Important News You May Have Missed . . .

Trump Visits 23 Crosses for Tornado Victims -The Daily Caller Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump honored the victims who were killed in Alabama after tornadoes ravaged the area last weekend, Katie Jerkovich reports. “During the trip, the president and first lady stopped by a row of crosses outside the Providence Baptist Church in Opelika that had been set up in honor of the 23 people who were killed in the storm. The two stood quietly together and held hands in front of each cross.” Watch: The President and First Lady visit Alabama

Yeah, This Looks Like a Border Crisis -New York Post “More than 76,000 migrants crossed the southern border illegally last month, the highest number in 12 years. So much for all those media ‘fact checks’ arguing that there’s no emergency to justify President Trump’s wall,” the New York Post editorial board writes. “Smugglers have put [migrants] wise to how to take advantage of recent court decisions to claim asylum and remain here indefinitely.”

‘You Have to Pay With Your Body’: The Hidden Nightmare of Sexual Violence on the Border -The New York Times “On America’s southern border, migrant women and girls are the victims of sexual assaults that most often go unreported, uninvestigated and unprosecuted,” Manny Fernandez reports. “The stories are many, and yet all too similar. Undocumented women making their way into American border towns have been beaten for disobeying smugglers, impregnated by strangers, coerced into prostitution, shackled to beds and trees and — in at least a handful of cases — bound with duct tape, rope or handcuffs.”

A Hot US Job Market is Coaxing People in from the Sidelines -The Associated Press “A surprisingly strong burst of job growth over the past year has led many economists to wonder: Where are all the workers coming from?” Christopher Rugaber writes. “The pace of hiring in 2018 was the most robust in three years, and for a surprising reason: Many more people have decided to look for work than experts had expected.”   New this week: Wage growth is the fastest it’s been since 2009

White House Presses Businesses to Reshape Training Efforts -The Wall Street Journal This week, President Trump hosted the first meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, a group that includes Apple CEO Tim Cook and Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson. “Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, is co-chair of the board, which aims to develop plans for how U.S. employers and the government can better train workers,” Eric Morath and Rebecca Ballhaus write.

90 Percent of Big Manufacturers High on Trump Economy, Set 4.4 Percent Growth Target -Washington Examiner “The nation’s top manufacturers have for the ninth consecutive quarter given the Trump economy a thumbs up, setting record industry optimism of the economy and predicting positive growth unseen during the Obama administration,” Paul Bedard reports. “The past nine quarters . . . have seen record optimism, with an average of 91.8 percent of manufacturers positive about their own firm, compared to an average of 68.6 percent during the last two years of the Obama administration.”

Small Business Hiring Breaks Record -The Wall Street Journal “The great American jobs machine is still roaring,” James Freeman writes. One piece of evidence: a historic February hiring binge by U.S. small businesses. According to the latest employment report from the National Federation of Independent Business, small business job creation broke a 45-year record last month.

First Lady Visits Microsoft to Discuss Online Safety For Kids -The Seattle Times On Monday, First Lady Melania Trump visited Microsoft in Washington state to learn about the company’s work on accessibility and online safety for children, Paul Roberts reports. The software giant “was the second stop in a three-city tour to promote the first lady’s ‘Be Best’ initiative, which is calling attention to child well-being, online safety and anti-bullying efforts and opioid abuse.”

Nadler’s ‘Obstruction’ Quest -The Wall Street Journal “Democrats seem hell-bent on impeaching Mr. Trump, and most of the media will be cheering them on,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler’s (D-NY) subpoena swarm is meant “to turn the President’s exercise of his normal constitutional powers into impeachable offenses.”