School Shoot: A 19-year-old man with a fascination for guns is in custody after a school shooting in Parkland, Fla. North of Fort Lauderdale left 17 people dead. Five are in the hospital with life-threatening injuries and 10 others are also in the hospital.

One girl said, “We all got upstairs and into our classroom. As (my teacher) was closing the door he was actually shot and killed right there. The door was left open the whole time so as (the shooter) walked by, the door was open. He could have walked in at any time. ”

It is the 18^th school shooting in the first 45 days of the year, and the fourth deadliest school shooting in US history. Twelve people died inside the building and two outside, police said. One was killed in the street and two died at the hospital.

Nikolas Cruz, the accused shooter, is a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which has a sprawling campus and roughly 3,000 students. He had been expelled for bad behavior. Police say Cruz tried to escape by mixing in with students leaving the school. He was arrested without apparent injury and driven to a hospital in an ambulance.

The shooting took place in the freshman wing of the school. Witnesses said the fire alarm went off, followed by gunshots. Some students ran for it while others locked themselves in classrooms. At least one student took video of people hunkering down to the echo of gunshots. Police say Cruz was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and was carrying multiple magazines of ammunition.  They speculate that he set off the fire alarm to flush people into the hallways.

One student who knows Cruz told a local television station, “He always had guns on him.” The student said, “A lot of people were saying that it would be him. They would say he would be the one to shoot up the school. Everyone predicted it.”

Trump Against Wife Beating: President Trump made the not-so-bold declaration yesterday that he’s against domestic abuse. “I am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind,” The President told reporters. “Everyone knows that and it almost wouldn’t even have to be said. So now you hear it, but you all know it.”

What Trump did not say was whether he believes the well-documented spousal abuse accusations against his former Staff Secretary Rob Porter. Trump has spoken well of Porter, but said nothing about his two ex-wives.

Still unanswered is why Porter was allowed to keep his job for more than a year with an interim security clearance and little hope that he would be given official clearance. According to the NY Times, Chief of Staff John Kelly ordered last fall that no new interim clearances would be issued, and that those still outstanding would have to be resolved. But the White House claims that even the FBI interviewed Porter’s two ex-wives a year ago, no one knew about the accusations against Porter until shortly before he was forced out.

Borderline: As representatives of both parties in Congress try to work out an immigration reform bill, President Trump said he would reject anything that does not include his mandatory “four pillars” of a deal. He tweeted that the elements he requires are, “a lasting solution on DACA, ending chain migration, cancelling the visa lottery, and securing the border through building the wall and closing legal loopholes.”

A bipartisan group of legislators that calls itself the Common Sense Coalition said they have reached a deal that would include $25 billion for the president’s southern border wall and offer a path to citizenship for 1.8 million immigrants brought to the country as children. It might be tough to get 60 senate votes in favor of that one.

Love a Parade: The big military parade President Trump wants to stage in Washington would cost $10 million to $30 million, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said. Mulvaney said they’d have to find the money somewhere in the federal budget.

This came just a couple of days after the Trump administration outlined its budget wishes, which include cutting money for Medicare and food stamps.

World: South African President Jacob Zuma, a hero of the anti-apartheid movement who was imprisoned on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela, and survived corruption scandals during nine years in office, announced that he’s stepping down after a no-confidence vote in Parliament and abandonment by his own party, the ruling African National Congress Party.  “I have therefore come to the decision to resign as president of the Republic with immediate effect, even though I disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organization,” he said at the end of a long television address.

Five Rings: After finishing in second place with her first run in the giant slalom, American skier Mikaela Shiffrin came back with her second run to win the gold medal. The 22-year-old Shiffrin took a nap and did a little free skiing during the three-hour break between runs.

Duck Booted: It had to happen. A Chicago man has sued Maine outdoor retailer LL Bean for ending its lifetime, no-questions-asked return policy. Victor Bondi claims that LL Bean’s lifetime return has been a huge selling point for Bean and that ending it harms customers.

Bean clung to its policy to the point of stupidity. It was possible to wear a pair of the company’s signature duck boots for 30 years and return them for new ones, as if they had been defective. In ending its return policy, Bean said customers took advantage of the policy to get free new stuff. Bean should have sued its customers.

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