Her Smell travels a downward spiral

‘A new future’: city dentist Cholakis donates $2M to school of dental hygiene

Dental hygienist training in Manitoba is getting a big boost, after a major gift from a local dentist.

On Thursday, the dental hygiene school at the University of Manitoba’s Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry unveiled a new $2-million donation from Dr. Ernest Cholakis. It’s the largest gift the program has ever received, and in honour of the funding, the school will be named the Cholakis School of Dental Hygiene.

The gift was unveiled at a ceremony Thursday morning at the U of M’s Brodie Centre in the Health Sciences Centre complex. The benefactor and other dignitaries, including Premier Wab Kinew, were in attendance, as well as the three-year program’s current students.

Cholakis, who graduated from the U of M’s dentistry school in 1982, had high praise for the dental hygiene profession.

Suspension on the horizon for Hellebuyck as pre-season set to start

In this high stakes game of chicken, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Connor Hellebuyck or any of the potential suitors for the Winnipeg Jets franchise netminder appear ready to blink.

What to watch as puck drops on Jets training camp

Welcome to a Winnipeg Jets training camp like no other — one where the on-ice storylines and battles threaten to be trumped by what’s happening away from the rink.

Yes, the dark cloud that is the Connor Hellebuyck situation looms over the organization as it prepares to try and turn the page on a terrible 2025-26 campaign which ended with a 26th-overall finish.

It’s not going to be easy, especially in a highly competitive Central Division and Western Conference and with such a major unresolved issue.

But the work starts now, and Free Press hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe get you set for what to expect ahead of the 84-game regular season, which begins Oct. 2.

Winnipeg Jets GM reveals new details of Hellebuyck's trade request, elaborates on suspension

Connor Hellebuyck and his family were subject to so much post-Olympic vitriol that both the Winnipeg Jets security team and even police had to get involved.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff revealed new details about the situation when asked about it Thursday by the Free Press, acknowledging it may have played a role in the star goaltender now refusing to report to training camp while he awaits word of a trade he’s demanded.

“That’s the dangers of being on social media today,” said Cheveldayoff, who took aim at the trolls.

“You open yourself up, obviously to the fans and you want to make that connection, but some of the fans aren’t true blue fans. There’s a lot of things that probably get said that have nothing to do with anybody in our market. They might not even be from a Canadian market.”

Her Smell travels a downward spiral

These days, Elisabeth Moss is best known for her work as the heroine of The Handmaid’s Tale, in the role of a modern woman obliged to suffer silently at the hands of the radically regressive male power structure that’s taken over America.

So one can see the appeal for Moss of diving into the role of Becky Something in Her Smell. Becky is a ’90s rock star — presumably inspired by Courtney Love — whose only filters are on the cigarettes she smokes too compulsively. In the throes of success as a recording artist, Becky is loud, self-indulgent, creative and narcissistic. She’s also a bit of a monster to the people who support her.

Writer-director Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip) plunks us into Becky’s world in mid-downward spiral. Perry shoots the backstage chaos of Becky’s world in close-quarters-intimacy with handheld cameras. Backed up by a pair of dubious holy men tasked with clearing the Becky perimeter of negative energy, the emboldened Becky recklessly alienates by turns Danny (Dan Stevens), her ex-partner and the father of her toddler; her manager (Eric Stoltz); and her long-suffering bandmates (Agyness Deyn and Gayle Rankin).

It is obvious to anyone who has ever watched a celebrity biopic, Becky is heading for a fall. What’s unusual about this film is that it tosses out the conventional structure of such films. Stretched out over five acts, we bear witness to Becky’s self-destruction over the first three. Not content to take down her own band, Becky also brings down another riot-grrrl trio (headed by Cara Delevigne) that stumbles into her orbit.

Sweeney’s sexist U.S. gambling-site ad isn’t the real problem

Until very recently, there was no reason to connect actress and model Sydney Sweeney with online sports betting. But the degrees separating these two culture trends evaporated in short order this week.