7.2 magnitude earthquake shakes southern Peru

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?

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the southern coast of Peru early Friday. Authorities say there are no immediate reports of casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred at 12:36 a.m. (0536 GMT). The epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean, some 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of the district of Atiquipa, in the province of Caravelí. That is some 380 miles south of the capital, Lima, near the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The depth was 17 miles (28 kilometers).

The earthquake was felt in the nearby regions of Ayacucho, Ica, and the capital, local media reported. Eder Allca, the mayor of the district of Sancos, in the Ayacucho region, told the local radio station RPP that a road in his district suffered rock slides that left several localities cut off.

The Hydrography and Navigation Directorate of the Peruvian Navy reported that the seismic event generated a tsunami alert along the Peruvian coast. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said any threat of a tsunami had already passed.

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.