Mendota Heights med tech company to lay off 124 workers after acquisition

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Pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec’s former Mendota Heights location is expected to close and 124 of its employees to be laid off following the company’s acquisition by North American Science Associates, according to a Monday notice to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

North American Science Associates, or NAMSA, will move services at 2540 Executive Drive in Mendota Heights to the company’s existing facility at 8945 Evergreen Blvd. NW in Minneapolis over the next several months, wrote Human Resources Director Amy Kincaid to DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek. NAMSA is a medical device contract research company.

As part of that transition, the Mendota Heights site will undergo a phased workforce reduction over the next several months with 39 employees to be laid off starting Monday.

Phases of the layoff will continue through October with the eventual closure of the site. An estimated 17 employees from the site’s approximately 141 current employees will be transferred to the Minneapolis location.

Affected employees are not represented by a union and there are no applicable bumping rights, according to the letter.

NAMSA has decided to provide pay in place of the 60-day notice required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and state statute, according to the letter.

NAMSA, which is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, and has locations in Europe and Asia, acquired WuXi AppTec’s U.S. medical device testing operations in late February, according to its website.

It also acquired one other Mendota Heights WuXi AppTec location at 2520 Pilot Knob Road.

WuXi AppTec is headquartered in Shanghai, China.

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Resilient Florida relies on defense and playmakers to overcome frustration in NCAA title game

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SAN ANTONIO — Dribbles bounced off hips, no-look passes went to no one and Florida’s talisman point guard couldn’t make a basket.

And when the Gators’ bench was assessed a technical foul early the second half, a frustrating night was hitting its peak.

But then the resilient Gators came alive as they fought back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat Houston 65-63 in the NCAA title game for the the school’s third national championship.

A blocked 3-pointer by Thomas Haugh led to his spinning layup and three-point play. Walter Clayton Jr., scoreless in the first half, tied the game three times in the second half.

And the Gators created their own version of Houston’s suffocating defense that had stifled them for so much of the first half.

As Houston looked for the winning 3-pointer in the final seconds, Clayton forced Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp to abandon the shot. Sharp had to let the ball go, creating a mad scramble as Florida’s 6-foot-11 Alex Condon fully extended, diving to the floor to get it.

The Gators had looked completely out of sync in the first half.

Nothing was working for Clayton, who had scored 30 and 34 points in the previous two games to carry his team to the final.

That meant other players had to step up.

“We have 20 minutes. Let’s set the tone!” Will Richard told his Florida teammates in a huddle just outside the locker room at halftime.

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Richard had kept Florida in the game with four first-half 3-pointers. Condon, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, did the work on the defensive end with a key role in holding Houston’s muscular J’Wan Roberts to eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.

And as usual, Clayton delivered the biggest moments in the rally as he tied the game three times, the first two on spinning layups for three-point plays and the last with a contested 3-pointer.

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Twins fall flat at Kansas City

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Twins lost 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a four-game road trip to Kauffman Stadium on Monday night, dropping their record to 3-7. It’s the Twins worst start to a season since 2016, when they went 1-9.

Home plate umpire Nic Lentz ejected Twins manager Rocco Baldelli in the bottom of the sixth inning for arguing a pitch-clock violation call against right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson.

The Twins got a bit of much-needed length from Richardson, but he allowed four runs, eight hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. The Twins in the club’s previous two outings got just four innings from their starting pitchers, and they came into play last in the majors in innings pitched by starters, averaging about 4 1/2 per outing.

Baldelli was ejected for the 15th time in his career after Lentz called a pitch-clock violation that resulted in an automatic ball, which gave Jonathan India a walk.

With seven seconds to go, Woods Richardson stepped off the rubber and appeared to signal that he couldn’t hear the communications with catcher Christian Vázquez. When he couldn’t get a timeout called, Woods Richardson ascended the rubber and began his delivery with two seconds remaining. At this point, Lentz signed that Woods Richardson was in violation, giving a free base to India.

Baldelli burst from the dugout shaking his finger and arguing in obvious disagreement. He appeared to shout “You [messed] up” at Lentz, who let Baldelli blow off some steam, but the manager appeared intent on getting run. After he was, Baldelli kicked his foot across home plate, threw his lineup card and other items from the dugout. Coach Jayce Tingler took over managing duties the rest of the way.

Twins left fielder Harrison Bader made a pair of highlight reel catches in the seventh. The Twins offense couldn’t muster much offense against right-hander Michael Lorenzen or the Royals bullpen, aside from Willi Castro’s score-tying RBI double in the second.

India led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to left-center after outfielder Byron Buxton couldn’t hang on for the catch. Buxton appeared to protect himself by slowing down before crashing into the padded fence, and might have taken his eye off the ball.

After Bobby Witt flew out to right and failed to move the runner, India scored on a bloop double by Vinnie Pasquantino that Bader booted after a tough hop, though not for an error.

The Twins mounted a rally against closer Carlos Estévez in the ninth, with Bader lining an RBI single with two out, which also put the tying run at first base. Edouard Julien worked the count to 3-1, but grounded sharply to second for the final out.

The Royals improved to 5-5.

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China says it will ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs

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BEIJING (AP) — China said Tuesday it would “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.

The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”

China, the world’s second-largest economy, has taken retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.

“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the ministry said.

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” it added.

Trump’s threat Monday of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Stock markets from Tokyo to New York have become more unstable as the tariff war worsens.

Trump’s threat came after China said it would retaliate against U.S. tariffs he announced last week.

“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!”

If Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104%. The new taxes would be on top of the 20% tariffs announced as punishment for fentanyl trafficking and his separate 34% tariffs announced last week. Not only could that increase prices for American consumers, it could also give China an incentive to flood other countries with cheaper goods and seek deeper relationships with other trading partners, particularly the European Union.

Trump frequently bragged about stock market gains during his first term, and the threat of losses on Wall Street was viewed as a potential guardrail on risky economic policies in his second term. But that hasn’t been the case, and Trump has described days of financial pain as necessary.

“I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end,” he said.

Trump officials have frequently appeared on television to make the case for his policies, but none of their explanations has calmed the markets. The only improvement came from a false report that top economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump was considering a pause on all tariffs except for China. Stock prices spiked before the White House denied it was true by calling the post “fake news.”

China is one of the U.S.’s top trading partners, especially for consumer goods, and the tariffs — essentially a tax on imports paid by U.S. companies — will eventually be passed on to the consumer.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would focus on trade with other countries besides the United States, saying there are “vast opportunities” elsewhere.

U.S. total goods trade with China were an estimated $582 billion in 2024, making it the top trader in goods with the U.S. The 2024 deficit with China in goods and services trade was between $263 billion and $295 billion.

In Hong Kong, where stocks were slightly higher Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee blasted the latest U.S. tariffs as “bullying,” saying the “ruthless behavior” has damaged global and multilateral trade and brought great risks and uncertainties to the world.

Lee said the city would link its economy closer to China’s development, sign more free trade agreements, attract more foreign companies and capital to Hong Kong, and support local enterprises in coping with the impact of the tariffs.

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Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Josh Boak in Washington, Christopher Bodeen in Taipei, Taiwan, and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.