ICYMI: July 9-15

What I produced and consumed this week.

CBC Calgary followed up on my piece and gave me credit for the scoop. Unlike myself, reporter Joel Dryden was able to get ahold of Matthew Altheim briefly, which was detailed in a paragraph too funny not to excerpt:

CBC News spoke briefly to Altheim by phone but lost the connection. In response to a text, Altheim said he could not talk because he was driving. He did not respond to subsequent requests for comment by publication time.

I also wrote stories for Alberta Native News on the Confederation of Treaty No. 6 Nations declaring the drug poisoning crisis a public emergency and Métis Nation of Alberta President Audrey Poitras’s decision not to seek re-election after 27 years as president.

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What I’ve been reading

Alberta

Alberta nurses' escalating overtime is pushing some of their pay sky high, Janet French, CBC News (July 10)

Edmonton police body camera trial is pointless, Christopher J. Schneider, Edmonton Journal (July 10)

We need both safe supply and treatment for those with addictions, Rob Breakenridge, Calgary Herald (July 11)

Edmonton removed two water fountains because of complaints by police and library staff, Lauren Boothby, Edmonton Journal (July 13)

Alberta oil refinery operating for years without provincial approval faces enforcement order, Wallis Snowdon, CBC News (July 13)

UCP’s Kaycee Madu Faces Misconduct Allegations by Law Society, Charles Rusnell, The Tyee (July 14)

Alberta filed 1st ever criminal charges against a carbon offset firm. Here's why they may not be the last, Chris Arsenault, CBC News (July 14)

Canada

Montreal police raid illegal magic mushroom store on opening day, arrest four people, Thomas MacDonald, The Canadian Press (July 11)

Gap Between Rich And Poor Widens At Record Pace: Statistics Canada, Alex Cosh, The Maple (July 11)

More than 1,000 Canadians take CRA to court over pandemic payments — and some win, Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press (July 12)

Trudeau Claims Canada ‘Defends Democracy.’ Here Are His Government’s Anti-Democratic Allies, Alex Cosh, The Maple (July 13)

While Ford pampers spa users, our school kids fend for themselves, Linda McQuaig, Toronto Star (July 13)

Shenanigans in the AFN: This is not how we are to treat each other. waaseyaa’sin Christine Sy and Joyce Green, Rabble (July 13)

Defiant protesters burn injunction after Manitoba judge orders landfill blockade to come down, Sarah Petz, CBC News (July 14)

Canada won’t say if it’s in talks to lift ban on arms sales to Turkey, Steven Chase, Globe and Mail (July 14)

World

The Military-Industrial Complex Is Finally Facing Intense Bipartisan Scrutiny, Ryan Grim and Daniel Boguslaw, The Intercept (July 11)

Inside the White-Hot Center of A.I. Doomerism, Kevin Roose, New York Times (July 11)

Vice Execs Were Paid Over $1 Million In Bonuses The Day After 'Painful' Layoffs, Kelby Vera, Huffington Post (July 11)

‘An Act of War’: Inside America’s Silicon Blockade Against China, Alex W. Palmer, New York Times (July 12)

Reinventing the E.R. for America’s Mental-Health Crisis, Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker (July 12)

What we know about Elizabeth Tsurkov, Ali Abunimah, Tamara Nassar and Asa Winstanley, Electronic Intifada (July 12)

FTC investigates OpenAI over data leak and ChatGPT’s inaccuracy, Cat Zarkzewski, Washington Post (July 13)

Why NATO won’t give Ukraine full membership, Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star (July 14)

U.S. Cluster Munitions Arrive in Ukraine, but Impact on Battlefield Remains Unclear, Eric Schmitt, New York Times (July 14)

Actors Picket From Coast to Coast as Strike Gets Underway, Corina Knoll and Matt Stevens, New York Times (July 14)

Pop Culture

What to know about the looming SAG-AFTRA strike, its impact on Hollywood, Avi Selk and Samantha Cherry, Washington Post (July 12)

The Tao of Tom Cruise, our last action hero, Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail (July 12)

Conservative Group Withdraws Lawsuit Against Left-Wing Podcast, Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times (July 12)

Will the spiraling Angels do the unthinkable and trade Shohei Ohtani? Chelsea Janes, Washington Post (July 12)

The Rebranding of MDMA, Rachel Riederer, New Yorker (July 13)

How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Mets? Katie Baker, The Ringer (July 13)

Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs and the complicated response to ‘Fast Car’, Emily Yahr, Washington Post (July 13)

Why Can’t We Stop Quitting the Grateful Dead? Marc Tracy, New York Times (July 14)