Complete: The city will hold a press conference tomorrow regarding Brandon's bid for the 2017 Canada Games at Brandon City Hall tomorrow afternoon.

Mayor Shari Decter Hirst and bid chairman Jeff Cristall will be there to answer questions from the media release that will be handed out at that time.

The bid evaluation committee was to have submitted its report to the Canada Games Council board in early December.  

As the Sun previously reported, the city's bid hit a potential snag last year regarding Brandon's swimming facilities. The Sportsplex has a six-lane pool, but Swim Canada requires events to be held in an eight-lane pool.

If the Sportsplex pool is not deemed acceptable, options include moving all swimming events to Winnipeg, constructing a new pool, renovating the Sportspex pool to increase the pool size or renting an eight-lane pool and building a temporary venue in the city.

The press conference is supposed to begin at 1:30 p.m.

http://www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/City-to-make-Canada-Games-announcement-Thursday-186221932.html?thx=y

Complete: The Riverbank Discovery Centre has received a $19,500 boost from the federal government to support facility upgrades.

Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Merv Tweed made the announcement on Wednesday.

"This centre is the main tourism centre for Brandon, located in the heart of the Assiniboine River corridor," Tweed said. "By improving this facility, our government is helping to boost economic activity, create jobs and ensure that this centre continues to provide vital services to the community."

The funding is part of the federal government’s Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund.

"This facility, as we all know, was pretty hard hit a couple years ago with the flood," Tweed said. "CIIF was basically designed to help improve existing or repair existing facilities."

Lois MacDonald, manager of the Riverbank Development and Tourism Services, said the funding will pay for some major upgrades to the rooftop heating and cooling unit, refurbishing highway signs and other minor renovations.

"A lot of those things that aren’t necessarily exciting, but it makes a big difference to the facility and to how it is that we’re able to utilize the area and service our visitors," MacDonald said.

While in Brandon, Tweed also made another CIIF funding announcement of $14,600. The funds will be used by Brandon Youth Soccer Association to repair the fields at Optimist Soccer Park, which also sustained damage during the 2011 flood.

Irrigation equipment will be repaired, while the nets and bleachers will be restored. The facility includes 11 soccer fields, which have typically served more than 1,450 children who participate in soccer programs annually.

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/feds-commit-19500-to-riverbank-discovery-centre-186297791.html?thx=y

Just try to resist the seductive scent of fresh baking wafting throughout the Exchange District and the heart of downtown.

Go ahead -- just try...       ...Officially, it's the Paterson Global Foods Institute, housing the hospitality and culinary arts programs of Red River College and six floors of student residences. The official opening is Feb. 21. But as tradespeople finish the conversion of the enormous banking section into Jane's restaurant, 30 students have already moved into residence and 300 students are in a state-of-the-art school with opulent kitchens spread over several floors, learning everything from how to bake delicate European pastries, to cooking veal and fresh fish, to tasting wine and beer and spirits to see what goes best with a particular dish.

No, seriously, drinking beer counts as going to school for a post-secondary education.

There are separate programs in culinary arts, hotel and restaurant management, tourism, baking and pastry arts and apprenticeship.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wfpfeatured/main-streets-cooking-again-186271751.html

VANCOUVER - The Canadian Tourism Commission says its efforts to market last year's 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede paid off, luring thousands of visitors to Canada.

The commission received a special one-time allocation of $5 million from the federal government to promote the event internationally.

It now says that over 8,900 travellers booked trips to Canada in the six months leading up to the centennial celebrations "as a direct result" of its campaigns in Brazil, Germany, South Korea and the U.K. The estimate is based on an analysis done by the market research consultancy Longwoods International.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/calgary-stampede-marketing-campaigns-drew-thousands-to-canada-says-ctc-186175102.html

TORONTO - Porter Airlines says it will provide regular service despite a strike by employees who fuel the aircraft.

Twenty-two workers were set to go on strike Thursday at 12:01 a.m. after talks broke down with the airline Wednesday.

