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Pretty, purple and pernicious plants plaguing Prairies

After noticing mysterious purple flowers popping up in little patches around the Wolseley neighbourhood last summer, Vic Penner didn’t give it too much thought.

However, this summer, the deceivingly beautiful flowers were impossible to ignore.

“They were just everywhere,” said Penner, 37.

Wolseley isn’t the only neighbourhood being overrun by the plant.

City inundated with thousands of complaints after launch of new transit system

Despite complaints from thousands of dissatisfied users, Winnipeg hasn't hit the brakes on the rollout of its new primary transit network. And it appears that ignoring the public response cost Winnipeg Transit millions of dollars in lost revenue and ridership.

Another downtown eatery bites the dust

Another longtime downtown Winnipeg restaurant has closed its doors, leaving another hole in the city’s core.

Rudy’s Eat & Drink announced on social media it was closing after 15 years in Manitoba Hydro Place but did not cite a reason.

“Cheers to the years of local beer, burger weeks, jets games, weddings, catering, stone soup week, DJ nights, charitable events and everything in between — we will hold these memories forever,” the post said. “The end of an era — but there’s always another chapter.”

General manager Mackenzie Robb declined to comment on the eatery’s closure. Rudy’s last day of service was on Friday.

Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Some North End residents are concerned new community mailboxes will become a target for vandalism and crime after the base of one was recently lit ablaze — before it was even installed.

The community mailboxes started to show up on Andrews Street within the last two weeks. Some have been installed, while at other locations, only the concrete foundation is in place.

“They just dumped them on the boulevard,” said Stephen Giesbrecht, who lives beside one of the boxes in the St. John’s neighbourhood. “They dumped them on the corner and then they were gone.”

One of the concrete slabs has already played host to a fire and some of the hardware needed to install the mailbox melted.

Executive exodus continues at Shared Health with three recent departures

Manitoba’s provincial health authority is looking for its fourth chief financial officer since 2023 and additional replacements after the recent departures of three executives.

Practice — and superstition — makes perfect

It seems the words routine and superstition blend together for the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

While the players have a set pre- and post-game timetable — whether or not they label all game-day routines as superstitions — it’s clear they have their own internal rules that must be followed.

For pitcher James Bradwell, though he believes he doesn’t have any crazy pre-game rituals that need to be upheld, he knows what works and sticks to it.

“I will always put my right sock on before my left, right cleat on before my left,” the North Vancouver product said, having only started these routines after joining the Fish.