Endangered status sought for gopher tortoise in 4 states

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I work in a high rise downtown and every day I come to work at the same time. I often ride the elevator up with this new guy working a few floors under me. I always feel a little disappointed when he has to get off, and I continue up into the sky.

I’ve worked my way up to speaking pleasantries about the weather, and he responds with cute remarks about the clouds. The good news? He’s not wearing a ring. I also found out his first name from hearing other people say hello to him. Now what?

— Feeling Frustrated! Downtown

Dear Frustrated: Next time you’re on the elevator ride together, say “Hi! My name is such-and-such and I work at such-and-such. Where do you work up here in the clouds?” That should make him smile and break the ice. Then you could consider asking if he might like to join you for a coffee on a work break, if you can co-ordinate it.

Imagine your daughter says her first word later than her friends do. You wait, hoping she will catch up. By age three, she still is not putting words together the way other kids her age are. Your doctor refers you to a speech-language pathologist. You expect a call within a few weeks.

Instead, you wait. Six months. A year. Two years.

By the time your daughter is finally seen, she is heading into kindergarten. She still struggles to tell her teacher she needs the bathroom. She still cannot explain when something hurts. She still cannot join in the games her classmates play, because those games need more words than she has.

As a parent, your anxiety grows, the frustration leading to sleepless nights worrying about how your child’s life will be impacted by this lack of support. The rest of your family and circle of friends is deeply affected by this potential crisis, they can see you struggling, you feel the stain of stigma attaching itself to your precious daughter. Where can you turn to help your child?

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: On our last day at a beach rental cabin the kids and I were packing up later than the rules asked for, when a familiar car pulled in next door. It was my ex-husband with his new woman and her kids.

My children yelled out, “Look Mom, it’s Daddy! He came to the lake to see us!” and ran over to him for hugs. His girlfriend had the cabin keys dangling, nodded at me, and went inside quickly.

I said to my former husband, “Fancy meeting you here! Come on kids, we’re going home now.” My ex said, “Oh, settle down. Give me a few minutes with my kids, will you?”

So, I finished packing and locked the cabin door, and waited for the kids for 30 minutes in our car. Then I started to cry. It just came gushing out and I couldn’t control it. Finally, my ex brought the children back out. He could see I’d been crying and said in disgust, “Get over it, princess. I have!”

RCMP are seeking the public’s help to identify a person of interest after an all-terrain vehicle and other belongings were stolen from a cottage in southern Manitoba.

The theft happened near near Provincial Road 440 in the Rural Municipality of Louise, about 150 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, on Aug. 11.

Police said surveillance video showed a man walking onto the property at about 2:30 p.m. while covering his face and holding power tools.

A grinder was used to open a locked shipping container, where a 1982 Honda ATC200 all-terrain vehicle, a Honda EU2000i generator and a Stihl FS90 trimmer were among the items stolen, RCMP said. One of two Spypoint trail cameras was also reported stolen.