Union nj police department application

I’ll be applying for citizenship soon (based on marriage) but I have a question. So June last year I sent out my application for ROC and got the letter extending my conditional green card. In December last year, I lost this green card so I filed a police report and I also got an ADIT stamp on my passport, since I couldn’t apply for form I-90 because I still had the conditional green card. When applying for citizenship, I need to submit a copy of my green card, which I happen to have a black and white copy of it. Should I submit a copy of the copy or submit a picture of my passport with the stamp on it? TIA

My wife was in the left turn lane at a stoplight stopped behind the leading car. The car in front started to go as the left turn arrow turned green, and my wife appropriately started to follow. An oncoming car decided to run the red light causing the car in front of my wife to immediately unexpectedly slam on their brakes catching my wife off guard.
Our car lightly tapped the car in front and we have no idea if they plan to file a claim against us.
I proactively talked to our insurance agent, and they said my wife would most likely still be at fault, as she was following too close, however i’m wondering if anyone has insight as to car length distance when departing a red light and if the liability should be shared or put on the car in front (we plan to work with police to try and pull camera footage of the car that ran the red light, though we’re not sure if anything will come of that)

The Denver Police Department is limiting its officers from making certain low-level traffic stops to free them up to focus on more serious crimes.
Why it matters: The policy shift is intended to improve efficiency for an agency short 167 officers and seeing longer response times. It's also an attempt to reduce incidents of racial profiling by police, which critics say too often lead to violence.

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Denver's policy was approved on May 1 and it comes after the city council suggested the idea to Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas a year ago. It is based on a study by the Vera Institute of Justice that suggests law enforcement departments whose officers are stopping fewer drivers in other cities are seeing an increase in public safety.

TL:DR - They're saying that you can still get pulled over for moving violations like speeding and running red lights, but not headlight / taillight problems, expired tags, etc. Supposedly they're making the change to better make use of limited officers' time, help increase officer safety, decrease racial inequity, and increase community trust.

I’m writing this as a sort of public-service announcement to any ex-GEO members who went through the process of leaving GEO, namely:
1) Notifying GEO leadership and/or your department stewards, AND
2) Filling out HR’s form to cease union due deductions.
I did both in early October. However, I noticed today that union dues have been deducted from my pay stub since February.
I contacted HR and it turns out that GEO sent over erroneous member lists in January/February that included my name.
Beyond the fact that HR shouldn’t be discarding my own written consent form because a third party asked them to, it seems that GEO - for whatever reasons I may like to speculate - are transmitting false information to HR on members, and having dues deducted from non-members
Check your paystubs.

Hello!
On behalf of my friend (he doesn't use reddit) I want to ask a few question in regard to his upcoming visa application (Subclass 500) for his Master studies at UNSW, he asked me because I'm currently studying in Melb but I honestly don't know the answer so I'll post it here.
He was an exchange student from RMIT Vietnam to RMIT Melbourne in 2023 for 6 month and he was granted a 6 month subclass 500 visa for that purpose of study, he left Australia just 3 days before the visa expired because he spend the majority of the semester break touring Victoria, SA, and WA (He didn't work, it was self funded by his family), some people said when he applied again, the immigration department will raise eyebrows on the fact that he left so close to being an overstay and they might assume he will want to stay in Australia after his next studies, and possibly become an overstayer, he wanted to know if this is true or people just want to scare him because of the recent changes in immigration law that make the process stricter.
Additional information: he didn't travel much and his exchange to Australia last year is his first and only time traveling abroad, and he won't intend to stay in Australia after finishing his Master because he will take over his family's business back in Vietnam so no 485 or anything after.
Cheers.

i run ubuntu 22.04 and these things do not work on my laptop but on other windows pc on my school it works
i use platform io
platformio.ini

[env:lolin_s2_mini] platform = espressif32 board = lolin_s2_mini framework = arduino monitor_speed = 115200 board_build.filesystem = spiffs lib_deps = fastled/FastLED @ ^3.3.3[env:lolin_s2_mini] platform = espressif32 board = lolin_s2_mini framework = arduino monitor_speed = 115200 board_build.filesystem = spiffs lib_deps = fastled/FastLED @ ^3.3.3 

dmesg

[ 4842.609179] cdc_acm 1-1:1.0: ttyACM1: USB ACM device [ 4843.769444] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, device number 56 [ 4844.383222] usb 1-1: new full-speed USB device number 57 using xhci_hcd [ 4844.511342] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=303a, idProduct=0002, bcdDevice= 1.00 [ 4844.511350] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3 [ 4844.511353] usb 1-1: Product: Espressif ESP32-S2-Saola-1 [ 4844.511355] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Espressif Systems 

lsusb -v

Bus 001 Device 053: ID 303a:0002 Espressif ESP32-S2 Device Descriptor: bLength 18 bDescriptorType 1 bcdUSB 2.00 bDeviceClass 239 Miscellaneous Device bDeviceSubClass 2 bDeviceProtocol 1 Interface Association bMaxPacketSize0 64 idVendor 0x303a idProduct 0x0002 bcdDevice 7.23 iManufacturer 1 Espressif iProduct 2 ESP32-S2 iSerial 3 0 bNumConfigurations 1 Configuration Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 2 wTotalLength 0x005d bNumInterfaces 3 bConfigurationValue 1 iConfiguration 0 bmAttributes 0xc0 Self Powered MaxPower 500mA Interface Association: bLength 8 bDescriptorType 11 bFirstInterface 0 bInterfaceCount 2 bFunctionClass 2 Communications bFunctionSubClass 2 Abstract (modem) bFunctionProtocol 0 iFunction 0 Interface Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 4 bInterfaceNumber 0 bAlternateSetting 0 bNumEndpoints 1 bInterfaceClass 2 Communications bInterfaceSubClass 2 Abstract (modem) bInterfaceProtocol 0 iInterface 0 CDC Header: bcdCDC 1.10 CDC ACM: bmCapabilities 0x02 line coding and serial state CDC Union: bMasterInterface 0 bSlaveInterface 1 CDC Call Management: bmCapabilities 0x03 call management use DataInterface bDataInterface 1 Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x85 EP 5 IN bmAttributes 3 Transfer Type Interrupt Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes bInterval 1 Interface Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 4 bInterfaceNumber 1 bAlternateSetting 0 bNumEndpoints 2 bInterfaceClass 10 CDC Data bInterfaceSubClass 2 bInterfaceProtocol 0 iInterface 0 Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x03 EP 3 OUT bmAttributes 2 Transfer Type Bulk Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes bInterval 1 Endpoint Descriptor: bLength 7 bDescriptorType 5 bEndpointAddress 0x84 EP 4 IN bmAttributes 2 Transfer Type Bulk Synch Type None Usage Type Data wMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytes bInterval 1 Interface Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 4 bInterfaceNumber 2 bAlternateSetting 0 bNumEndpoints 0 bInterfaceClass 254 Application Specific Interface bInterfaceSubClass 1 Device Firmware Update bInterfaceProtocol 1 iInterface 0 Device Firmware Upgrade Interface Descriptor: bLength 9 bDescriptorType 33 bmAttributes 15 Will Detach Manifestation Tolerant Upload Supported Download Supported wDetachTimeout 700 milliseconds wTransferSize 64 bytes bcdDFUVersion 1.10 Device Status: 0x0001 Self Powered 

