Star’s Wilhelm wins two newspaper awards

The Windsor Star’s Trevor Wilhelm has been honoured with two of the province’s top journalism awards by judges who cite his “reporting chops” and “revelatory and deeply moving” storytelling.

The Ontario Newspaper Awards for 2019 were announced Friday. Wilhelm had been nominated for three writing awards.

Wilhelm won the award for feature writing for papers with circulation over 25,000 for his “memorable feature” profiling retired Windsor police officer William Donnelly’s struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after years investigating horrific crimes.

He also won the beat reporting category for health coverage. His entries included his Dec. 13 story that revealed some Windsor police officers were quietly carrying naloxone kits, despite the chief’s refusal to equip the force with the life-saving opioid antidote.

“His story choices are clearly prioritized based on a knowledge of the biggest issues facing his city, and he executes them with care and determination,” the judges remarked.

Windsor Star managing editor Craig Pearson said it’s wonderful to see Wilhelm get such recognition.

“He’s a great reporter and gifted writer who had a particularly strong year in 2019 with features and special projects, so his wins are certainly deserved and reflect well on the Windsor Star.”

Reporters and photographers at the Star had been nominated for seven ONA awards.

The annual Ontario Newspaper Awards gala — originally scheduled to be held in Hamilton on Saturday — was cancelled last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.