promoearn: Back to school with a bulletproof backpack

Friday, August 19

About 100 school buses are parked at the Arlington County Bus Depot, in response to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 outbreak on March 31, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. - Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia have decided to close schools in response to the coronavirus pandemic, affecting nearly 55 million students and seven US states have closed school for the remainder of the year, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the country. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Back to school with a bulletproof backpack

Last school year brought record gunfire.

A new report found the last school year saw a dramatic spike in gun violence. Prosecutors in Arizona want to enforce a near-total ban on abortions under a 1912 law. Vanessa Bryant is expected to testify in a civil trial involving the crash photos of her late husband Kobe and daughter Gianna. Keep scrolling for a look at Idris Elba in "Beast."

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Friday is finally here. Let's get to the news.

🌅 Up first: Young people in Japan aren't drinking as much as they used to. So the country is launching a business contest to boost booze sales. Read more

Last school year brought more gunfire, study finds

No school year in the U.S. in nearly a decade saw as much gunfire as the 2021-2022 academic calendar, according to a report released by Everytown For Gun Safety, a non-partisan group advocating against gun violence. It shows the last school year, between Aug. 1 and May 31, saw 193 incidents of gunfire, more than doubling the total of the previous year. Authors of the report found most shootings were perpetrated by a student or former student at a school. Read more about the report.

What the numbers mean: School gun violence happens with a "distressing frequency," the report found, but many school shootings are preventable.

•	Wearable protection: Bulletproof backpack sales are on the rise as parents send their kids back to school.
•	Parents at the forefront: Meet one conservative group gaining traction in school board races nationwide.
•	Gun advertisers are embracing a new culture of defense and personal protection.
•	Uvalde update: School board to consider firing school district police Chief Pete Arredondo on Aug. 24.
•	Analysis: What do we need from our teachers?

A child learning how to use bulletproof backpack.

Cassie Walton, @thewaltonfamily1 / Lifestylogy /TMX

More news to know now:

•	💊 CVS, Walmart and Walgreens owe $650 million to two Ohio counties in a opioids suit.
•	📰 The number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border is once again predicted to break previous records.
•	🟡 Ukraine's president met with Turkey's leader. Little progress was made as the war with Russia reaches the six-month mark.
•	💉 The federal monkeypox response is speeding up with 1.8M more vaccine doses available for order on Monday.

🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, investigative reporter Nick Penzenstadler takes a look at gun advertising. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.

📝 News quiz time! President Biden signs a major spending package into law, the Big Ten signs a massive media deal and plans to resurrect an extinct species are unveiled. Test your knowledge on this week's news.

Did you pay attention to the news this week?

USA TODAY

Arizona judge to hear state request to enforce abortion ban under 1912 law

An Arizona judge will hear arguments Friday on the state's request to allow prosecutors to enforce a near-total ban on abortions under a law that has been blocked for nearly 50 years under a now-overruled Supreme Court ruling. Abortion-rights advocates are fighting the request from Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who wants prosecutors to be able to charge doctors who provide abortions, unless the mother's life is in danger. That law was first enacted decades before Arizona was granted statehood in 1912 and blocked following the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Read more of our coverage on ongoing state abortion battles.

•	Planned Parenthood to spend a record-breaking $50M in this year's midterm elections.
•	A Florida teen who was denied an abortion for being too immature highlights hurdles to care, advocates say.
•	Here's a look at how Roe's fall is making Illinois an abortion haven in the South and Midwest.
•	Voices: I became a doctor as a single Black mom. The ''pro-life'' movement didn't help me.

Thousands of protesters march around the Arizona Capitol after the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision Friday, June 24, 2022, in Phoenix.

Ross D. Franklin, AP

Just for subscribers:

•	😮 Dark Brandon vs. The Pronoun Patrol: The illustrated origin story of a Joe Biden meme.
•	✏ When sounds of war can't be heard: How one group is helping deaf Ukrainians.
•	🚀 NASA's big gamble: Is its new rocket too costly to launch us back to the moon?
•	💔 What does it mean to let go of a relationship? Tips on healing from the past, moving on.

