SALINE COUNTY—One person was injured and another arrested following an accident that occurred just after 8:30p.m. Sunday in Saline County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Sean S.&nbsp;Schuff, 39, Salina, was&nbsp;northbound on College Avenue turning left onto Spruce Street. The driver failed to yield the right of way to Salina Police Department 2024 Ford Explorer driven by Officer Mathew K.&nbsp;Pfannenstiel, 30, Salina. The SUV collided with the pickup.&nbsp;&nbsp;During the collision, a tire came off the pickup and struck a 2017 Ram 4 driven by Paradise K.&nbsp;Roberts, 30,&nbsp;Snellville, Georgia.

EMS transported Pfannenstiel to Salina Regional Medical Center. The other drivers were not injured. Police arrested Schuff and booked him into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of&nbsp;DUI;1st; incapable of safely driving;child present, according to online jail records.

All three drivers were properly restrained, according to the KHP.  Pfannenstiel joined the Salina police department in October 2025, according to the department's social media page.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774865707771.png" alt="Schuff photo Saline County Jail" />
 <figcaption>Schuff photo Saline County Jail</figcaption>
 </figure>SALINE COUNTY—One person was injured and another arrested following an accident that occurred just after 8:30p.m. Sunday in Saline County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Sean S.&nbsp;Schuff, 39, Salina, was&nbsp;northbound on College Avenue turning left onto Spruce Street. The driver failed to yield the right of way to Salina Police Department 2024 Ford Explorer driven by Officer Mathew K.&nbsp;Pfannenstiel, 30, Salina. The SUV collided with the pickup.&nbsp;&nbsp;During the collision, a tire came off the pickup and struck a 2017 Ram 4 driven by Paradise K.&nbsp;Roberts, 30,&nbsp;Snellville, Georgia.EMS transported Pfannenstiel to Salina Regional Medical Center. The other drivers were not injured. Police arrested Schuff and booked him into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of&nbsp;DUI;1st; incapable of safely driving;child present, according to online jail records.All three drivers were properly restrained, according to the KHP. Pfannenstiel joined the Salina police department in October 2025, according to the department's social media page.

Kan. officer hospitalized, driver arrested after 3-vehicle crash

A woman in Indiana who put off dental surgery because she doesn't know if she can afford the copay. A Florida couple with young children who are depleting their savings. A grandmother in Idaho who plans to sell her car to pay the rent.

They are among about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers expecting to receive another $0 paycheck this week.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-funding-ice-airport-security-lines-ed04ac573dfb27e939b7234cc8245b16">A dispute in Congress</a>&nbsp;over funding the Department of Homeland Security has held up their salaries since mid-February. President Trump did sign an Executive Order Friday to help pay them.

With monthly bills coming due, many of these federal employees, who screen passengers and luggage at airports across the U.S., are making difficult choices about how to make ends meet.

High absentee rates at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/airports-tsa-federal-immigration-agents-ice-police-b2cefb8141675e315243e97caed351d4">some major airports</a>&nbsp;have produced long lines and frustrated passengers at understaffed security checkpoints. Union leaders and federal officials say empty gas tanks, child care expenses and the threat of eviction keep more screeners from showing up the longer the shutdown continues. At last count, more than 455&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tsa-lines-airport-wait-times-shutdown-5b1abfe9f0ec32475fe2bdad88dd9174">had quit</a>&nbsp;instead of weathering the ongoing uncertainty, according to DHS.

“Stop asking me about the long lines. Ask me if somebody’s gonna eat today,” Hydrick Thomas, president of the national American Federation of Government Employees union council that represents TSA employees, told reporters Tuesday.

Indiana TSA agent turns to food pantry for groceries

Before starting her shift at Indianapolis International Airport on Monday, Taylor Desert stopped at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tsa-lines-airport-shutdown-food-banks-a1e52ca10557f4f70c1360e878567b4b">a food bank</a>&nbsp;for meat, eggs, vegetables and dairy products.

“I never thought I would be in a position where, working for the federal government, I would need to go to a food bank to supplement my groceries,” she said as she loaded bags into her car.

Desert, who has been a TSA officer for seven years, said her last full paycheck came on Feb. 14, the day the shutdown started.

She had some savings to draw on despite a record 43-day shutdown last fall but put some personal plans on pause.

For example, Desert needs to get her wisdom teeth removed but says the TSA isn’t approving time off during the shutdown. She also worries about costs from the surgery not covered by insurance.

Wednesday was the 39th day of the DHS funding lapse. If it goes another 21 days, Desert said she would seek another job.

“I don’t want to have to spend my entire savings just to afford to keep living,” she said.

Florida TSA couple worry about their young children

Oksana Kelly, 38, and her husband, Deron, 37, both work as TSA agents at Orlando International Airport. They have two young children and don't know how they will keep supporting their family without any income coming in.

Kelly said they’re dipping into savings for now, but it’s running dry. If&nbsp;<a href="https://she%20said,%20her%20voice%20breaking%20as%20she%20tried%20to%20stifle%20the%20sound%20of%20weeping./">the shutdown</a>&nbsp;persists, they will ask relatives for help or take out a loan, which she worries would put them deeper in debt.

Her husband has worked as a DoorDash delivery driver in his spare time since the shutdown in October and November. He's considered resigning from the TSA to put the couple on more stable financial footing.

“It’s very mentally exhausting,” said Kelly, who is an organizer for the labor union representing TSA workers across central and northern Florida. “How do we even decide between being able to feed our kids or come to work?”

Kelly said strangers might criticize the couple for “putting all eggs in one basket” since both choose to work for the TSA for the past decade.

“All we want is to pay our bills and get the pay we deserve,” she said.

A veteran officer in Idaho fears homelessness

Rebecca Wolf cries every day. She tries to hide it from her grandchildren, ages 11 and 6.

“They don’t understand why grandma’s crying,” Wolf said. “I try not to cry in front of them, but sometimes it’s just too much.”

The 53-year-old TSA officer and union leader in Boise, Idaho, joined the agency soon after its creation in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. She was homeless at the time but turned her situation around with steady work and the benefits of federal employment.

Now, Wolf can’t help but dwell on where she was 24 years ago. “I don’t want to be in that position again,” she said.

Her Feb. 28 paycheck amounted to $13.53, sending her “into a spiral right away.”

With no savings to fall back on, she is preparing to sell her car to cover her rent due in a week. She calls nonprofits daily seeking rental assistance, but hasn’t had any luck.

Supporting six family members — four children and two grandchildren — has always been challenging, but the repeated shutdowns have made it nearly unsustainable.

Wolf, who serves as president of AFGE TSA Local 1127, is hesitant to walk away from both the job that turned her life around and her role advocating for fellow officers.

“I worked hard to get to where I am now, and the thought I might lose it all scares me,” she said, her voice breaking as she tried to stifle the sound of weeping.

Massachusetts agent digs into savings to get by

Mike Gayzagian, a TSA officer at Boston’s Logan International Airport, says long stretches without pay have become enough of a “new normal” that he’s prepared for them.

The 56-year-old says he has a financial cushion of about six months to tap but that his situation is “an exception to the rule.”

“The majority live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have those kinds of reserves available,” said Gayzagian, who is president of his local&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-tsa-union-b754702c295fdec5900bc04baaff3fa4">TSA union</a>&nbsp;chapter.

It shouldn’t be this way for federal workers, he said.

“The financial situation adds an additional burden to what is already a stressful job,” Gayzagian said. “I didn’t go into public service to make a lot of money. I went into public service because it has a certain stability and reliability and predictability that other jobs don’t have.”

Robert Echeverria quit his job as a TSA agent at Utah’s Salt Lake City International Airport about two weeks into the current shutdown.

The 45-year-old, who has a wife and three children, counted five government shutdowns in the nine years he worked for the agency. The toughest was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-reopen-update-house-returns-5771f2befb15f4ab45e327369f2e98d9">last year's record shutdown</a>&nbsp;that ended in mid-November around the start of the holiday season.

Echeverria said his family skipped Christmas and took months to recover financially. He began looking for a new job in February when it became clear Congress was headed for another budget battle.

“Emotionally I was already distraught,” Echeverria said last week. “We were barely recovering from the last shutdown.”

He now works for the department that manages the airports in Utah's capital. Leaving federal service “was a hard decision for me,” Echeverria said.

“I really believed in the mission of the TSA,” he said. “We took an oath, and it was a way for me to give back to the country that gave me so much.”

He’s still based at Salt Lake City International, where his 20-year-old daughter works as a TSA agent, and says that seeing his former colleagues struggling is difficult.

“They all feel betrayed by their government because they’re showing up to work," Echeverria said. "They’re there, but they feel that the government doesn’t care for them,” he said.

