By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas 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, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday.

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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, which is a third-degree felony.

Paxton alleges that Rojas, 48, illegally operated at least three clinics in the Houston area where illegal abortion procedures were performed in direct violation of state law.

“In Texas, life is sacred. I will always do everything in my power to protect the unborn, defend our state’s pro-life laws, and work to ensure that unlicensed individuals endangering the lives of women by performing illegal abortions are fully prosecuted,” Paxton said in a statement. “Texas law protecting life is clear, and we will hold those who violate it accountable.”

Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore, whose office is located northwest of Houston, referred the case to Paxton for prosecution, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

Waller County court records show Rojas was arrested on March 6 and she was released on bond the next day.

Court records did not list an attorney for Rojas who could speak on her behalf.

A woman reached by phone at one of Rojas’ clinics said Monday she did not know who Rojas was. Messages left at Rojas’ two other clinics were not immediately returned. On their Facebook pages, the clinics advertise various services, including physical exams, ultrasounds and vaccines.

Texas is one of 12 states currently enforcing a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Texas’ ban allows exceptions when a pregnant patient has a life-threatening condition. Opponents of the ban say it is too vague when it comes to when medically necessary exceptions are allowed. A bill has been filed in the current Texas legislative session to clarify medical exceptions allowed under the law.

The charge of illegal performance of an abortion carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison while the charge of practicing medicine without a license carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Paxton’s office said it has filed a temporary restraining order to close Rojas’ clinics.

In the U.S., there have been few, if any, criminal charges filed alleging the operation of illegal abortion clinics since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door to state abortion bans.

A Louisiana grand jury earlier this year indicted a New York doctor on charges that she illegally prescribed abortion pills online to a Louisiana patient. Paxton has filed a civil lawsuit against the same doctor under a similar accusation.

Associated Press reporter Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

Wesley Ross caught the business bug earlier than most entrepreneurs.

In elementary school, the youngster sold Silly Bandz and snacks from his backpack from inventory his mom purchased in bulk from Costco. Though he didn’t walk away with millions, his passion paved the way for his future.

“I think one of the biggest things that has fueled me over the years is people’s doubts and disbelief in who I am and what I tell people I’m capable of,” Ross, 20, said.

Ross was featured in the Pioneer Press at the age of 15 after landing government contracts to supply personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, as an adult, he is stepping into a new role as the chief technology officer of his start-up company, Volta Motorcycles. He and employees Tyler Matupang and Sam Edwards, who all met at Woodbury High School, plan to build electric motorcycles by hand using old motorcycle frames from the scrapyard.

The business will celebrate its official launch from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Osborn370 in downtown St. Paul.

“I had always known that I wanted to start something big and something that provided for others, but I never really knew exactly what it took to get there,” Ross said. “I knew that I had to set myself up.”

Building a sustainable brand

Ross was approached in August 2024 by Bridgemakers, a youth-led initiative with an office at Osborn370 that “develops youth to be change agents through storytelling, public leadership and entrepreneurship,” according to their website. The connection eventually led to Ross receiving $12,000 from Bridgemakers to help fund his Volta Motorcycles vision.

Along with providing funding, Bridgemakers also helped Ross better understand how to run a business, he said, something he hadn’t done to the capacity he is now.

“One thing I’ve always been passionate about is sustainability, and so we decided that instead of building something new, let’s take something old and recycle it,” Ross said.

Some do-it-yourselfers already convert old or junked motorcycles to run on electricity; Volta Motorcycles will do it for you, sourcing pre-owned motorcycle frames from Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, scrapyards or donations, Ross said.

Rather than building electric motorcycles from scratch, converting old conventional models means they can spend more money on things like the battery and powertrain to produce a quality product, he said.

Plus vintage models look better, according to Ross.

“People want that familiar feel,” Ross said.

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When Volta Motorcycles conducted market research, Ross said he found that people weren’t very interested in modern and futuristic aesthetics but instead wanted to ride the motorcycles they saw in old photos of their dads.

“We want to bring back that nostalgia,” Ross said.

Volta Motorcycles does not have have a physical location and hasn’t started selling yet. They’re currently marketing online while searching for a storefront, aiming to open in May with a goal of producing five motorcycles a month through the end of the year.

