NEWS OF THE DAY
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Student discipline: The Trump administration is planning to roll back Obama-era policies aimed at ensuring that minority children are not unfairly disciplined, arguing that the efforts have eased up on punishment and contributed to rising violence in the nation’s schools. The decision culminates a nearly yearlong effort begun by the Trump administration after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The deaths of 17 students and staff members on Feb. 14 prompted lawmakers in both parties to demand tougher gun laws, but President Trump abandoned that focus and instead empowered a school safety commission, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Almost immediately, the commission turned away from guns, and instead scrutinized the Obama administration’s school discipline policies, though none of the most high-profile school shootings were perpetrated by black students.
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Planet discovery: Astronomers have spotted the farthest known object in our solar system — and they’ve nicknamed the pink cosmic body “Farout.” The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the discovery Monday. “Farout” is about 120 astronomical units away — that’s 120 times the distance between Earth and the sun, or 11 billion miles. The previous recordholder was the dwarf planet Eris at 96 astronomical units. Pluto, by comparison, is 34 astronomical units away.
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Officers killed: Two Chicago police officers were fatally struck by a train Monday as they investigated a report of gunshots on the city’s far South Side. Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, were pursuing a person who had headed toward train tracks and were hit shortly after 6 p.m. as the commuter train passed through the area, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. “There was no stop at that location so the train was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour,” Johnson said during a news conference. He said the person they were looking for was eventually taken into custody and the weapon was recovered.
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Trump businesses: The Justice Department on Monday challenged a federal judge’s decision to allow a case accusing President Trump of profiting off the presidency to go forward. Justice lawyers want an appeals court to take the case instead. They filed papers Monday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., to overrule the Maryland federal judge and allow a mid-case appeal or to dismiss the case outright. The government lawyers also want the court to suspend legal discovery recently approved by U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte, which would force 13 Trump corporate entities to turn over business tax returns, receipts and other documents. Justice lawyers have said in court filings that “discovery would necessarily be a distraction to the president’s performance of his constitutional duties” and could cause separation of powers concerns.