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Forrest, the last escaped monkey from Mississippi highway crash, finds new life at New Jersey sanctuary

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Forrest, the last escaped monkey from Mississippi highway crash, finds new life at New Jersey sanctuary

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The final monkey who escaped from a transport van that crashed Oct. 28 on a Mississippi highway has been safely recovered and will spend the rest of his days at a New Jersey animal sanctuary.

The truck flipped while hauling 21 rhesus macaque monkeys from Tulane University in New Orleans for biomedical research.

Due to conflicting statements about the monkeys’ conditions, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office fatally shot five of the animals, with 13 remaining caged.

Three others escaped, two of whom were shot by local residents within a week after the crash.

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The remaining Mississippi rhesus monkey was found and is now in Popcorn Park Animal Refuge. (Popcorn Park Animal Refuge/Facebook)

TRUCKLOAD OF ‘AGGRESSIVE’ RESEARCH MONKEYS ESCAPE AFTER TRUCK CRASH IN MISSISSIPPI; 1 STILL ON THE LOOSE

The Popcorn Park Animal Refuge in Forked River, New Jersey, announced Tuesday the final monkey, who has been named Forrest, was safely rescued.

“[Forrest’s] life changed forever after a frightening highway accident in Mississippi,” the refuge wrote in a Facebook post. “Of the 3 remaining escapees, Forrest was the last and only one to survive, safely recovered after about a week on the run. Because he had spent so much time outside of the facility, he could not return to the research program. That’s when our team stepped in to offer him lifelong sanctuary at Popcorn Park Animal Refuge.”

Officials said when Forrest arrived at the facility, he did not have a name, only a tattooed identification number, “NI 62.”

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Forrest, the last missing monkey, will live at the New Jersey animal refuge. (Popcorn Park Animal Refuge)

ESCAPED MONKEY CAPTURED BY AUTHORITIES DAYS AFTER TRUCK CRASH FLIPS VEHICLE IN MISSISSIPPI

“Now living safely in our Monkey House, Forrest is steadily acclimating to his new home. He’s getting to know his caretakers and his neighboring monkeys, slowly building trust day by day,” the organization wrote. “He has discovered a growing list of favorite foods (grapes topping the list!) and has even begun vocalizing, a good sign that he is becoming more comfortable and confident in his new surroundings.”

Lisa Jones-Engel, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) senior science advisor on primate experimentation, told Fox News Digital Forrest’s survival is “a rare thread of mercy in a system built on violence.”

“Every federal agency and laboratory needs to confront a simple truth: No monkey should need a truck crash to escape a terrible fate,” Jones-Engel wrote in a statement. “After the crash, seven were shot dead and 13 were sent on to the same miserable lives and deaths that awaited them before the wreck. Only one survived long enough to be pulled out of the pipeline— a young macaque now called Forrest. His survival is a rare thread of mercy in a system built on violence. The way to prevent this horror in the future is to shut the industry down immediately.”

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The research monkeys were aboard a truck that crashed Oct. 28 in Mississippi. (Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, Mississippi)

MISSISSIPPI MOM SAYS SHE SHOT AND KILLED AT-LARGE MONKEY TO PROTECT HER CHILDREN

Fox News Digital previously reported the monkeys came from the Tulane National Primate Research Center, which receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Tulane officials said they did not own the monkeys and were not responsible for their transport.

Following the incident, PETA and nonprofit organization White Coat Waste Project called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to halt NIH funding for the expensive and morally controversial primate testing.

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The CDC later agreed to phase out all experiments on monkeys.

People in protective clothing search along a highway in Heidelberg, Miss., Oct. 29, near the site of an overturned truck that was carrying research monkeys. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

“Champagne corks are popping inside PETA’s headquarters today as it celebrates a tremendous victory for animals and for science,” PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital after the announcement. “PETA thanks the administration for taking this decisive, long awaited action — one we’ve pressed for nonstop and that reflects what the undeniable evidence that experiments on monkeys aren’t helping humans one iota, as the four-decade failed effort to create a marketable HIV vaccine has shown.”

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Guillermo added that, for years, endangered and often infected long-tailed macaques have been funneled into U.S. laboratories. 

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“CDC’s own data shows monkeys arriving with tuberculosis, melioidosis and other pathogens, weak testing protocols and a supply chain riddled with escapes, disease lapses and regulatory failures,” she said. “PETA is calling on the administration to build on this breakthrough: Shut down the primate centers, end the monkey-import pipeline and move every federal agency toward state-of-the-art, human-relevant science.”