“While I’d love to sell 150 motorcycles a month, and some of our competitors sell 5,000 a year, I want to make sure that at least for the first year it’s about quality,” Ross said. “It’s about building a product that you believe in and I believe in – something that’s gonna last on the road.”

So what will they sell?

Wesley Ross talks about his electric motorcycle business in his downtown St. Paul apartment. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Volta Motorcycles is marketing four different electric motorcycle units — Touring EV1, Urban EV2, Sprinter EV3 and Striker EV4 — with varying power, ranges and charge times. Motorcycles can be purchased pre-built or customers can bring in their own bikes to be converted to electric, according to Ross.

“Why get rid of what you love when you can have it converted,” Ross said.

Prices for prebuilt vehicles will range from $5,500 to $14,500 and the price to convert existing motorcycles will range from $3,500 to $8,000.

Ross said one of the things he appreciates about electric motorcycles is their simple maintenance and ease of operation.

Whether a college student needs a quick, affordable option for getting around campus or an older rider “can’t hit the clutch like he used to on his Harley” but still wants the thrill of the ride, Volta Motorcycles is creating products that “anyone can use,” Ross said.

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Though business is just beginning for Volta Motorcycles, Ross said he has bigger plans for what it can do.

“Yes, we are a motorcycle brand, but we see ourselves more as a transportation brand,” Ross said.

Ross said he is already looking to recycle and retrofit other types to vehicles such as go-karts, ATVs, mopeds and cars. In the future he hopes to sell across the country.

Volta Motorcycles’ March 20 launch party is open to the public and “the more, the merrier,” according to Ross.

During the launch, Ross will share his vision for the start-up and demonstrate the brand’s prototype bike, aka “Greased Lighting.” Food and drinks will be provided and, yes, those with a proper endorsement or permit can test the motorcycle for themselves.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

President Donald Trump claimed Monday that pardons recently issued by Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot have no force because the-then president signed them with an autopen instead of by his own hand.

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“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump wrote on his social media site. Trump didn’t offer any evidence to support his claims. Nor did the White House.

Trump asserted in his post, in all caps, that the pardons are void and have no effect in his estimation. But presidents have broad authority to pardon or commute the sentences of whomever they please, the Constitution doesn’t specify that pardons must be in writing and autopen signatures have been used before for substantive actions by presidents.

Asked if White House lawyers had told Trump he has the legal authority to undo pardons signed by autopen, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “the president was raising the point that did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge and that’s not just the president or me raising those questions.”

She went on to cite recent reporting by the New York Post that quoted two unidentified Biden White House aides who speculated about alleged abuse of the autopen during his tenure.

Pressed for evidence that Biden was unaware of the pardons, Leavitt told the press corps at the daily briefing, “You’re a reporter. You should find out.”

WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN?

An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature. A pen or other writing implement is held by an arm of the machine, which reproduces a signature after a writing sample has been fed to it. Presidents, including Trump, have used them for decades. Autopens aren’t the same as an old-fashioned ink pad and rubber stamp or the electronic signatures used on PDF documents.

WHY IS IT SUDDENLY AN ISSUE?

The Oversight Project at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank recently said its analysis of thousands of pages of documents bearing Biden’s signature found that most were by autopen, including pardons. Conservative media have amplified the claims, which have been picked up by Trump. He has commented for several days running about Biden’s autopen use.

Mike Howell, the project’s executive director, has said the “prolific” use of the autopen suggests that Biden wasn’t in charge and “we’re going to figure out who was actually the president.”

Howell also said pardons require a “wet signature.” The Constitution doesn’t address how pardons, a power that only a president can wield, should be issued.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

There is no law governing a president’s use of an autopen.

A 2005 opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department said an autopen can be used to sign legislation. Barack Obama became the first president to do so in May 2011 when he signed an extension of the Patriot Act. Obama was in France on official business and, with time running out before the law expired, he authorized use of the autopen to sign it into law.

Much earlier guidance on pardons was sent in 1929 from the solicitor general — the attorney who argues for the United States before the Supreme Court — to the attorney general. It says “neither the Constitution nor any statute prescribes the method by which executive clemency shall be exercised or evidenced.”

HAS TRUMP USED AN AUTOPEN?