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Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization CFO, pleads guilty to tax-fraud scheme

Allen Weisselberg, former President Donald Trump's longtime top business lieutenant, pleaded guilty Thursday to all 15 criminal charges in a scheme that paid him lavish corporate benefits in off-the-books payments from the Trump Organization without paying taxes. In a deal with the Manhattan district attorney's office, he must testify truthfully about the scheme if called as a government witness at the scheduled October trial of two companies of the Trump Organization, which Weisselberg long served as chief financial officer. Here's what we know

•	Trump investigations update: A federal magistrate Thursday set up the possible release of a heavily-edited version of the Justice Department affidavit authorizing the search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate.
•	''Can I count on you?'' Trump revs up fundraising pitches after FBI's Mar-a-Lago search.

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 18: Former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg departs from the courtroom in Manhattan Supreme Court on August 18, 2022 in New York City. Weisselberg has agreed to plead guilty to 15 felonies, admitting that he conspired with Mr. Trump's company to avoid paying taxes. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775858710 ORIG FILE ID: 1242575086

Stephanie Keith, Getty Images

Saudi doctoral student gets 34 years in prison for tweets

A Saudi court has sentenced a doctoral student and women's rights advocate to 34 years in prison for spreading "rumors" on Twitter and retweeting dissidents in a decision that has drawn growing global condemnation. Activists and lawyers consider the sentence against Salma al-Shehab, a mother of two and a researcher at Leeds University in Britain, shocking even by Saudi standards of justice. Al-Shehab was detained during a family vacation on Jan. 15, 2021, and held for over 285 days in solitary confinement before her case was even referred to court. Read more of our latest coverage on Saudi Arabia.

In this frame grab from Saudi state television footage, doctoral student and women's rights advocate Salma al-Shehab speaks to a journalist at the Riyadh International Book Fair in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March 2014. A Saudi court has sentenced al-Shehab to 34 years in prison for spreading "rumors" on Twitter and retweeting dissidents, according to court documents obtained Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, a decision that has drawn growing global condemnation.

ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday

•	🌈 Display of pride flags and preferred pronouns by staff was banned by a Wisconsin school district.
•	🩺 You may have skipped lung, colon, breast cancer screenings amid COVID. It's time to fix that.
•	🖋 Analysis from NY Gov. Hochul: Attack on Salman Rushdie reminds us that the pen is mightier than the knife.
•	🔵 ''Real Housewives of Dubai'' star Chanel Ayan says she survived female genital mutilation at age 5.
•	🏈 Big Ten announced a landmark $7 billion media rights deal with CBS, Fox and NBC.

Vanessa Bryant expected to testify in trial over Kobe crash photos

Vanessa Bryant is expected to take the stand Friday in her civil trial against Los Angeles County. Bryant is suing the county for invasion of privacy, accusing county sheriff's and fire department employees of improperly taking and sharing grisly photos of her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna shortly after they perished in the helicopter crash that killed all nine aboard in January 2020. She is joined at the trial by plaintiff Chris Chester, who lost his wife and daughter in the same crash and is suing the county for the same reasons. Read more

•	Here's why the Vanessa Bryant trial over Kobe crash photos has gotten so gruesome
•	In the courtroom: Witnesses squirm as they testify about crash photos.

Vanessa Bryant speaking at her late husband's funeral in February 2020.

Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY Sports

A little less heavy

•	💜 ''Purple Hearts'': Why is TikTok abuzz about the popular but controversial Netflix film?
•	⚠ Here's how catfished football player Manti Te'o got through the ''darkest moments'' of a girlfriend hoax.
•	🎶 Demi Lovato excavates demons with honesty on new her album: ''I can't believe I'm not dead,'' she sings.
•	🎥 What new movies are playing this week? Check out Idris Elba in ''Beast,'' Netflix's ''Look Both Ways.''

Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) tries to outwit a killer lion and keep his family alive in "Beast."

Lauren Mulligan / Universal Pictures

📷 Photo of the day: One great photo from every game of the 2022 WNBA playoffs 📷

Breanna Stewart had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Jewell Loyd scored 12 of her 16 points in the final five minutes and the fourth-seeded Seattle Storm beat the fifth-seeded Washington Mystics 86-83 in a WNBA basketball first-round playoff of the WNBA playoffs Thursday night. Here's how you can keep up with the competition.

Click here to see more winning photos from the 2022 WNBA playoffs.

Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd (24) gets the rebound and makes a break around Storm center Tina Charles (31) as Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin (0) watches during the first half of Game 1 of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

The Associated Press

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY. Send her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.