Handy buddy’s love-shack request crosses line

Countdown to tee off at the Manitoba Open begins

It’s not quite at Stanley Cup drought territory — that sits at 33 years and counting — but it’s been a long wait for a Canadian golfer to capture the prestigious Manitoba Open.

Seventeen years, to be exact, since Graham DeLaet accomplished the feat.

Could that be about to end? We’ll find out when one of North America’s longest-running golf tournaments tees off at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club from Aug. 20-23.

The odds may be better than they’ve been in ages. Two Canadians have won on the PGA Tour Americas this season, and both will arrive in Winnipeg looking to add another title while strengthening their bid for a career-changing advancement to the Korn Ferry Tour.

Transit driver stabbed with syringe by passenger

A Winnipeg Transit driver is recovering in hospital after a passenger stabbed him in the leg with a syringe while riding the bus early Wednesday, the Amalgamated Transit Union says.

The union said the incident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. while the operator was stopped in the northbound lanes of Isabel Street, near William Avenue. A female passenger reached around the driver’s safety shield and stabbed the driver twice before getting off the bus.

The driver was taken to the Seven Oaks Hospital in stable condition, where he is undergoing treatment and further testing, union president James Van Gerwen said in an interview.

“We spoke to the member. He is doing OK, but he is still in the hospital and he is scared — as anybody would be,” Van Gerwen said.

Concordia doctor denies responsibility for Calgary man’s permanent disability

A Concordia Hospital doctor accused in a negligence lawsuit after a Calgary man was left permanently disabled when he was given a massive overdose of a powerful sedative has denied she ordered he be given the drug.

Zachary Hoogerdyk’s father, Edward Hoogerdyk, and the Alberta government filed their statement of claim earlier this year in Court of King’s Bench naming the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, provincial health agency Shared Health, Concordia Hospital, Dr. Anna Ziomek and two other hospital staff as defendants.

Hoogerdyk, who was 23 at the time, went to Concordia’s urgent-care centre with flu-like symptoms and worsening breathing difficulties on March 25, 2024 while he was in Winnipeg on business and to visit family, the lawsuit says.

The claim alleges Ziomek diagnosed Hoogerdyk with low levels of oxygen in his blood and a strain of the flu, before ordering him to be intubated.

Government overrides school board in ‘mature minor’ controversy

The Manitoba government has vetoed the Steinbach school board’s plan to override common law by making parents the ultimate authority on all student health issues.

Since Hanover School Division trustees approved a motion to disregard the category of “mature minors” just over two months ago, there has been widespread debate.

Trustees unanimously voted to stop honouring the mature minor doctrine — in which teenagers 16 and older are automatically assumed to have the maturity to make medical decisions for themselves — at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

“We would just encourage the Hanover School Division to do what they do best, which is providing high-level, quality education for the kids in their community,” Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said in an interview on Tuesday about her July 22 directive to the board to repeal its motion.

Canad Inns puts Portage Avenue hotel, MET, office building ‘connected campus’ up for sale

Downtown entrepreneurs are watching with wary eyes as a prominent hotel and event centre hits the market.

Storm left $840M of insured losses across Manitoba, Saskatchewan

Severe weather spanning two days in June — hitting both Manitoba and Saskatchewan — has led to at least $840 million in insured losses.

The June 9 and 10 weather is the latest in an increasing number of “catastrophic” events with major insurance payouts, said Rob de Pruis, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s national director of consumer and industry relations.

The Insurance Bureau didn’t share a breakdown of insured losses by province. Most of the claims cover hail and flood damage, including sewer backups, de Pruis said.

At the time of the storm, Manitoba saw grapefruit-sized hail, torrential downpours and at least one tornado.