Catherine Thompson
New York
Telling stories about power, gender, and politics. Priors: @TheCut @BusinessInsider @TPM. Made in Western Mass, based in NYC.
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Articles by Catherine Thompson
Letter to the Editor: Promoting fear over safety isn't helping anyone
I read the opinion piece Bidal Duran wrote about transgender girls playing in women's sports (published March 29) and have a couple of thoughts. Transgender people make up approximately 1% of the population of the U.S. NCAA President Charlie Baker testified that fewer than 10 openly trans women participated in NCAA sports out of 510,000 student athletes. The following is a submitted commentary and does not reflect the views of the Pioneer.
Performance testing: The key to success in engineering projects
Performance testing is a crucial element of traditional engineering projects and we are seeing it become increasingly prevalent across a broader range of sectors. From logistics to food and drink manufacturing, with the rise of smart factories and the integration of automated systems and advanced technologies we have witnessed a significant rise in instructions relating to complex projects with testing requirements.
Dana Bash’s Interviews Are Defining the 2024 Race
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: CNN CNN anchor Dana Bash has been making headlines all summer. She co-moderated the June presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump that ultimately led the president to drop out of the 2024 race and endorse Kamala Harris as his successor. Then she landed the first joint interview with Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.
Classrooms without teachers: Use of uncertified staff skyrockets
Teacher unions are expressing “huge concerns” as the number of non-teachers working in classrooms skyrockets because schools can’t find enough supply teachers. Five years ago, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board used uncertified staff about 100 times a month to fill in for five per cent of daily teacher absences. Already a Subscriber?
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Tibbits contract revealed: Generous salary, few luxury perks in Conestoga College president’s deal
The employment contract of Conestoga College’s president reflects John Tibbits himself: a man who continues in the job long after normal retirement, and who seems to prefer work hours over the paid vacation and leaves he’s entitled to. Already a Subscriber? Sign in Tibbits came to the college as president in 1987.
Tibbits contract revealed: Generous salary, few luxury perks in Conestoga College president’s deal
The employment contract of Conestoga College’s president reflects John Tibbits himself: a man who continues in the job long after normal retirement, and who seems to prefer work hours over the paid vacation and leaves he’s entitled to. Already a Subscriber? Sign in Tibbits came to the college as president in 1987.
Pay-for-plasma clinic to open in Cambridge in 2025
A private clinic paying people to donate their blood plasma is expected to open in Cambridge late this year or in 2025. The clinic is going in at Unit 53, in a strip mall at 600 Hespeler Rd., near Langs Drive. It is one of five Ontario clinics that Grifols, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company in Spain, plans to open in Ontario in 2024-25. Paying for blood and plasma donations is banned in Ontario.
Pay-for-plasma clinic to open in Cambridge in 2025
A private clinic paying people to donate their blood plasma is expected to open in Cambridge late this year or in 2025. The clinic is going in at Unit 53, in a strip mall at 600 Hespeler Rd., near Langs Drive. It is one of five Ontario clinics that Grifols, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company in Spain, plans to open in Ontario in 2024-25. Paying for blood and plasma donations is banned in Ontario.
New St. Mary's program helps patients recover at home
St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener is starting a new program to help patients who no longer need hospital care recover at home. The Hospital to Home program will help free up hospital beds for patients who need urgent and complex hospital care. It helps address a long-standing problem in hospitals, where patients occupy a hospital bed even though they don't need the intense services the hospital provides, but are too weak or ill to go home on their own without supports.
ORs being used for storage as province funds private clinics: health group
One of the six operating rooms at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is being used for storage because of a lack of funding. That was one example of how the hospital system is being bled dry and is constrained from operating even at its current capacity, said the Waterloo Region Health Coalition, at a news conference Wednesday in Waterloo. Already a Subscriber?
Region considers roundabout at New Dundee Road in Kitchener
A new roundabout may soon crop up in south Kitchener. The City of Kitchener has approved extending Strasburg Road south of Huron Road, and the Region of Waterloo is proposing putting in a roundabout where Strasburg would link up with New Dundee Road. The region wants "to look at ways to ensure this future intersection will consider pedestrian, cyclist and driver safety, while also minimizing traffic delays," it says in an introduction to an online survey about the proposed project.
