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43 monkeys escape from a South Carolina medical lab. Police say there is no serious danger
Forty-three monkeys escaped from a compound used for medical research in South Carolina but the nearby police chief said there is “almost no danger” to the public.
“They are not infected with any disease whatsoever. They are harmless and a little skittish,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday morning.
The Rhesus macaque primates escaped from the Alpha Genesis facility Wednesday when a new employee didn’t fully shut an enclosure, Alexander said.
The company usually handles escapes on site, but the monkeys got outside the compound about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee, Alexander said.
“The handlers know them well and usually can get them back with fruit or a little treat,” Alexander told The Associated Press by phone.
But rounding up these escapees is taking some more work. Alpha Genesis is taking the lead, setting up traps and using thermal imaging cameras to recapture the monkeys on the run, the chief said.
“There is almost no danger to the public,” Alexander said.
People living nearby need to shut their windows and doors so the monkeys can’t find a place to hide inside and if they see the primates, call 911 so company officials and police can capture them.
Alpha Genesis provides primates for research worldwide at its compound about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website. The company did not respond to an email asking about Wednesday’s escape.
In 2018, federal officials fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 after dozens of primates escaped as well as for an incident that left a few others without water and other problems with how the monkeys were housed.
Officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2104 and an additional 19 got out in 2016.
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Video: Biden Promises Americans an Orderly Transition of Power to Trump
new video loaded: Biden Promises Americans an Orderly Transition of Power to Trump
transcript
transcript
Biden Promises Americans an Orderly Transition of Power to Trump
President Biden vowed to honor the Constitution with an orderly transfer of power to President-elect Donald J. Trump.
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I know for some people, it’s a time for victory, to state the obvious. For others, it’s a time of loss. Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made. I’ve said many times, you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbor only when you agree. I will do my duty as president. I’ll fulfill my oath and I’ll honor the Constitution. On Jan. 20, we’ll have a peaceful transfer of power here in America. Yesterday, I spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory. And I assured him that I’d direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That’s what the American people deserve. Yesterday, I also spoke with Vice President Harris. She’s been a partner and a public servant. She ran an inspiring campaign and everyone got to see something that I learned early on to respect so much: her character. She has a backbone like a ramrod. She has great character — true character. She gave her whole heart and effort, and she and her entire team should be proud of the campaign they ran. Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up. The American experiment endures. We’re going to be OK, but we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. And above all, we need to keep the faith.
Recent episodes in 2024 Elections
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How the Nation Swung Back to Trump in 2024
Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state, shifted red in 2016, blue in 2020 and back to red in 2024.
How the shifts are calculated: In 2020, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., won Pennsylvania by 1.2 percentage points. In 2024, Mr. Trump won the state by 1.9 points, as of Wednesday evening. The gap between those margins is the shift, which in this case is 3.1 points in favor of Republicans.
Other swing states
The four other swing states that have been called so far also moved to the right, sealing Mr. Trump’s second presidential win. In Georgia, Mr. Trump reversed two consecutive blue shifts.
Cities and suburbs
While Mr. Trump lost to Kamala Harris in many swing state cities and suburbs, he did so by a smaller margin than he lost to now-President Biden in 2020. In all but one example shown below, two blue shifts in 2016 and 2020 were followed by a red shift in 2024.
Rural-urban divide
Around the country, in counties where nearly all votes are in, the trend was similar. Support for Mr. Trump continued to increase in rural counties, while Ms. Harris lost ground in cities and suburbs.
Race and ethnicity
Mr. Trump made significant inroads with Latino voters in 2020. In this election, he continued to grow his margins in counties with large populations of Hispanic residents. There were also shifts to the right in counties with large populations of Black and Native American residents.
Educational attainment
Mr. Trump’s margins widened over the past three elections in counties with large populations of residents without college degrees. But in this election, he also gained ground in counties with a high share of college graduates.
Economic types
In 2024, Mr. Trump’s support in farming counties continued to grow. He also reversed Democratic gains in mining and manufacturing counties.
Age
Mr. Trump has generally been more popular with older voters, but his electoral performance improved across other age groups.
Across the country
In all 34 states where at least 95 percent of votes were in as of Wednesday evening, the vote margin for Mr. Trump had increased, even in places that historically favored Democrats.
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Amazon ordered to let workers vote on unionizing — for the 3rd time
Amazon workers at a warehouse in Alabama should get a third opportunity to vote on unionizing, a federal labor judge has ruled.
The vote is not expected any time soon, however, as the legal process drags on.
The warehouse in Bessemer made history as the site of the very first union election by Amazon workers, in 2021. But the outcome was not historic: workers voted against unionizing.
U.S. labor officials later ruled that Amazon improperly influenced the vote, and workers voted a second time in 2022. The outcome remained too close to call for years, with hundreds of ballots challenged by either Amazon or the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union as the two accused each other of breaking labor laws.
For months, in a tiny courtroom in Birmingham, an administrative law judge at the National Labor Relations Board heard testimony about the 2022 election from workers, Amazon managers and officials from the agency itself.
The labor board’s own investigators painted a picture of an aggressive and illegal anti-union campaign by the company. The union asked for another do-over of the vote. The company challenged how the government ran the last vote and reiterated that workers “made their voices heard” as they rejected the union in the original election.
That original vote against unionizing was set aside by federal labor officials because they ruled that Amazon improperly influenced the election, particularly by placing a mailbox for ballots in an Amazon-branded tent in a surveilled parking lot.
Now Judge Michael Silverstein is ordering a third election, finding that Amazon illegally confiscated union materials from the break room, among other violations. But Silverstein also moved to dismiss several allegations of unfair labor practices by Amazon.
Amazon says it plans to appeal the ruling.
“This decision is wrong on the facts and the law,” Spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis said in a statement. She criticized the labor board and the union for “trying to force a third vote instead of accepting the facts and the will of our team members.”
The union also is challenging parts of the order, which means there will be more legal reviews before a new election can be set.
“We reject [the judge’s] decision not to provide any of the significant and meaningful remedies which we requested and would be required for a free and fair election,” RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. “There is no reason to expect a different result in a third election – unless there are additional remedies. Otherwise, Amazon will continue repeating its past behavior and the Board will continue ordering new elections.”
Separately, Amazon continues to legally challenge the historic 2022 union victory at a facility in Staten Island, N.Y. That election formed the first — and so far only — unionized Amazon warehouse in the country, but the company still refuses to begin bargaining with some 5,500 unionized workers.
The upstart union that prevailed in New York — the independent Amazon Labor Union, saw its finances and organization deteriorate over the two-year standoff with Amazon. In June, it voted to affiliate with the well-established International Brotherhood Teamsters.
Editor’s note: Amazon is among NPR’s recent financial supporters.
Stephan Bisaha of the Gulf States Newsroom contributed to this report.
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