called America's State Parks expanded the effort, called First Day Hikes, to all 50 states. The group hoped for 50 events but had no idea how many Americans would willingly skip New Year's Eve revelry in order to get up early Jan. 1 and hit the woods.

They ended up with 400 outings that drew 14,000 people, hiking a total of more than 30,000 miles. This year will be even bigger, with more than 600 events from a cross-country ski outing in Alaska to a sunrise hike in Hawaii.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/start-2013-off-right-free-guided-hikes-offered-jan-1-in-600-parks-in-all-50-states-184163361.html

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The state tourism department's $1.2 million "New Mexico True" campaign has brought taxpayers $3 for every dollar spent, a success that Tourism Secretary Monique Jacobson said she will use to seek a doubling of her department's advertising budget.

A recent study by Longwoods International, a national research firm that specializes in measuring the effectiveness of tourism advertising campaigns, shows the effort launched in April brought back $3.6 million in state and local taxes. It also produced 264,000 additional trips and generated $35.1 million in additional visitor spending.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/nm-tourism-says-new-campaign-yielded-3-to-1-return-184162301.html

(A complete article published originally in the MFP, Dec.  1889)

Another Stroke of Enterprise in Railway Passenger Service: A new style of cars that will become very popular with transcontinental travelers has been placed in the Manitoba Pacific route passenger service, from St. Paul to Vancouver. These cars are called “family tourist upholstered apartment sleepers" and have been brought into use for “the comfort and convenience of all classes of travellers” from the east to the Pacific coast. These sleeping cars are free to persons holding first or second-class tickets for an additional charge $3 for attendance and use of furnished berth; the cars are, in fact, designed to furnish accommodation intermediate of the Pullman and colonist cars. For comfort of families and parties these cars possess attractions beyond those of any other line; they furnish a most comfortable sleeping car for the transcontinental trip. They have upholstered seats for use during the day and partitions between each apartment at night the berths are made down into comfortable beds with curtains as in an ordinary sleeper, securing absolute privacy to the occupants. They are heated with hot water pipes running around both sides of the car; well ventilated and lighted; have separate lavatory and toilet rooms for ladies and gentlemen, furnished with plate glass mirrors; also a separate space in each car, furnished with cooking range and every other convenience possible for the comfort of the traveler. Five of the cars have been built and they are respectively, the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Winnipeg, Selkirk and Osakis. The cars are owned by the St. P.M. & M. railway company. The first one ever run will pass through Winnipeg at noon today.