By Canadian Press

Sedentary adults and the rise of mushroom poisonings; In-The-News for Oct. 29

Oct 31, 2019 | 1:21 AM

In-The-News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Oct. 29.

What we are watching in Canada …

A Newfoundland father says a government committee reviewing resources for deaf children should heed the advice of families directly affected by a lack of services.

Todd Churchill’s eight-year-old son, Carter, is deaf, and his family says there is no guarantee each year whether he will have teacher who’s fluent in American Sign Language.

Churchill says resources have dwindled since Newfoundland and Labrador’s school for the deaf closed in 2010, with the province’s then-education minister saying no new students had enrolled.

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The Churchill family is seeking a human rights hearing on the grounds that Carter is not receiving the same quality of education as his peers, but it could be years before their case is heard.

In the meantime, the family has formally requested participation in a steering committee being finalized by the province to review services for deaf and hard of hearing students.

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Also this …

A group launching a legal challenge to Ontario’s child vaccination regime is planning a rally at the provincial legislature today.

The group, which includes five parents and the organization Vaccine Choice Canada, is also expected to hold a news conference on its constitutional challenge.

They allege the Immunization of School Pupils Act breaches several charter rights, including those to freedom of conscience and religion as well as liberty and security of the person.

The law requires that children be immunized against certain diseases unless their parents obtain an objection for medical reasons or over their beliefs.

In order to get a non-medical exemption, however, parents must sign a statement of conscience or religious belief and, as of 2017, attend an information session.

Children whose parents don’t comply can be suspended from school on order from a medical officer of health.

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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

Quebec rock musician Eric Lapointe has pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault.

Lapointe’s lawyer entered the plea on his behalf during a hearing Monday morning in Montreal municipal court.

There will be no preliminary hearing, and Lapointe will return to court on Jan. 30.

The incident in question occurred on Sept. 30, and a publication ban protects the identity of the alleged victim.

Lapointe announced last week he was leaving his role as a coach on “La Voix,” the Quebec French-language adaptation of “The Voice,” citing personal reasons.

The 50-year-old rock star would not comment further on the reason for departing the television program, but said he would also play out the remaining concerts on his schedule.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

Democratic presidential candidates are heaping praise on U.S. military forces who pulled off the weekend raid that left Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dead.

But they’ve made clear that commendation doesn’t extend to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Nearly one year before election day, the raid is a reminder of how developments overseas can quickly influence the presidential campaign. Trump is eager to turn al-Baghdadi’s death into a defining moment of his administration, one that could remind waffling Republicans why they support him.

And Democrats, who have largely been focused issues such as health care and combating rising college debt, must now decry Trump’s foreign policy without appearing to disparage U.S. forces. It’s a balance that could be tough for the White House hopefuls to pull off.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Hong Kong authorities barred high-profile pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong from an election, and the city’s leader ruled out political solutions before the end of the violent protests gripping the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

The developments Tuesday were likely to further widen divisions in Hong Kong, which has been wracked by more than four months of unrest driven in part by demands for political reform. Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, also warned that the Asian financial hub was on the brink of an economic recession.

A returning officer notified Wong his nomination as a candidate in next month’s elections was ruled invalid, according to a copy of the letter Wong posted on his Twitter account.

“The decision to ban me from running for office is clearly politically driven,” Wong told reporters. He said Beijing was pressuring Hong Kong election officials to carry out political screening but it would backfire.

“It will just trigger more and more Hong Kongers to take to the street and also vote in the election.”

Wong, 23, became known as the young face of Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Movement” that peacefully occupied streets for 79 days in 2014, and he has since been repeatedly arrested and jailed. He has been less important to the current protest movement, which has been leaderless and whose participants have sought to remain anonymous.

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Weird and wild …

The BC Centre for Disease Control says mushroom poisonings are on the rise and it is urging foragers to use extreme caution.

It says its drug and poison information centre received 201 mushroom poisoning calls by the end of last month, just one call fewer than the 202 total calls received for all of 2018.

Poison Control received 161 calls in 2017.

Raymond Li, a pharmacist with the poison centre, says in a news release that two-thirds of the mushroom-related poisoning calls this year have involved children under five.

The release says foragers should be especially wary of the death cap mushroom, which is the most deadly mushroom variety in the world and can be confused with edible varieties.

The centre warns anyone who suspects they may have consumed a poisonous mushroom to call the Drug and Poison Information Centre and seek medical help immediately.

There have been no reported human deaths from death cap mushrooms in British Columbia since 2016 when a child died, but two dogs were killed this year due to possible death cap poisonings.

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On this day in 1967 …

Expo 67, which opened in Montreal on April 27, closed with a final attendance total of more than 50 million.

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Your health …

It’s not just kids who get too much screen time and too little physical activity — adults are falling short, too.

That’s according to the first report card for adults from Participaction, a non-profit group that promotes healthy living and typically ranks children’s fitness levels.

Today’s report gives Canadians over the age of 18 a D for overall physical activity, finding most spend far too much time sitting and not enough time getting heart-pumping exercise.

Adults get an F when it comes to moderate-to-vigorous activity, with the report finding just 16 per cent of adults get the recommended 150 minutes each week.

Participaction scientist Dr. Leigh Vanderloo acknowledges many Canadians are busy with work and family obligations, but she urges people to find pockets of time throughout the week.

She says that could include standing more at the office or parking the car further from your destination and walking the rest of the way.

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The games we play …

The boos were loud. And for U.S. President Donald Trump, they may have felt unfamiliar.

Trump was showered with jeers, boos and chants (as well as some cheers) when he attended a World Series game at Nationals Park in Washington on Sunday. It was a rare moment of in-your-face disapproval for a president whose White House goes out of the way to shield him from protests and demonstrators.

Since taking office, Trump has rarely ventured out to places in his deeply Democratic adopted home city or elsewhere that might feature high-volume hostility or a cold shoulder.

When the boos began as Trump’s image flashed on the ballpark’s giant video screen, the president seemed momentarily taken aback. He mouthed something to his wife, Melania Trump, while gamely trying to clap along. But his smile froze and then faded as the boos continued and some in the crowd launched into a brief chant of “Lock him up,” a version of the phrase chanted against Hillary Clinton at dozens of Trump rallies during the 2016 campaign.

White House officials tried to play down the negative feedback, which erupted when Trump’s image appeared on the giant video screen during a tribute to the military.

“I know that there were some people cheering as well. But, listen, it’s Washington D.C. It’s a pretty liberal town,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Monday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2019.

The Canadian Press