platform io output

Processing lolin_s2_mini (platform: espressif32; board: lolin_s2_mini; framework: arduino) Verbose mode can be enabled via `-v, --verbose` option CONFIGURATION: https://docs.platformio.org/page/boards/espressif32/lolin_s2_mini.html PLATFORM: Espressif 32 (6.7.0) > WEMOS LOLIN S2 Mini HARDWARE: ESP32S2 240MHz, 320KB RAM, 4MB Flash DEBUG: Current (cmsis-dap) External (cmsis-dap, esp-bridge, esp-prog, iot-bus-jtag, jlink, minimodule, olimex-arm-usb-ocd, olimex-arm-usb-ocd-h, olimex-arm-usb-tiny-h, olimex-jtag-tiny, tumpa) PACKAGES: - framework-arduinoespressif32 @ 3.20016.0 (2.0.16) - tool-esptoolpy @ 1.40501.0 (4.5.1) - tool-mkfatfs @ 2.0.1 - tool-mklittlefs @ 1.203.210628 (2.3) - tool-mkspiffs @ 2.230.0 (2.30) - toolchain-riscv32-esp @ 8.4.0+2021r2-patch5 - toolchain-xtensa-esp32s2 @ 8.4.0+2021r2-patch5 LDF: Library Dependency Finder -> https://bit.ly/configure-pio-ldf LDF Modes: Finder ~ chain, Compatibility ~ soft Found 34 compatible libraries Scanning dependencies... Dependency Graph -- FastLED @ 3.6.0 Building in release mode Retrieving maximum program size .pio/build/lolin_s2_mini/firmware.elf Checking size .pio/build/lolin_s2_mini/firmware.elf Advanced Memory Usage is available via "PlatformIO Home > Project Inspect" RAM: [= ] 8.4% (used 27528 bytes from 327680 bytes) Flash: [== ] 20.1% (used 263710 bytes from 1310720 bytes) Configuring upload protocol... AVAILABLE: cmsis-dap, esp-bridge, esp-prog, espota, esptool, iot-bus-jtag, jlink, minimodule, olimex-arm-usb-ocd, olimex-arm-usb-ocd-h, olimex-arm-usb-tiny-h, olimex-jtag-tiny, tumpa CURRENT: upload_protocol = esptool Looking for upload port... Using manually specified: /dev/ttyACM1 Forcing reset using 1200bps open/close on port /dev/ttyACM1 Waiting for the new upload port... Uploading .pio/build/lolin_s2_mini/firmware.bin esptool.py v4.5.1 Serial port /dev/ttyACM1 Connecting... Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool.py", line 34, in  esptool._main() File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/__init__.py", line 1032, in _main main() File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/__init__.py", line 674, in main esp = esp or get_default_connected_device( File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/__init__.py", line 921, in get_default_connected_device _esp.connect(before, connect_attempts) File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/loader.py", line 640, in connect last_error = self._connect_attempt(reset_strategy, mode) File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/loader.py", line 525, in _connect_attempt reset_strategy() # Reset the chip to bootloader (download mode) File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/reset.py", line 83, in __call__ self._setDTRandRTS(False, False) File "/home/borro/.platformio/packages/tool-esptoolpy/esptool/reset.py", line 58, in _setDTRandRTS fcntl.ioctl(self.port.fileno(), TIOCMSET, struct.pack("I", status)) BrokenPipeError: [Errno 32] Broken pipe 

My application for ms in computer engineering is in graduate department review since two months. Should i wait or choose other college already. As I'm international student and visa slots are filling up quickly.

