BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A cloud of smoke from two pounds of methamphetamine seized by the FBI and incinerated inside a Montana animal shelter prompted its evacuation and sent workers to the hospital, city officials in Billings said.
The smoke started to fill the building during a drug burn on Wednesday, apparently because of negative pressure that sucked it back inside, Billings Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland said Friday. A fan was supposed to be on hand in such situations to reverse the pressure so smoke would flow out of the building, but Iffland said it wasn’t readily available.
The incinerator is used primarily to burn the carcasses of animals euthanized or collected by the city’s animal control division. But every couple of months local law enforcement or FBI agents use it to burn seized narcotics, Iffland said.
Fourteen workers from the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter went to the hospital as a precaution, he said. The dogs and cats at the shelter were relocated or put into foster homes.
Animal crates sit outside the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Some workers had symptoms such as not feeling well. “I don’t know if it was from the smoke inhalation or exactly what it was,” Iffland said.
Billings resident Jay Ettlemen went to the shelter on Friday to donate dog food and said he was angry when he found out about the drug burns.
“Why the hell are they destroying drugs inside the city limits?” Ettlemen asked. “There’s so many other places in the middle of nowhere.”
The FBI routinely uses outside facilities to conduct controlled drug evidence burns, agency spokesperson Sandra Barker said. She referred further questions to Billings officials.
A sign is posted on the door of the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Billings, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
A city animal control supervisor who was present for Wednesday’s burn declined to go the hospital, Iffland said. The FBI agents were told to go to the hospital by their supervisor.
The incinerator is meant to operate at a certain temperature so it doesn’t emit toxins. Iffland said officials were trying to determine if it was at the appropriate temperature Wednesday.
The shelter will remain closed until it can be tested for contamination. Shelter workers were tested for potential exposure and Iffland said he did not know the results.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A dying octopus in a Southern California aquarium is receiving an outflowing of love and well wishes as she spends her final days pouring her last energy into caring for her eggs — even though they will never hatch.
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Many on social media have reminisced about seeing the giant Pacific octopus named Ghost when they had visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Some shared that they had a tattoo of Ghost or would wear a sweater emblazoned with the beloved cephalopod in her memory.
“She is a wonderful octopus and has made an eight-armed impression on all of our hearts,” the aquarium said on Instagram.
Ghost laid eggs earlier this week and entered the last phase of her life cycle, known as senescence. During this period, the octopus will neglect her own basic needs like eating, instead focusing on protecting her eggs and aerating them to prevent bacteria or other harmful agents from growing on them.
Ghost’s eggs are unfertilized and will never hatch, however. In the wild, giant Pacific octopuses spend their whole lives alone and only come together for a brief instance to reproduce.
“You really can’t combine males and females for any period of time because they don’t naturally cohabitate,” said the aquarium’s vice president of animal care, Nate Jaros. “They’re at high risk or aggression or even potentially death.”
Ghost is originally from the waters of British Columbia, Canada, and arrived at the aquarium in May 2024 from a scientific collector. She was only 3 pounds then but now weighs more than 50 pounds.
The average giant Pacific octopus lives for three to five years. Ghost is estimated to be between two and four years old, Jaros said.
Ghost was a “super active and very physical octopus” who enjoyed spending time with humans, Jaros said.
She was trained to voluntarily crawl into a basket so staff would weigh her and monitor her diet. Sometimes, she would push aside food her caregiver was offering just to interact with them more, Jaros said.
“Octopus in particular are incredibly special because of how charismatic and intelligent they seem to be, and we really form tight bonds with these animals,” Jaros said.
Her caregivers engage her in enrichment activities multiple times a day, putting food inside of toys and puzzles with moving parts to simulate what a octopus would do to hunt live crabs and clams in the wild.
One time, staff spent hours building a large acrylic maze for Ghost to explore.
“She mastered it almost instantly,” Jaros said.