Marcelo reported from New York, Lamy reported from Indianapolis and Yamat reported from Las Vegas.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/11/1732540863185.png" alt="FIle photo TSA" />
 <figcaption>FIle photo TSA</figcaption>
 </figure>A woman in Indiana who put off dental surgery because she doesn't know if she can afford the copay. A Florida couple with young children who are depleting their savings. A grandmother in Idaho who plans to sell her car to pay the rent.They are among about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers expecting to receive another $0 paycheck this week.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-funding-ice-airport-security-lines-ed04ac573dfb27e939b7234cc8245b16">A dispute in Congress</a>&nbsp;over funding the Department of Homeland Security has held up their salaries since mid-February. President Trump did sign an Executive Order Friday to help pay them.With monthly bills coming due, many of these federal employees, who screen passengers and luggage at airports across the U.S., are making difficult choices about how to make ends meet.High absentee rates at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/airports-tsa-federal-immigration-agents-ice-police-b2cefb8141675e315243e97caed351d4">some major airports</a>&nbsp;have produced long lines and frustrated passengers at understaffed security checkpoints. Union leaders and federal officials say empty gas tanks, child care expenses and the threat of eviction keep more screeners from showing up the longer the shutdown continues. At last count, more than 455&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tsa-lines-airport-wait-times-shutdown-5b1abfe9f0ec32475fe2bdad88dd9174">had quit</a>&nbsp;instead of weathering the ongoing uncertainty, according to DHS.“Stop asking me about the long lines. Ask me if somebody’s gonna eat today,” Hydrick Thomas, president of the national American Federation of Government Employees union council that represents TSA employees, told reporters Tuesday.<h2>Indiana TSA agent turns to food pantry for groceries</h2>Before starting her shift at Indianapolis International Airport on Monday, Taylor Desert stopped at&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tsa-lines-airport-shutdown-food-banks-a1e52ca10557f4f70c1360e878567b4b">a food bank</a>&nbsp;for meat, eggs, vegetables and dairy products.“I never thought I would be in a position where, working for the federal government, I would need to go to a food bank to supplement my groceries,” she said as she loaded bags into her car.Desert, who has been a TSA officer for seven years, said her last full paycheck came on Feb. 14, the day the shutdown started.She had some savings to draw on despite a record 43-day shutdown last fall but put some personal plans on pause.For example, Desert needs to get her wisdom teeth removed but says the TSA isn’t approving time off during the shutdown. She also worries about costs from the surgery not covered by insurance.Wednesday was the 39th day of the DHS funding lapse. If it goes another 21 days, Desert said she would seek another job.“I don’t want to have to spend my entire savings just to afford to keep living,” she said.<h2>Florida TSA couple worry about their young children</h2>Oksana Kelly, 38, and her husband, Deron, 37, both work as TSA agents at Orlando International Airport. They have two young children and don't know how they will keep supporting their family without any income coming in.Kelly said they’re dipping into savings for now, but it’s running dry. If&nbsp;<a href="https://she%20said,%20her%20voice%20breaking%20as%20she%20tried%20to%20stifle%20the%20sound%20of%20weeping./">the shutdown</a>&nbsp;persists, they will ask relatives for help or take out a loan, which she worries would put them deeper in debt.Her husband has worked as a DoorDash delivery driver in his spare time since the shutdown in October and November. He's considered resigning from the TSA to put the couple on more stable financial footing.“It’s very mentally exhausting,” said Kelly, who is an organizer for the labor union representing TSA workers across central and northern Florida. “How do we even decide between being able to feed our kids or come to work?”Kelly said strangers might criticize the couple for “putting all eggs in one basket” since both choose to work for the TSA for the past decade.“All we want is to pay our bills and get the pay we deserve,” she said.<h2>A veteran officer in Idaho fears homelessness</h2>Rebecca Wolf cries every day. She tries to hide it from her grandchildren, ages 11 and 6.“They don’t understand why grandma’s crying,” Wolf said. “I try not to cry in front of them, but sometimes it’s just too much.”The 53-year-old TSA officer and union leader in Boise, Idaho, joined the agency soon after its creation in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. She was homeless at the time but turned her situation around with steady work and the benefits of federal employment.Now, Wolf can’t help but dwell on where she was 24 years ago. “I don’t want to be in that position again,” she said.Her Feb. 28 paycheck amounted to $13.53, sending her “into a spiral right away.”With no savings to fall back on, she is preparing to sell her car to cover her rent due in a week. She calls nonprofits daily seeking rental assistance, but hasn’t had any luck.Supporting six family members — four children and two grandchildren — has always been challenging, but the repeated shutdowns have made it nearly unsustainable.Wolf, who serves as president of AFGE TSA Local 1127, is hesitant to walk away from both the job that turned her life around and her role advocating for fellow officers.“I worked hard to get to where I am now, and the thought I might lose it all scares me,” she said, her voice breaking as she tried to stifle the sound of weeping.<h2>Massachusetts agent digs into savings to get by</h2>Mike Gayzagian, a TSA officer at Boston’s Logan International Airport, says long stretches without pay have become enough of a “new normal” that he’s prepared for them.The 56-year-old says he has a financial cushion of about six months to tap but that his situation is “an exception to the rule.”“The majority live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have those kinds of reserves available,” said Gayzagian, who is president of his local&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/homeland-security-tsa-union-b754702c295fdec5900bc04baaff3fa4">TSA union</a>&nbsp;chapter.It shouldn’t be this way for federal workers, he said.“The financial situation adds an additional burden to what is already a stressful job,” Gayzagian said. “I didn’t go into public service to make a lot of money. I went into public service because it has a certain stability and reliability and predictability that other jobs don’t have.”<h2>A father in Utah leaves TSA</h2>Robert Echeverria quit his job as a TSA agent at Utah’s Salt Lake City International Airport about two weeks into the current shutdown.The 45-year-old, who has a wife and three children, counted five government shutdowns in the nine years he worked for the agency. The toughest was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-reopen-update-house-returns-5771f2befb15f4ab45e327369f2e98d9">last year's record shutdown</a>&nbsp;that ended in mid-November around the start of the holiday season.Echeverria said his family skipped Christmas and took months to recover financially. He began looking for a new job in February when it became clear Congress was headed for another budget battle.“Emotionally I was already distraught,” Echeverria said last week. “We were barely recovering from the last shutdown.”He now works for the department that manages the airports in Utah's capital. Leaving federal service “was a hard decision for me,” Echeverria said.“I really believed in the mission of the TSA,” he said. “We took an oath, and it was a way for me to give back to the country that gave me so much.”He’s still based at Salt Lake City International, where his 20-year-old daughter works as a TSA agent, and says that seeing his former colleagues struggling is difficult.“They all feel betrayed by their government because they’re showing up to work," Echeverria said. "They’re there, but they feel that the government doesn’t care for them,” he said.___Marcelo reported from New York, Lamy reported from Indianapolis and Yamat reported from Las Vegas.

TSA officers share how they're scraping by without pay

By MARK VANCLEAVE, STEVE KARNOWSKI, TODD RICHMOND and JOHN HANNA Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Large&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/no-kings-minnesota-springsteen-immigration-war-b4ce14b0ab16d148f4fdbe642c20fdb2">crowds protested</a>&nbsp;Saturday against the war in Iran and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-democracy-turkey-hungary-venezuela-d7b0fac7c5e135bf75b3c125e8335a5d">President Donald Trump's actions</a>&nbsp;in “No Kings” rallies across the U.S. and in Europe. Minnesota took center stage, with thousands of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder to celebrate resistance to Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement.

Minnesota's flagship event on the Capitol lawn in St. Paul drew&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/springsteen-trump-politics-new-jersey-3bbeb077e9e5de03f9d47c2121933f26">Bruce Springsteen</a>&nbsp;as its headliner. He and other speakers praised the state's people for taking to the streets over the winter in opposition to a surge of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents.

Springsteen performed “&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bruce-springsteen-song-minneapolis-2f4232553bef164d02b1474627dd3b5f">Streets of Minneapolis</a>,” the song he wrote in response to the fatal shootings of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/renee-good-ice-shooting-minneapolis-f766260ec7cfbb2b158d6b8eb3403607">Renee Good</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-ice-alex-pretti-videos-861a0d8f3ee182f3b5909b3613900e2e">Alex Pretti</a>&nbsp;by federal agents. Springsteen lamented Good and Pretti’s deaths but said the state's pushback against ICE has given the rest of the country hope.

“Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America,” he said. “And this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand.”

People rallied from New York City, with almost 8.5 million residents in a solidly blue state, to Driggs, a town of fewer than 2,000 people in eastern Idaho, a state Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024.

U.S. organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/no-kings-protest-trump-us-b5de52994b7c592034fb19b7d3e9d577">in June</a>&nbsp;and 7 million&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protests-trump-immigration-first-amendment-f04e7a4728c10b694f540bcef0646370">in October.</a>&nbsp;This week they told reporters they expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was too early to tell whether those expectations were met.

Organizers said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-alex-pretti-minneapolis-immigration-0b34386da0bb3eeac939d9f934680b6c">more than 3,100 events</a>&nbsp;— 500 more than in October — were registered, in all 50 states.

In Topeka, Kansas, a rally outside the Statehouse had people impersonating a frog king and Trump as a baby. Wendy Wyatt drove with “Cats Against Trump” sign from Lawrence, 20 miles to the east, and planned to drive back to her hometown for a later rally there.

Wyatt said “there are so many things” about the Trump administration that upset her, but “this is very hopeful to me.”

In Los Angeles, demonstrators marched beneath a floating inflatable caricature resembling a baby Trump wearing a diaper. They also carried signs with slogans such as “War Crimes don’t hide sex crimes” and “Immigrants make America Great.” Outside the federal building in downtown, a crowd faced a line of California National Guard soldiers.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson characterized them as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support.

The “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” Jackson said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee was also sharply critical.

“These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone,” NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole said.

Trump's immigration enforcement push, particularly in Minnesota, was just one item on a long list of protester grievances that also included the war in Iran and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-transgender-rights-lawsuit-e0c462aeb4662576e3569dfdf91b0a9c">rollback of transgender rights</a>. Speakers at the Minnesota rally decried billionaires' economic power.