Previous
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So, if you’re just joining us, I work at a haunted zoo now. Since I’ve gotten some rest, it feels like I’ve got my head on straight, at least, so I’d like to continue where I left off.
I sat on the floor in the office after meeting the ghost until I’d settled my rattled mind (and realized I’d forgotten to ask her name, how rude is that?). I took a deep breath and got up off the floor. Walking over and falling into the rolling chair in front of the large screen of camera views, when I brought up the camera that covered the area in which I’d spotted her, she was still there, and it seemed she hadn’t moved an inch.
Sitting there, at a loss, I continued to watch her. The ghost hung around for another five minutes or so, appearing to look at a few things off-screen, though I’m not sure what. Then she walked off into the forest and left the view of the cameras. I wasn’t sure if she vanished into the ether or if she’d gone looking into the trees to look for something.
But that wasn’t the end of the job interview, so let me jump back there. It continued into what kind of animals the zoo had, with Andrew asking me how much experience I had with dangerous animals.
I took a moment to consider the question. “So, ah…I’ve been going hunting and fishing with a neighbor since I was sixteen,” I told him. “We always have to keep an eye out for gators, bears, and hogs. Then there’s snakes, of course…snapping turtles… Since I’ve lived here my whole life and been aiming for a job with wildlife for a long time, I know a lot about the animals in Arkansas in general. But good advice for all of the above is avoid them, so I’ve had encounters, but I don’t know if you’d say I have experience with them.”
“That’s fine,” Andrew said, nodding. “That’s an answer I’m satisfied with. Now, the ghost was the appetizer, Ripley; here’s the main course. To start with, the pay isn’t twenty-five an hour. It’s fifty.”
Staring in shock for a moment, I asked, “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. But that’d be weird to post online considering what applicants think we need, so I halved it.”
“That’s… Okay, why?”
“The animals are already here. You just can’t see them.”
I stared at him for a long moment, some disbelief worming its way into my expression, before saying, “Sorry, what?”
“There’s a chance you’d naturally never see them, or at least some of them,” he continued casually. “It depends on both your genetics and how long you stay on the job. I can naturally see six of them, but that’s it. Suzanne can see all of them, and more. Some are what people would label demons or ghosts. Or magic. Mostly you’d call them cryptids. The ghost was just a warm-up; I mentioned her first because it never takes more than a week to see her if you work the night shift. If you manage to handle her okay, soon you’ll be able to see the animals too. The more time you spend on the grounds, for weird reasons,” he said, wiggling his fingers in the direction of the back door, “the more you’ll be able to see.”
“So, this…this is a zoo for cryptids,” I echoed slowly. He nodded once, waiting to find out what kind of reaction I would have. I gestured vaguely around the room. “If this is a hidden camera show, will you cut me a check for showing up and participating?”
Andrew coughed out a chuckle and shook his head. “No joke. There are a ton of stories out there that have been written to death, pulverized until they’re not the Grimm stories of old and instead they’re Disney films. A lot of those stories come from what some humans have seen. There are dozens of other worlds pressed up against ours, and occasionally things come through by accident. If they’re smart, they’ll lay low and then make their way back when they can. If not, they become local folklore until someone helps them back. I’m just from London, but Suzanne is from somewhere else. She hires people like us for this zoo. Humans.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “That makes no sense. Why would she hire a muggle for a magic zoo?”
Andrew burst out laughing at that, and then waited to gather himself before he continued. “Fair point, but this is less about magic and more about animals, and you’re missing some information that will explain it. First of all, if I misjudge an employee, and they think they can make bank by outing the endangered and valuable animals we have, it’s easy to relocate the zoo.”
“Because magic?” I asked.
“Exactly,” he replied, ignoring the thread of skepticism in my tone. “That means it isn’t the end of the world if that happened, though it is a pain in the arse. But second…let me ask you a question. Speaking of reality shows, say the Discovery Channel put out a call to replace Steve Irwin when he passed. Imagine they had a line out the door,” he said with a gesture, “of people who thought they had the skill and natural talent to replace him, to take on everything he’d been doing his whole life. How many do you reckon would lose an arm, a leg, or their life, by the end of the day?”
My lips parted in surprise and I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re saying people from…wherever…they’re just as dumb as humans, but they’re worse, because they actually think they can handle these things.”
Andrew pointed the pen at me. “Things. Exactly. You called them things. Suzanne and her friends grew up with them and would call them animals. These animals have dispositions and temperaments that we’ve studied for as long as there have been scientists. Where Suzanne’s from, they know the weaknesses of these animals, and also they’re in enclosures here, even if you and I can’t see the walls because they’re invisible things called ‘wards’. If I hire someone who’s got magic on top of all that, they’ll have almost no instinctive fear.
“Everything here is nocturnal, and every one of them is a hunter. Some of these things? Humans see them and they pass out. Not that I want you passing out, but I need someone who is scared of these things, who knows to stay out of the enclosures no matter what. Not someone who thinks they can train them to do tricks, who gets close enough for them to grab a mouthful of hair and drown them. Once, we had a night shift manager injured, and once killed, because they didn’t take these animals seriously enough.”
Thinking back to the Sea World orca incident I knew he’d been referencing, I remembered wondering how someone at that level of her profession could be so careless as I watched the video on YouTube. It made sense when he explained it like that. I hesitated before mentally throwing my hands up and going all in. “So, why put this place here, then? If they’re endangered and also dangerous, why have a zoo at all instead of just a small reserve?”
He pursed his lips, looking disappointed in me. “Ripley. You know that already. You already said as much.”
Thinking back through our conversation, I said, “The rich humans who pay top dollar to see supernatural animals.”
“Not humans,” he told me. “But people, yes, and they are rich, and they’re making donations and spending their money on a ticket here because everything we have is endangered.”
“So…”
I just let my voice trail off and my mind started to drift. Andrew remained silent, letting me do so. There’s that thing people say, ‘I believe that you believe it,’ which is just a kinder way of saying, ‘Bullshit.’ Parents say it about closet monsters. Psychologists say it to people who say they’ve been abducted and probed by aliens. I wanted to say it to Andrew.
But I also wanted a job. If it meant working overnight at an empty zoo, that was fine. When it came down to it, especially when I took the tone of our conversation into account, this was a zoo specifically focused on preserving endangered ‘animals’, and it was allegedly doing important work. Also, if this turned out to be the real deal and I started seeing the animals, I would deal with it, just like I would deal with an enclosure that had a lion or tiger or gorilla. If it came with a ghost and invisible creatures, I really didn’t see what the difference was, if I couldn’t go in the enclosures either way.
On that note, I’d like you to imagine a kid who looks at a roller coaster, watching everyone screaming and grinning as they go up and down and all around and they’re like, ‘Heck, I could do that! That looks like a blast!’
Then they get on, the first drop hits, and they realize they’ve made a terrible mistake.
“All right,” I sighed. “I can’t say I’m going to turn down a job just because it’s going to be scary. Especially not one with this paycheck.”
Andrew smiled. “Awesome. There’s an adjustment process for anyone working here, similar to a dog that gets adopted, actually. I know the general guidelines of, ‘three days, three weeks, three months’ in terms of milestones, until they finally feel they’re where they’re supposed to be,” he told me, “and you can think of your time here along those lines. I really think you’re a great fit, and once you reach the milestone of working here for three months, I’ll officially consider you our new night shift guard. And I hope you’ll stay with us for many years.”
I nodded and smiled at the flattery of an employer wanting me to work a great job for them for a long time. I’d never had a dog, but those milestones were well-known among anyone who knew animals, especially dogs. The first three days, the dog is getting to know its new digs, exploring, and decompressing. At three weeks, they’ve gotten used to their environment and are starting to get comfortable with their surroundings and the routines of the humans they live with. By three months, they know the rules and follow them, they trust you, and they feel they are where they’re meant to be. I could only hope to be so lucky.
I saw the ghost two days ago and she has yet to make another appearance (for those who are curious, I asked, and her name is Leila), and I still hadn’t seen any animals. I did hear one, though, I feel compelled to note. A growling roar sounded from the lake on occasion, echoing across the vast zoo, sending a shiver down my spine. Whatever that animal was, it sounded gigantic.
Andrew said there was apparently a group that wanted to visit for a birthday and they were offering a huge donation, so he let me know they were making an exception and that this group would be walking through the park that night. That meant I’d be watching people watching animals that, as far as I could tell, weren’t there.
It was anticlimactic. Even the three people who came for the tour just looked like people, not like aliens or something eldritch from another dimension, and I stayed in the security office the whole time. Andrew was the one giving the tour. I watched them spend about five minutes at each enclosure, the hour or so that they were there passing without incident. It was clear that they were able to see all the animals, though, since they motioned excitedly at each enclosure and spoke to Andrew, who presumably answered any questions they had.
If they could see the animals, that was that. There was still that niggle in the back of my head, from my twenty-three years of life never encountering anything like ghosts or cryptids, telling me that this was ridiculous. Waiting for someone to knock on the door, a camera mounted on their shoulder, to tell me that it was a big joke and they wanted to see how long I’d play along. But from all I saw, this was a real place with real, invisible animals.
I do carry a taser and pepper spray in my capacity as a security guard. Though it isn’t for the animals, since they’re in the enclosures; they’re actually for the rare instance of a break-in. Andrew mentioned that it had happened several times it the past, someone trying to steal an animal in the hopes of selling it on the black market. They’d been successful before, but apparently my predecessor Roger was good at his job, and mostly they left in handcuffs.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of confrontation, but my job was to call Andrew and then confront the person, not kick their ass. That’s what the police were for, or rather, the people Andrew would call in lieu of police in certain situations.
Fifty bucks an hour. That’s the key here.
Andrew hadn’t set up direct deposit, since he was sticking with a strategy of waiting to see if I’d continue to work there once I found out myself dealing with the animals (I’ve decided I am going to just call them animals). Instead, I got an old-fashioned check after my shift every Friday. The number on the first check was delightful. I went out that evening and had a big dinner at the local diner, order my most expensive favorites on the menu and a big slice of pie for dessert.
When it came to the paychecks in general, though, I had this weird feeling of not wanting to tell my dad and brother about the fact that it was actually $50/hr. I previously mentioned that my dad, his name’s Nathan if you’re curious, works at a local grocery store. Our town has a couple food franchises, but I think its size is just short of whatever threshold Walmart uses to decide where to open. He earns $14/hr. and that’s after the tiny raises he’s gotten over the past thirteen years.
That’s not to say he’d feel bad about not making as much as me. On the contrary, he would be ecstatic for me and really proud. But, like me, he’d be suspicious. That hourly rate was the biggest hint that this was more than just a private zoo for cryptids. And as soon as that fat check cleared without problems, my dad wouldn’t be satisfied with reassurances; he’d want to come visit the zoo and look around.
I’d told him it’s a private preservation with scheduled (expensive) visits only and that it had only eleven animals, so he’d been appeased by me brushing off the idea of a visit. Also, I took a few photos of my workplace; one of the security room, one of me sitting in my chair, one photo of the many screens I watched, and a selfie where I was feigning sleep out of boredom, slouched in my chair with my mouth open in a faux snore. That let him feel like he knew where I was and what I was doing, and that I was safe.