Yes, but “only for very unimportant papers,” he said on Monday.

He told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night that, “we may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter because it’s nice. You know, we get thousands and thousands of letters, letters of support for young people, from people that aren’t feeling well, etcetera. But to sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful.”

WHY IS HE SINGLING OUT THE JAN. 6 PARDONS?

Trump remains angry at being prosecuted by the Justice Department over his actions in inspiring his supporters to go to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s defeat of him in the 2020 election, though the case was dismissed after he won reelection. At the end of his term, Biden issued “preemptive pardons” to lawmakers and committee staff to protect them from any possible retribution from Trump.

On whether pardons must be in writing or by the president’s own hand, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has said the ”plain language of the Constitution imposes no such limitation.” Biden’s statement accompanying those pardons make clear they were official acts, said Carl Tobias, professor at the University of Richmond law school.

Biden issued hundreds of commutations or pardons, including to members of his family, also because he feared possible prosecution by Trump and his allies.

Trump vigorously used such powers at the opening of his presidency, issuing one document — a proclamation — granting pardons and commutations to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection at the Capitol.

HOW ELSE DO PRESIDENTS USE THE AUTOPEN?

Presidents also use an autopen to sign routine correspondence to constituents, like letters recognizing important life milestones.

During the Gerald Ford administration, the president and first lady Betty Ford occasionally signed documents and other correspondence by hand but White House staff more often used autopen machines to reproduce their signatures on letters and photographs.

Leavitt is one of three Trump administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First- and Fifth-amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

By MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of employees returned to the Food and Drug Administration’s headquarters Monday to find overflowing parking lots, long security lines and makeshift office spaces without chairs and other basic supplies.

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The FDA is the latest agency scrambling to meet the Trump administration’s return-to-office mandate, part of a flurry of actions — including firings and buyouts — intended to radically shrink the federal workforce. Monday was the first day that all rank-and-file FDA staffers were required to report to offices, including the agency’s 130-acre campus just outside Washington.

The Associated Press spoke with more than a half-dozen FDA staffers who described long lines to park and clear security, followed by hours of hunting for space and supplies in offices that were not designed to accommodate the agency’s full workforce. The staffers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

One staffer described “chaos and lost work hours” for commuting, security lines and shuffled office space.

About half the FDA’s 20,000 scientists, attorneys, inspectors and support staff report to the agency’s main campus in White Oak, Maryland, which until the late 1990s was a naval weapons testing facility.

While many agencies switched to telework work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA began embracing the practice a decade earlier. Most employees had the option to work from home at least two days a week — flexibility that was seen as a competitive perk for recruiting highly trained experts who can often earn more working in industry.

By 7:30 a.m., many on-campus parking lots were full, with cars parked along side streets, according to employees. Some workers reported waiting up to one hour to clear security checkpoints, and photos viewed by the AP showed lines of employees winding out doorways, along sidewalks and around corners.

Once inside, employees confronted broken desks, missing chairs and locked offices for which they didn’t have keys.

“All of the staff is definitely bending over backwards to make an impossible situation work and get their work done,” said one employee.

Some employees were left to scour the campus for chairs and other essentials.

“People are looting chairs from conference rooms and other buildings,” a staffer said. “We have no supplies. People are hunting around all of the buildings on campus for pads of paper and other basics.”

When employees did get situated, many shared cramped spaces with people from different divisions and teams, making it difficult to hold calls and meetings. Photos shared with the AP show folding chairs and tables setup in hallways and lobbies.

An FDA spokesman said in an email Monday the agency is “is continuing its return-to-office activities to ensure staff remain able to conduct their important public health work.”

All the employees told the AP that they brought their own drinking water Monday. That’s due to a monthslong issue involving Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, which was detected at several FDA buildings. The General Service Administration, which oversees federal buildings, has been working on the issue since last summer.

FDA staff received an email earlier this month that all water is safe to drink, but it did not detail the latest testing results or corrective actions taken.

Anthony Lee, who represents the local chapter of the federal union for FDA employees, said the agency has not granted the union’s request for a meeting on the issue.

Asked about the water, one staffer said: “Honestly, none of us have tried it. After months of Legionella warnings, it’s not very inviting.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.