Georgia

Company Wants to Breed 30K Macaques in Georgia

Published

2 years ago

January 19, 2024

Company Wants to Breed 30K Macaques in Georgia

Some local residents and an animal-rights group are protesting plans for a monkey-breeding facility in southwest Georgia. Opponents urged the Bainbridge City Council this week to block plans by a company called Safer Human Medicine to build a $396 million complex that would eventually hold up to 30,000 long-tailed macaques that would be sold to universities and pharmaceutical companies for medical research, the AP reports. The company says it plans to employ up to 263 workers.

Safer Human Medicine is led by executives who formerly worked for two other companies that provide animals for medical testing. One of those companies, Charles River Laboratories, came under investigation last year for obtaining wild monkeys that were smuggled from Cambodia. The monkeys were falsely labeled as bred in captivity, as is required by US rules, federal prosecutors have alleged. The company suspended shipments from Cambodia. Charles River had proposed a similar facility in Brazoria County, Texas, south of Houston, but it has been stalled by local opposition.

The Bainbridge facility would provide a domestic source of monkeys to offset imports, the company said. Medical researchers use the animals to test drugs before human trials, and to research infectious diseases and chronic conditions like brain disorders. “In the aftermath of the pandemic, we learned the hard way that our researchers in the US need reliable access to healthy primates to develop and evaluate the safety of potentially life-saving drugs and therapies for you, your family, your friends, and neighbors,” Safer Human Medicine wrote in an open letter to the Bainbridge community

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But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and some local residents say they fear the possibility of monkeys escaping into the community along with other harms. “They’re an invasive species and 30,000 of them, we’d just be overrun with monkeys,” Ted Lee, a local resident, told WALB-TV. Lisa Jones-Engel, PETA’s science advisor on primate experimentation, said there’s a risk that local people will be exposed to pathogens and diseases. “In a bid to attract a few jobs—many of them low-paying and risking exposure to zoonotic diseases—city and county officials have rolled out the red carpet for an unethical plan by some questionable characters that could spell ecological disaster and potentially spark the next pandemic,” Jones-Engel said in a statement.

(Read more animal testing stories.)

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Georgia

Man accused of raping University of Georgia student, police say

Published

7 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Man accused of raping University of Georgia student, police say

ATHENS, Ga. – A 19-year-old is facing assault-related charges after police said he raped a University of Georgia student early Saturday morning while she was walking home.

What we know:

Tydarius Wingfield of Athens allegedly approached the student in the area of 400 North Thomas Street just before 1:40 a.m. and asked to walk her home.

Wingfield and the victim did not know each other.

Wingfield then forced the woman behind a building where he sexually assaulted her, police said.

Investigators used the Real Time Crime Center’s camera system to see where the assault happened and track the victim and Wingfield’s movements. Officers continued tracking Wingfield until his arrest and positively identified him using the RTCC technology.

He is charged with rape, kidnapping, aggravated sexual battery and battery.

An investigation is ongoing.

What we don’t know:

It is unclear whether the victim was taken to the hospital after being attacked.

What you can do:

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Detective Burgamy at Charles.Burgamy@accgov.com or 762-400-7173.

The Source: Information in this report comes from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

Athens-Clarke CountyUniversity of GeorgiaNewsCrime and Public Safety

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Georgia

Georgia’s Iranian community reacts to death of Ayatollah Khamenei

Published

19 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Georgia’s Iranian community reacts to death of Ayatollah Khamenei

ATLANTA – As conflict intensifies between the United States, Israel and Iran, reactions are pouring in across the Atlanta metro area after President Donald Trump confirmed the death of Iran’s supreme leader.

The president confirmed on Truth Social that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint strike led by the U.S. and Israel.

What they’re saying:

“I have been waiting to hear this news for the last 20 years,” said Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, an Atlanta-based pastor born in Iran.

“Ayatollah Khamenei has been responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of Iranians over the last three decades. He has been a very evil dictator and a very oppressive tyrant.”

Other local Iranians, like Shohreh Mir, expressed a long-standing desire for internal change rather than outside intervention.

“This was an imposed war,” Mir said. “We still very much would like for Iranian people to change the regime by themselves.”

What’s next:

Tavassoli said the Ayatollah’s death now creates a new issue.

“Ayatollah Khamenei never invested in raising a succession after himself,” he said, “so the crisis of the Iranian revolution and the Iranian regime is there is no legitimate successor.”

While the long-term duration of the conflict remains unknown, Iran has already begun launching retaliatory strikes following the attack.

“This is a huge development for day one, but the war is not over,” Tavassoli noted. “There are still many ways that things can become even more bloody and destructive in the coming days and weeks.”

The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 5’s Rey Llerena speaking with Iranian Americans across Georgia.

IranDonald J. TrumpNewsPolitics

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Georgia

Body found near Georgia Power dam on Radium Springs Road in Albany

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Body found near Georgia Power dam on Radium Springs Road in Albany

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – A person was found dead in the 5200 block of Radium Springs Road on Saturday morning, according to Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler.

Body recovered in early morning water rescue call(WALB NEWS 10)

Fowler said the call came in as a water rescue. The body was recovered early Saturday, Feb. 28.

The coroner confirmed the person found was male. His identity and age remain unknown.

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