In Washington, hundreds marched past the Lincoln Memorial and into the National Mall, holding signs that read “Put down the crown, clown” and “Regime change begins at home.” Demonstrators rang bells, banged drums and chanted “No kings.”

Bill Jarcho was there from Seattle, joined by six people dressed as insects wearing tactical vests that said, “LICE” — spoofing ICE — as part of what he called a “mock and awe” tour.

“What we provide is mockery to the king,” Jarcho said. “It’s about taking authoritarianism and making fun of it, which they hate.”

About 40,000 people marched in San Diego, police there said.

In New York, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said during a news conference that Trump and his supporters want people to be afraid to protest.

“They want us to be afraid that there’s nothing we can do to stop them,” she said. “But you know what? They are wrong — dead wrong.”

Organizers said two-thirds of RSVPs for the rallies came from outside of major urban centers. That included communities in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well in electorally competitive suburbs in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.

Organizers designated the rally there as the national flagship event.

Before Springsteen took the stage, organizers played a video in which actor Robert DeNiro said he wakes up every morning depressed because of Trump but was happier Saturday because millions of people were protesting. He also congratulated Minnesotans for running ICE out of town.

The bill also included singer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joan-baez">Joan Baez</a>, actor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jane-fonda-first-amendment-cold-war-4b7d8e2b30a27f3ff6d8ba76d9ee08e4">Jane Fonda</a>, Vermont U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-billionaires-bernie-sanders-gavin-newsom-democrats-87a1e54f463aad49a2093382969e5cca">Sen. Bernie Sanders</a>&nbsp;and a long list of activists, labor leaders and elected officials.

Protesters held up a massive sign on the Capitol steps that read, “We had whistles, they had guns. The revolution starts in Minneapolis.”

“Donald Trump may pretend that he’s not listening, but he can’t ignore the millions in the streets today,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Demonstrations were also planned in more than a dozen other countries, from Europe to Latin America to Australia, according to Ezra Levin, a co-executive director of Indivisible, a group spearheading the events. In countries with constitutional monarchies, people call the protests “No Tyrants,” he said.

In Rome, thousands marched with chants aimed at Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose conservative government saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/italy-referendum-justice-meloni-4d2092517ce3fff84b35a99c81b75fff">its referendum for streamlining Italy's judiciary</a>&nbsp;fail badly this week. Protesters also waved banners protesting Israeli and US attacks on Iran.

In London, demonstrators held banners with slogans such as “Stop the far right” and “Stand up to Racism.”

And in Paris, several hundred people, mostly Americans living in France, along with labor unions and human rights organizations, gathered at the Bastille.

“I protest all of Trump’s illegal, immoral, reckless, and feckless, endless wars,” organizer Ada Shen said.

Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin, and Hanna from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press journalists Nicholas Garriga in Paris, Mike Pesoli in Washington, Colleen Berry in Milan and Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774729451201.png" alt="No Kings Rally in Minneapolis -image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>No Kings Rally in Minneapolis -image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>By MARK VANCLEAVE, STEVE KARNOWSKI, TODD RICHMOND and JOHN HANNA Associated PressST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Large&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/no-kings-minnesota-springsteen-immigration-war-b4ce14b0ab16d148f4fdbe642c20fdb2">crowds protested</a>&nbsp;Saturday against the war in Iran and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-democracy-turkey-hungary-venezuela-d7b0fac7c5e135bf75b3c125e8335a5d">President Donald Trump's actions</a>&nbsp;in “No Kings” rallies across the U.S. and in Europe. Minnesota took center stage, with thousands of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder to celebrate resistance to Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774729797201.png" alt="Kansas City area rally -photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Kansas City area rally -photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">New York state Attorney General Letitia James (D) speaks at a news conference in New York City organized by protesters on &quot;No Kings&quot; Day against the Trump administration. <a href="https://t.co/HcaStkR4Tf">pic.twitter.com/HcaStkR4Tf</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2037972515260158288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Actor Robert De Niro on trump at &quot;No Kings&quot; Day event in New York: &quot;He can&#39;t do all the fucked-up things that he&#39;s been doing without the collusion of Congress and the goons in his administration.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/p9mDN91Mr5">pic.twitter.com/p9mDN91Mr5</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2037972379826061639?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Minnesota's flagship event on the Capitol lawn in St. Paul drew&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/springsteen-trump-politics-new-jersey-3bbeb077e9e5de03f9d47c2121933f26">Bruce Springsteen</a>&nbsp;as its headliner. He and other speakers praised the state's people for taking to the streets over the winter in opposition to a surge of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents.Springsteen performed “&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/bruce-springsteen-song-minneapolis-2f4232553bef164d02b1474627dd3b5f">Streets of Minneapolis</a>,” the song he wrote in response to the fatal shootings of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/renee-good-ice-shooting-minneapolis-f766260ec7cfbb2b158d6b8eb3403607">Renee Good</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-ice-alex-pretti-videos-861a0d8f3ee182f3b5909b3613900e2e">Alex Pretti</a>&nbsp;by federal agents. Springsteen lamented Good and Pretti’s deaths but said the state's pushback against ICE has given the rest of the country hope.“Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America,” he said. “And this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand.”People rallied from New York City, with almost 8.5 million residents in a solidly blue state, to Driggs, a town of fewer than 2,000 people in eastern Idaho, a state Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774729400633.png" alt="At the rally in Minneapolis-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>At the rally in Minneapolis-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Biggest crowds yet expected</h2>U.S. organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/no-kings-protest-trump-us-b5de52994b7c592034fb19b7d3e9d577">in June</a>&nbsp;and 7 million&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protests-trump-immigration-first-amendment-f04e7a4728c10b694f540bcef0646370">in October.</a>&nbsp;This week they told reporters they expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was too early to tell whether those expectations were met.Organizers said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/no-kings-protest-alex-pretti-minneapolis-immigration-0b34386da0bb3eeac939d9f934680b6c">more than 3,100 events</a>&nbsp;— 500 more than in October — were registered, in all 50 states.In Topeka, Kansas, a rally outside the Statehouse had people impersonating a frog king and Trump as a baby. Wendy Wyatt drove with “Cats Against Trump” sign from Lawrence, 20 miles to the east, and planned to drive back to her hometown for a later rally there.Wyatt said “there are so many things” about the Trump administration that upset her, but “this is very hopeful to me.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774734124101.jpeg" alt="No Kings rally in Hays, Kansas -Photo by Tony Guerrero/Hays Post" />
 <figcaption>No Kings rally in Hays, Kansas -Photo by Tony Guerrero/Hays Post</figcaption>
 </figure>In Los Angeles, demonstrators marched beneath a floating inflatable caricature resembling a baby Trump wearing a diaper. They also carried signs with slogans such as “War Crimes don’t hide sex crimes” and “Immigrants make America Great.” Outside the federal building in downtown, a crowd faced a line of California National Guard soldiers.<h2>GOP officials dismissive of protests</h2>White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson characterized them as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support.The “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” Jackson said in a statement.The National Republican Congressional Committee was also sharply critical.“These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone,” NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole said.<h2>Protesters have a long list of causes</h2>Trump's immigration enforcement push, particularly in Minnesota, was just one item on a long list of protester grievances that also included the war in Iran and the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-transgender-rights-lawsuit-e0c462aeb4662576e3569dfdf91b0a9c">rollback of transgender rights</a>. Speakers at the Minnesota rally decried billionaires' economic power.In Washington, hundreds marched past the Lincoln Memorial and into the National Mall, holding signs that read “Put down the crown, clown” and “Regime change begins at home.” Demonstrators rang bells, banged drums and chanted “No kings.”Bill Jarcho was there from Seattle, joined by six people dressed as insects wearing tactical vests that said, “LICE” — spoofing ICE — as part of what he called a “mock and awe” tour.“What we provide is mockery to the king,” Jarcho said. “It’s about taking authoritarianism and making fun of it, which they hate.”About 40,000 people marched in San Diego, police there said.In New York, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said during a news conference that Trump and his supporters want people to be afraid to protest.“They want us to be afraid that there’s nothing we can do to stop them,” she said. “But you know what? They are wrong — dead wrong.”Organizers said two-thirds of RSVPs for the rallies came from outside of major urban centers. That included communities in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well in electorally competitive suburbs in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.<h2>Main event at the Minnesota Capitol</h2>Organizers designated the rally there as the national flagship event.Before Springsteen took the stage, organizers played a video in which actor Robert DeNiro said he wakes up every morning depressed because of Trump but was happier Saturday because millions of people were protesting. He also congratulated Minnesotans for running ICE out of town.The bill also included singer&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/joan-baez">Joan Baez</a>, actor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jane-fonda-first-amendment-cold-war-4b7d8e2b30a27f3ff6d8ba76d9ee08e4">Jane Fonda</a>, Vermont U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-billionaires-bernie-sanders-gavin-newsom-democrats-87a1e54f463aad49a2093382969e5cca">Sen. Bernie Sanders</a>&nbsp;and a long list of activists, labor leaders and elected officials.Protesters held up a massive sign on the Capitol steps that read, “We had whistles, they had guns. The revolution starts in Minneapolis.”“Donald Trump may pretend that he’s not listening, but he can’t ignore the millions in the streets today,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.<h2>Rallies overseas</h2>Demonstrations were also planned in more than a dozen other countries, from Europe to Latin America to Australia, according to Ezra Levin, a co-executive director of Indivisible, a group spearheading the events. In countries with constitutional monarchies, people call the protests “No Tyrants,” he said.In Rome, thousands marched with chants aimed at Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose conservative government saw&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/italy-referendum-justice-meloni-4d2092517ce3fff84b35a99c81b75fff">its referendum for streamlining Italy's judiciary</a>&nbsp;fail badly this week. Protesters also waved banners protesting Israeli and US attacks on Iran.In London, demonstrators held banners with slogans such as “Stop the far right” and “Stand up to Racism.”And in Paris, several hundred people, mostly Americans living in France, along with labor unions and human rights organizations, gathered at the Bastille.“I protest all of Trump’s illegal, immoral, reckless, and feckless, endless wars,” organizer Ada Shen said.___Richmond reported from Madison, Wisconsin, and Hanna from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press journalists Nicholas Garriga in Paris, Mike Pesoli in Washington, Colleen Berry in Milan and Amy Taxin in Santa Ana, California, contributed.

