43 primates on the loose in South Carolina town after escaping from research lab
Yemassee Police Department via Meta
(YEMASSEE, S.C.) — At least 43 primates were on the loose Thursday in a South Carolina town where authorities “strongly advised” residents to keep their doors and windows locked after the animals escaped from a research laboratory.
“At this point, none have been captured,” the Yemassee Police Department said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Traps were being set around the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, where the Rhesus Macaque monkeys escaped en masse around 9:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Yemassee police officers were searching for the furry fugitives, which can grow to up to 21 inches tall and weigh 17 pounds, using thermal imaging cameras, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” the sheriff’s office said. “If you spot any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and refrain from approaching them.”
Police said they are working with staff of Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center to find the escapees.
“We want to assure the community that there is no health risk associated with these animals,” police said.
Representatives of the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center could not be immediately contacted for comment.
According to its website, Alpha Genesis “provides the highest quality nonhuman primate products and bio-research services world-wide,” including serum, plasma, whole blood and tissue samples.
(LOS ANGELES) — More than 8,600 firefighters simultaneously battling three major Southern California wildfires made substantial progress overnight, taking advantage of cooler and wetter weather to increase containment lines on all three blazes, authorities said Sunday.
The largest blaze — the Bridge Fire burning in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties — was at 54,567 acres as of Sunday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
More than 2,600 emergency personnel battling the fire increased containment to 9% on Sunday, up from 2% on Saturday morning. Fire crews ensured a “minimal” spread of the inferno by about 800 acres overnight, according to Cal Fire.
Two firefighters have been injured in the Bridge Fire, which began on Sept. 8. At least 19 structures have been destroyed and six damaged, with 11,560 more still under threat, Cal Fire said.
The northwest corner of the fire was most active through Saturday, Cal Fire added, while the east side of the blaze still poses risks to residents in the Mount Baldy area, where evacuation orders remain in effect.
Firefighters held their containment line on its south side in the Sunset Peak area, and increased containment there by 2%.
The cause of the Bridge Fire remains under investigation.
Elsewhere in the Los Angeles area, firefighters were gaining the upper hand on two other major wildland blazes.
Line Fire
Firefighters in San Bernardino County increased containment of the Line Fire to 36% on Sunday morning, up from 25% to 29% on Saturday, according to Cal Fire. The blaze, which was started Sept. 5 by an alleged arsonist, was 38,421 acres in size as of Cal Fire’s latest update Sunday morning.
Some 36,300 structures are being threatened, with one destroyed and three damaged as of Sunday. There are 4,103 fire personnel fighting the blaze, with three firefighters so far injured.
“Late Friday night and into the early hours Saturday, Line Fire activity was moderated due to higher moisture levels,” San Bernardino National Forest officials said, though they added that danger of spreading fire remained in dry vegetation, drainages and along slopes.
“The weather is expected to remain cool over the next several days which will continue to help moderate fire behavior,” the national forest officials said.
Airport Fire
Firefighters battling the Airport Fire in Orange and Riverside counties grew containment from 9% to 19% on Saturday, Cal Fire reported, with the fire now 23,519 acres in size.
The wildfire destroyed 109 structures and damaged 24 more as of Saturday night, Cal Fire said, with another 21,993 still threatened. Fourteen people — 12 firefighters and two civilians — have been injured.
“Favorable weather conditions persisted, with the marine layer returning this evening and forecast light precipitation in the coming days,” Cal Fire wrote on Saturday evening.
“Despite recent weather, the dry vegetation has exhibited active fire behavior, indicating the continued risk of increased fire activity,” Cal Fire said.
“Evacuation levels are being assessed daily by fire managers in collaboration with law enforcement based on fire containment and safety considerations,” it added. “Efforts are underway to safely return residents to their homes as conditions permit.”
The Airport Fire began around 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday, sparked by county public works crews working on a fire prevention project by trying to move boulders to prevent public access — mostly by motorcyclists — to an area of the canyon with a lot of dry vegetation that could ignite easily, officials told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
ABC News’ Samira Said and Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The “Trump Trade” was in overdrive Wednesday, making it one for the history books on Wall Street with record finishes for all three major stock indices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed 3.6%, its biggest one day jump since November 2022. The S&P 500 shot up 2.5% while the Nasdaq climbed nearly 3%.
The biggest winners were companies and sectors that investors are betting will benefit from President-elect Trump’s policies.
Bank stocks, including JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Bank of America (BAC) rallied on the promise of lower taxes and less regulation. The small-cap Russell 2000 Index (RUT), which includes some regional banks, soared nearly 6%.
It was the biggest surge for the U.S. dollar since 2020, and Carl Icahn, the activist investor and billionaire, said it will lead to less regulation and more mergers and acquisition.
Elon Musk was perhaps the day’s biggest winner. Shares of his Tesla Corporation (TSLA) rocketed nearly 15%. The world’s wealthiest person has been a staunch Trump proponent, donating more than $130 million toward Trump’s election efforts. In his victory speech, the president-elect referred to Musk as a “super genius” and has promised him a role in his administration.
“The biggest positive from a Trump win would be for Tesla and Musk,” wrote Dan Ives, Senior Equity Research Analyst at Wedbush. “We believe a Trump presidency would be an overall negative for the EV industry as likely the EV rebates/tax incentives get pulled. However, for Tesla we see this as a huge positive. Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched in the EV industry and this dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players from flooding the US market,” Ives wrote in a research note.
The cryptocurrency market also cheered Trump’s return to the White House. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) notched a record close, climbing above $75,000. Trump has said he wants the U.S. to be the “crypto capital of the planet” and plans to create a “strategic reserve of bitcoin.”
In September, he even launched his own crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, a new venture with family members to trade cryptocurrencies.
Donald Trump saw his personal wealth balloon during Wednesday’s stock market rally, at least on paper. Shares of his Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT), the parent company of his social media platform Truth Social, soared more than 30% at the market’s open but pulled back considerably to finish just 6% higher. Still, that gave the company a market cap of about $7.2 billion, with Trump’s majority stake worth about $4.1 billion.
(Belton, Mo.) – The homes of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce were burglarized last month, according to police reports.
Four officers were dispatched to a home in Belton, Missouri, just after midnight on Oct. 6 after a man called, “indicating a residence had been broken into,” according to a report from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
The police report does not mention Mahomes by name, but the address matches Mahomes’ home from public records.
The report did not indicate whether anything was stolen.
Police in Leawood, Kansas, are investigating a burglary the following day, on Oct. 7, at an address that matches where Kelce lives.
The burglar arrived just after 7:30 p.m., caused $1,000 in damage to a back door and fled with $20,000 cash, according to the police report. The crime was reported the next day, according to a 911 call log and a police report.
The timing means Kelce’s home was broken into while the Chiefs were hosting the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football — a game Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was attending.
