Former Texas megachurch pastor accused of child sex abuse surrenders in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former pastor of a Texas megachurch has surrendered to Oklahoma authorities on child sexual abuse charges. A spokesman for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office says Robert Preston Morris’ turned himself in Monday in Osage County, where he was charged last week with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. He is expected to make an initial appearance before a judge in May. Court records show an Osage County judge has set a $50,000 bond and ordered Morris to surrender his passport to the local sheriff. The 63-year-old Morris resigned as pastor of the Gateway Church after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.

Residents pick up the pieces after storms scour the US South and Midwest

PLANTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Residents and work crews in the South and Midwest are beginning to clean up and survey the destruction from a series of storms that kicked up wildfires, tornadoes and dust storms. The severe weather that first developed Friday and barreled across seven states left at least 41 people dead. Wind-driven wildfires across Oklahoma destroyed more than 400 homes. Four deaths were blamed on the fires or high winds. In North Carolina, two boys were killed when a 3-foot wide tree fell on their home. And in Missouri, scattered twisters killed at least a dozen people.

ICE violated rights of a US citizen and 21 others during arrests, Chicago activists allege

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago activists and attorneys say federal immigration agents violated the rights of 22 people, including a U.S. citizen, in immigration enforcement arrests during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term. The arrests allegedly violate a 2022 agreement between Chicago groups and the federal government detailing how U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers can make “collateral arrests” where agents detain others besides those being targeted. The agreement covers Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

Texas midwife accused by state’s attorney general of providing illegal abortions

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that a Houston-area midwife has been arrested and accused of providing illegal abortions, marking the first time authorities have filed criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban. Maria Margarita Rojas has been charged with the illegal performance of an abortion, a second-degree felony, as well as practicing medicine without a license. Paxton alleges that Rojas illegally operated at least three clinics where illegal abortion procedures were performed. Waller County court records show Rojas was arrested on March 6 and was released on bond the next day. Court records did not list an attorney for Rojas who could speak on her behalf.