'No Kings' rallies draw crowds in Kansas, across the United States

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas man charged in a crash&nbsp;a crash that killed a motorcyclist in 2025 was back in court this week.

Brian Adrian, 61, Wichita, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of vehicular homicide and a felony count of aggravated battery while driving under the influence, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office.

He was originally charged with felony involuntary manslaughter.&nbsp;

Just after 7p.m. October 17,&nbsp; police responded to a crash involving a sedan and a motorcycle at West 42nd Street South and South Seneca in Wichita, according to a media release. First responders located a motorcyclist identified as 27-year-old Bryce Rowland, who was pronounced deceased at the scene

Preliminary investigation indicates that the driver of a sedan, identified as Adrian, was traveling north on Seneca and attempting to make a left turn onto 42nd Street. The motorcyclist was traveling south on Seneca when the sedan turned and struck him.

The Wichita Police Critical Accident Follow up Team was activated and AFU Detectives responded to the scene. Police arrested Adrian. He has been in jail on a $200,000 bond since his arrest.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/10/1760814308179.png" alt="Near the crash scene photo courtesy KWCH" />
 <figcaption>Near the crash scene photo courtesy KWCH</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas man charged in a crash&nbsp;a crash that killed a motorcyclist in 2025 was back in court this week.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/10/1760814274895.png" alt="Adrian-photo Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Adrian-photo Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>Brian Adrian, 61, Wichita, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of vehicular homicide and a felony count of aggravated battery while driving under the influence, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office.He was originally charged with felony involuntary manslaughter.&nbsp;Just after 7p.m. October 17,&nbsp; police responded to a crash involving a sedan and a motorcycle at West 42nd Street South and South Seneca in Wichita, according to a media release. First responders located a motorcyclist identified as 27-year-old Bryce Rowland, who was pronounced deceased at the scenePreliminary investigation indicates that the driver of a sedan, identified as Adrian, was traveling north on Seneca and attempting to make a left turn onto 42nd Street. The motorcyclist was traveling south on Seneca when the sedan turned and struck him.The Wichita Police Critical Accident Follow up Team was activated and AFU Detectives responded to the scene. Police arrested Adrian. He has been in jail on a $200,000 bond since his arrest.&nbsp;

Plea deal in Kansas crash that killed motorcyclist 

By:<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mayasmith/">Maya Smith</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/">Kansas Reflector</a>

LAWRENCE — Three smoke and vape shops are suing the state of Kansas, accusing officials of Fourth Amendment violations in a series of October raids.

The plaintiffs have filed suit against KBI director Tony Mattivi, Attorney General Kris Kobach, KBI agents, local law enforcement and county attorneys. They allege illegal search and seizure and defective warrants.&nbsp;

The KBI and local law enforcement&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/10/01/kansas-officials-crack-down-on-brazen-sales-of-marijuana-and-thc-products-with-statewide-raids/">executed raids</a>&nbsp;late last year on smoke and vape shops in Concordia, Independence, Abilene, McPherson, Pratt, Salina, Topeka and Wichita.

The raids were planned in an effort to end lax enforcement of laws against marijuana and THC in Kansas, according to Kobach at a press conference held during the raids.

The lawsuit claims officers seized hemp-derived products without distinctions in the warrants between legal and illegal hemp products under Kansas law.

The smoke and vape shops say the warrants were defective for not acknowledging that types of hemp-derived products are legal within Kansas, with the warrant for Indy Vapes in Independence stating all derivatives of THC are contraband.

The Kansas Controlled Substance Act says industrial hemp and hemp-derived products are legal and are not controlled substances if they have less than a 0.3% concentration of THC. The plaintiffs say they sell legal hemp products and purchase those products from established wholesalers.

Kobach’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.

The shops said they lost thousands of dollars in inventory and that the seized inventory was likely destroyed. Mattivi said at a press conference held during the raids that seized products were sent to labs by the KBI for private testing.

According to the lawsuit, officers told employees not to film them, covered windows from the inside and unplugged the store’s internet and in-store security cameras.

“The lawsuit is a tactic to distract from the fact that Indy Vapes and Abilene Vape and CBD made a business decision to ignore state law, and now want to blame law enforcement for what they knew was a likely consequence,” according to a statement from the KBI. “We will defend our responsibility to enforce the laws of Kansas.”

The KBI said warrants executed by agents gave them the authority to seize illegal products and contraband. The statement did not address agents interfering with recording.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774553756710.jpeg" alt=" Kansas Bureau of Investigation director Tony Mattivi, right, and Attorney General Kris Kobach talk to reporters during an Oct. 1, 2025, news conference on illegal retail sales of marijuana and THC products. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption> Kansas Bureau of Investigation director Tony Mattivi, right, and Attorney General Kris Kobach talk to reporters during an Oct. 1, 2025, news conference on illegal retail sales of marijuana and THC products. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/author/mayasmith/">Maya Smith</a> <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/02/24/gov-laura-kelly-skeptical-kansas-houses-anti-tenure-legislation-will-reach-her-desk/">Kansas Reflector</a>LAWRENCE — Three smoke and vape shops are suing the state of Kansas, accusing officials of Fourth Amendment violations in a series of October raids.The plaintiffs have filed suit against KBI director Tony Mattivi, Attorney General Kris Kobach, KBI agents, local law enforcement and county attorneys. They allege illegal search and seizure and defective warrants.&nbsp;The KBI and local law enforcement&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2025/10/01/kansas-officials-crack-down-on-brazen-sales-of-marijuana-and-thc-products-with-statewide-raids/">executed raids</a>&nbsp;late last year on smoke and vape shops in Concordia, Independence, Abilene, McPherson, Pratt, Salina, Topeka and Wichita.The raids were planned in an effort to end lax enforcement of laws against marijuana and THC in Kansas, according to Kobach at a press conference held during the raids.The lawsuit claims officers seized hemp-derived products without distinctions in the warrants between legal and illegal hemp products under Kansas law.The smoke and vape shops say the warrants were defective for not acknowledging that types of hemp-derived products are legal within Kansas, with the warrant for Indy Vapes in Independence stating all derivatives of THC are contraband.The Kansas Controlled Substance Act says industrial hemp and hemp-derived products are legal and are not controlled substances if they have less than a 0.3% concentration of THC. The plaintiffs say they sell legal hemp products and purchase those products from established wholesalers.Kobach’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.The shops said they lost thousands of dollars in inventory and that the seized inventory was likely destroyed. Mattivi said at a press conference held during the raids that seized products were sent to labs by the KBI for private testing.According to the lawsuit, officers told employees not to film them, covered windows from the inside and unplugged the store’s internet and in-store security cameras.“The lawsuit is a tactic to distract from the fact that Indy Vapes and Abilene Vape and CBD made a business decision to ignore state law, and now want to blame law enforcement for what they knew was a likely consequence,” according to a statement from the KBI. “We will defend our responsibility to enforce the laws of Kansas.”The KBI said warrants executed by agents gave them the authority to seize illegal products and contraband. The statement did not address agents interfering with recording.

Kansas smoke shops sue state alleging illegal search and seizure during THC raids

Hedwig “Hedy” Niedens, 93, of WaKeeney, Kansas, passed away Monday, January 19, 2026. She was born on August 16, 1932, to Henry Sr. and Amalia (Fabrizius) Deines.

She shared many treasured memories growing up with her brothers and sister on the family farm south of Trego Center. Hedy attended Liberty Country School and was a graduate of Trego Community High School Class of 1950. She was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church. Her faith was a steadfast presence throughout her life.

On October 8, 1950, Hedy married her high school sweetheart Jerry Niedens at Immanuel Lutheran in WaKeeney. They shared more than 70 years of marriage vtogether in WaKeeney building a life grounded in faith, family, and farming. Hedy was a devoted mother, farmer, bookkeeper for Niedens Trucking and Niedens Custom Cutting, and a school bus driver (Bus #16) for many years. Her love, strength, and determination&nbsp;helped her family and home thrive. She and Jerry enjoyed being snowbirds for 25 years, especially to Mission, TX.

As a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Hedy taught Sunday School, Bible School, participated in the Women’s Group, and took pride in being part of the Bethlehem Daughters. She was active in the Big Creek Women’s Golf Association, a Busy Kansans 4-H Leader, and enjoyed her Golden Girls Card Club. Hedy will be remembered for her sense of humor and her baking, especially her lemon meringue pies and cinnamon rolls. She was an excellent seamstress, sewing her own clothes and those outfits of her girls, plus thoughtful gifts for her grandchildren and friends

Survivors include her daughters Debra Niedens, Salina, and Janelle Harshberger (Kevin), Louisburg; son Verl Niedens (Karen), Goddard; grandchildren Luke Thompson (Erin Koch), Joel Thompson (Alicia Greene), Allison Harshberger (Ben Hessney), Jacob Niedens (Lesley), Will Niedens, Shellie Brandt, Heidi Brandt (Ivo Barata), and Linsey Floyd (Ryan); great-grandchildren, Brayden Niedens, Jace Koch, Logan Thompson, Helena Thompson, Ivan Barata, Izac Barata, Scottie Floyd, and Karter Floyd; sisters-in-law Bonnie Deines (Topeka) and Stephanie Niedens (Dodge City) and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Jerry; brothers Henry Jr., Edwin, and Rudolf Deines; and sisters, Hilda Deines and Esther Schartz.