Region's Cold War bunker to be mothballed until at least 2026
About $700,000 in emergency repairs were completed last year on the bunker owned by the Region of Waterloo. The work included repairs to the leaking roof and the ceiling, and regrading outside to ensure the building was stable. It also included the removal of hazardous materials such as mould, asbestos and lead. The plan after that was to spend $50,000 on more public consultation in 2023 about possible future uses for the unusual building.
How Journalist Connie Walker Gets It Done
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images Cree journalist Connie Walker has spent years reporting on cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, riveting listeners and earning accolades for her podcast projects.
I’m Determined to Mix My Friend Groups
Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images Mixing friend groups can be tricky. There is no transitive property of friendship that says because you and I are close, and this other person and I are also close, then you and that person will get along swimmingly. I once encouraged friends I introduced to each other to get together without me, and it led to a meltdown at a baseball game when one of them had too much to drink.
IBM govt contract renewal: It's deal time!
In 2018, the then-Minister for Digital Transformation Michael Keenan announced a wide-ranging five-year whole-of-government contract with IBM. With an estimated contract value of $1 billion, this contract has recently been confirmed by the Digital Transformation Agency to have exceeded $2 billion. (This is good news for the DTA, which charges other agencies and departments a fee for using the contract).
A simple fix for our broken govt technology procurement
The Innovation Papers’ invitation to provide a visionary reimagining of government Information and Communications Technology (ICT) procurement should have filled my life with sunshine. So why the disconsolate mien of someone who has been handed a box of chocolates to find that only the strawberry crèmes remain on the top layer? It is because I am staring at the strawberry crèmes of procurement, which have not been made any more palatable by years of being handed around.
Inside the messy effort to compensate 225 Jeffrey Epstein accusers
Jordana Feldman, like many Americans, lived through a pandemic defined by hundreds of Zoom meetings. Unlike many Americans, she held meetings from June 2020 to August 2021 with 200 women who were all there to talk about the same subject: sexual abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Feldman was the administrator of the Epstein Victims' Compensation Program. Announced in November 2019, the fund served two purposes.
Newly revealed photos of Ghislaine Maxwell giving Jeffrey Epstein a foot rub and cozying up to him around the globe showcase their close relationship
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Stirring the pot on marketplaces and panels
Whether by chance or design, the ANAO’s recently released and snappily titled “Establishment and Use of ICT Related Procurement Panels and Arrangements” contains all the ingredients for an interesting dish. Those ingredients are transparency in government IT procurement; value for money; and the appropriateness of the panel construct to deliver either. The pot just needs a more vigorous stir. Procurement panels are generally established through deeds.
Break-in At Pizza Pizza
Break-in At Pizza Pizza Police are investigating a break-in at the Pizza Pizza in Angus. OPP say early this morning (Friday), a driver going by noticed the front door of the restaurant was broken and called police. No one was inside. Police say there was damage to cash registers and a safe. Around 550 dollars was stolen. OPP are looking to speak to any witnesses.
Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls
Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls These cake mix cinnamon rolls are absolutely delicious. I make them the night before, take them out in the morning and let them rise. I have also made sticky buns with this recipe using a coconut/pecan frosting for the bottom of my pan. Submitted by Arvilla Updated on April 28, 2026
I Was Writing This Coronavirus Essay When I Learned My Dad Went To The Hospital
“Don’t freak out. Your father is in the hospital.” Those words crashed directly into my sternum. Breathing harder than I had during the Tabata YouTube video I finished 10 minutes earlier, I turned off the stovetop burner I’d lit to cook dinner. Thanks to the new coronavirus, I’d been alone with my thoughts in a studio apartment for 13 days and Googling things like “chest pain coronavirus or anxiety?” When my mom called with the news, it brought out hot tears I’d been suppressing for weeks.
Shootings In Odessa And Midland, Texas Leave Several People Injured
Several people were injured Saturday in shootings in Odessa and Midland, Texas, according to CNN. The Midland Police Department confirmed that a shooter was shot and killed at a movie theater in Odessa, and that there is no longer an active shooter situation. Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said in a press conference that five people were killed and 21 people were injured, according to the Associated Press (it's unclear if the gunman is included in that number).
