Local

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

It's been a good week for... It's been a bad week for...

By: Lindor Reynolds

Posted: 09/1/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Enlarge Image

Mitt and Ann Romney (EVAN VUCCI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Enlarge Image

Maygan Sensenberger (LIAM RICHARDS / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

It was a bad week for...

'Bigfoot'

A man was killed on a Montana highway while trying to convince people they'd seen Bigfoot. Randy Lee Tenley, 44, put on a Ghillie suit -- an outfit designed to resemble heavy foliage -- and stepped onto U.S Highway 93. A 15-year-old driver hit him. Another driver swerved and missed. A third car ran him over as he lay on the road. His companions said he was "attempting to incite a sighting of Bigfoot -- to make people think they had seen a Sasquatch." There were no calls from drivers reporting a Bigfoot sighting. Several calls did report the accident. Alcohol, say authorities, may have been a factor.

The Senate, Part 1

Liberal Sen. Joyce Fairbairn is leaving her job after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Fairbairn, 73, was reportedly declared legally incompetent in February. She was allowed to cast votes in the upper chamber for more than three months after that. Fairbairn is on sick leave. She has not announced plans to retire. Calls for Senate reform, accusations the Liberals were simply trying to hold Fairbairn's seat and reminders Fairbairn deserves to be treated with dignity followed the revelation of her illness.

The Senate, Part 2

Liberal Sen. Rod Zimmer, 69, and his wife Maygan Sensenberger, 23, made headlines after she was charged with causing a disturbance during a flight. But that wasn't what fed the frenzy. The fact Sensenberger is a lovely woman in the first bloom of adulthood and her husband is 69, made it impossible to look away. Because the bride lived her life on Facebook, anyone with a laptop could see the couple's wedding photos and details of Mrs. Zimmer's shoe closet. Someone has since realized a senator's wife probably shouldn't be so transparent. The photos have been blocked.

It was a good week for ...

Self-published authors

Bestselling mystery writer Sue Grafton was forced to withdraw remarks calling self-published authors "too lazy to do the hard work." Grafton advised young writers not to self-publish, and said such books are "often amateurish." As quickly as you can say "But my memoirs of life in a small town during the Great Depression could be a bestseller" Grafton was pilloried. One self-published author called her "elitist" and said the fact every author can find a reader is a fantastic thing. Even if that reader is their mother, one assumes.

Ann Romney

She was given a tough job: make husband Mitt seem human. Her speech at the Republican National Convention hit it out of the park. "I want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love I have for a man I met at a dance many years ago," Romney said. "We got married and moved into a basement apartment. We shared the housekeeping and ate a lot of pasta." If you believe their life now in any way resembles that picture of impoverished love, the Republicans have a forged Obama birth certificate they'd like to sell you.

American rapper will.i.am

His new single is the first song to debut on another planet. The Black Eyed Peas singer wrote "Reaching for the Stars" to mark the landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. The song was beamed to Curiosity Tuesday. "And I know that Mars might be far, but baby it ain't really that far," will.i.am sings. Martian music critics haven't weighed in yet, although rumour has it they're already fans of David Bowie's Space Oddity.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 1, 2012 J4

Fact Check

Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.

* Required

In which story did you find the error? *
Please post the headline of the story or the title of the video with the error.
What was the error? *
Please post exactly what was wrong with the story.
What should we have written?
Please indicate your source for the correct information.
Who else should we interview to improve this story?
Please include any contact information you may have.
Can we contact you in the future for advice on stories about this topic?
Yes

No
First Name: *
Last Name: *
E–mail Address: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Phone: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Colour:
Are you blue? If you can see this, leave it blank and get some CSS support.
Enter the words that you see: * This is to prevent our forms from being filled out automatically.
You have failed to correctly identify the words in the box above. Please try again.

More Local

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Have Your Say

New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.