A memorial service will be Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, WaKeeney, burial in WaKeeney City Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, WaKeeney, in care of&nbsp; in care of the church or Ryan Mortuary, Salina.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774465231569.png" alt="Hedwig (Hedy) Niedens" />
 <figcaption>Hedwig (Hedy) Niedens</figcaption>
 </figure>Hedwig “Hedy” Niedens, 93, of WaKeeney, Kansas, passed away Monday, January 19, 2026. She was born on August 16, 1932, to Henry Sr. and Amalia (Fabrizius) Deines.She shared many treasured memories growing up with her brothers and sister on the family farm south of Trego Center. Hedy attended Liberty Country School and was a graduate of Trego Community High School Class of 1950. She was baptized and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church. Her faith was a steadfast presence throughout her life.On October 8, 1950, Hedy married her high school sweetheart Jerry Niedens at Immanuel Lutheran in WaKeeney. They shared more than 70 years of marriage vtogether in WaKeeney building a life grounded in faith, family, and farming. Hedy was a devoted mother, farmer, bookkeeper for Niedens Trucking and Niedens Custom Cutting, and a school bus driver (Bus #16) for many years. Her love, strength, and determination&nbsp;helped her family and home thrive. She and Jerry enjoyed being snowbirds for 25 years, especially to Mission, TX.As a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Hedy taught Sunday School, Bible School, participated in the Women’s Group, and took pride in being part of the Bethlehem Daughters. She was active in the Big Creek Women’s Golf Association, a Busy Kansans 4-H Leader, and enjoyed her Golden Girls Card Club. Hedy will be remembered for her sense of humor and her baking, especially her lemon meringue pies and cinnamon rolls. She was an excellent seamstress, sewing her own clothes and those outfits of her girls, plus thoughtful gifts for her grandchildren and friendsSurvivors include her daughters Debra Niedens, Salina, and Janelle Harshberger (Kevin), Louisburg; son Verl Niedens (Karen), Goddard; grandchildren Luke Thompson (Erin Koch), Joel Thompson (Alicia Greene), Allison Harshberger (Ben Hessney), Jacob Niedens (Lesley), Will Niedens, Shellie Brandt, Heidi Brandt (Ivo Barata), and Linsey Floyd (Ryan); great-grandchildren, Brayden Niedens, Jace Koch, Logan Thompson, Helena Thompson, Ivan Barata, Izac Barata, Scottie Floyd, and Karter Floyd; sisters-in-law Bonnie Deines (Topeka) and Stephanie Niedens (Dodge City) and many nieces and nephews.She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Jerry; brothers Henry Jr., Edwin, and Rudolf Deines; and sisters, Hilda Deines and Esther Schartz.A memorial service will be Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, WaKeeney, burial in WaKeeney City Cemetery.Memorials may be made to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, WaKeeney, in care of&nbsp; in care of the church or Ryan Mortuary, Salina.

Hedwig (Hedy) Niedens

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/melania-trump">Melania Trump</a>&nbsp;often commands the attention of any room she enters but all eyes — and cameras — were trained on her humanoid companion on Wednesday.

The humanoid accompanied the first lady as she arrived at the White House East Room for the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/melania-trump-education-technology-summit-children-188128cbb4952b104d3318ae4a2b1c80">final day of a summit</a>&nbsp;she had convened with counterparts from around the world through her Fostering the Future Together global initiative. The group has been discussing ways to empower children using education, innovation and technology, including artificial intelligence.

Melania Trump and the humanoid walked slowly side by side along the red carpet from the opposite end of the hallway. The first lady paused just before the entrance to the East Room while the robot walked around the table with the panelists and took up a position in the center of the room.

It took a moment to scan the audience before speaking.

“Thank you, first lady Melania Trump, for inviting me to the White House. It is an honor to be at Fostering the Future Together's global coalition inaugural meeting," it said.

“I'm Figure 03, a humanoid built for the United States of America,” it continued. “I am grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education."

“Welcome,” it said before offering similar greetings in 10 other languages. The robot then thanked everyone and retraced its steps back down the red carpet.

The startup robotics company Figure AI, based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced Figure 03 in October 2025 as its third-generation humanoid robot for people to use at home for help with such household tasks as laundry, cleaning and washing dishes, according to its website and company literature.

CEO Brett Adcock said on social media he was “proud to see F.03 make history as the first humanoid robot in the White House.”

The startup is competing with others, including Boston Dynamics and Elon Musk’s Tesla, as well as a number of companies in China, in building robots that look human-like and do some of the things that people do.

Associated Press writer Matt O'Brien in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/melania-trump">Melania Trump</a>&nbsp;often commands the attention of any room she enters but all eyes — and cameras — were trained on her humanoid companion on Wednesday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">&quot;Figure 03&quot; AI-powered robot accompanies first lady Melania Trump to a White House summit on empowering children with educational technology. <a href="https://t.co/RShdfvEG38">pic.twitter.com/RShdfvEG38</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2036828647798276301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>The humanoid accompanied the first lady as she arrived at the White House East Room for the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/melania-trump-education-technology-summit-children-188128cbb4952b104d3318ae4a2b1c80">final day of a summit</a>&nbsp;she had convened with counterparts from around the world through her Fostering the Future Together global initiative. The group has been discussing ways to empower children using education, innovation and technology, including artificial intelligence.Melania Trump and the humanoid walked slowly side by side along the red carpet from the opposite end of the hallway. The first lady paused just before the entrance to the East Room while the robot walked around the table with the panelists and took up a position in the center of the room.It took a moment to scan the audience before speaking.“Thank you, first lady Melania Trump, for inviting me to the White House. It is an honor to be at Fostering the Future Together's global coalition inaugural meeting," it said.“I'm Figure 03, a humanoid built for the United States of America,” it continued. “I am grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education."“Welcome,” it said before offering similar greetings in 10 other languages. The robot then thanked everyone and retraced its steps back down the red carpet.The startup robotics company Figure AI, based in Sunnyvale, California, introduced Figure 03 in October 2025 as its third-generation humanoid robot for people to use at home for help with such household tasks as laundry, cleaning and washing dishes, according to its website and company literature.CEO Brett Adcock said on social media he was “proud to see F.03 make history as the first humanoid robot in the White House.”The startup is competing with others, including Boston Dynamics and Elon Musk’s Tesla, as well as a number of companies in China, in building robots that look human-like and do some of the things that people do.___Associated Press writer Matt O'Brien in Providence, R.I., contributed to this report.

🎥AI-powered robot accompanies First Lady to White House summit 

&nbsp;V. Jean Dechant age 89, of Hays, Kansas, passed away on Sunday, March 22, 2026,
at Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas.&nbsp; She was born June 27, 1936, to
William J. and Rosina M. (Denning) Bieker.

She married Vernon F. “Booby” Dechant on October 20, 1953, at Ellis,
Kansas. He preceded her in death on February 29, 2008.

Jean worked at Dillons Vine Street Store for over 30 years in the bakery,
as a cashier, and in the video department until she retired. She grew up and
attended school in Ellis, Kansas. 

She attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and enjoyed cooking for
her large family gatherings. Her family and grandchildren were very important
to her.

&nbsp;Jean is survived by her children, Debbie Haynes and husband, Jerry, Hays,
KS; Kathy Schuckman and husband, Fred, Victoria, KS; Lois Koerner and husband,
Don, Hays, KS; Sharon Befort and husband, Clayton, Hays, Kansas; Keith Dechant
and wife, Brenda, Hays, KS; her grandchildren, Brian Haynes (Kristie); Steve
Haynes (Darcy); Kevin Haynes (Emilee); Chrissy (the late Darren Haynes);
Lindsay Anderson (Dustin); Fred Schuckman (Marie); Nolan Schuckman; Renee
Dreiling (Matt); Sarah van Straaten (Michael); Chad Befort (fiancé Jenn Mucha);
Cole Befort; Cory Befort (Brittany); Jessie Groff (Justin); Jake Dechant
(Gabby); and her 21 great grandchildren. 

Jean is preceded in death by her parents, William and Rosina Bieker; her
husband, Vernon “Booby” Dechant; her brother, Ralph and sister-in-law Pat
Bieker; and her grandson, Darren Haynes.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be at 10:00 A.M. Friday,
March 27, 2026, at Celebration Community Church, I-70 and Exit 157, Hays,
Kansas, with Pastor Brant Rice, Officiating. Followed by Graveside Services at
11:00 A.M. at Saint Joseph Cemetery, Hays, Kansas with Father Fred Gatschet,
Officiating. 

The family will receive friends from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Friday, at Celebration
Community Church. &nbsp;

The family suggests memorials made payable to: Hays Medical Center Foundation
for [Cardiac Progressive Care Unit] in care of Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of
Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.