But if I told him I was making double what he thought, my father would practically order me to quit. No job was worth my safety, he’d tell me. I was quite of the opposite opinion, however, considering how crucial any and all conservation efforts were these days. Especially with the steep extinction levels due to humans competing with other animals for space, not to mention climate change. Working in any job that helped preserve species and keep ecosystems in balance, or put them back in balance, was so important.
Then again, my father would also point out something I had realized right away: the fact was that I was working with endangered species that were not from Earth. I wasn’t helping my planet. To be honest, though…that didn’t matter to me. Especially after that talk with Andrew about why he hired a human for this job, I figured whichever dimension these animals came from had the equivalent of us, razing forests to the ground, clouding the planet with pollution, and leaving the animals with no avenue of recourse when yet more land was taken from them.
I really do hope to keep working here for a long time, though, and not just because of the money. I can’t help it; I want to know what these things were, and I want to work with them, to do the job of a zookeeper. The same way you go up to the chain-link fence to get close to a carnivore on the other side who thinks you’d make a nice afternoon snack. You just want to be closer to them, to experience that incredible, daunting feeling of being in their presence.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before I got what I wanted.
The day after we had the tour go through, I was doing my sweep when I saw the ghost again. She was sitting on a small boulder in the same area I’d seen her the first time, looking identical, blood covering the front of her slashed shirt, the wounds visible underneath. I stopped and stood there for a moment before I decided to raise my hand in a small wave.
The young woman cocked her head at me and raised a hand in the air in an imitation of my gesture, her expression showing a bit of curiosity.
She was low-key, seemingly not concerned with my presence, looking at me as a novel phenomenon in her world. I wondered what that world consisted of. Was she always here, sometimes visible and sometimes not? Or did she have another world next to ours, in the ether, where she left everything in this world behind and floated in her disembodied form? Did she still feel emotions? Was that really curiosity on her face, or was I projecting? Did she feel happiness? Fear? Did she have the option of moving on, or was she stuck here?
Many questions that I might never get the answers to. And that was assuming Andrew knew the answers, since I’d never met Suzanne Cooper and he hadn’t even mentioned that possibility. This place was clearly her baby, but I’m sure running it was a lot of work. Plus, if she was rich enough to own it, she was rich enough to have other businesses and charities to run.
When it comes to the enclosures, they’re all wrapped by a barrier of some kind, though never one that seems adequate. There was not a single place with the ugly metal weavings of a chain-link fence, and no stretches of circular razor wire. Instead, there are nice fences. Black iron, or wrought steel fencing in a similar style to the one circling the perimeter of the zoo, just shorter and with different patterns. Or a spaced picket fence, the wood stained in some tone of brown, or a split two-rail fence. As if to say, ‘This is the border of your enclosure, but we’re just letting you know out of courtesy.’
When I started to pass enclosure number seven last night, a young woman’s voice spoke, “Hello.”
I startled, unaware that I hadn’t been alone. “Oh. Hi,” I said, staring at her standing a few yards in.
She had been next to a large tree and I hadn’t seen her. This enclosure was behind a picket fence, and she walked through the large area of wild grasses and flowers that stretched across the other side of the fence. There were fewer tall grasses closer to the fence, which I guessed was because it had been tromped down by her regular pacing along it when there were visitors, or if she wanted to see the various enclosures of the zoo. Her sudden appearance was a bit weird, considering I had been expecting to see a cryptid and instead I was looking at, it seemed, an attractive Asian woman.
She wore a black kimono, the soft silk robe draped gently over her body, with beautiful patterns of cherry blossoms, more so over her left side, and red and blue birds with their wings spread. A sash wrapped around her abdomen, she wore socks and sandals on her feet, and her hair was up in those rolls that gave volume to the style.
I was no expert on any fashion, much less that of another country, so I just assumed it was all traditional Japanese clothing. Most likely, the visitors who came liked to see a certain time-honored style and that’s what she stuck with. Or maybe she played on stereotypes. That would be amusing.
“I’m Yui. It’s nice to meet you,” she spoke, arriving at the border of the fence and holding out a hand for me to shake.
I’d been standing about three yards away from her, and I’ll be honest, muscle memory tried to kick in. But I only made it two steps, my hand starting to rise, before I froze, the hand falling limply at my side. “Nice to meet you, too,” I answered, my voice quiet.
Damn. I wonder how many times that honey trap works back where she comes from.
The pleasant look on her face faded, and she lowered her hand. “You won’t shake hands with me? Isn’t that rude?”
“I mean, I kind of like my hand where it is. You know, attached to me.”
Her demure smile widened into something more amused. “I would never do something so revolting.”
Looking her up and down, as if more visual information would give me more knowledge of what she was, I asked her, “What would you do?”
“I would be less wasteful,” she said softly.
A finger of ice trailed down my spine, and I had the sudden image in my head of her grabbing my outstretched hand in an iron grip and yanking me over the fence, leaving me to sprawl on the ground. Then killing and consuming me efficiently, without a single careless step, the same way humans slaughtered pigs, using everything from the hog but the squeal. I was struck with a shiver at the idea of her consuming everything from me but my screams.
Slowly, I took one step further down the path, then another. Just as I got to a walking pace, though, I realized the woman had started walking too, in the same direction. I’d have eventually gotten to the end of her enclosure and keep going, leaving her behind, but she spoke up. “Are you leaving?”
I came to a stop, meeting her gaze again. “My job is to walk the zoo every hour. Then I’ll get back to the security room and stay there until my next walk.”
“Have you met the others yet?”
I hesitated before saying, “Just Leila.”
She blinked languidly. “That means nobody welcomed you here.”
“Andrew did.”
She didn’t reply to that. Instead, she slowly started to lean forward, and I flinched backward a few steps further as I saw insect legs start curling out from her back.
No. Not insect. Arachnid.
The eight legs ended in small ‘paws’ with tiny claws, a layer of hairs covering the leg from top to bottom, like any typical tarantula. I took two more slow steps back and my mouth went dry as the jointed legs just kept lengthening, until they were large enough to lever her off the ground.
My gaze had been on the spider legs, but my heart skipped a beat as I realized her human legs had melded together and turned into a bulging abdomen. Her skin was shifting to a carapace, eventually all the way up to her shoulders and down her arms, her fingers elongating and her nails stretching to claws. From there down, her body was that of a pale tarantula with pedipalps the size of my arms and piercing fangs in her jaws that looked like they could take my head off.
There was a moment, my vision blurring, where I was worried that I might piss myself. The part of my brain that still had its humor intact in that moment told me that I should keep an emergency set of clothes in my car, or at the very least, start wearing Depends to work.
“I show you my true form,” she said softly, her voice now raspy like an eighty-year-old after a lifelong smoking habit. “Welcome to Suzanne Cooper’s zoo. The night shift guard for many years was Roger, before he retired and the zoo moved, and I miss him dearly. What should I call you?”
I choked on my words. There was no way my throat was going to cooperate enough for me to clearly get a sentence out. Instead, I realized my legs had taken control of the situation themselves, unsatisfied with my conscious brain’s decision to stand and stare, taking steps backward. I backed up a yard, then five yards, then ten.
My mind focused on the fact that spiders don’t waste anything, and pictured my demise. I’d be wrapped in a cocoon, killed, and made nice and mushy before she had me for dinner.
The whole time, my brain was a frenzied mess, my pupils were probably the size of dimes, and I was staring at that tiny, pathetic fence between her and me. There was so much adrenaline pumping through my body that I felt like my bones were vibrating. The fence was, to my eyes, the only thing between us. The only thing keeping her from tackling and killing me. My only hope was that she’d do it quickly.
But she didn’t move. As I absorbed her innocent, polite words, the look on her face was calm, and I wondered if this was typically the way a conversation went before she devoured her prey. I wondered how many people she’d eaten. Not humans, not people from Earth, but the ones from where she came from. The fact that she doesn’t scare the shit out of those people means they’re staggeringly dumber than humans.
Finally, I rounded a corner, both relieved at having her out of my sight and worried that she would take that moment to come find me. When she’d been within eyeshot, I had at least known where she was and could run in the other direction. But I didn’t hear the sound of faint footsteps moving rapidly toward me. All was quiet, in that deep, smothering way that only an empty business in the middle of the night in small town America could be.
My hands trembling, I barely paid attention to anything but the confirmation that my surroundings were free of the colossal spider as I finally got back to the door. Grabbing the handle and letting my eyes dart around for about ten seconds and my ears prick for the slightest sound, I finally swiped my key card across the pad and went inside, shutting the door behind me and engaging the backup deadbolt.
Maybe that was why they had decided on keycards. If I was running from something and panicking, using an actual key or inserting the card like at a hotel would keep me from getting to safety considering my hands were shaking enough to mix a margarita.
Walking over to my chair, I fell into it, letting my body flush itself of terror as I looked up at the cameras. There she was, still in arachnid form, exactly where I’d left her behind that rinky-dink fence, casually looking around and slowly pacing back and forth. I stared at her as my racing heart gradually slowed, and a minute or so later she turned on her eight legs and walked back into the trees.
Whatever invisible fences the enclosures have apparently work, which is nice, because I wasn’t keen on getting killed by one of the creatures here. And that’s what brings me here, spilling out everything that’s happened so far. Because nearly passing out from terror isn’t something I wanted to deal with at work, obviously, but I keep going over what she did in my head again and again, and I feel like I reacted like a child who spotted a wolf spider on their bed. I started to worry for my overactive sense of self-preservation, at least in my capacity as an employee here.
The spider didn’t even try to hurt me, and so I was feeling a bit foolish. Even annoyed, actually, at the fact that I’d freaked out so hard and took off instead of trying to engage in at least basic conversation. I got the sense that she wasn’t at human-level intelligence, but I was never going to be able to hold any level of conversation with an alligator.
Sure, she did mention that she wouldn’t be so crass as to yank off my hand because she’d rather just have my entire corpse, but wouldn’t a wolf do the same if it was hungry? Wouldn’t any carnivore? Actually, they probably would’ve been satisfied with one of my hands. The fear here was from the fact that she turned into a giant spider. If she’d turned into Clifford, I would’ve reacted the same way, if not better than, meeting Leila.
With that, I decided I’m staying on the job. Considering how frustrated I can get with foolish people, it’s a bit hypocritical, and I’m being a bit of an idiot. But…there are definitely wards keeping them in their enclosures. Also, I signed up for creatures for another dimension, whether or not I believed in them at the time, and I will not let encountering my first one in an objectively boring way be the reason I quit.
The money is a factor, I’ll grant you. Of course it is. And I can’t spend it if I’m dead, but all signs point to surviving as long as I don’t do anything dumb. Also, yes, I’ll admit there’s a not-so-little voice in the back of my head that’s desperate to know what else is here. I never thought I’d do something like this, but finding out these things are real, I honestly do want to learn more about them.
Still, though, I decided to call Andrew at the end of my shift to ask if the pepper spray and taser I carried worked on a certain spider, as well as the other animals I’d yet to meet.
​
Previous
***
/storiesbykaren

