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    • Parkland jurors hear 3rd day of heartbreaking testimony

    Jennifer Montalto, with her husband, Tony, left, gives her victim impact statement during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool) Jennifer Montalto, with her husband, Tony, left, gives her victim impact statement during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
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    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -

    A Girl Scout and avid reader. A trombone player who loved movies and basketball. A straight-A student who loved Irish dance and was looking forward to a trip to Ireland.

    Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz heard tearful statements Wednesday from three families whose children were among the 17 he murdered at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. It was the third straight day of such testimony - but it didn't make it any easier to hear as once again jurors, spectators and even Cruz's lawyers wiped away tears.

    Fourteen families have now given statements, with the final three set for Thursday after the jury tours the three-story classroom building where the massacre took place.

    Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to the murders; the trial, in its third week, is only to decide if he will be sentenced to death or life without parole.

    Tony and Gina Montalto told the seven-man, five-woman jury and 10 alternates how their daughter Gina had saved a toddler from drowning when she was 10, and described the turtle figurine the child's grateful mother gave her. It still decorates her now unused room.

    Gina, who was 14 when she died, had an infectious personality, they said, and was an avid reader.

    “She once told me she wanted to live in a library,†her mother said. The children's wing at the Parkland library is now named for her.

    Her father, wearing the same suit he wore to their last father-daughter dance, said her death has driven a wedge between him and his wife and left her younger brother angry.

    “Gina was our best girl and Anthony our best boy,†he said. “My son struggles to make sense of Gina's death at her school.â€

    They used to play together “filling our house with laughter,†he said. “Now there is deafening silence.â€

    Max Schachter spoke of his son, Alex, who was a dedicated trombone player in the school band. The 14-year-old also loved movies and played guard on a basketball team.

    “Our family is broken. There is a constant emptiness,†his father said, adding that there is a part of him that will “always be sad and miserable.â€

    He said the family is haunted by the fact that they will never know whether Alex would have gone to his dream school, the University of Connecticut, or stayed closer to home.

    “It's an ache that is just constant,†he said. “I wish every single day that this was a nightmare that I could wake up from.â€

    He said that at 5 a.m. on the day of Alex's funeral, he and Alex's older brother, Ryan, were struggling to finish his eulogy when Ryan suggested looking in Alex's bedroom trash can. There they found a poem titled “Life is like a Roller-coaster,†which Alex had written for his English class. Ryan read it for the jury.

    Isabel Dalu, a friend who spoke on behalf of the family of shooting victim Cara Loughran, said Cara always reminded her of a “porcelain doll.†She made straight A's, loved the beach and to surf. She also was looking forward to a vacation in Ireland the family had planned for the summer of 2018, Dalu said.

    “Losing Cara has left a crushing absence in their lives,†Dalu said.

    Dalu's daughter was Cara's “first friend and the big sister she didn't have,†she said. The two loved Irish dancing, and Cara was looking forward to performing at the St. Patrick's Day festival, she said.

    Dalu said her own daughter still does Irish dance “to continue Cara's legacy.â€

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    Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

    Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

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    A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

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    Canada

    • Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

    • Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

    • The RCMP is seeking the dismissal of three officers who have been suspended from the Coquitlam detachment since June 2021 over allegations of racist, sexist and homophobic comments made in a group chat.

    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

    • Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes 'indescribable' pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

    Sci-Tech

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    • Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

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    • When Bernard Morissette got a call from Loto-Quebec on Sept. 18 and was asked if he was sitting down, he had no idea what was coming his way.

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    Sports

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    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

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      Formula One points leader Max Verstappen was ordered to 'accomplish some work of public interest' after uttering an inappropriate word Thursday at the news conference ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

    Autos

    Local Spotlight

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    An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

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    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

    • The RCMP is seeking the dismissal of three officers who have been suspended from the Coquitlam detachment since June 2021 over allegations of racist, sexist and homophobic comments made in a group chat.

    • Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

    • On the day he spoke to one of his largest audiences to date, the leader of the BC Conservatives made an exceptionally misleading statement around a well-publicized funding model for political parties that’s been in place since 2018.

    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

    • The parents of a teenager who died after allegedly consuming the poisonous products of a Mississauga man are now suing him, as well as several doctors involved in her care.

    • One person was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a multi-vehicle collision in Milton, Ont. on Friday night.

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    • Environment Canada issued a frost advisory for Calgary late Friday afternoon.

    • It was the last show for longtime children's TV star Ron (Buck Shot) Barge Friday as hundreds of family, friends and fans attended a public memorial in Calgary.

    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

    • For years, the commute to Ottawa's west end was one of the biggest complaints for attending fans. But those who live in Kanata and in the immediate LeBreton area say the move would be a big change their respective neighbourhoods.

    • Ottawa police are investigating a shooting downtown Friday afternoon.

    • Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

    • When Bernard Morissette got a call from Loto-Quebec on Sept. 18 and was asked if he was sitting down, he had no idea what was coming his way.

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    • Two Edmonton Police Service officers have been criminally charged in connection with an assault.

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    • Air travel is back in full swing at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

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    • The Saskatchewan RCMP major crimes unit is investigating after a 29-year-old man died in hospital.

    • A garage fire in Saskatoon’s Willows neighbourhood on Friday narrowly missed igniting an attached home, according to the fire department.

    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

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    • A Brampton driver, 27, was charged this week when northern Ontario police stopped the SUV he was driving on Highway 17 after a reported shooting and found more than $100,000 in cash.

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    N.L.

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