While Ghost receives special attention in a private tank during her last days, the aquarium has already received a new octopus that will carry on her mission of educating the public. Staff will name the 2-pound octopus after spending some time assessing its personality, but it is already “super curious” and “seems to be a very outgoing animal,” Jaros said.
Marine biology student Jay McMahon, of Los Angeles, said he was glad he was able to visit the aquarium in the last few weeks and see Ghost one more time. He said he was inspired to pursue his studies after his parents brought him to the aquarium when he was 4.
“When you make a connection with an animal like that and you know they don’t live for that long, every moment means a lot,” he said. “I just hope she encourages people to learn more about the octopus and how important they are.”
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — When Ukrainian immigrant Alex Babich stands in his Indiana backyard craning his neck to look 35 feet into the sky, he isn’t just staring at a sunflower. He is looking at his roots — and his future legacy.
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The flower, nicknamed “Clover” and confirmed Wednesday by Guinness World Records as the tallest sunflower ever measured, stretches as high as a telephone pole.
Achieving the feat holds special significance for the 47-year-old Babich since sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine.
Born and raised in Ukraine, he immigrated to the U.S. at age 14 in 1991 after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Seven years ago, he started growing sunflowers as a symbol of his love for his home country. Babich’s first sunflower was 13 feet tall, then 15, then 19. Quickly, he began asking himself, “How far can we take this?” Babich said the record-breaking flower was the result of “trial and error over years.”
“It’s one of my kids,” he said. “You’re out there every day taking care of it.”
Babich’s 10-year-old son also had an important contribution that earned the towering flower its name. He would climb onto the scaffolding and place four-leaf clovers on the sunflower’s leaves, for good luck.
“I’m going to die someday, but the stories of this flower will live on,” he said. “My kids will be telling this story to the grandkids.”
Alex Babich, pose in front of the structure that surrounds his nearly 36-feet high sunflower that holds the world record for the tallest flower at his home in Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
When measuring day came on Sept. 3, Babich was nervous.
About 85 people had gathered to watch, including several master gardeners from a local university and representatives from the Allen County Department of Weights and Measures. Babich was on a WhatsApp call with a representative from Guinness World Records. A camera crew was filming, and a drone flew overhead. Even Icy D. Eagle, the mascot of the Fort Wayne Komets minor league ice hockey team, was there, according to Guinness.
They used a 40-foot cherry picker to measure the flower. Clover was 35 feet and 9 inches, 5 feet taller than the previous world record holder in Germany.
“It’s very emotional,” Babich said. “It’s as good as it gets for someone who grows giants.”
Alex Babich, climbs on the structure that surrounds his nearly 36-feet high sunflower that holds the world record for the tallest flower at his home in Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Growing up amid food shortages in Ukraine sparked Babich’s love for gardening. His affection for sunflowers deepened after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“We just pray that the war will end, that the killing will stop,” Babich said. “We just hope this inspires some people in the right places. It’s been long enough.”
The sunflower has long been a national symbol representing peace in Ukraine, and since 2022, it has become a symbol of solidarity with the embattled country. In one viral video clip in the war’s early days, a Ukrainian woman confronted a Russian soldier, ultimately offering to “put sunflower seeds in your pocket so they grow when you die.”
In 1996, ministers from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine planted sunflowers at the Pervomaysk missile base to mark the country’s nuclear weapon disarmament. In 1986, after the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant that later brought Babich’s family to the U.S., scientists planted sunflowers to remove toxins from the soil.
Alex Babich, climbs on the structure that surrounds his nearly 36-feet high sunflower that holds the world record for the tallest flower at his home in Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Babich’s sunflower will soon be the star of a documentary, titled “Bloom,” planned for release this summer. In the meantime, Babich has started planting sunflowers around campsites he visited with his family and passing out seed packets to children at festivals.
Plastered onto the seed packets are stickers with the words “Spread the love – sunflower seeds.”
