In the news today, Oct. 29

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TORONTO NATIVE KILLED IN PITTSBURGH ATTACK

A woman who grew up in Toronto and celebrated many of life’s milestones at the city’s oldest Jewish temple is being remembered as a “very special person.” Joyce Fienberg, 75, was one of the 11 people killed when a gunman opened fire on worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. She spent most of her career as a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. But before that she was a member of the Holy Blossom Temple in north Toronto, where a photo of her as a teen still adorns the temple’s “wall of honour.”

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MOTHER AND SON REUNITED AFTER ABDUCTION

Toronto police say a mother and son who were reunited after an alleged parental abduction 31 years ago will speak at a news conference this afternoon. Lyneth Mann-Lewis of Brampton, Ont., and Jermaine Mann — who until recently was living under an alias in the U.S. — will be joined at Toronto police headquarters by the city’s police chief and the Missing Children Society of Canada. U.S. federal agents say Jermaine’s father, Allan Mann Jr., was arrested on Friday in Connecticut, where the two had been living under aliases in a quiet suburb near Hartford.

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FORMER BRONCOS PLAYER WANTS BUS SEATBELTS ENFORCED

A former Humboldt Broncos player and his parents are adding their voices to the call for the immediate requirement for seatbelts on buses used to carry students and athletes to sporting events. Ryan Straschnitzki was paralyzed from the chest down in the April 6th crash involving a semi-trailer and the Humboldt Broncos bus in Saskatchewan that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. Transport Canada will require all newly built highway buses to have seatbelts beginning two years from now. But Straschnitzki wants bus companies to make the changes now.

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PAPER PULL VACCINE COLUMN AFTER BACKLASH

A major newspaper has removed an opinion piece that urged readers to consider “both sides of the vaccine debate” from its website after it met with widespread criticism. Toronto Sun editor in chief Adrienne Batra says in a Twitter post that a number of medical professionals pointed out “inaccuracies” in the column, which remains up on the websites of several other publications. The piece, authored by Dr. Ken Walker under the pseudonym W. Gifford-Jones, says that while vaccines save lives, “history also shows that on rare occasions they have a potential hidden risk.”

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MANITOBA HIT BY ROTATING CANADA POST STRIKES

Manitoba is the latest province to be hit by rotating strikes by members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. CUPW says 1,500 members walked off the job in Winnipeg last night and that workers in Brandon set up picket lines first thing this morning. The union says strikes are also continuing in Niagara Falls, Ont., and IIes-de-la-Madeleine, Que. CUPW members have been conducting rotating walkouts across the country as a special mediator tries to resolve the labour dispute.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Matthew Vincent Raymond, accused of killing four people including two Fredericton police officers, is due back in court today.

— The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will release its Watchlist 2018.

— Opponents of the Muskrat Falls hydro project in Newfoundland and Labrador will hold rally and civil disobedience on Parliament Hill.

— Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe will make an announcement in Toronto.

— Alberta government house leader Brian Mason will lay out the agenda for the fall legislative session.

— The largest private donation ever to a public library in Canada will be unveiled by outgoing Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, Oct. 29

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