Condolences can be emailed to <a href="mailto:clineschapels@gmail.com">clineschapels@gmail.com</a> or left at
the guest book at <a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>

The funeral service will be live streamed at the following link <a href="http://www.facebook.com/c3hays">www.facebook.com/c3hays</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774446080759.jpeg" alt="V. Jean Dechant, 89" />
 <figcaption>V. Jean Dechant, 89</figcaption>
 </figure>&nbsp;V. Jean Dechant age 89, of Hays, Kansas, passed away on Sunday, March 22, 2026,
at Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas.&nbsp; She was born June 27, 1936, to
William J. and Rosina M. (Denning) Bieker.She married Vernon F. “Booby” Dechant on October 20, 1953, at Ellis,
Kansas. He preceded her in death on February 29, 2008.Jean worked at Dillons Vine Street Store for over 30 years in the bakery,
as a cashier, and in the video department until she retired. She grew up and
attended school in Ellis, Kansas. She attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and enjoyed cooking for
her large family gatherings. Her family and grandchildren were very important
to her.&nbsp;Jean is survived by her children, Debbie Haynes and husband, Jerry, Hays,
KS; Kathy Schuckman and husband, Fred, Victoria, KS; Lois Koerner and husband,
Don, Hays, KS; Sharon Befort and husband, Clayton, Hays, Kansas; Keith Dechant
and wife, Brenda, Hays, KS; her grandchildren, Brian Haynes (Kristie); Steve
Haynes (Darcy); Kevin Haynes (Emilee); Chrissy (the late Darren Haynes);
Lindsay Anderson (Dustin); Fred Schuckman (Marie); Nolan Schuckman; Renee
Dreiling (Matt); Sarah van Straaten (Michael); Chad Befort (fiancé Jenn Mucha);
Cole Befort; Cory Befort (Brittany); Jessie Groff (Justin); Jake Dechant
(Gabby); and her 21 great grandchildren. Jean is preceded in death by her parents, William and Rosina Bieker; her
husband, Vernon “Booby” Dechant; her brother, Ralph and sister-in-law Pat
Bieker; and her grandson, Darren Haynes.A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be at 10:00 A.M. Friday,
March 27, 2026, at Celebration Community Church, I-70 and Exit 157, Hays,
Kansas, with Pastor Brant Rice, Officiating. Followed by Graveside Services at
11:00 A.M. at Saint Joseph Cemetery, Hays, Kansas with Father Fred Gatschet,
Officiating. The family will receive friends from 9:00 to 10:00 A.M. Friday, at Celebration
Community Church. &nbsp;The family suggests memorials made payable to: Hays Medical Center Foundation
for [Cardiac Progressive Care Unit] in care of Cline’s-Keithley Mortuary of
Hays, 1919 East 22nd Street, Hays, Kansas 67601.Condolences can be emailed to <a href="mailto:clineschapels@gmail.com">clineschapels@gmail.com</a> or left at
the guest book at <a href="http://www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com">www.keithleyfuneralchapels.com</a>
The funeral service will be live streamed at the following link <a href="http://www.facebook.com/c3hays">www.facebook.com/c3hays</a>

V. Jean Dechant, 89

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert S. Mueller III, the FBI director who transformed the nation's premier law enforcement agency into a terrorism-fighting force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and who later became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign, has died. He was 81.

“With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday night, his family said in a statement Saturday. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.”

At the FBI, Mueller set about almost immediately overhauling the bureau’s mission to meet the law enforcement needs of the 21st century, beginning his 12-year tenure just one week before the Sept. 11 attacks and serving across presidents of both political parties. He was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush.

The cataclysmic event instantaneously switched the bureau’s top priority from solving domestic crime to preventing terrorism, a shift that imposed an almost impossibly difficult standard on Mueller and the rest of the federal government: preventing 99 out of 100 terrorist plots wasn’t good enough.

Later, he was special counsel in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign illegally coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. Mueller was a patrician Princeton graduate and Vietnam veteran who walked away from a lucrative midcareer job to stay in public service, and his old-school, buttoned-down style made him an anachronism during a social media-saturated era.

Trump posted on social media after the announcement of Mueller's death: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” The Republican president added, “He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The FBI Agents Association cited Mueller's "commitment to public service and to the FBI’s mission.“

A second act as an investigator of a sitting president

The second-longest-serving director in FBI history, behind only J. Edgar Hoover, Mueller held the job until 2013 after agreeing to Democratic President Barack Obama’s request to stay on even after his 10-year term was up.

After several years in private practice, Mueller was asked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to return to public service as special counsel in the Trump-Russia inquiry.

Mueller’s stern visage and taciturn demeanor matched the seriousness of the mission, as his team spent nearly two years quietly conducting one of the most consequential, yet divisive, investigations in Justice Department history. He held no news conferences and made no public appearances during the investigation, remaining quiet despite attacks from Trump and his supporters and creating an aura of mystery around his work.

All told, Mueller brought criminal charges against six of the president’s associates, including his campaign chairman and first national security adviser.

His 448-page report released in April 2019 identified substantial contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia but did not allege a criminal conspiracy. Mueller laid out damaging details about Trump's efforts to seize control of the investigation, and even shut it down, though he declined to decide whether Trump had broken the law, in part because of department policy barring the indictment of a sitting president.

But, in perhaps the most memorable language of the report, Mueller pointedly noted: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”

The nebulous conclusion did not deliver the knockout punch to the administration that some Trump opponents had hoped for, nor did it trigger a sustained push by House Democrats to impeach the president -- though he was later tried and acquitted on separate allegations related to Ukraine.

The outcome also left room for Attorney General William Barr to insert his own views. He and his team made their own determination that Trump did not obstruct justice, and he and Mueller privately tangled over a four-page summary letter from Barr that Mueller felt did not adequately capture his report’s damaging conclusion.

Mueller deflated Democrats during a highly anticipated congressional hearing on his report when he offered terse, one-word answers and appeared uncertain in his testimony. Frequently, he seemed to waver on details of his investigation. It was hardly the commanding performance many had expected from Mueller, who had a towering reputation in Washington.

Over the next months, Barr made clear his own disagreements with the foundations of the Russia investigation, moving to dismiss a false-statements prosecution that Mueller had brought against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, even though that investigation ended in a guilty plea.

Mueller’s tenure as special counsel was the capstone of a career spent in government.

FBI transformed into a national security agency

His time as FBI director was defined by the Sept. 11 attacks and its aftermath, as an FBI granted broad new surveillance and national security powers scrambled to confront an ascendant al-Qaida and interrupt plots and take terrorists off the street before they could act.

It was a new model of policing for an FBI that had long been accustomed to investigating crimes that had already occurred.

When he became FBI director, “I had expected to focus on areas familiar to me as a prosecutor: drug cases, white-collar criminal cases and violent crime,” Mueller told a group of lawyers in October 2012.

Instead, “we had to focus on long-term, strategic change. We had to enhance our intelligence capabilities and upgrade our technology. We had to build upon strong partnerships and forge new friendships, both here at home and abroad.”

In response, the FBI shifted 2,000 of the total 5,000 agents in the bureau’s criminal programs to national security.

In hindsight, the transformation was a success. At the time, there were problems, and Mueller said as much. In a speech near the end of his tenure, Mueller recalled “those days when we were under attack by the media and being clobbered by Congress; when the attorney general was not at all happy with me.”

Among the issues: The Justice Department’s inspector general found that the FBI circumvented the law to obtain thousands of phone call records for terrorism investigations.

Mueller decided that the FBI would not take part in abusive interrogation techniques of suspected terrorists, but the policy was not effectively communicated down the line for nearly two years. In an effort to move the FBI into a paperless environment, the bureau spent over $600 million on two computer systems -- one that was 2½ years overdue and a predecessor that was only partially completed and had to be scrapped after consultants declared it obsolete and riddled with problems.

For the nation’s top law enforcement agency, it was a rocky trip through rough terrain.

But there were many successes as well, including thwarted terror plots and headline-making criminal cases like the one against fraudster Bernie Madoff. The Republican also cultivated an apolitical reputation on the job, nearly quitting in a clash with the Bush administration over a surveillance program that he and his successor, James Comey, considered unlawful.

He famously stood alongside Comey, then deputy attorney general, during a dramatic 2004 hospital standoff over federal wiretapping rules. The two men planted themselves at the bedside of the ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft to block Bush administration officials from making an end run to get Ashcroft’s permission to reauthorize a secret no-warrant wiretapping program.

In an extraordinary vote of confidence, Congress, at the Obama administration’s request, approved a two-year extension for Mueller to remain at his post.

A Marine who served in Vietnam before becoming a prosecutor

Mueller was born in New York City and grew up in a well-to-do suburb of Philadelphia.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a master’s degree in international relations from New York University. He then joined the Marines, serving for three years as an officer during the Vietnam War. He led a rifle platoon and was awarded a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and two Navy Commendation Medals. Following his military service, Mueller earned a law degree from the University of Virginia.

Mueller became a federal prosecutor and relished the work of handling criminal cases. He rose quickly through the ranks in U.S. attorneys’ offices in San Francisco and Boston from 1976 to 1988. Later, as head of the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington, he oversaw a range of high-profile prosecutions that chalked up victories against targets as varied as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and New York crime boss John Gotti.

In a mid-career switch that shocked colleagues, Mueller threw over a job at a prestigious Boston law firm to join the homicide division of the U.S. attorney’s office in the nation's capital. There, he immersed himself as a senior litigator in a bulging caseload of unsolved drug-related murders in a city rife with violence.

Mueller was driven by a career-long passion for the painstaking work of building successful criminal cases. Even as head of the FBI, he would dig into the details of investigations, some of them major cases but others less so, sometimes surprising agents who suddenly found themselves on the phone with the director.

