WJPA News

DONORA, Pa. (WPXI) — Pennsylvania State Police are investigating after a man died while in police custody. John Miller, 56, died on March 22, five days after he was arrested by Donora Police. Family and friends held a vigil for Miller Friday evening outside Donora Towers. That’s where the man they call “Kookoo” lived and was arrested. “I loved him and he didn’t deserve this,” one friend said. Neighbors say law enforcement had been called to the tower on an unrelated matter. Donora Police confirmed to Channel 11 that Miller never made it to the police station. He was taken from the scene of his arrest by paramedics and later died at UPMC Presbyterian. The police chief told WPXI: “The department is fully cooperating with an outside agency and incident is currently still active and being investigated by Pennsylvania State Police, therefore limited information is currently available for release.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota will be the flagship of the “No Kings” protest movement Saturday when Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of Minneapolis” in a state where emotions are still raw over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and the deaths of two residents who were shot by federal officers. The rally is part of a nationwide series of more than 3,100 planned events in communities large and small in all 50 states that are expected to draw millions of people. Organizers have designated the rally at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul as Saturday’s flagship event. Rallies are also planned in more than a dozen other countries and countless communities, including here in Washington.  The protest, which is scheduled from noon till one in front of the Washington County Courthouse in downtown Washington, is expected to draw hundreds of people.  This will be the third such protest and the first since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.  These rallies, according to the No Kings website, are peaceful and non-confrontational.  A section of the website reads:  “A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to deescalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.

The Washington County Board of Elections is seeking to consolidate and close 24 voting precincts throughout the county. In testimony during a hearing where a petition was filed to accomplish that, Director of Elections Melanie Ostrander pointed to 10 locations that are not ADA compliant. One building in Fallowfield township was in dilapidated condition with missing or boarded up windows and a gravel driveway. Six municipalities asked for certain venues to be closed. Voters in 8 venues that would be closed would still vote in the same location as they did before. She also pointed to difficulties in finding people to work the polls during elections. During the hearing, no one from those precincts testified. Peters Township is adjusting voting district boundaries due to changes in population. No precincts are closing. They objected to the petition based on what they perceive as a timeline too short to supply ample notice to affected voters. Six individuals protested the changes, three of them from Peters Township. Barb Trahern summed up the feelings for the Peters Township residents. She is an elected judge of elections in her district. She, and the two other objectors present, are elected precinct committee people. Their complaint is that if the precinct boundaries are moved now, they will not be eligible to run for PCP. They would not have minded the move if the motion to alter boundaries would have been filed before election petitions were due. They also object to the compressed timeline fearing for disenfranchised voters due to the tight timeline in front of the May 19 primary election. Ostrander said it is her duty to provide election venues that are safe and adequately staffed. She feels that there will be ample time to provide notice of voting precinct changes. Judge Michael Lucas will render an opinion on the matter through an order in the coming days.

JUPITER ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Officials say Tiger Woods has been released on bail hours after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Officials say his Land Rover clipped a truck and rolled onto its side. The sheriff’s office says he was released from jail late Friday. Florida law required that he spend at least eight hours in jail before he could post bail. He was not injured in the crash. Sheriff John Budensiek says Woods had been traveling at “high speeds” on a residential road and after the crash showed “signs of impairment.” Woods’ manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel’s military says it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israel for the first time. The Houthis, a rebel group backed by Tehran that holds Yemen’s capital, have acknowledged launching the strike early Saturday. Attacks have appeared to intensify in the war in the Middle East including strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and an Iranian missile attack that wounded U.S. service members and damaged planes at a base in Saudi Arabia. The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations on Friday said Tehran has agreed to “facilitate and expedite” humanitarian aid through the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump has reiterated his desire for Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize ties when the war ends.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a promised executive action that will pay Transportation Security Administration employees, after a deal that sought to do the same stalled in Congress. Trump signed the action Friday with an eye toward easing long security lines at many of the nation’s top airports. “America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point,” Trump said in the memo authorizing the payments. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says TSA workers “should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday.” Trump’s action came after House Republicans rejected a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security.  (Photo:  AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Iran is cementing its hold over the Strait of Hormuz, demanding vessels give up detailed information and detour into Iranian waters before being vetted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In some cases, vessels have paid for passage. Traffic through the strait has fallen by 90% since the start of the war, sending global oil prices skyrocketing and creating alarming shortages in the Asian nations that get their oil from producers in the Persian Gulf. Yet ships with connections to Iran and its chief energy customer, China, continue to transit the strait.