2Stuart Olson Dominion Construction filed a statement of claim in Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench against Quebec-based Structal Heavy Steel for special and general damages, which currently is at more than $14.3 million.

Dominion is also suing Structal for $1 million in punitive damages for what it alleges were the steel company's "capricious, high-handed, malicious, oppressive and arbitrary manner for the purposes of its own interest."

Dominion, which has its head office in Calgary and has construction-management offices in Winnipeg, is claiming because of construction delays, allegedly caused by Structal, Investors Group Field did not open in time for the Blue Bombers this past season, forcing the team to spend one more season at Canad Inns Stadium.

The lawsuit also alleges the delays led to other extra costs, including fixing water-damaged portions of the facility that had already been constructed and having to store stadium seating until they could be installed.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/construction-company-sues-over-stadium-delay-188799861.html

Monday’s mild temperatures may have been a nice reprieve for most of us, but don’t blame Irina Ivanov Bissonnette for applauding the fact it’s not expected to last.

Ivanov Bissonnette is the director of marketing and communications for Festival du Voyageur, which has often had to scramble in recent years to haul in enough snow for its sculptures. That’s not an issue this year and you may have already noticed some sculptures around the city promoting the event, which goes Feb. 15-24.

“We have plenty of snow and are already ahead of schedule for building all our blocks of snow in the park as well as around the city,” said Ivanov Bissonnette. “It’s easier for our park crew when we don’t have to haul snow from around the city.”

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2013/01/28/festival-du-voyageur-happy-about-snow

Designers of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg say they are setting a new standard in making the building accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities.

Eight disabled Canadians have had direct input into the design of the museum, which is being built near The Forks in the city's downtown. Designers are now working on implementing their recommendations.

Museum officials will be showcasing highlights of the accessible design to reporters on Tuesday morning.

"I'm really excited what's happening with the human rights museum," said Valerie Wolbert, a Winnipeg disability rights activist who was consulted by the museum.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/01/28/mb-canadian-museum-human-rights-accessibility-standard.html

Complete: Six new signs put up last fall to welcome visitors to Brandon are missing a crucial component and will need to be fixed in spring.

In an update posted to the city's website, Economic Development Brandon says that the signs were supposed to use reflective materials so that the word "Brandon" could be seen at night — but the sign company forgot. The error wasn't noticed until all the signs had been installed, and cold weather made it impossible to immediately fix.

Replacement of the text with reflective materials is to occur in early spring, as soon as the weather allows.

Four of the signs are about 12 feet high, and were placed near Kemnay on Highway 1A, on Veterans Way and both north and south of the city on Highway 10.Two larger signs, standing about 20 feet high, are located on the Trans-Canada Highway, east and west of the city.

The signs were erected in highway ditches and aren't allowed to be lit up.

http://www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/New-highways-signs-not-that-bright-188739001.html?thx=y

Regina city council has formally approved key plans, including a financial model, for a new football stadium promised for 2017.

"I think we're doing it for the kids," Coun. Bob Hawkins said, as council members voted on a series of motions that move the city's plans forward.

The concept began as an initiative of former Regina mayor Pat Fiacco who advocated a plan for a downtown — covered — facility, with participation from the federal and provincial governments.

When it became clear there would be no federal dollars available, the city — along with provincial officials and the Saskatchewan Roughriders — devised a new plan for a stadium on the exhibition grounds that would be "roof-ready".

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2013/01/25/sk-regina-new-stadium-city-council-1301.html

RIO DE JANEIRO - Rio de Janeiro is mixing technology with tradition to provide tourists information about the city by embedding bar codes into the black and white mosaic sidewalks that are a symbol of the city.

The first two-dimensional bar codes, or QR codes, as they're known, were installed Friday at Arpoador, a massive boulder that rises at the end of Ipanema beach. The image was built into the sidewalk with the same black and white stones that decorate sidewalks around town with mosaics of waves, fish and abstract images.

The launch attracted onlookers, who downloaded an application to their smartphones or tablets and photographed the icon. The app read the code and they were then taken to a website that gave them information in Portuguese, Spanish or English, and a map of the area.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/brazil-bar-codes-built-into-rio-de-janeiros-mosaic-sidewalks-will-link-visitors-to-info-188767591.html

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Virgin Galactic has agreed to start paying New Mexico rent on the nearly quarter-billion dollar spaceport the state built for British businessman Richard Branson's space tourism business, but it says it is doing so under protest and without waiving its right to walk away from the project, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

In a Jan. 16 email to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, Virgin Galactic said it does not believe the state has finished the work necessary to trigger activation of its $1 million annual rent obligation, and said if the work is not complete to its satisfaction by March 31, it "may either stop paying rent, pay reduced rent or give notice to terminate" its lease.

Virgin Galactic has publicly expressed concerns about the state's inability to attract more businesses to the project and has hinted it could leave if lawmakers refuse for a third year in a row to expand liability exemptions for the commercial space industry. The Legislature is in session until mid-March and a compromise bill was endorsed Monday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/travel/ap-newsbreak-virgin-galactic-shuns-binding-spaceport-lease-to-pay-rent-under-protest-188756211.html

International tourist arrivals exceeded one billion for the first time last year, with the Asia-Pacific region posting the biggest increase in foreign visitors, and numbers will rise further in 2013, a UN body said on Tuesday.

The number of international tourist arrivals grew by 4.0 percent to 1.035 billion in 2012, up from 996 million in 2011, the Madrid-based United Nations World Tourism Organisation said in an annual survey.

"2012 was a year of constant economic instability in the entire world, especially in the euro zone. Despite this international tourism managed to maintain its course," the body's Secretary General Taleb Rifai told a news conference.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/333232/world-tourist-numbers-top-1-bn-for-first-time-un

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Jan.  '63)

Officials of the Town N' Country Restaurant, 317 Kennedy Street, Tuesday announced major expansion plans which will include an 11 storey 150-room motor hotel with a roof garden overlooking the city.

Officials estimated the project would cost more than $1.5 million.  Work was expected to start in early spring.

Auby Galpern, an official of Town N' Country, said the motor hotel will be the city's largest and will be erected on the property adjoining the restaurant.

It will have a convention room with a capacity for more than 500 persons and a connecting parking area to accommodate 300 cars.  Plans may include making the pool usable in both winter and summer.

"We believe there is a definite need for a unique motor hotel in the downtown area with every type of facility, "and this is what will be offered regardless of cost," said Mr. Galpern.

The name, Town N' Country, will also be used for the motor hotel.  Several additions have been planned for the restaurant to make it one of the largest in Canada.

Mr. Galpern said that Winnipeg businessman Ben Hatskin is now an owner of Town N' Country along with himself and Ralph Drewitt.  Mr. Hatskin is a former Blue Bomber football player and is widely known in horse racing circles.

Trader Vic's restaurant of San Francisco has granted Town N' Country use of its name for a new restaurant.

This will feature specialized types of food.  A new seafood dining room will also be installed in the restaurant.  A connecting annex is to be constructed from the motel to the restaurant facilities.

Mr. Galpern said sample rooms at the hotel are being designed to meet the needs of Canadian and American sales personnel.