School Walkout

Thousands of students across the United States walked out of class Wednesday in tribute to the people who were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. At some schools, the students demanded stricter gun laws in a historic show of political solidarity that was part tribute and part protest. In many other locations (such as the Council Rock school district) it was more focused on memorializing those who died. From Maine to California, the 17-minute walkout -- one minute for each of the 17 people killed at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School one month ago -- began around 10 a.m. in each time zone. Some participants read the names of each victim; others stood in silence around sets of empty chairs. Some called on lawmakers to do something before another school falls victim to gun violence. Stoneman Douglas students hadn't planned to do anything more than walk out of class for 17 minutes, as many of them are preparing for a March 24 rally in Washington. But as crowds swelled across the country, some students made a spontaneous decision to continue rallying off campus after the walkout. Those who organized the the National Student Walkout demanded three key actions from Congress: 1. Ban assault weapons; 2. Require universal background checks before gun sales; 3. Pass a gun violence restraining order law that would allow courts to disarm people who display warning signs of violent behavior.

In Other News United Airlines wrongly shipped a Kansas-bound pet dog (a 10-year-old German shepherd named Irgo) to Japan, the second embarrassment this week for the airline. Irgo is set to be flown from Narita, Japan, to Wichita on Thursday night in a private charter. United Airlines issued an apology and is looking into the matter. On Monday, a French bulldog died on a Houston-to-New York flight after a United flight attendant told its owners to put the dog, in its carrier, in an overhead bin. The airline said it was investigating the French bulldog's death "to prevent this from ever happening again.” Toys "R" Us is closing its doors after 70 years in business. The iconic toy retailer will shut or sell all of its 735 stores in the United States, according to court documents filed early Thursday. About 31,000 jobs in the United States are at risk. The announcement marks the end for a company that sold toys to millions of American kids. Walmart, Target and other big-box retailers — stores that sold aisles of toys and everything else, too — began to erode its dominance. And then the emergence of Amazon sped its demise. In September, Toys "R" Us filed for bankruptcy, hoping to shed debt and reinvest in its stores. But the turnaround didn't work. The fate of hundreds of stores worldwide is unclear. The company said many of its stores in Canada, Europe and Asia "remain strong, viable businesses," and may be saved or sold. On Wednesday, Toys "R" Us said it was closing all of its stores in the UK. At the time of its bankruptcy, Toys "R" Us disclosed it had about $5 billion in debt and was spending about $400 million a year just to pay for it. The UK is kicking out 23 Russian diplomats after the Brits said Russia was responsible for the poisoning of an ex-Russian double agent and his daughter. The diplomats have one week to leave, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May said this is just the start of the retaliation against Russia. It's the single biggest expulsion of Russian diplomats in three decades and will undoubtedly drag UK-Russia relations even lower. Russia called the move a "hostile action" and "an unprecedented gross provocation."