Georgia

Georgia plan for $400M monkey-breeding facility met with protest

Published

2 years ago

January 18, 2024

Georgia plan for 0M monkey-breeding facility met with protest

Some local residents and an animal-rights group are protesting plans for a monkey-breeding facility in southwest Georgia.

Opponents on Tuesday urged the Bainbridge City Council 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 company says it plans to employ up to 263 workers.

Council members didn’t directly address the concerns Tuesday, WALB-TV reported.

POLICE IN PUERTO RICO RESCUE A RHESUS MACAQUE MONKEY CHASED BY A CROWD

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 U.S. 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.

A long-tailed macaque, kept in a cage in Bangkok for use in clinical research, May 23, 2020. On Jan. 16, 2024, some residents and animal rights activists protested plans to construct a $396 million facility to breed these monkeys for medical research in Bainbridge, Georgia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

“In the aftermath of the pandemic, we learned the hard way that our researchers in the U.S. 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. “Many of the medicines in your medical cabinets today would not exist without this essential medical research and without these primates, research comes to a halt.”

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 adviser on primate experimentation, said there’s a risk that local people will be exposed to pathogens and diseases.

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“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 last week.

“PETA urges Bainbridge officials to withdraw their support and shut down this project before a shovel hits the dirt,” she wrote.

The company and local officials said the nonprofit and community’s concerns are baseless. Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge and Decatur County, said risks are low because veterinarians and trained staff will be working with the monkeys.

“There are going to be a lot of monkeys, there’s no question. We got more cows in the county then we got people too, and we got more chickens in the county then we have people too,” McCaskill said.

Local officials in December agreed to property tax breaks for the project – waiving them for the first 10 years and then gradually decreasing tax breaks until they end after 20 years.

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Georgia

Former Georgia F Jake Wilkins makes transfer portal decision

Published

9 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Former Georgia F Jake Wilkins makes transfer portal decision

Georgia transfer Jake Wilkins has committed to Cal out of the NCAA transfer portal, his agent, CSE Talent’s Darrell Comer, told DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony. Wilkins will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Wilkins averaged 4.9 points per game for the Bulldogs this past season over 10.2 minutes per game. He appeared in 32 games, but logged zero starts.

Before arriving in college, Wilkins was a four-star recruit in the 2025 class, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. Wilkins was the No. 45 overall recruit and No. 11 small forward in the cycle.

Notably, he’s the son of Dominique Wilkins, a Hall of Fame member and two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion. His also attended Georgia to play his college basketball. Now, his son is off the the west coast to continue his hoops journey.

Wilkins plan to enter the portal was reported on the day before it opened. Once April 7 rolled around, Wilkins, along with thousands of other college basketball players hit the open market. The NCAA transfer portal closes on April 22, 15 days after it opened.

He’ll join a Golden Bears squad coming off their best season in a decade. They finished 22-12 but failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. The last time Cal went dancing was in 2016 when they earned a No. 4-seed under former head coach Cuonzo Martin. Entering year four of the Mark Madsen era, they’ll look to turn that around during the 2026-27 season.

For his former team, Georgia, the Bulldogs would finish the season with a 22-11 record, including a 10-8 mark against the SEC. In turn, the Bulldogs received a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Eventually, they fell to No. 9 seed Saint Louis in the first round.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

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Georgia

Jackets Continue Setting ACC Standards at Lee and Athens

Published

21 hours ago

April 11, 2026

Press Room

Jackets Continue Setting ACC Standards at Lee and Athens

CLEVELAND, Tenn. / ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the weekend with quality performances at the Lee Fast Break Athletics Invitational and Spec Towns Invitational on Friday evening.

Aaron Jones and Sarah Noel showcased their talents in Athens at the 400m hurdles with top ACC times. A. Jones came across the line at 52.00 in the race to set his fourth consecutive ACC standard time in the event. He beat out his personal best set last week by 0.07 seconds and strengthened his hold on the sixth fastest conference time set this season.

Noel nearly replicated her first sub-minute time in the 400m hurdles, finishing at 1:00.35 to record her second straight ACC standard mark.

Back at Lee, Taylor Wade and Alexander Arrambide required a photo finish in the 1500m to separate the two Jackets in the 1-2 finish. Wade’s leg extended just past Arrambide’s to secure the race victory and set the Lee facility record at 3:44.03.

In the women’s 1500m, Hannah Schemmel eclipsed her previous best at 4:30.63 to place second overall. Macy Felton and Sophie D’Elena finished 19th and 20th at 4:43.48 and 4:44.41 with Ellie Moritz clocking in at 4:52.68. Ella Grace Malcom set her personal best in the 800m at the Spec Towns Invitational to finish third overall at 2:17.10 with McKenzie Blackledge right behind at 2:18.11.

In the long distance races, freshman Sadie Honig ran 17:01.86 with Katie Hamfeldt pacing at 17:09.74 in the women’s 5000m. Fellow freshman Wyatt Windham led the squad at 14:26.45 for the men. Ava Coffey finished at 36:31.33 in the first heat of the 10,000m with the second heat beginning tomorrow. Caden Terrell set his season best at 21.72 in the 200m.

Georgia Tech will finish out the Spec Towns Invitational with field and running events throughout the afternoon on Saturday.

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GT_tracknfield), Instagram (GT_tracknfield), Facebook (Georgia Tech Track and Field) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.

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Georgia

Obituary for Georgia L. Kohr | Richardson Funeral Home

Published

1 day ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

Obituary for Georgia L. Kohr | Richardson Funeral Home

Georgia Lee (Rohrbach) Kohr 85, of Harrisburg, PA passed away March 19,2026 with her loving family by her side. Georgia was the loving widow of Detective Tom Kohr Sr. of the Harrisburg Police Department. They were married 46 years until the time of his death, March 05, 2003.

She was the daughter of the late George M Rohrbach and Betty J (Crone) Rohrbach. Georgia worked and retired from Muth and Mumma Dental Laboratory and Harris and O’Neal. She was a proud member and past president of the Fraternal Order of the Police Auxiliary. She was a member of The Pine Street Presbyterian Church Harrisburg.

Georgia is survived by her loving children, son Samuel (Tommy) Kohr Jr. and daughter Leeann Bomgardner both of Harrisburg. A granddaughter Kaylee Bomgardner of Harrisburg and grandson David Geesaman of Carlisle. She is also survived by 3 great grandchildren and son in- law David Geesaman also of Carlisle. A beloved sister Deb Boyer (Donnie) of Enola and brother Ronald A Rohrbach of Camp Hill. Several Loving nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Tom Kohr Sr , a daughter Kim M Geesaman, five sisters Sandra A. wife of the late Victor King, Cheryl K. wife of the late Kenneth Deibler, Marsha L Rohrbach, Linda L. wife of the late William Still, Janis R. wife of the late Ronald Donmoyer, and one bother Terry M. Rohrbach.

Georgia loved spending time with her family. Especially playing cards with her sisters. She never missed sending her famous birthday cards to friends and family. Everyone will truly

miss her cards.

Memorial Services will be held Friday April 17,2026 at Richardson Funeral Home LLC 29 South Enola Drive, Enola Pa 17025. Visitation will be held from 11am till time of service at 12:00 pm. At the funeral home. Internment will be at Blue Ridge Memorial Garden Cemetery Harrisburg Pa following the service.

To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Georgia L. Kohr, please visit our floral store.

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