One-third of the employees hired by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights have left the institution since it was formed three years ago.

The first national museum located in Winnipeg is suffering from high turnover with the departure or dismissal of at least 34 of the staff members it has hired since 2009. The institution's current staffing level is pegged at 68 people. Museum administrators say 20 permanent employees either left, were fired or were declared redundant, while another 14 term positions ended.

The CMHR attributes part of the high turnover to the short-term nature of the work required to open the $351-million museum in 2014.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/museum-staff-exodus-tied-to-content-change-181652591.html

WFP Columnist, Brent Bellamy: Ask any Winnipegger what their favourite piece of public art is and the response will likely be a confused look and the question, "Winnipeg has public art?"

Ours is an artistic community. With only two per cent of Canada's population, we have 12 per cent of its musicians. We have the country's oldest civic art gallery, French-language theatre, English regional theatre and dance company. We are home to a renowned symphony and numerous artistic festivals. Despite this creative heritage, we have fallen behind other major Canadian cities in our funding for and implementation of great public art.

North American cities today are turning to public art as a means of defining and enhancing urban identity and character. The visual appeal of a community can play a significant role in cultivating civic pride and emotional attachment from the people who live in them. It is human character to seek out physical beauty in the things that surround us and in the places we live. Public art that is authentic, stimulating and visually appealing can contribute to this sense of public well-being. Although not plentiful, Winnipeg does have some inspiring examples of urban art that illustrate the benefits of this type of economic investment in our communities.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/its-our-winnipeg-for-arts-sake-181793271.html

Twenty-five years and four days after the old Metropolitan Theatre went dark, its grand hall lit up once again.

On Friday, Canad Inns used an invitation-only pre-opening gala to reveal the old theatre's $20-million transformation from a building in decay to a revamped entertainment centre in the heart of downtown. The nearly 93-year-old facility, now to be known as the Met Entertainment Centre, has been fully restored. The renovations include heritage elements such as mouldings that originally adorned the venue when it opened back in 1919.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/faded-beautys-glory-restored-by-renovations-181652571.html

A new exhibit unveiled at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden might make one think of the premise of the Jurassic Park movies.

There is some genuine groundbreaking science however behind the exhibit officially opening to the public Monday (December 3).

The display was touted as the world’s first public exhibition of a woolly mammoth blood component, and directors were excited to have a new display that can stir the imagination as well as explain and promote the science of it.

“We are thrilled to be able to be at the forefront of paleo-biology with this one-of-a-kind display,” said CFDC acting executive director Peter Cantelon.

http://www.pembinatoday.ca/2012/11/29/woolly-mammoth-focus-of-groundbreaking-cfdc-exhibit

Canada will use its two years as leader of the circumpolar world to promote development and defend its policies, suggest federal politicians and documents.

But Arctic experts and those involved with the Arctic Council worry that's the wrong approach at a time when the diplomatic body is dealing with crucial international issues from climate change to a treaty on oil spill prevention.

The Arctic Council consists of the eight countries that ring the North Pole and also has participation from aboriginal groups. It has evolved since its 1996 birth in Ottawa from a research forum and diplomatic talking shop to a body that negotiates binding international treaties, such as last year's deal on Arctic search and rescue....       ..."How do we use the opportunity of this chairmanship to bring our issues forward, to reach out to other countries that have impacted our way of life without ever setting foot (here)?

"The northern folks ... see it as an opportunity to open trade, tourism, what have you, during our chairmanship and I'm in agreement with this."

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/canada-focuses-on-development-at-arctic-council-experts-fear-wrong-approach-181810491.html

OTTAWA -- Canada has moved up three places to eighth in a global comparison of the most advantageous places to pay corporate taxes, placing the country in the top 10 for the first time.

The annual study by PwC, in conjunction with the World Bank and the International Finance Corp., shows Canada moving sharply up in a 185-country comparison.

Canada placed 28th as recently as 2010, but continuing reductions of the corporate rate both federally and provincially, as well as reduced red tape, has dramatically improved its standing.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/canada-among-best-places-to-pay-corporate-taxes-181793501.html

MEXICO CITY - Mayan priests started off ceremonies aimed at marking the end of the current era in the Mayan long-count calendar Thursday, with dancing, incense and rituals designed to thank the gods.

The Mayas performed the "New Fire" ceremony at a park in Mexico City, but complained they have been barred by authorities from performing rituals at their ancestral temples in the Maya region. The Mayas measure time in 394-year periods known as Baktuns. The 13th Baktun ends around Dec. 21, and 13 is considered a sacred number for the Maya.

The estimated 800,000 surviving Mayas in Mexico are hoping for a better new Baktun than the one now ending, which began around 1618. It included the painful aftermath of the Spanish conquest in which Mayas and other indigenous groups saw their temples and sacred writings systematically destroyed and their population decimated by European diseases and forced labour....      ..."For conservation reason, there is a ban on climbing up about 80 per cent of the structures at Chichen Itza," De Anda said. De Anda said a big spike in visitors was also expected at sites like the ruins of the Mayan city of Coban and the seaside ruins at Tulum, where similar rules are in effect.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/mayas-hope-for-better-baktun-complain-of-government-banning-rituals-at-archaeological-sites-181573271.html

GET your garlic, crosses and stakes ready: A bloodsucking vampire is on the loose.

Or so say villagers in the tiny western Serbian hamlet Zarozje, nestled between lush green mountain slopes and spooky-thick forests. They say rumours that a legendary vampire ghost has awakened are spreading fear -- and a potential tourist opportunity -- through the remote village.

A local council warned villagers to put garlic in their pockets and place wooden crosses in their rooms to ward off vampires, although it appeared designed more to attract visitors to the impoverished region bordering Bosnia.

Vujetic, however, said "whatever is true about Sava," locals should use the legend to promote tourism. "If Romanians could profit on the Dracula legend with the tourists visiting Transylvania, why can't we do the same with Sava?"

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/serbs-fear-vampires-fangs-181743851.html

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Dec.  '71)

GIMLI, Man. (Staff) — Work i on the addition of 5.000 seats and a canopy on the west side of Winnipeg Stadium, plus improvements to washrooms and j concession stands, could begin this month. Mayor Steve Juba of Winnipeg said here Thursday. The addition and improvements have be approved by the board of the Winnipeg Enterprises Corporation, but not authorized by Winnipeg city council. At a seminar here for the 30 Members of Winnipeg's new central city council, Mayor Juba said he will ask the new council to guarantee a $1.5 million debenture issue by Winnipeg Enterprises Corporation to pay for the stadium renovations.  Normally, Winnipeg city council would guarantee the debentures, lending its prestige in financial circles to the city-owned corporation which manages the stadium. Because of the impending c h a n g e of city government, however, there is some confusion over whether the old or the new government should guarantee the debentures.  If council approves, work can begin "almost immediately" said the mayor. Also, the labor portion of the renovations probably will be subsidized under a federal or provincial winter works program