NICHOLAS CRUZ, 19, was arrested as the suspect in a shooting spree that took the lives of 17 people on Feb. 14 (Parker PD photo).

President Donald Trump may support a strengthening of federal background checks on people seeking to buy guns. According to the Associated Press, Trump had spoken on Friday to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) about a possible bipartisan pill to add beef to the list of persons prohibited from purchasing firearms.

Meanwhile, students and others in Florida are planning a march on Washington D.C. to urge stricter gun controls after the Feb. 14 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida resulted in the deaths of 17 people, and injuries to 20 more. They will demand restrictions on the sales of semiautomatic rifles and a means for family members to ask a judge to suspend the gun rights of people believed to be a danger to others.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at the school, has been arrested and charged with the crimes. It was the worst school shooting incident in U.S. history.

New district map lands in Pennsylvania

A NEW MAP of Congressional Districts has been issued by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

A new map of Congressional districts was released Monday by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the possible conclusion of a process for changing the politics map of the Keystone State which critics said was the most “gerrymandered” in the nation.

The new districts were intended to be geographically compact, roughly equal in size and demographically fair. In a state with more Democrats than Republicans, 13 of Pennsylvania’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives are in the GOP, with five Democrats.

Republicans have promised to appeal to federal courts. Democrats believe the new map will help their chances of reclaiming control of the House in the 2018 elections.

Survey: Washington, Lincoln, FDR the “greatest”

The top eight-ranked presidents in American history are evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, according to a new survey of academics released on Monday.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

In the poll conducted by the American Political Science Association, Abraham Lincoln was ranked first, followed by George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.

Among recent presidents, Bill Clinton was rated 13th, George W. Bush was ranked 30th, Barack Obama eighth and Donald Trump 44th (out of 44).

Of the respondents to the survey, 57 percent were Democrats, 13 percent Republicans and 27 percent independents. Three percent marked “other.”

Olympic update: Norway still rules the mountain

The United States Olympic team has slipped into sixth place in the medal count at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeong Chang, Korea.

Norway, with 28 medals (including 11 gold), is in first place, followed by Germany (20 medals, 10 gold), Canada 17 (six gold), Netherlands 13 (six gold), Olympic Athletes From Russia 11 (zero gold).

In sixth place is the U.S.A. with 10 medals, of which five were gold.

At the 2016 games held in Sochi, Russia, the host nation won 29 medals overall (11 gold), followed by Norway with 26 (11 gold) and Canada with 24 (10 gold). The Americans finished fourth with 28 (nine gold). In this tally, teams are ranked by gold medals won.