WJPA News

As tens of thousands of protestors gathered on Saturday, across the country and in some places like London, Paris and Rome, downtown Washington was also participating.  The downtown was filled with hundreds of protestors who gathered in front of the county’s courthouse, and lined the street nearly downtown to Maiden, at noon. The No Kings protest targets policies of Donald Trump, while rising inflation and fuel prices are also stoking anger. The Iran conflict is also adding a new sense of urgency. This is the third major No Kings protest wave since 2025, with each one growing in numbers.

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.”

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.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have joined “No Kings” protests across the U.S. and in Europe against the war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s actions. Minnesota took center stage Saturday because of its resistance to Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement. Thousands of demonstrators stood packed shoulder-to-shoulder on the Minnesota Capitol lawn and surrounding streets in St. Paul. The event’s headliner was Bruce Springsteen, who sang “Streets of Minneapolis” to honor Minnesota’s resistance and two residents shot to death by federal agents. Washington, New York, London, Paris and Rome had protests, but there also were rallies in smaller cities and towns. One spokesperson for Trump’s Republican Party derided the events as “Hate America Rallies.”  (Photo:  AP)

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration officers. Whether that translates into shorter wait times for passengers at airport security lines remains to be seen. Friday’s signing comes at a busy travel time of the year with spring breaks at school districts and colleges and the upcoming Passover and Easter holidays. Some passengers with very early flights Saturday reported having little problem getting through airport security lines. But that may have been an anomaly. Others at some of the busiest airports wrote on social media that security lines were growing exponentially longer by the hour.

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.

(AP – Actor James Tolkan, known for his roles as a cigar-chomping naval commander in “Top Gun” and a gruff high school administrator in “Back to the Future,” has died. He was 94. Tolkan’s booking agent says Tolkan died Thursday in Lake Placid, New York. In “Back to the Future,” Tolkan portrayed the bow tie-wearing Vice Principal Gerald Strickland, who eyeballed students for trouble — in particular Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox. Tolkan also portrayed commanding officer Tom “Stinger” Jardian in “Top Gun.”