Students Walk Out Again; Decriminalizing Pot; Lettuce Recall

Top Stories for 4/20/18 [NPR]( News Headlines from NPR Friday, April 20, 2018 FIRST UP: What you need to know now [On Columbine’s 19th Anniversary, Students Across The U.S. Are Walking Out]( Most of the students protesting Friday weren’t even born when two student gunmen attacked Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., but they are advocating for legislation to prevent gun violence in schools. This is the third major student-led demonstration since a 19-year-old killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February. Plus: [Meet the students organizing the walkout today](. [National Teachers Union Drops Wells Fargo Over Bank’s Pro-Gun Ties]( The American Federation of Teachers announced it will break its relationship with Wells Fargo due to the bank’s affiliation with the NRA and gunmakers. The bank currently handles more than 20,000 mortgages for AFT members. Plus: Wells Fargo also faces a [$1 billion fine]( over loan abuses. [Congress Gets Copies Of The Comey Memos; Here’s What We Learned]( The Justice Department handed over the notes that former FBI Director James Comey wrote after his meetings with President Trump last year. The memos mostly line up with Comey’s earlier sworn testimony, but they do reveal that Trump questioned the judgment of his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The memorandums also describe Comey warning Trump against appointing an attorney general too close to him. IN THE NEWS: Digging deeper Steven Senne/AP On 4/20, the marijuana decriminalization movement gets another high-profile supporter. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to [introduce legislation that would decriminalize marijuana]( use at the federal level. The proposed legislation would remove marijuana from the list of scheduled substances that equates its danger to that of heroin for regulatory purposes. The proposal would also establish funding for women- and minority-owned marijuana businesses, require more research on the drug's public health impact, and maintain federal authority to regulate commercial advertising. Schumer joins a growing wave of support for marijuana legalization across the American political spectrum, including former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who [announced last week]( that he will join the board of a marijuana company as an advocate. More than a million teachers don’t have Social Security safety nets. As the fight over teacher pay prompts strikes across the country, many teachers are protesting lawmakers who want to scale back their pensions. The fight over underfunded pension plans is complicated by the fact that many teachers [can’t fall back on Social Security](. The original 1935 Social Security legislation did not include state and local workers. In the 1950s, the law was amended to allow governments to enroll their workers, but 15 states did not do it. So 40 percent of all teachers are not enrolled in Social Security; that’s more than a million educators in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas. BEFORE YOU GO Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images - The “Fearless Girl” statue will now [stare down the New York Stock Exchange](. - PSA: If the [pre-cut romaine lettuce]( in your fridge was grown in Yuma, Ariz., throw it out! - The 911 operator who [hung up on thousands of emergency calls]( gets 10 days in prison. - Bottlenose [dolphins were spotted]( off Canada’s Pacific coast, which is weird. Thanks for your feedback! We'll continue to make adjustments to this newsletter. If you didn't get a chance last week, [we'd love to hear what you think]( and how we can improve. You received this message because you're subscribed to our News emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002 [NPR]