Cyntoia Brown Is Released From Prison After Serving 15 Years
A Tennessee woman who'd been given a life sentence at age 16 for killing a man who she said forced her into prostitution is now free. On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Cyntoia Brown was released from prison after serving 15 years behind bars. Gov. Bill Haslam had granted clemency to Brown, who is now 31, in January. Brown's case sparked a national conversation about criminal justice reform and child sex trafficking in recent years.
A Shooting At The Gilroy Garlic Festival In California Leaves At Least 3 People Dead
At least three people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured late Sunday in a shooting at a food festival in northern California. Reports of a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival began around 5:41 p.m. local time, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said in a news conference, and a suspect was ultimately shot and killed by police. An investigation is ongoing.
A Trump Official Is Stepping Down Amid Criticism Of How He Handled A Sex Abuse Case
President Donald Trump announced Friday that his secretary of labor would be stepping down from that position amid criticism of how he handled a sexual abuse case more than a decade ago. Alex Acosta resigned after giving a press conference earlier this week in which he defended a non-prosecution deal he negotiated with Jeffrey Epstein in 2008, when he was serving as U.S. attorney in Miami. Epstein was arrested on July 6 and indicted on two sex trafficking counts in federal court in Manhattan.
Marshae Jones Won't Be Prosecuted For Her Fetus' Death
An Alabama woman who a grand jury had indicted for manslaughter after she was shot in the stomach while pregnant will not be charged by local authorities. In a press conference Wednesday, Jefferson County District Attorney Lynneice Washington announced that she won't pursue a case against Marshae Jones for the death of her fetus. In the past week, Jones' case has become the latest front in the battle over so-called personhood and set off an uproar across the country.
Tiffany Cabán Is A Queer Latina Running To Be Queens District Attorney - With AOC’s Support
Queens, New York, has a population of more than 2 million people. If it were its own city, it would be the fourth largest in the country. That means the upcoming race to fill the position of Queens district attorney — the first real contest for that role in nearly three decades — will directly impact an incredibly diverse community that includes more than a million immigrants and speaks more than 160 languages.
Joe Biden Announces He's Running For President In 2020
It's finally official: Joe Biden is running for president. The former vice president announced Thursday via a video on social mediathat he will seek the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2020, putting an end to months of speculation about whether he'd join an exceedingly crowded field of candidates.
Marianne Williamson Wants To Convince You That Love Can Be A Winning Presidential Platform
On a recent evening in Manhattan, Marianne Williamson, a 2020 candidate you may not be as familiar with as the other candidates, took one long stride onto a raised platform and settled herself into an armchair to enthusiastic applause.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Out Of The Hospital & Now She's Recovering At Home
The most "notorious" Supreme Court justice is on the mend following treatment for lung cancer. Ruth Bader Ginsburg left the hospital on Tuesday and is now recovering at home, a Supreme Court spokesperson, Kathy Arberg, told reporters in an email, according to CNN. On Friday, Ginsburg underwent surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to remove two cancerous growths on her left lung.
Concealed-Carry Gun Permits Soar Nationwide As State Requirements Ease
Applications for concealed-carry permits are soaring in several states where permit requirements have been eased, driven in part by the talk of new gun contol laws in response to recent mass shootings, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The Journal found that 537,000 concealed-carry permits were issued last year in a dozen states the newspaper surveyed, including Texas, Utah and Wisconsin — an 18 percent increase over the previous year.
What Political Campaigns Are Really Like On The Inside, According To 5 Women Who Know
At this point in the midterm election cycle, we're all pretty familiar with the impressive statistics around women running for office recently. A record 590 women have run for governor, the U.S. Senate, or the U.S. House since 2016, according to Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics; 278 of them made it onto the ballot for Nov. 6.
Celebrity Chefs Remembered Anthony Bourdain With Unmistakeable Love
Foodies across the globe celebrated the life of chef-turned-TV-star Anthony Bourdain on Friday. Bourdain died at age 61; he had been in France filming an upcoming episode of CNN's Parts Unknown. Other celebrity chefs remembered Bourdain on Twitter with heartfelt messages.
Kim Kardashian's Response To Alice Marie Johnson's Commutation Is Euphoric
Kim Kardashian accomplished her mission. A week after the reality star met with the president of the United States to advocate for a grandmother who'd been imprisoned for decades for a nonviolent drug offense, news broke that Donald Trump had commuted the woman's sentence. Kardashian's response to Alice Marie Johnson's commutation was one of absolute joy. More to come...