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A regulator has approved a world-first vaccine to protect koalas from chlamydia infections, which are causing infertility and death in the iconic native species that is listed as endangered in parts of Australia.
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The single-dose vaccine was developed by the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland state after more than a decade of research led by professor of microbiology Peter Timms.
The research showed the vaccine reduced the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms of chlamydia during breeding age and decreased mortality from the disease in wild populations by at least 65%.
The recent approval by Australia’s veterinary medicine regulator means the vaccine can now be used in wildlife hospitals, veterinary clinics and in the field to protect the nation’s most at-risk koalas, Timms said on Wednesday.
“We knew a single-dose vaccine — with no need for a booster — was the answer to reducing the rapid, devastating spread of this disease, which accounts for as much as half of koala deaths across all wild populations in Australia,” Timms said in a statement.
“Some individual colonies are edging closer to local extinction every day, particularly in southeast Queensland and New South Wales, where infection rates within populations are often around 50% and in some cases can reach as high as 70%,” Timms added.
Deborah Tabart, chair of the conservation charity Australian Koala Foundation, said resources being spent on vaccinating koalas should be redirected at saving koala habitat.
“At the risk of sounding flippant, how can anyone be so delusional as to think that you can vaccinate 100,000 animals? It’s just ridiculous,” Tabart said on Friday.
A Koala is seen being treated for chlamydia by senior Veterinarian Dr Julian Grosmaire at the Endeavour Veterinary Ecology at Toorbul, north of Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Darren England/AAP Image via AP)
A Koala is seen being treated for chlamydia at the Endeavour Veterinary Ecology at Toorbul, north of Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Darren England/AAP Image via AP)
FILE – A koala sits in a tree at a koala park in Sydney, Australia, May 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
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A Koala is seen being treated for chlamydia by senior Veterinarian Dr Julian Grosmaire at the Endeavour Veterinary Ecology at Toorbul, north of Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Darren England/AAP Image via AP)
Tabart’s foundation estimates there are fewer than 100,000 koalas in the wild. The government-backed National Koala Monitoring Program estimated last year there were between 224,000 and 524,000 koalas.
“I accept that chlamydia is an issue for koalas, but I also want people to understand that they’re sick because they haven’t got any habitat,” Tabart said.
The Queensland Conservation Council, an umbrella organization for more than 50 environmental groups across the state, welcomed the vaccine. But the council’s director, Dave Copeman, echoed Tabart’s focus on preserving koala habitat.
“It’s really good news. Chlamydia is one of the key stresses that has been putting pressure on koala populations,” Copeman said.
“Koalas were at risk before chlamydia outbreaks, and they will remain at risk even if we manage chlamydia perfectly, because we keep on destroying their habitat,” he added.
Koalas are listed as endangered species in the states of Queensland and New South Wales and in the Australian Capital Territory, with habitat loss due to wildfires and urban expansion as the major threats. Chlamydia can cause urinary tract infections, infertility, blindness and death.
FILE – A koala sits in a tree at a koala park in Sydney, Australia, May 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
Treatment with antibiotics can disrupt an infected koala’s ability to digest eucalyptus leaves — its sole food source — leading to starvation, the university said in a statement.
The research has been supported by the federal, New South Wales and Queensland governments.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said his government had contributed to the vaccine’s development through a 76 million Australian dollar ($50 million) Saving Koalas Fund.
“We know that koalas need help to fight diseases like chlamydia. It’s a widespread threat impacting their reproductive health and causing infertility,” Watt said in a statement.
Koalas are iconic Australian marsupials, like wombats and kangaroos. They spend most of their time eating and sleeping in eucalyptus trees, and their paws have two opposing thumbs to help them grasp and climb up tree trunks.
Australia’s wild koala populations have declined steeply in the past two decades.
Facing compounded threats from disease, habitat loss, climate change and road collisions, koalas could become extinct by 2050, according to a 2020 assessment from the New South Wales government.