I had a recruiter reach out to me a while ago about a huge hiring campaign for a well known company in my city (let’s call them “Foo”). They were in the process of hiring 100s of people for a new department for “Foo”
The requirements for the job I would be applying for were quite niche. And also required a min of 2 days a week in the office. It honestly sounded like an absolute dream job and perfect for me.
The recruiter sent me a link to apply to the job on Foo’s website. After my call with the recruiter I really came away with the impression that applying on their website was a formality and that as long as I was on the system, and had uploaded my cv, I would be at least sifted for an interview. Therefore, I spent about an hour or so filling in the requested information such as “What was my job description” for my current and former employers.
I then didn’t hear about the status of my application for weeks but was again assured that they just had a process in place where Foo were starting from C level positions and working their way down.
After hearing nothing for weeks I finally got an automated rejection email. No interview offer.
I emailed the recruiter to ask if I could have some feedback for next time. They’ve ignored it. They’ve had a week to respond. I’ve had some bad experience from recruiters before but this is by far the most hurtful. If I had known how critical this form was, I would nailed it! I’d have spent a day on it at least.
Furious with the recruiter.

There is a fire alarm chirping in the building, and it is driving me absolutely insane. I’ve contacted everyone from landlord, property management and maintenance.
Hell I even called the police (no Karen) I just thought for anyone to let the alarm go off like that for almost a month is maybe dead…. Got a welfare check done on them but they didn’t answer. I even placed a note on the door and they took it but there was no change.
This chirping is driving me nuts and I pay too much rent to live in anything but peace…. Emailed, texted and called all to find out the person is DEAF! Poor them ;( so my maintenance person told me they can’t get into the home because this deaf person isn’t answering and they mailed them something but I doubt they will respond…. I suggested they go ahead and fix everyone’s again, one time they gave 48 hour notice on the front door and came in with someone from the fire department to fix the alarms… Hoping for a BEEPING resolution cause I’m losing my MOTHER BEEPING mind.

I am currently a rising senior in college and am planning on applying to ABSN programs in NJ and maybe in NY. I was wondering if anyone could share their stats (specifically the grades you got in the prereqs and GPA). I am specifically interested in NJCU but am a little worried because of one prereq and am unsure of if it will hinder my application completely. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

I have a question regarding the above position. I was asked to complete a questionnaire by the department. It's basically yes or no but everytime I put down a no, I have to give a detailed report. Each question involves a situation that I might be in. I'm worried that if I give the truth to some of these questions, it would ruin my application. I'm trying to get a different job but so far no luck. Could I just say no to every question or should I be honest with these questions?

Context: Husband and Wife were married 20+ years ago sa Pilipinas by Civil union. Had 1 child na ngayon ay nasa legal age na din. Husband went to US early in their marriage for work. Wife was of course left with the kid. It came a time na nagkaproblema si Husband sa US na delikadong mapauwi sya sa PH na ang tanging paraan lang para makapag-stay sya doon ay magpakasal sa isang US citizen. Long story short, may napakasalan si H so nakapag stay sya doon. Eventually, nasira na nga ang marriage nila ng kanyang wife sa Pilipinas.
After some time, naka kuha na ng green card si Husband. Meaning may full rights na sya as American Citizen. Ang ginawa ni Husband (now Ex-Husband), he filed DIVORCE laban kay Wife (now Ex-Wife) na nasa PH. Legal papers were sent from US to PH para sa mga settlement tulad ng child support at custody (dahil that time minor pa si child). Also, when checked sa portal ng US state na yun ang names, nag aappear nga naman ang name ni Filipina Ex-Wife sa divorce documents.
Now the dilemma: Happy na din si Ex-Wife sa bago nitong kinakasama si New-Partner. Almost 20 years na din naman since nagfile at naapprove ang US divorce with Ex. Wala din naman sila balak magpakasal kaya hindi big deal ang legal documents o negative cenomar ni Ex-W. Pero Luckily, nakakuha ng job offer si New-P sa Australia kung saan pwede nyang sana sa Visa application ang family. Alam naman na allowed ang de facto partner visa for their type of relationship. Pero dahil Divorced lang naman si Ex-W ng kanyang Ex-H na US citizen, pero hindi naman napawalang bisa ang kasal sa Pilipinas.
Questions: May bisa ba ang US Divorce papers to prove na wala nang bisa ang kasal ni Ex-W kay Ex-H? Matuturing ba na “de facto partner” and status ni Ex-W kay New-P para sa AU visa application? May kailangan pa bang gawin si Ex-W para ipa-annul ang kasal nila dito?
Salamat po sa sasagot.

