A Pulitzer Prize and what we can learn

Levynn and the block, May 2005

The Chicago Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize today for investigative reporting in its series, "Hidden Hazards."

"An initial story by the Tribune about toy magnets and failings at the Consumer Product Safety Commission widened in scope and impact until it brought about dramatic change on store shelves and in the halls of Congress. Among those changes were a nationwide recall of lead-tainted toys sold with Thomas the Tank and Curious George logos and the pulling of a dozen varieties of toys from Illinois store shelves because of unsafe lead content," the story on chicagotribune.com reads.

The New York Times also won for investigative reporting with it's series on toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China.

Pretty exciting to win the Prize, but the dangers the stories brought to light also deserve serious attention in our extended family.

We'd been watchful of the series, which started right before Mom got her first call from the Tribune last May. We watched the news and kept our eyes peeled for recalls related to toys in our house. We found one item on a list, but ours was bought outside the timeframe that was posted about it. We thought we were in the clear.

Then today, in reading the Tribune's coverage, we noticed a picture of a toy that we have. When we clicked on it, we learned that it has an amount of lead obscenely over what is allowed. It's made in China. It's from a brand, Baby Einstein, that we know and thought we could trust. The blocks are among some of the first toys Mom and Dad bought for Levynn in 2004. Both our kids have chewed on them. Levynn's been clear so far in lead tests at the pediatrician's but Linc isn't yet old enough for his first test. He'll be tested soon, though. It's scary to think about.

So we wanted to bring it to everyone's attention that toys made in China can often be extremely dangerous. We know that other things have risk, too, but this is the main one we're concerned about right now and can do something about: No more toys from China. Believe us, we know it's hard to find them but we think our effort will be worthwhile.

Otherwise, related to the Pulizter, The Washington Post also won a Prize for public service for it's expose on the mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed. It certainly hits home for Mom, and the series had far reaching effects that landed on her desk at Fort Knox.

Oh, and Mom did edit one story in the Tribune's follow-ups on it's Hidden Hazards series. But she was off today and missed the big celebration in the newsroom, much as she missed the champagne at The Courier-Journal when editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson won in 2005.