More than 1,000 mariachis belt out classics like ‘Cielito Lindo’ in a Mexico City plaza

First Crumbl cookie shop opens in Winnipeg

The early birds got their cookies.

Klaudia and Jayson Ballantyne were the first in line for the grand opening of Winnipeg’s first Crumbl location at 1570 Regent Ave. West, arriving at 2 a.m. Friday — six hours before the cookie chain was set to open.

The brother and sister brought their lawn chairs and blankets and hunkered down.

Roughly 90 minutes later, by their count, the next customers arrived.

Hutterite colonies embrace the manufacturing business – while staying faithful to their way of life

Tucked away at Oak Bluff Hutterite Colony, past rows of communal housing and farm buildings, Aaron Maendel tinkers in a laboratory.

Black-and-white sheets smeared with grey-test formulas cover a counter. A Thermotron — a refrigerator-looking machine — is powered off but standing by to simulate any desired temperature.

Maendel moves to a worktop littered with partly full mixing cups. He pulls out a small, rectangular sample — a sheet showing the drying time of his new fixation, floor coatings.

“Very simple, actually. Very simple machine. Drags a stick through the mud,” Maendel says.

Security under magnifying glass after suspicious death on Mountain Avenue

Homicide detectives are investigating the suspicious death of a 70-year-old man at a seniors high-rise on Mountain Avenue.

Forensic investigators and detectives have been at the building, at 595 Mountain Ave., and questioning residents about the death of Richard Boychuk, whose body was found in his second-storey suite Tuesday morning.

The 70-year-old, who used a wheelchair, had lived in the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corp. apartment for several years, said close friend Angela Abdilla.

She would clean, shop and take care of Boychuk, a former Elvis impersonator.

Connor Hellebuyck breaks silence after trade from Jets

It took until the very end of his introductory news conference Saturday — right around the 15-minute mark — before Connor Hellebuyck was finally asked the question that hockey fans back in Winnipeg were likely waiting for.

“Is there anything you’d like to say to Jets fans?” a reporter who covers Hellebuyck’s new team, the New Jersey Devils, put to him during the session held inside the Prudential Center in Newark.

A short pause followed.

“I mean, there’s a lot. There’s a lot that I need to say,” Hellebuyck began, no doubt raising plenty of eyebrows around here and the hockey world in general.

Province orders ban on private teacher-student messaging

Manitoba teachers are no longer allowed to text or use social media to contact a student – regardless of whether they coach a school sports team or supervise other activities outside typical instruction times.

Sun sets on Hellebuyck era

Now that the Connor Hellebuyck era of the Jets has finally concluded, what impact will the departure have on the netminder’s legacy?

Well, it’s a complex answer and one that could change with the benefit of time and a side order of sober second thought.

Given how raw things are right now and how things quickly went sideways — with the franchise goalie essentially forcing his way out of town with his trade request back in April — many members of the Winnipeg Jets fan base quickly found themselves at the “good riddance” stage of the grieving process.

This wasn’t how this story was supposed to end and there’s no doubt some feelings have been hurt along the way.