I moved in December and signed a leasing agreement with Meridia ‘Luxury’ apartments.
Ever since there has been a number of things that have made this decision regretful.
I am paying $2.2 monthly for a 1 bedroom in Linden, NJ.
Here are my concerns:
There’s constant mold in the sink, toilet and shower. It’s an everyday situation.
I didn’t have parking in my building for the first three months of my lease and still had to pay the $100 parking fee to park in another building across the street.
Then when I did get assigned to the parking lot in my building (spots opened up after people got evicted as I was told), the parking spaces are so tight my car has gotten hit multiple times. I have video footage, and photos of everything.
The laundry room is covered with ‘not working’ signs from other tenants. You put your clothes to dry and come back to check, the dryer is not working. As well as other machines that just take your credit. One time the laundry room was filled with these paper signs and were removed for an open house weekend.
There’s window drafts in the apartment. In the winter you could feel the cold drafts and this required to put the heater up high to keep the apartment warm.
When I first moved in I took photos of scratches on the floor from previous owners and noted down on a sign off sheet of any damages to the apartment that was required. I also noted that half of the outlets weren’t working. None of this was addressed as well.
Last, the lack of management or security in the buildings. There are always people hanging out in the lobby late at night and it reeks with the smell of weed. Tenants let their dogs pee in the lobby and don’t clean it up.
It is noticeable that several people have been through the same based on recent Google reviews. As well there are always people moving in and out.
I spoke with the leasing office managers and they just gave bs excuses to all of these problems.
For the parking situation I was told to: File a police report. To park across the street again in another building and still pay the $100.
For the mold: to put work orders for maintenance.
For the window drafts: that there is no proof and to put a work order.
For the laundry room: How much did I lose in credit and if I called to get a refund.
For the weed stench and dog pee odestains, that they will send out another email addressing this.
Leasing agreement asks for 60 days notice + two months rent.
I asked to negotiate based on the given conditions of living. I was willing to leave mid month and give one months rent.
I know the agreement has its rules. But this wasn’t what I signed up for nor were these problems part of any agreement.
They asked for another opportunity to address these situations but I don’t think will actually resolve anything because I am not the first to complain.
I have records of everything and what I’m looking for is any possible guidance of how I can go forward with this situation without having to pay the additional two months rent they are asking for to terminate the lease.

Join the Elite: LSPD - Los Santos Police Department
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Requirements:
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Ready to join the ranks of the Los Santos Police Department? Apply now and become a vital part of our mission to uphold justice and protect the citizens of Los Santos.
https://discord.gg/aFUzcxCC4A

Hey all, just curious as to any experiences y'all may have had working in IT at a police department. Any horror stories, exciting events, reasons to stay away? I'd like to know the good, bad, ugly before throwing my hat into the ring for a position that has come up near me. I would be leaving a cushy but boring job for this.

This is my first ever post in Reddit, I hope it goes well.
I lost contact with one of my birth parents, after they split while I was younger. I'm an adult now, trying to search for them again. Should I reach out to police departments? Any ideas?
F(20)

For context, I (42) F, have 4 children; (21) M, (19) M, (16) M and (7) F. My ex-partner (42) M and I ended our relationship after 18 years together. These years were extremely difficult, filled with his wide range of substance abuse, gambling addiction and domestic abuse/violence of EVERY kind. The man has been arrested and charged with assault on a family member and again arrested and charged with domestic violence while I was pregnant with my daughter. My sons and I even moved out once before I was pregnant with my daughter, and he then followed after he had found himself homeless. My 3 sons have severe traumas from the years of instability in our home.
When my daughter was approximately 18 months old, he spent 6 months in prison for violating his bond conditions. I had called the police after coming home from work, as my middle child had called, alerting me that his father was verbally and emotionally abusing my eldest.
After coming out of prison, it took him 1 week to come and see my children (as binge drinking was a priority that 1st week) and then came to visit them once a month, on average (we lived 5 mins away from his location).
Wanting for my children and I to start a new chapter in our lives, I had made the decision to move several hours away. This would allow us to depart from the cycle of despair and find a way to repair ourselves. This decision was made after witnessing his lack of interest in making amends to my children or make a connection with my daughter. I had received no push back from the decision.
Ex-partner continued to have access to my children anytime he wished. He could visit them, spend time with them or speak to them over the phone, and he did so on occasions.
As time passed, communication decreased. My daughter would ask to speak with him on the phone. He was not always accessible. I was then asked by him to txt him to see if he was available to speak with my daughter prior to simply calling. The reply would at times, take days. When successful at making a phone call, they will generally speak for approximately 15 minutes and then he will want to end the call. He would emotionally blackmail her by suggesting that if she cries everytime he wants to end the call then he will stop calling (although he is never the one initiating contact).
The last time she had asked to speak with him was February, he had never responded. She has not asked if she could call him again.
Approximately 2 weeks later, he contact my children, letting them know he was overseas. At no point in time had he bothered to oet them know he would not be reachable for some time. I was so angry (still am), as a parent, I could never consider leaving the country without informing my children, it just would not happen. The continuous disrespect my children are shown by the person who has the audacity to call themselves their parent astounds me. Not to mention that this person does not pay any form of child support, provide regularly to their children has the funds to travel overseas.
After returning from overseas, he had asked what I was doing for Easter so he could come and spend the day with my daughter and give easter presents as well as the gifts he had brought for my youngest. Not wanting my children to miss out, he was invited for Easter. Knowing that I was going to start considering putting restrictions on coming to my home as his lack of communication with my daughter was starting to really affect her.
Easter came and went without drama, my children were invited to celebrate their grandfather birthday at a lovely restaurant with the rest of their family. After deliberation and confirmation that their father would not be in attendance, my 2 eldest sons chose to attend the festivities. The day before the party, their father informed them that the party was colour themed, and to wear certain colours. My oldest had asked if this meant that he was now going, he confirmed that he would not be going, he was not allowed inside the premises.
My 2nd left shortly after this as he had made plans with friends to go out that night before attending the party the next evening.
The next day, my eldest left early, as it would give him time to shop for appropriate clothing and match the theme.
At around 2 pm, he received a message from his father asking (not really asking) if it would be ok with him if he came to the party, as he and my son are his grandfather's only real family coming tonight and wants to celebrate his father's birthday (his father's actual birthday was days before. He lives with him and was not there). He had told my son that he did not have to tell me or my 2nd oldest that he was coming. My son told him that he didn't care and to leave him alone if he was going to be drinking.
My 2nd oldest was already at his grandparents house as my eldest finally arrived.
While at the restaurant, their father arrived (to the shock of my 2nd oldest, who had no idea his father was going to be present), not alone (another big shock, this time to both of my sons who has no idea, and no warned that their father had someone in their lives). My sons, kept collected, went along with the evening, although obviously incredibly uncomfortable, and said nothing, not bringing attention to themselves, to ensure they would not ruin their grandfather's birthday. Although their father was drinking (moderately, that is a miracle) did not harrass during the evening. He did ask for a picture with my sons, their grandparents, himself and gf. Not wanting to cause a scene (they were not confortable doing this), got the picture done.
The rest of the night was quiet, my sons went home with their grandparents. Their grand-mother gossiped to my sons all about their father and gf (information they really didn't want to know about). Letting my sons know she was the reason why he was overseas, to meet her family and her children, who she is trying to bring to the country.
When my youngest son came home from work that evening, I did let him know what happened (I had yet to be informed as to the reason behind the overseas visit) that his father was in fact in attendance at the party, not alone. He told me that he knew that his dad was there as all the pictures from the party was already circulating social media, but had not seen a picture of someone he did not know until he scrolled and daw the picture of my oldest sons, grandparents, father and her. This is something he wished he had not seen, and although we had a discussion about this topic weeks ago (having had my suspicions for quite some time), he was not ready to have this thrown in his face.
We discussed his feelings and what I was thinking of doing after I spoke with my 2 sons the next day. He felt more settled.
After my sons came home, recounted their days snd night, I has told them that their father would no longer be welcome in this home, and considering going absolutely no contact with anyone under 18.
The continuous disrespect shown to my sons, the boundaries created and simply ignored by their father, only considering his own feelings and expectations, the feeling of rejection my daughter has now started feeling at such a young age is not healthy. I worry for my daughter, I know the feeling of being rejected by a parent is worse than simply not knowing them. It hurts less, causes less damage.
So am I the asshole for considering banning the sperm donor from having contact with my children?
P.S: My sons dont like their father, at all. They are aware that he is a terrible human being. My eldest just ignores him, to keep the peace. My youngest son is of the believe that he might aswell get something out of the relationship (I dont begrudge him)
My 2nd oldest, there are no word to truly describe just how much he despises that man, he stays in his room when he visits, for the sake of my daughter (I cry as I write this, for the pain my son feels, as that man broke my once happy son).
I have told my sons that if they wish to have contact with their father, then I will support them. I will encourage them to build boundaries, and communicate them clearly and what the repercussions would be. That their relationship should be on their terms, and that nobody elses feelings or expectations should be put above theirs including my own or other family members who always feel entitled.
My youngest and oldest sons are the only 2 I had spoken about the possibility of their father having someone in their lives, as their father was brought up in discussion after his Easter visit on those 2 occasions. I had not told my 2nd oldest because his father is not a topic of conversation ever brought up with him. So he was completely blind sided by first his presence and then the fact that he had company.
He does not have parental rights for my 2nd, 3rd or 4th child.