PHOTO: Obama And Hillary Clinton Share Lunch At The White House
The White House released a photograph Monday of President Barack Obama’s lunch with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at the daily press briefing that the get-together was not a “working lunch.” “It’s largely friendship that’s on the agenda today,” Earnest said.
Hillary Clinton Says She's Ready To Fight Like A Republican — EXCLUSIVE
Hillary Clinton Is Not Going Away Quietly. Can Hillary Clinton Please Go Quietly Into The Night? Unlike Losers Before Her, Clinton Is Not Going Gently Into the Night. These headlines, which appeared in various news outlets over the course of the last year, are slight variations on a theme so well-worn by now that they all repurpose the same Dylan Thomas line.
Photos Of Tammy Duckworth & Her Baby At Their Senate Floor Debut Are Seriously Too Cute
History was made Tuesday when a senator cast a vote with her newborn baby for the first time ever. Photos of Tammy Duckworth and her baby making their way through the halls of the U.S. Capitol on the way to the Senate floor show a mom who looks absolutely elated to be bringing her daughter to work at our country's biggest political stage.
Bill O’Reilly Warns ‘War On Christmas’ Is Upon Us (VIDEO)
If it’s December, it’s time to talk about the “War on Christmas.” Fox News host Bill O’Reilly dedicated Monday’s “Talking Points Memo” segment to denouncing what he called a “‘Happy Holidays’ syndrome” propagated by “secular progressives” and “pressure groups like the ACLU.” As evidence, O’Reilly displayed a flyer for Macy’s “Santa Land” that touts it will help customers with their “holiday wish list.” “So here’s my question to Macy’s: what holiday is Santa celebrating?” he asked.
Cynthia Nixon For New York Governor Could Soon Be A Reality, According To A New Report
This fall's race for governor of New York could be getting a major dose of star power. An announcement may be coming soon that Cynthia Nixon is running for governor, NY1 reported Tuesday. If Nixon runs, she'll be challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo in September's Democratic primary. A spokeswoman for the Sex and the City star didn't deny that the actress was getting ready for a run.
A Russian Troll Farm Was Indicted For Screwing With The 2016 Election & It's A Big Deal
Special counsel Robert Mueller's latest move in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election came Friday, when the Justice Department slapped a giant troll farm and 13 Russian citizens allegedly involved in it with an indictment. The troll farm, called the Internet Research Agency, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, and identity theft.
Harvard: Investigation Ongoing After Reports Of Explosives On Campus
Harvard University on Monday ordered the evacuation of four buildings after receiving unconfirmed reports of explosives on campus. The university’s Twitter account said that the Harvard University Police Department and Cambridge Police Department were on scene investigating the reports. The White House released a statement encouraging the public to follow local officials’ directions, according to MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts.
Trump Adviser Who Pleaded Guilty Met Russian-Linked Prof About Clinton ‘Dirt’
Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian nationals that continued late into the summer before the 2016 election. The case was unsealed Monday.
More On Russian Trolls Organizing US Activists
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More On Russian Trolls Organizing US Activists
Catherine Thompson is a senior editor for Talking Points Memo in New York City. She came to the site in 2013 and reported on national affairs. Previously, she worked as a research assistant to investigative reporter Wayne Barrett. She can be reached at catherine@talkingpointsmemo.com.
Editor’s Brief - Talking Points Memo
Catherine Thompson is a senior editor for Talking Points Memo in New York City. She came to the site in 2013 and reported on national affairs. Previously, she worked as a research assistant to investigative reporter Wayne Barrett. She can be reached at catherine@talkingpointsmemo.com.
We’re Missing A Key Piece Of The Roadmap To Russia Probe’s Social Media Threads
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Marilyn Monroe Lookalike Says Filner Touched Her ‘Derriere’ (VIDEO)
A San Diego woman who works as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike came forward Thursday to say Mayor Bob Filner grabbed her “derriere” at a fundraiser where she was hired to sing. Emily Gilbert told San Diego TV station KSWB that she met Filner at the fundraiser shortly after he took office in 2012. “He hugged me a little too closely,” she said, “and then put his arm around me and proceeded to slide his arm down and do a little grab on my derriere.” Gilbert told the news station that she was embarrassed.
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