“The management books will tell you that as the head of an organization, you should focus on the vision,” Mueller once said. But “for me there were and are today those areas where one needs to be substantially personally involved,” especially in regard to “the terrorist threat and the need to know and understand that threat to its roots.”

Two terrorist attacks occurred toward the end of Mueller’s watch: the Boston Marathon bombing and the Fort Hood shootings in Texas. Both weighed heavily on him, he acknowledged in an interview two weeks before his departure.

“You sit down with victims’ families, you see the pain they go through and you always wonder whether there isn’t something more” that could have been done, he said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2026/3/1774115836713.png" alt="Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller provided an opening statement during his testimony before the House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees on the Russia investigation and the published report released by his office.-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller provided an opening statement during his testimony before the House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees on the Russia investigation and the published report released by his office.-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert S. Mueller III, the FBI director who transformed the nation's premier law enforcement agency into a terrorism-fighting force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and who later became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign, has died. He was 81.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">🚨 BREAKING: President Trump celebrates the death of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated him in the Trump-Russia hoax WOW &quot;Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/yjEvWUNW1e">pic.twitter.com/yjEvWUNW1e</a>&mdash; Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2035408654111764955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/sd3OJOQybo">pic.twitter.com/sd3OJOQybo</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2035415101809803744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>“With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday night, his family said in a statement Saturday. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.”At the FBI, Mueller set about almost immediately overhauling the bureau’s mission to meet the law enforcement needs of the 21st century, beginning his 12-year tenure just one week before the Sept. 11 attacks and serving across presidents of both political parties. He was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush.The cataclysmic event instantaneously switched the bureau’s top priority from solving domestic crime to preventing terrorism, a shift that imposed an almost impossibly difficult standard on Mueller and the rest of the federal government: preventing 99 out of 100 terrorist plots wasn’t good enough.Later, he was special counsel in the Justice Department’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign illegally coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. Mueller was a patrician Princeton graduate and Vietnam veteran who walked away from a lucrative midcareer job to stay in public service, and his old-school, buttoned-down style made him an anachronism during a social media-saturated era.Trump posted on social media after the announcement of Mueller's death: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” The Republican president added, “He can no longer hurt innocent people!”The FBI did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The FBI Agents Association cited Mueller's "commitment to public service and to the FBI’s mission.“<h2>A second act as an investigator of a sitting president</h2>The second-longest-serving director in FBI history, behind only J. Edgar Hoover, Mueller held the job until 2013 after agreeing to Democratic President Barack Obama’s request to stay on even after his 10-year term was up.After several years in private practice, Mueller was asked by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to return to public service as special counsel in the Trump-Russia inquiry.Mueller’s stern visage and taciturn demeanor matched the seriousness of the mission, as his team spent nearly two years quietly conducting one of the most consequential, yet divisive, investigations in Justice Department history. He held no news conferences and made no public appearances during the investigation, remaining quiet despite attacks from Trump and his supporters and creating an aura of mystery around his work.All told, Mueller brought criminal charges against six of the president’s associates, including his campaign chairman and first national security adviser.His 448-page report released in April 2019 identified substantial contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia but did not allege a criminal conspiracy. Mueller laid out damaging details about Trump's efforts to seize control of the investigation, and even shut it down, though he declined to decide whether Trump had broken the law, in part because of department policy barring the indictment of a sitting president.But, in perhaps the most memorable language of the report, Mueller pointedly noted: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”The nebulous conclusion did not deliver the knockout punch to the administration that some Trump opponents had hoped for, nor did it trigger a sustained push by House Democrats to impeach the president -- though he was later tried and acquitted on separate allegations related to Ukraine.The outcome also left room for Attorney General William Barr to insert his own views. He and his team made their own determination that Trump did not obstruct justice, and he and Mueller privately tangled over a four-page summary letter from Barr that Mueller felt did not adequately capture his report’s damaging conclusion.Mueller deflated Democrats during a highly anticipated congressional hearing on his report when he offered terse, one-word answers and appeared uncertain in his testimony. Frequently, he seemed to waver on details of his investigation. It was hardly the commanding performance many had expected from Mueller, who had a towering reputation in Washington.Over the next months, Barr made clear his own disagreements with the foundations of the Russia investigation, moving to dismiss a false-statements prosecution that Mueller had brought against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, even though that investigation ended in a guilty plea.Mueller’s tenure as special counsel was the capstone of a career spent in government.<h2>FBI transformed into a national security agency</h2>His time as FBI director was defined by the Sept. 11 attacks and its aftermath, as an FBI granted broad new surveillance and national security powers scrambled to confront an ascendant al-Qaida and interrupt plots and take terrorists off the street before they could act.It was a new model of policing for an FBI that had long been accustomed to investigating crimes that had already occurred.When he became FBI director, “I had expected to focus on areas familiar to me as a prosecutor: drug cases, white-collar criminal cases and violent crime,” Mueller told a group of lawyers in October 2012.Instead, “we had to focus on long-term, strategic change. We had to enhance our intelligence capabilities and upgrade our technology. We had to build upon strong partnerships and forge new friendships, both here at home and abroad.”In response, the FBI shifted 2,000 of the total 5,000 agents in the bureau’s criminal programs to national security.In hindsight, the transformation was a success. At the time, there were problems, and Mueller said as much. In a speech near the end of his tenure, Mueller recalled “those days when we were under attack by the media and being clobbered by Congress; when the attorney general was not at all happy with me.”Among the issues: The Justice Department’s inspector general found that the FBI circumvented the law to obtain thousands of phone call records for terrorism investigations.Mueller decided that the FBI would not take part in abusive interrogation techniques of suspected terrorists, but the policy was not effectively communicated down the line for nearly two years. In an effort to move the FBI into a paperless environment, the bureau spent over $600 million on two computer systems -- one that was 2½ years overdue and a predecessor that was only partially completed and had to be scrapped after consultants declared it obsolete and riddled with problems.For the nation’s top law enforcement agency, it was a rocky trip through rough terrain.But there were many successes as well, including thwarted terror plots and headline-making criminal cases like the one against fraudster Bernie Madoff. The Republican also cultivated an apolitical reputation on the job, nearly quitting in a clash with the Bush administration over a surveillance program that he and his successor, James Comey, considered unlawful.He famously stood alongside Comey, then deputy attorney general, during a dramatic 2004 hospital standoff over federal wiretapping rules. The two men planted themselves at the bedside of the ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft to block Bush administration officials from making an end run to get Ashcroft’s permission to reauthorize a secret no-warrant wiretapping program.In an extraordinary vote of confidence, Congress, at the Obama administration’s request, approved a two-year extension for Mueller to remain at his post.<h2>A Marine who served in Vietnam before becoming a prosecutor</h2>Mueller was born in New York City and grew up in a well-to-do suburb of Philadelphia.He received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a master’s degree in international relations from New York University. He then joined the Marines, serving for three years as an officer during the Vietnam War. He led a rifle platoon and was awarded a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and two Navy Commendation Medals. Following his military service, Mueller earned a law degree from the University of Virginia.Mueller became a federal prosecutor and relished the work of handling criminal cases. He rose quickly through the ranks in U.S. attorneys’ offices in San Francisco and Boston from 1976 to 1988. Later, as head of the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington, he oversaw a range of high-profile prosecutions that chalked up victories against targets as varied as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and New York crime boss John Gotti.In a mid-career switch that shocked colleagues, Mueller threw over a job at a prestigious Boston law firm to join the homicide division of the U.S. attorney’s office in the nation's capital. There, he immersed himself as a senior litigator in a bulging caseload of unsolved drug-related murders in a city rife with violence.Mueller was driven by a career-long passion for the painstaking work of building successful criminal cases. Even as head of the FBI, he would dig into the details of investigations, some of them major cases but others less so, sometimes surprising agents who suddenly found themselves on the phone with the director.“The management books will tell you that as the head of an organization, you should focus on the vision,” Mueller once said. But “for me there were and are today those areas where one needs to be substantially personally involved,” especially in regard to “the terrorist threat and the need to know and understand that threat to its roots.”Two terrorist attacks occurred toward the end of Mueller’s watch: the Boston Marathon bombing and the Fort Hood shootings in Texas. Both weighed heavily on him, he acknowledged in an interview two weeks before his departure.“You sit down with victims’ families, you see the pain they go through and you always wonder whether there isn’t something more” that could have been done, he said.

President celebrates death of Special Counsel who investigated Trump-Russia hoax

WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-election-takaichi-1df9580c5a018b28965cbed99565b4b7">Sanae Takaichi</a>&nbsp;sought to reaffirm her alliance with President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Thursday after the president this week seemed to complain that Japan was among the nations that did not quickly join his call to help protect the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ships-iran-oil-china-us-trump-hormuz-82a9acb473837f1bf7a821d0c3f95205">Strait of Hormuz</a>.

Takaichi, who met with Trump at the White House, told the Republican president that Japan has opposed Iran's development of its nuclear program and appealed to his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-peacemaker-wars-legacy-7017f99ef27c15aac727928395c853c1">desire to be seen as a peacemaker</a>, despite his launching a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-nato-strait-of-hormuz-europe-4e0cf38708e9c3ba8ea2a36148620067">war of choice with Iran</a>. She told the U.S. president through an interpreter that in the Middle East and around the world now, there was “a very severe security environment,” but said, “Even against that backdrop, I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.”

