When it comes to pot roast, keeping it simple is the best

Why is Cuba embracing freer markets?

As long as Donald Trump is entangled in a war with Iran, Cuba is probably safe from being next on his hit list.

But if the mercurial U.S. president can somehow extricate himself from the Persian Gulf trap, then all bets are off. One thing is certain: Trump is not going to give up the idea of getting his greedy hands on the Caribbean island.

In response to Trump’s threats of military invasion, the beleaguered Cuban government is understandably in full panic mode. Right now, it is just trying desperately to keep its head above water as the situation on the ground in Cuba deteriorates further with each passing day.

Not all of the blame for the country’s current humanitarian crisis can be laid at the feet of the Trump White House. The Cuban political leadership deserves its fair share of blame for poor economic and financial management, for too much emphasis on expanding the tourism market, and for not enough attention on modernizing the electrical grid and attracting much-needed foreign investment.

Almost 250 people moved from city encampments under provincial strategy

Nearly 250 people have moved out of Winnipeg encampments under the Manitoba government’s Your Way Home strategy, which is more than 70 per cent of the NDP’s goal for its first term in office.

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith told the Free Press Thursday the province has housed 249 people since launching the program in early 2025. The plan is to move 350 people from camps into housing during the government’s first term, which ends in October 2027, and 700 by the end of a second term, if it’s re-elected.

Smith said 85 per cent, or 211 people, remain in housing.

As for the others: “We don’t give up on people,” she said. “We continue to work with them, and when they’re ready to be housed, we will be there to ensure there is a pathway back.”

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.

In an apartment above the Sherbie, famous local artists line the walls

There’s a small, treasure-filled art gallery on the second floor of the Sherbie.

Directly above the West Broadway vendor and noisy bar now known as the Kyoto Kat Club, amid a primly kept wardrobe and dirty coffee mugs, Josh Peterson’s bachelor suite is bursting with coveted Manitoba art.

“The Simon Hughes piece was an unbelievable gift from a friend for helping her take care of her mom going through palliative care with cancer,” says Peterson.

The Winnipeg artist’s iconic illustrations of ice floes can be found on the cover of the Weakerthans’ Reunion Tour album, as well as on Peterson’s walls.

Spike in safety concerns doesn’t feel like harm reduction

It’s after dinner when a couple of young boys appear on my porch. I recognize them from the neighbourhood, but they’re not here to ask my kids to come out for a game of basketball. Instead, one asks, “Is it OK to come in for a little bit. There’s a guy out there and he’s scaring us.”

Body of second sibling pulled from lake

NUTIMIK LAKE — Twenty-four hours after the body of 10-year-old Maximo Au Ramirez was located in Nutimik Lake, searchers found the body of his 13-year-old brother, Aaron, who had gone into the water to rescue Maximo after he slipped in Saturday.

The announcement was made on social media by Nutimik Lodge in Whiteshell Provincial Park. “Our prayers have been answered” the post said. “Both boys have been recovered.”

Earlier Thursday, their parents said they are surviving their “unimaginable” loss only because of the overwhelming support they have received from the community.

In the afternoon, RCMP divers, the Hutterian Emergency Aquatic Response Team and civilian volunteers moved across Nutimik Lake, drones hovered above and media lined the beach as the search for Aaron continued.