News Link: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/05/14/2881828/0/en/Dyadic-Announces-First-Quarter-2024-Financial-Results-and-Highlights-Recent-Company-Progress.html
Human Health Sector

• Final Clinical Study Report has been issued for the First-In-Human Phase 1 clinical trial demonstrating safety and antibody response for DYAI-100, a recombinant protein receptor binding domain booster vaccine candidate for protection against COVID-19 infection
• Entered into several fully funded vaccine and antibody projects covering more than twelve targets, five of which are funded by two of the top ten pharmaceutical companies
• Successfully expressed a H1N1 influenza antigen in our collaboration with the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (“VIC”) at Massachusetts General Hospital
• Announced strategic partnership to develop affordable rabies prophylactics and vaccines using C1-cell protein production platform
• Published a manuscript of preclinical studies on C1 produced monoclonal antibody in non-human primates and hamsters in prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications
• Advanced collaboration with Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) targeting bio-threats and emerging disease solutions
• C1 produced adjuvanted recombinant ferritin nanoparticle H5N1 “Bird Flu” human vaccine candidate demonstrated a strong immune response in animal studies

Animal Health Sector

• C1 produced adjuvanted recombinant ferritin nanoparticle H5N1 “Bird Flu” human vaccine candidate demonstrated a strong immune response in animal studies for potential use in poultry, cattle and other animals
• Expanded collaboration with Phibro/Abic to develop vaccines and treatments for companion and livestock animal diseases

Alternative Proteins Sector

• Executed a term sheet to utilize our microbial protein production platforms to develop production strains for the production of recombinant serum albumin
• Advanced development of 6 product candidates for non-pharmaceutical applications utilizing the Dapibus™ platform technology

Corporate

• Closed a $6.0 million convertible note in a private placement, with a conversion price of $1.79 and no warrants
• Appointed Mr. Patrick Lucy as Board Chairman and Mr. Joe Hazelton as Chief Operating Officer
• Cash and investment grade securities of $12.1 million as of March 31, 2024
• Financial results and business update conference call scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET today

JUPITER, Fla., May 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: DYAI), a biotechnology company focused on the efficient large-scale manufacture of proteins for use in human and animal vaccines and therapeutics, as well as non-pharmaceutical applications including food, nutrition, and wellness, today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2024 and highlighted recent Company progress.
“We continue to execute our business strategy to focus on near-term pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical applications for our proprietary and patented C1 and Dapibus™ protein production platforms and pipeline products,” said Mr. Mark Emalfarb, President and CEO of Dyadic. “One of our key highlights was the successful completion of a Phase 1 clinical trial that met its primary endpoint of safety and reactogenicity affirming the safety of proteins produced by Dyadic's C1 platform in humans. We believe this milestone not only establishes the safety of our platform but also provides a solid foundation for C1 technology’s future applications in human and animal vaccines and therapeutics. With the H5N1 ('Bird Flu') virus outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, along with one recent human case, we are seeing an increasing interest in our H5N1 'Bird Flu' ferritin nanoparticle human vaccine candidate, developed with ViroVax. Additional animal studies indicate that the vaccine candidate has the potential to generate high neutralizing antibodies for use in cattle. Our Q1 2024 achievements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to enhancing our microbial platforms for diverse applications, and our dedication to improving health for humans and animals, while tackling the challenges of sustainable food production.”
Mr. Emalfarb continued, “As we progress into the second quarter, our Company continues to focus on enhancing the Dapibus™ platform, designed specifically for non- pharmaceutical uses in industries such as food, nutrition, health, and other bioproducts. To accomplish this goal, we have honed our business development strategy, focusing on key areas where our technologies can deliver the greatest impact with shorter commercialization timelines. Our strategy includes simultaneously targeting multiple offtakes for a single product in several corresponding business segments and seeking out new opportunities that are in line with our strategy.”
Joe Hazelton, Dyadic’s Chief Operating Officer, elaborated, “In addition to operational advancements, we also strengthened our financial position with the issuance of $6.0 million in convertible notes, which will be used to accelerate and exploit our strategic objective of near-term revenue generating products and commercialization opportunities for pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical applications. We believe that product opportunities such as recombinant human albumin and alpha-lactalbumin provide Dyadic with multiple monetization opportunities as a licensed product or cell line in pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and food applications. We are confident that our strong position, both financially and scientifically, will enable us to implement our business plans with improved capabilities and resources. We are enthusiastic about our future prospects and remain committed to providing value to our customers and stakeholders.”
Recent Company Progress
Corporate Events:

• On March 8, 2024, the Company issued an aggregate principal amount of $6.0 million of its 8.0% Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Notes due March 8, 2027 (the “Convertible Notes”) in a private placement in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The purchasers of the Convertible Notes include immediate family members and family trusts related to Mark Emalfarb, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board of Directors, including The Francisco Trust, an existing holder of more than 5% of the Company’s outstanding common stock.
• On March 28, 2024, the Company announced changes in the leadership roles of the Board and senior management team: the appointment of Mr. Patrick Lucy as Chairman of Board of Directors and promotion of Mr. Joe Hazelton to Chief Operating Officer.

~Human Health Sector~
DYAI-100 Phase 1 Clinical Trial
DYAI-100, a C1-SARS-CoV-2 recombinant protein RBD vaccine candidate, is the first C1-expressed protein tested in humans. The Phase 1 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was designed as a first-in-human trial to assess the clinical safety and antibody response of DYAI-100, produced using the C1 platform and administered as a booster vaccine at two single dose levels in healthy volunteers. Following regulatory clearance from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), the trial was initiated in 1Q 2023, with the last patient visit occurring in 3Q 2023. On November 29, 2023, the Company announced the top-line safety results, indicating that the study has met its primary endpoint that both the low and high dose levels of the vaccine are safe and well tolerated among participants. Additionally, the vaccine has been shown to induce immune responses at both dose levels, suggesting its potential efficacy in generating protective immunity against the target virus. The study has been finalized, and the final Clinical Study Report has been issued, demonstrating that the DYAI-100 vaccine met its primary endpoint of safety and reactogenicity.

