Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, holds a Burmese python at a media event, Thursday, June 16, 2022, where he announced that registration for the 2022 Florida Python Challenge has opened for the annual 10-day event to be held Aug 5-14, in Miami. The Python Challenge is intended to engage the public in participating in Everglades conservation through invasive species removal of the Burmese python. Also pictured are Ron Bergeron, left, McKayla Spencer, second from left, Rodney Barreto, third from right, and Jan Fore, second from right.

MIAMI — Flanked by a huge writhing snake, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday, June 16, that the annual prize-winning hunt for invasive Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades will begin Aug. 5.

People must register to participate and complete an online training course for the event, which typically draws hundreds from across the country. Last year’s “Python Challenge” involved more than 600 people from 25 states, DeSantis said at a news conference in the Everglades.

Behind the Republican governor, it took three people to hold a live, 10-foot female python as a demonstration. The snakes have virtually no natural enemies in the Everglades and have decimated native populations of mammals, birds and other reptiles.

“These pythons are a threat to the Everglades,” DeSantis said. “Let’s reel in some pythons.”

The hunt begins Aug. 5 at 8 a.m. and ends Aug. 14 at 5 p.m. Prizes include $2,500 for the most pythons captured and $1,500 for the longest snake. Last year, the first-prize winner captured 223 pythons, while the $1,500 winner bagged a snake that was more than 15 feet long. Snakes must be killed humanely.

DeSantis said this year’s state budget includes $3 million specifically for python removal in the Everglades, including technology such as infrared sensors to locate the hard-to-see snakes in the wild. A key point of the snake event, the governor said, is to raise awareness about the threat and enable people to take part.

“We view this as a challenge,” he said. “We really wanted to supercharge those efforts.”

Apple workers vote to unionize at Maryland store

TOWSON, Md. — Apple store employees in a Baltimore suburb voted to unionize by a nearly 2-to-1 margin Saturday, June 18, a union said, joining a growing push across U.S. retail, service and tech industries to organize for greater workplace protections.

The Apple retail workers in Towson, Maryland, voted 65-33 to seek entry into the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union’s announcement said. The vote could not immediately be confirmed with the National Labor Relations Board, which would have to certify the outcome. An NLRB spokesperson referred initial queries about the vote to the board’s regional office, which was closed late Saturday.

Apple declined to comment on the development, company spokesperson Josh Lipton told The Associated Press by phone.

Union organizing in a variety of fields has gained momentum recently after decades of decline in U.S. union membership. Organizers have worked to establish unions at companies including Amazon, Starbucks, Google parent company Alphabet and outdoors retailer REI.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Apple employees who wanted to join said they sent Apple CEO Tim Cook notice last month that they were seeking to form a union. The statement said their driving motivation was to seek “rights we do not currently have.” It added that the workers recently organized in the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, or CORE.

“I applaud the courage displayed by CORE members at the Apple store in Towson for achieving this historic victory,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. in the statement. “They made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees across the nation who had all eyes on this election.”

Biden takes spill while getting off bike after beach ride

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — President Joe Biden fell when he tried to get off his bike at the end of a ride Saturday, June 18, at Cape Henlopen State Park near his beach home in Delaware, but wasn’t hurt in the tumble.

“I’m good,” he told reporters after U.S. Secret Service agents quickly helped him up. “I got my foot caught” in the toe cages.

Biden, 79, and first lady Jill Biden were wrapping up a morning ride when the president decided to pedal over to a crowd of well-wishers standing by the bike trail. Biden, who was wearing a helmet, took the spill when he tried to dismount, apparently falling on his right side and rolling on to his back before being helped up.

The president quickly collected himself and spent several minutes chatting with people who had gathered to watch him bike. Biden did not need medical attention and is “fine,” according to a White House statement.