The two leaders had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-japan-south-korea-china-71658f169efc116ce01e888611955dac">warm words</a>&nbsp;for each other, including Trump calling the prime minister a “popular, powerful woman,” but there appeared to be some tension as they faced repeated questions from reporters about Japan's support for the Iran war.

As Trump fielded questions during the roughly 30-minute public appearance with the prime minister in the Oval Office before their closed-door meeting, Taikaichi could be seen checking her watch. And then Trump made a particularly uncomfortable remark — invoking Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor — when he was asked why the U.S. didn’t notify allies like Japan ahead of the strikes on Iran.

“We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?” Trump joked.

As Trump said that, Takaichi’s slight smile appeared to drop, and she raised her eyebrows.

But the pair were all smiles in the evening, as Trump hosted a dinner in the prime minister's office. “This is a spectacular woman, and it’s an honor to have you at the White House," Trump said. Taikaichi referred to the leaders through an interpreter as “best buddies" before declaring, in English, “Japan is back.”

Earlier Thursday, the leaders of five European countries and Japan issued a joint statement demanding that Iran stop attacks on the Strait of Hormuz that block commercial shipping, and said they are ready to contribute to “appropriate efforts” to ensure ships can pass safely through the strait, though it is not clear what that entails.

Trump told reporters that he and Takaichi would be discussing in their meeting Japan’s level of support for the U.S. in the Iran war, saying, “They are really stepping up to the plate.” He did not offer details.

The president later said that much of the oil Japan relies on passes through the Strait of Hormuz and said, “so that’s a big reason to step up. He also mentioned U.S. spending in Japan and the number of troops it has stationed there.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-election-takaichi-1df9580c5a018b28965cbed99565b4b7">Sanae Takaichi</a>&nbsp;sought to reaffirm her alliance with President&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;on Thursday after the president this week seemed to complain that Japan was among the nations that did not quickly join his call to help protect the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ships-iran-oil-china-us-trump-hormuz-82a9acb473837f1bf7a821d0c3f95205">Strait of Hormuz</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">President Trump welcomes the Prime Minister of Japan to the White House 🇺🇸🇯🇵 <a href="https://t.co/YSisyAedxt">pic.twitter.com/YSisyAedxt</a>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/2034653941200253406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Q: &quot;Why didn&#39;t you tell U.S. allies…about the war before attacking Iran?&quot; President Trump: &quot;We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn&#39;t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?&quot; <a href="https://t.co/esV9iyvMiV">pic.twitter.com/esV9iyvMiV</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2034667305318187239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Takaichi, who met with Trump at the White House, told the Republican president that Japan has opposed Iran's development of its nuclear program and appealed to his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-peacemaker-wars-legacy-7017f99ef27c15aac727928395c853c1">desire to be seen as a peacemaker</a>, despite his launching a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-nato-strait-of-hormuz-europe-4e0cf38708e9c3ba8ea2a36148620067">war of choice with Iran</a>. She told the U.S. president through an interpreter that in the Middle East and around the world now, there was “a very severe security environment,” but said, “Even against that backdrop, I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.”The two leaders had&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-japan-south-korea-china-71658f169efc116ce01e888611955dac">warm words</a>&nbsp;for each other, including Trump calling the prime minister a “popular, powerful woman,” but there appeared to be some tension as they faced repeated questions from reporters about Japan's support for the Iran war.As Trump fielded questions during the roughly 30-minute public appearance with the prime minister in the Oval Office before their closed-door meeting, Taikaichi could be seen checking her watch. And then Trump made a particularly uncomfortable remark — invoking Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor — when he was asked why the U.S. didn’t notify allies like Japan ahead of the strikes on Iran.“We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?” Trump joked.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Japanese Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/takaichi_sanae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@takaichi_sanae</a>: &quot;I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world. To do so, I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together.&quot; 🇺🇸🇯🇵 <a href="https://t.co/EZ9rL9Xhep">pic.twitter.com/EZ9rL9Xhep</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2034660517332078595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>As Trump said that, Takaichi’s slight smile appeared to drop, and she raised her eyebrows.But the pair were all smiles in the evening, as Trump hosted a dinner in the prime minister's office. “This is a spectacular woman, and it’s an honor to have you at the White House," Trump said. Taikaichi referred to the leaders through an interpreter as “best buddies" before declaring, in English, “Japan is back.”Earlier Thursday, the leaders of five European countries and Japan issued a joint statement demanding that Iran stop attacks on the Strait of Hormuz that block commercial shipping, and said they are ready to contribute to “appropriate efforts” to ensure ships can pass safely through the strait, though it is not clear what that entails.Trump told reporters that he and Takaichi would be discussing in their meeting Japan’s level of support for the U.S. in the Iran war, saying, “They are really stepping up to the plate.” He did not offer details.The president later said that much of the oil Japan relies on passes through the Strait of Hormuz and said, “so that’s a big reason to step up. He also mentioned U.S. spending in Japan and the number of troops it has stationed there.“I expect Japan to step up, you know, because we have that kind of relationship,” Trump said.After her meeting with Trump, Takaichi told reporters that they agreed that ensuring the safety of the Strait of Hormuz was of the utmost importance, but she gave Trump a detailed explanation of the actions Japan can and cannot take under its law.<h2>A nuclear reactor deal announcement is e</h2><h2>xpected</h2>Taikaichi’s White House visit was supposed to give Japan’s new prime minister a prime opportunity to have Trump’s ear before he embarked on a trip to China.But now, the war in Iran and Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-nato-strait-of-hormuz-europe-4e0cf38708e9c3ba8ea2a36148620067">call for Japan and other nations</a>&nbsp;to help protect the vital Strait of Hormuz means the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-delays-china-trip-iran-3ef73e58116cc0d89aab39ed15219bf6">China trip has been delayed</a>. Trump had repeatedly complained on camera and online this week that U.S. allies, including Japan,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-war-trump-starmer-macron-germany-caff1073f932ddb88c3d75c7c356ebc7">did not heed his request</a>&nbsp;to help safeguard the critical waterway for oil and gas transport. He later declared the help wasn’t needed, but made other comments indicating he still expected help.The prime minister acknowledged before she left Japan that she expected her meeting with Trump would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-us-takaichi-trump-iran-security-e98099783b5ff39610c1b2dbe1b61369">be “very difficult.”</a>Beyond facing questions about Iran, Takaichi and Trump on Thursday were working on a $40 billion nuclear reactor deal, according to a White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details before the deal was formally announced.Under it, U.S.-based GE Vernova Inc. and Japan-based Hitachi Ltd. was set to build advanced small modular reactors in Tennessee and Alabama, the official said. The deal aims to help stabilize electricity prices and expand power generation in the U.S.<h2>The meeting carried high stakes</h2>Kurt Campbell, the former U.S. deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration and now chair of The Asia Group, said that to press for Japan’s interests, Takaichi needed to find a way to suggest that Japan is part of the U.S. plan in the Middle East.“She’s going to want to come out of that as a partner in this case and realize that if she can do that, that she can translate that potentially into the president listening more to Japanese concerns about Taiwan or other issues,” Campbell said.The constraints on Japan’s involvement in Iran include a provision in its post-World War II&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-e81086f67fa74218a22584878f764a2b">constitution that bans the use of force</a>&nbsp;except to defend its territory. The country’s military is called the Self-Defense Force.Christopher Johnstone, a partner and chair of the defense and national security practice at The Asia Group, said Japan could help with minesweeping and has had “a small naval presence” in the region as part of an anti-piracy mission for at least a decade. But to join the U.S. mission would require Takaichi to clear “an exceptionally high bar politically to invoke collective self-defense” that has never been done before.<h2>Takaichi wanted to focus on trade and security in the Indo-Pacific region</h2>Takaichi, who had her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-japan-takaichi-trade-ford-trucks-e7be33728c7c3fdb6c314780c8a9a533">first meeting with Trump</a>&nbsp;in October in Tokyo, is Japan’s first female prime minister and a protégé of former leader Shinzo Abe, who developed a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-japan-south-korea-china-71658f169efc116ce01e888611955dac">close relationship with Trump</a>.She is also a hard-line conservative and longtime supporter of Taiwan, whose comments about Japan’s willingness to provide military support to the island&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-japan-takaichi-taiwan-travel-advisory-4c8000c6f2d29cccc625d378362dc91d">have heightened tensions with China</a>.Takaichi said between her Oval Office meeting and the dinner that she and Trump discussed deepening U.S.-Japanese cooperation in regional security, critical minerals, energy and dealing with China.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-lai-chingte-china-military-drills-dcf815da920abc4c4ecc1073c779b160">China views self-governed Taiwan</a>, which the U.S. relies on for its production of computer chips, as its sovereign territory and has said it would take it by force if needed.But the Strait of Hormuz aside, the global implications of the Iran war have also put the Japanese leader in a tougher spot with Trump as she seeks to ensure U.S. commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.Japan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-china-us-north-korea-security-pacific-23f5c8e0b5f539dcf8b33261e74f7427">considers China a growing security threat</a>&nbsp;and has pushed a military buildup on southwestern islands near the East China Sea. But the U.S. has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-war-korea-japan-russia-china-9cfa951ff45fdefe6c48380ce5b431b5">shifted some troops</a>&nbsp;stationed in Japan to the Middle East, removing a check against China’s power.Those troop shifts came at the same time China is launching a large number of exercises around Taiwan.“This raises the prospect that — once again — the United States will be distracted and bogged down in the Middle East at a time when the deterrence problem in East Asia has never been greater,” Johnstone said.___Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.