Designer Raf Simons leaves Calvin Klein over creative vision

Selfie part of investigation into Grant Park football coach

A selfie of a high school football coach grinning beside a Free Press front-page story about the investigation into his professional conduct has become part of the case.

Doug Kovacs, a resource teacher at Grant Park High School who runs the Pirates football program, was put on leave in the spring.

The Winnipeg School Division employee is the subject of an investigation into allegations that athletes on his AAAA varsity team engaged in hazing that led to at least one player getting injured last year.

The Free Press has learned that on July 8 — the day it was revealed in print that Manitoba’s teacher commissioner had launched a third-party probe — a photo of Kovacs posing with a newspaper began circulating in the football community.

Safety assessment planned following drownings

The Manitoba government will conduct an assessment of high-risk trails and areas in its parks system following the drownings of two siblings at Nutimik Lake in the Whiteshell.

Environment Minister Mike Moyes has ordered his department to identify high-risk areas after Maximo Au Ramirez, 10, slipped on rocks near Sturgeon Falls and fell in the lake Saturday. His brother, Aaron Au Ramirez, 13, went in to try to save him.

The body of Aaron was recovered Thursday evening, 24 hours after his brother’s body was found Wednesday.

“We have a lot of beautiful parks and spaces, but to flag any areas that could need greater improvements for safety, and so we’re going to take a really comprehensive approach to ensuring that Manitobans can enjoy nature, but do it in a way that’s safe,” Moyes said Thursday.

For unique Menno-centric take on Free Press, satirist mines her jibes between the lines

Free Press readers of a certain vintage may remember when tuning into a local radio station to hear a pair of disc jockeys perusing a section of the Saturday edition was appointment listening.

On Sunday mornings from 1962 until the mid-1980s, CKRC 630 personalities Bob Washington and Tom Ashmore — better known as Wash and Ash — entertained Winnipeggers of all ages by impersonating the likes of Dennis the Menace, Beetle Bailey and Archie Andrews, as they lent their voices to that weekend’s multi-page, colour comic insert.

In a 1984 interview, Washington, who died in 2016 at the age of 82, attributed the weekly program’s longevity to audiences enjoying the antics of “two middle-aged guys in 24 dialects, giving their version of what Dagwood is saying to Blondie, or what Hägar the Horrible is bragging about.”

More than 40 years later, another Winnipegger is turning to the Free Press for her material. Only instead of reading the paper’s funnies, Lori Klassen, a mother of three and grandmother of two, is funnily reading the paper.

Longtime Assiniboine Park Zoo resident Blizzard the bison dies

Blizzard, the white bison that became one of Assiniboine Park Zoo’s most recognizable residents during nearly 20 years at the facility, has died, the zoo announced Friday.

The zoo said Blizzard’s health declined in recent weeks, so a diagnostic exam was recommended to better understand his condition. He died during the procedure.

Blizzard arrived at Assiniboine Park Zoo in 2006 and went on to become a favourite among visitors, inspiring “millions of visitors with his remarkable presence,” the zoo said in a social media post.

“While all animals in our care are deeply valued, Blizzard held a special place in the hearts of many people and carried profound cultural and spiritual significance for many Indigenous peoples,” the post reads.

Bombers’ offence, defence, and special teams fail to show up against Stampeders

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers constantly preach the importance of playing three-phase football.

On Friday night, they went 0-for-3.

Their offence, defence, and special teams all played a significant role in losing 52-30 to the visiting Calgary Stampeders.

The team that erased a 17-point deficit to beat Ottawa last Sunday was nowhere to be found.

Bridgwater residents fed up with Manitoba Housing eyesore

A weed-covered plot of land in Bridgwater has been left to grow wild all summer, raising the ire of neighbours who say they were told the property is owned by Manitoba Housing and bylaw officers cannot intervene.