Although the company said it has other trained employees to fuel the aircraft, the union representing the workers said it was concerned that the replacements do not have the skills to do the job properly.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/porter-says-possible-labour-disruption-thursday-will-not-affect-flights-186176492.html

MOSCOW - It was supposed to be a thrilling ride down a ski slope inside a giant inflatable ball that is to be one of the symbols of next year's Winter Olympics; it ended in tragedy for the two Russian men inside.

The transparent plastic ball — known as a zorb — veered off course and sailed over a rock ledge in the rugged Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia. The ball picked up speed as it flew down the steep slope, rolling and bouncing. One man was killed and the other badly injured...        ..."Until 2006, hundreds of people died every year at the North Caucasus ski resorts," said Kantemir Davydov, an Emergencies Ministry spokesman in southern Russia. "That number has fallen sharply, but still on average 20 to 30 tourists die every year. The causes of the deaths are various, but the root is the same: There is no clear system assuring tourism safety."

Eager for any business that brings in badly needed tourist revenue, local officials are reluctant to enforce safety requirements, Davydov said.

It's every social media butterfly's dream come true: a dedicated staff member to follow you around with a camera and document your adventures in real time on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Celebrities call them "personal assistants," politicians call them "social media managers" and fashion bloggers... well, many call them "boyfriends."

But at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C., they're simply referred to as "Twitter Butlers", and anyone in town for U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration can make use of their services -- for a (hefty) fee.

As part of their $47,000 "Inaugural Town and Country" package, the hotel offers this unique service to guests for the entirety of their four-day-long stay.

"From Tweeting and Facebooking to Instagramming and Pinning -- we're ready to record the memories in real time as the Social Media Butler for the friends and family of excited attendees so they can enjoy the moment," reads a blog post written by Anchor Media, the marketing agency that will staff the program.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2013/01/personal-twitter-butler-comes-with-luxury-hotel-package.html

(A complete article published originally in the MFP, Jan.  '28)

Col. Ralph H. Webb was re-elected president of the Province of Manitoba Hotel Association, at the annual meeting held yesterday in the Royal Alexandra hotel, and the other officers were as follows: First Vice President, E.J. Ryall, Carman; second vice-president G. Skinner, Winnipeg; third vice president, H.R. Beaubier, Brandon: secretary-treasurer, Sam Larking, Winnipeg. The meeting was confined entirely to routine business, the afternoon session being occupied with the submission of the various reports by the chairman and secretary-treasurer, which covered the activities of the organization during the past year, and showed the financial position to be In good shape George Skinner, as delegates to a meeting in Saskatoon, on January 24, for the formation of a Western Canada Hotelmen's association. At this meeting representatives will be appointed to attend a meeting In Toronto for the organization of a Dominion organization. Among other business dealt with was the constitution which was altered to comply with the regulations of the new bill now before the provincial house. The banquet in the evening, held in the Royal Alexandra hotel, was a windup for the annual session. A number of prominent business men of the city were invited to be present, when the problems of the hotelmen were generally discussed. Delegates to the meeting were welcomed to the city by Aid. J. A. Barry, on behalf of the city, who regretted the absence of representatives of the government. He hoped that laws would now be put into force that would meet the wishes of the people and be fair to the hotel keepers of the province. In his opening remarks, Col. Webb welcomed the guests of the evening, and felt that the business men of the city and province realized that there was something behind the room clerk mid the rotunda of the hotel. The Hotel Association was formed three years ago, with the object of putting the hotel business back. The hotel men wanted to be in a position to go to the government, and show their directorate as men who could be vouched for. The hotelmen had gone to the government with advice, but unfortunately the government had not taken 't. Col. Webb went on to speak of the all-weather roads for the province, and urged the members to get behind the movement, -and in this way they would se doing more for the province than possibly any other factor. In proposing the toast to the city of Winnipeg, F. Hedley Marsh, president of the board of trade, stated that during the past two years the city had taken on a very much brighter and pleasant condition, and lie had no hesitation in saying that during the thirty years he had known Winnipeg, he had known Winnipeg, he had never recognized a time when prospects were brighter than at the present time.