• In April 2024, Dyadic and its development partner ViroVax reported pre-clinical animal testing on a ferritin nanoparticle H5N1 bird flu recombinant protein human vaccine candidate that demonstrated a strong immune response in rabbits. The potential vaccine combines Dyadic’s C1 single step ferritin nanoparticle H5N1 antigen production with a novel adjuvant from ViroVax. Additional animal studies are being carried out that preliminarily show that this H5N1 bird flu vaccine has the potential to be used in humans.
• Successfully expressed H1N1 influenza antigen in the fully funded research collaboration with the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (“VIC”) at Massachusetts General Hospital to express vaccine antigens for influenza A and other infectious diseases, as part of a US $5.88 million award from the Department of Defense (“DoD”).
• On March 25, 2024, the Company entered a funded research collaboration with a top ten pharmaceutical company to develop a vaccine antigen and a monoclonal antibody produced from the C1 technology.
• In March 2024, a manuscript of preclinical studies on C1-produced monoclonal antibody in non-human primates and hamsters was published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. A non-human primate challenge study completed dosing of a C1-produced COVID-19 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that had previously demonstrated broad neutralization and protection against Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) and the other earlier variants of concern in hamsters. Preliminary results obtained from the challenge study with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta virus on non-human primates demonstrated potential high protection. This was the first time a C1-produced monoclonal antibody was used in a non-human primate study validating the safety and efficacy of a C1 produced antibody for infectious diseases.
• On February 28, 2024, the Company’s Dutch subsidiary, Dyadic Nederland BV, entered into a strategic partnership agreement and collaboration with Rabian BV (“Rabian”), a Dutch innovative SME founded by experienced entrepreneurs and vaccine scientists. Awarded by Eurostars for the AVATAR project, a part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), and co-funded by the European Union through Horizon Europe. Rabian will use the total funding of approximately Є1.7 million leveraging its expertise in virology to develop a rabies vaccine using Dyadic’s C1 protein production platform to tackle the challenges posed by rabies, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries. Dyadic is expected to receive an equity stake in Rabian, fully funded research and development costs, and specified product milestones and royalties upon commercialization.
• On February 21, 2024, the Company announced it has advanced its collaboration with the IIBR and its commercial arm Life Science Research Israel (LSRI), to target emerging disease solutions. This partnership aims to leverage Dyadic’s expertise in microbial platforms for flexible scale protein bioproduction and the IIBR’s antibodies and antigens discovery capabilities to develop and manufacture innovative solutions for addressing emerging diseases and potential bio-threats. Through this collaboration, both parties are working towards the development of effective treatments and vaccines to combat global health challenges with the intention of future commercialization (to date, the framework is non-binding and subject to the execution of a binding agreement to be negotiated by the parties) through collaborative out-licensing initiatives.
• On February 13, 2024, the Company announced a strategic partnership with Cygnus Technologies®, part of Maravai LifeSciences®, who have developed the C1 Host Cell Protein ELISA Kit for the quality release of products produced using Dyadic’s protein expression platforms. The C1 Host Cell Protein ELISA Kit is now available for purchase on Cygnus Technologies website under Fungal HCP ELISA kits tab.
• On February 6, 2024, the Company announced it signed a fully funded evaluation agreement including a commercial option with an undisclosed leading global biopharmaceutical company to design and produce recombinant proteins using Dyadic’s C1 microbial protein production platform.

~Animal Health Sector~

• On March 15, 2024, the Company expanded its collaboration with Phibro Animal Health/Abic Biological Laboratories Ltd to develop vaccines and treatments for companion and livestock animal diseases.
• C1 produced adjuvanted recombinant ferritin nanoparticle H5N1 “Bird Flu” human vaccine candidate demonstrated a strong immune response in animal studies for potential use in poultry, cattle and other animals.
  • The H5N1 C1 produced bird flu ferritin nanoparticle vaccine elicits high neutralizing antibodies against all three virus isolates (including Texas) of the H5 virus in livestock.

~Alternative Proteins Sector~
Dyadic is advancing a pipeline of differentiated product candidates that leverage its microbial protein production platforms, including Dapibus™ which have demonstrated the ability and efficiency to enable the rapid development and large-scale manufacture of proteins at low cost in a wide range of non-pharmaceutical applications and commercial use.
Cell Culture Media Products

• In March 2024, the Company executed a term sheet with a large global albumin manufacturer and distributor to develop and license Dyadic’s recombinant serum albumin. The Company’s animal-free recombinant serum albumin projects were initiated in late 2022 using Dyadic pharmaceutical cell lines for use in potential therapeutic, product development, research, and/or diagnostic human and animal pharmaceutical applications. The Company has completed the initial analysis of its recombinant albumin products and has Certificates of Analysis for recombinant human and bovine albumin that demonstrate comparability to reference standards used in the testing.
• In March 2024, the Company entered into a co-promotion agreement with Biftek Co. for the promotion of growth media supplement for cell culture.
• The Company is undergoing a project to produce recombinant transferrin for use in cell culture media for the alternative protein industry.
• The Company is currently sampling recombinant bovine albumin for application testing as growth media for the cultured meat industry.

Non-animal Dairy Products

• As previously announced, in September 2023, the Company entered into a development and exclusive license agreement to commercialize certain non-animal dairy enzymes used in the production of food products using Dapibus™ and received an upfront payment of $0.6 million in October 2023. The Company believes it has achieved the specified target yield level required for a milestone payment upon verification by its partner, and the development of a second enzyme is progressing as planned.
• The Company has developed a highly productive strain and is actively sampling recombinant alpha-lactalbumin, a whey protein, and is currently negotiating several development and commercialization agreements.
• The Company is undergoing a beta-lactoglobulin animal-free recombinant whey protein project, expected to begin sampling in the late third quarter.
• The Company is undergoing a recombinant lactoferrin project, expected to begin sampling the product in the late second or early third quarter.

Bio Industrial Products

• The Company has developed three enzymes, with plans for two additional enzymes, that have the potential for use in multiple industries, such as dairy, nutrition, biogas, biofuels and biorefining. Several initial targets are under evaluation with interested parties.

Financial Highlights
Cash Position: As of March 31, 2024, cash, cash equivalents, and the carrying value of investment-grade securities, including accrued interest, were approximately $12.1 million compared to $7.3 million as of December 31, 2023.
Revenue: Research and development revenue and license revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2024, decreased to approximately $335,000 compared to $934,000 for the same period a year ago. The decrease in research and development revenue was due to the winding down of several large research collaborations conducted in 2023. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company’s revenue was generated from ten collaborations compared to seven collaborations in the same period a year ago.
Cost of Revenue: Cost of research and development revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2024, decreased to approximately $144,000 compared to $727,000 for the same period a year ago. The decrease in cost of research and development revenue was due to the same reasons as for revenue described above.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2024, decreased by 35.5% to approximately $523,000 compared to $811,000 for the same period a year ago. The decrease reflected the winding down of activities related to the Company’s Phase 1 clinical trial of DYAI-100 COVID-19 vaccine candidate and a decrease in the amount of ongoing internal research projects.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2024, increased by 20.9% to approximately $1,789,000 compared to $1,480,000 for the same period a year ago. The increase reflected increases in business development and investor relations expenses of approximately $138,000, audit fees of $99,000, management incentives of $59,000, and other increases of $59,000, offset by decreases in insurance expenses of $29,000 and legal expenses of $17,000.
Loss from Operations: Loss from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2024, slightly increased to $2,126,000, compared to $2,050,000 for the same period a year ago.
Net Loss: Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2024, was $2,010,000 or $(0.07) per share compared to $956,000 or $(0.03) per share for the same period a year ago. The increase in net loss was derived from the sale of the Company’s equity interest in Alphazyme LLC for $989,000 in 2023.
Conference Call Information: Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time Dial-in numbers: Toll Free 877-407-0784 International +1-201-689-8560 Conference ID: 13743568 Webcast link: https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1650831&tp_key=0f89478e24
An archive of the webcast will be available within 24 hours after completion of the live event and will be accessible on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.dyadic.com. To access the replay of the webcast, please follow the webcast link above.