The CDC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Boston, MA

Boston City Hall intruder who stole from employees nabbed by police, after shoplifting arrest: BPD

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Boston City Hall intruder who stole from employees nabbed by police, after shoplifting arrest: BPD


Boston Police said they have nabbed the masked suspect who entered private office suites in City Hall during work hours and stole wallets stuffed with cash and credit cards from multiple employees.

The Boston Police Department identified Darrin O’Neil, 60, of Lowell as the suspect involved in the City Hall thefts, which occurred last month, on Dec. 1.

O’Neil was already being held after a prior shoplifting arrest at DICK’s House of Sport on Boylston Street when he was identified as the alleged perpetrator of the City Hall crime, following what the cops described as an “extensive investigation,” Boston Police said on Wednesday.

Three City Hall employees reported that their wallets, which contained cash, credit cards, health savings account cards, and personal ID were stolen from their offices, per Boston Police reports.

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One woman who had her wallet snatched out of her purse with two credit cards, her City Hall ID, Massachusetts driver’s license, insurance and library cards, and $100 in cash told police two of her coworkers saw an unknown man “in the area who was wearing a brown beanie, dark jacket, sweatpants, and a blue face mask.”

Two other employees told police that not only were cash and credit cards stolen from their offices, but the thief used the cards to rack up hundreds of dollars in unauthorized purchases — totaling $1,500 at Macy’s and Walgreens.

The incident led to calls from two city councilors, Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy, for the city to tighten up security protocols in light of the intrusion and theft, which occurred during work hours and was described by both as a “security breach.”

Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said a day later that steps have already been taken to increase security after the incident, which involved unauthorized access to “several” office suites that are restricted to authorized personnel only.

Municipal Protective Services, which provides security for city buildings, has increased internal patrols throughout City Hall as a result of the incident, the mayor’s office said.

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O’Neil was arrested on shoplifting charges on Dec. 27 at 760 Boylston St., after he was seen inside DICK’s House of Sport concealing merchandise, police said.

Police said they had responded to the store at 11:39 a.m. for a report of a theft in progress.

While police approached, O’Neil was seen exiting the sporting goods store. The cops “were able to quickly stop the suspect and could see clothing with tags affixed to them inside of a bag,” police said.

During a search, about $408 of stolen merchandise was recovered, police said.

For the shoplifting incident, O’Neil was arrested and charged with larceny under $1,200 and being a common and notorious thief, police said.

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After further investigation, police said they determined that O’Neil had seven active warrants for his arrest for charges of four counts of larceny from a building, three counts of receiving stolen property under $1,200, two counts of larceny of a credit card, shoplifting by asportation, credit card fraud under $1,200, and shoplifting by concealing merchandise.



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Pittsburg, PA

2 Pittsburgh business owners charged in EBT fraud scheme

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2 Pittsburgh business owners charged in EBT fraud scheme


Two Pittsburgh business owners have been charged after an investigation by Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office found that they purchased electronic benefit transfer cards at a discounted rate and used them to purchase food for their businesses. KDKA-TV’s Chris Hoffman has more.



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Connecticut

Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states

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Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Officials in Connecticut and Arizona are defending their decision to refuse a request by the U.S. Justice Department for detailed voter information, after their states became the latest to face federal lawsuits over the issue.

“Pound sand,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes posted on X, saying the release of the voter records would violate state and federal law.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced this week it was suing Connecticut and Arizona for failing to comply with its requests, bringing to 23 the number of states the department has sued to obtain the data. It also has filed suit against the District of Columbia.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the department will “continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” saying accurate voter rolls are the ”foundation of election integrity.”

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Secretaries of state and state attorneys general who have pushed back against the effort say it violates federal privacy law, which protects the sharing of individual data with the government, and would run afoul of their own state laws that restrict what voter information can be released publicly. Some of the data the Justice Department is seeking includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

Other requests included basic questions about the procedures states use to comply with federal voting laws, while some have been more state-specific. They have referenced perceived inconsistencies from a survey from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Most of the lawsuits target states led by Democrats, who have said they have been unable to get a firm answer about why the Justice Department wants the information and how it plans to use it. Last fall, 10 Democratic secretaries of state sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security expressing concern after DHS said it had received voter data and would enter it into a federal program used to verify citizenship status.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, said his state had tried to “work cooperatively” with the Justice Department to understand the basis for its request for voters’ personal information.

“Rather than communicating productively with us, they rushed to sue,” Tong said Tuesday, after the lawsuit was filed.

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Connecticut, he said, “takes its obligations under federal laws very seriously.” He pledged to “vigorously defend the state against this meritless and deeply disappointing lawsuit.”

Two Republican state senators in Connecticut said they welcomed the federal lawsuit. They said a recent absentee ballot scandal in the state’s largest city, Bridgeport, had made the state a “national punchline.”



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