WSO joins Dec. 8 screening of Elf

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.

Brown bombs as Bombers blasted

Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Dru Brown took Friday night's ‘Christmas in July’ theme a little too seriously.

He wasn't carrying around a red sack, but he did gift-wrap four interceptions to the Calgary Stampeders in what ended up being a 52-30 loss for the Blue and Gold in front of a sold-out crowd.

The result dropped the Bombers, now 1-3 at home this season, to 4-3. Calgary improved to 3-4 and now have a chance to win the tiebreaker when the two sides meet for a final time on Oct. 10 at Princess Auto Stadium.

“Yeah, not nearly good enough...You certainly don't want to go get into a track meet against a good offence like that,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea.

Daycare grapples with five-year-old’s outbursts, choking incidents

A Windsor Park child-care facility is weighing a five-year-old’s right to care versus the safety of other children who have been choked.

Little People’s Place expelled a pre-schooler in the spring in response to his aggressive behaviour toward other children and staff.

The child’s family has appealed to the province for him to be reinstated.

The case is raising concerns about inclusion support resources and measures to protect everyone at the Cottonwood Road daycare.

Winnipeg Fringe Festival: 2026 show reviews

Not sure what to see at this year's Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival? All of the Free Press’s reviews will be published here.  Find a show and click to read its review.

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.

An eroding Winnipeg neighbourhood looks to new foundations

WINNIPEG - The lot Jesse Bettcher lives on in Winnipeg's north end used to be a pile of burnt rubble. Same with the one next door. And the one across the street.

But he's now the proud owner of a two-storey house with blue-grey siding and white trim, so new the orange construction fencing is still out front.

It's a dream home for Bettcher, and the latest hope for a city seeking to knock down, clean up and revitalize neighbourhoods that have seen hundreds of homes left vacant, leading to safety hazards and worries about the future.

He bought the house as part of a pilot project aimed at creating affordable home ownership. It let him and his family move out of a rental that he said was falling apart.