Clear It with Sidney | Hillman Foundation

Clear It With Sidney

The best of the week’s news by Lindsay Beyerstein

Clear It with Sidney

Sidney's Picks: Neo-conservatives and Neo-confederates

Photo credit: 

Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons. 

The Best of the Week’s News

2018 Canadian Hillman Prize Winners Announced

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Stefan Jurgensen, Creative Commons.

Jayme Poisson and David Bruser of the Toronto Star have won the 2018 Canadian Hillman Prize for exposing the toxic legacy of mercury contamination in the Grassy Narrows region of Ontario. In 1975, Canadians learned that large amounts of mercury had been dumped in the river, but for years officials dismissed members of the White Dog first nation when they said they were still being poisoned by mercury. Authorities did nothing to clean up the spill, arguing that the river should be allowed to clean itself.

Poisson and Bruser revealed in their 30-story series that the provincial government had been warned about the contamination as far back as 1972, but chose to do nothing about it. The two journalists travelled to Grassy Narrows and sampled the soil to prove that mercury levels remain dangerously high to this day. In the wake of their story the provincial government announed an $85 million river cleanup. 

An honorable mention goes to “The Price of Oil,” a collaboration featuring the National Observer, the Toronto Star, Global News, and several university journalism programs.

A second honorable mention goes to  ”Canada’s Indigenous Water Crisis,” by VICE News Canada. 

Click here for full details on all this year’s winners and honorees. 

Join us on Wednesday, March 28 at 6pm for the Canadian Hillman Prize ceremony and reception at a brand new location: The Storys Building, 11 Duncan St., Toronto. RSVP required. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sidney's Picks: Getting Amazon'd & Trump's Murderous Game Commission

Photo credit: 

Sean Habig, Creative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News

Sidney's Picks: Is Stormy Daniels Sick of Winning? & Deporting Vets

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Marco Verch, Creative Commons.

Best of the Week’s News

Sidney's Picks: Disneyfied Wage Slavery & Jared Kushner's Sweet Deal

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Creative Commons, Carlos

The Best of the Week’s News

Sidney's Picks: The Plot Against Unions, Florida's Gun Super-Lobbyist, and Clarence Thomas

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Códice Tuna, Creative Commons. 

The Best of the Week’s News

Sidney's Picks: Trump's Betrayals, Mass Shootings, and Reward Points

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F Delventhal, Creative Commons

The Best of the Week’s News

Sidney's Picks: Kelly's Disgrace, Black Lung, & Kratom Follies

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Michael Kray, Creative Commons. Shows the powdered leaves of kratom, a Southeast Asian plant in the coffee family, which has been used as a remedy for opioid dependence and chronic pain for centuries, and which the FDA is seeking to ban. 

The Best of the Week’s News

Sidney's Picks: ER Catch-22, Tax Cut Follies, and Fat Leonard

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Michael B., Creative Commons. 

The Best of the Week’s News

  • Insurers exploit the ER Catch-22: You don’t know if it’s an emergency unless you go to the ER 
     
  • The GOP tax cuts are draining the treasury even faster than expected. 
     
  • Green Card veteran starts hunger strike to protest impending deportation. 
     
  • How “Fat Leonard” infiltrated the Navy’s 7th Fleet with spectacular bribes

Sidney's Picks: IndyStar Shines, Obstruction of Justice, and Medical Marijuana

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Photo of a gymnast, for illustration only, by Hjalti Þór Daviðsson, Creative Commons

The Best of the Week’s News

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