Latest news with #Baack
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Milwaukee Youth Council focusing on 'underappreciated' issues of homelessness, suicide
The Milwaukee Youth Council is trying to take at least a step toward addressing two problems that are often hard to identify — youth homelessness and thoughts of suicide. And although $160,000 isn't a huge amount of money, the Youth Council decided this week to divide the money in half, with one half going to two local agencies to work on youth homelessness and the other half going to two other local agencies to work on suicide prevention. Youth Council member Corbeau Martin Caldwell said he hoped the money would help tackle 'underappreciated issues in the community.' The money comes from $160,000 under the Community Development Block Grant program, and is intended to help youths aged 11 to 21. The plan will go before the Milwaukee Common Council for approval on July 31, according to City Clerk Jim Owczarski. Under the plan, Walkers Point Youth and Family Center and the Hmong American Friendship Association will focus on youth homeless intervention. Pathfinders Association and Silver Spring Neighborhood Center will focus on suicide prevention. Each will get $40,000. The homelessness issue can be particularly tricky. 'Youth homelessness isn't just you're living out in the street,' Martin Caldwell said. 'You could be living in a car. You could be living in a relative's house. There are so many different ways that housing instability manifests itself in Milwaukee.' The city's homeless population decreased by 17% last year, according to point-in-time data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which measures homelessness on a single night each year. However, youth homelessness is harder to measure and identify. According to Pathfinders, about 12,000 young people ages 10-24 in Milwaukee County experience homelessness every year. This estimate is based on national data from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and U.S Census Bureau. Tim Baack, president and CEO of Pathfinders Association, said it's harder to track youth homelessness because it doesn't manifest itself in typical ways, like living on the street or encampments or makeshift shelters. 'The reality is our young people will not be found in encampments. Just because the problem is invisible that doesn't mean it isn't there,' Baack said. Young people experiencing homelessness might live with friends or other family members, engaging in 'couch surfing' or 'house hopping.' They may find temporary housing, Baack said, but they are at risk of exploitation and don't have a long-term solution. 'It may keep them off the streets temporarily, but often the conditions in which they're living under are incredibly unsafe,' Baack said. Vulnerable youth can't keep pace with inflation costs Youth homelessness can happen for a myriad of reasons, but Baack said two reasons are the housing market and rent affordability. According to a study last year, a person working a minimum wage job in Milwaukee would have to spend 84% of their annual earnings on a one-bedroom rental. Mindy Calderon-Pitchford, the director of community services at Wellpoint Care Network said when 18-year-olds age out of the foster care system, they're less likely to afford rent because of a lack of support. 'Oftentimes their transition out of care could be abrupt because one day you're in foster care and then the next day you're not,' Calderon-Pitchford said. Calderon-Pitchford said intervention programs — like those the Youth Council money is funding — can help renting and finances. Suicide Prevention As for the grant money going toward suicide prevention, about 6 in 10 Wisconsin high schoolers reported being anxious, depressed or suicidal each day, according to the most recent Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Almost one in five seriously considered suicide. Those experiencing homelessness are at a greater risk for considering suicide. Mary Madden, executive director of NAMI Southeast Wisconsin, said a hurdle for young people seeking help is the stigma around asking in the first place. She said programs like NAMI's Ending the Silence, which uses young adults sharing their journey to recovery from mental illness, help lower the stigma of getting help by having someone kids can relate to. 'We found that that is the best way to reduce stigma is by having somebody that they can relate to come in and say, yes, I've been at risk of suicide, or I attempted suicide, or I, you know, deal with major depressive disorder. I've done things with my life, recovery is possible,' Madden said. Madden said more intervention services similar to Ending the Silence can help young people lower the stigma and inform not just people at risk, but family and friends as well. "The benefit for suicide prevention programs for anybody, whether it's youth or adults, are ensuring that people understand where to get resources, where to get assistance," Madden said. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Grants target hard-to-attack issues: youth homelessness, suicide
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Milwaukee Youth Council focusing on 'underappreciated' issues of homelessness, suicide
The Milwaukee Youth Council is trying to take at least a step toward addressing two problems that are often hard to identify — youth homelessness and thoughts of suicide. And although $160,000 isn't a huge amount of money, the Youth Council decided this week to divide the money in half, with one half going to two local agencies to work on youth homelessness and the other half going to two other local agencies to work on suicide prevention. Youth Council member Corbeau Martin Caldwell said he hoped the money would help tackle 'underappreciated issues in the community.' The money comes from $160,000 under the Community Development Block Grant program, and is intended to help youths aged 11 to 21. The plan will go before the Milwaukee Common Council for approval on July 31, according to City Clerk Jim Owczarski. Under the plan, Walkers Point Youth and Family Center and the Hmong American Friendship Association will focus on youth homeless intervention. Pathfinders Association and Silver Spring Neighborhood Center will focus on suicide prevention. Each will get $40,000. The homelessness issue can be particularly tricky. 'Youth homelessness isn't just you're living out in the street,' Martin Caldwell said. 'You could be living in a car. You could be living in a relative's house. There are so many different ways that housing instability manifests itself in Milwaukee.' The city's homeless population decreased by 17% last year, according to point-in-time data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which measures homelessness on a single night each year. However, youth homelessness is harder to measure and identify. According to Pathfinders, about 12,000 young people ages 10-24 in Milwaukee County experience homelessness every year. This estimate is based on national data from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and U.S Census Bureau. Tim Baack, president and CEO of Pathfinders Association, said it's harder to track youth homelessness because it doesn't manifest itself in typical ways, like living on the street or encampments or makeshift shelters. 'The reality is our young people will not be found in encampments. Just because the problem is invisible that doesn't mean it isn't there,' Baack said. Young people experiencing homelessness might live with friends or other family members, engaging in 'couch surfing' or 'house hopping.' They may find temporary housing, Baack said, but they are at risk of exploitation and don't have a long-term solution. 'It may keep them off the streets temporarily, but often the conditions in which they're living under are incredibly unsafe,' Baack said. Youth homelessness can happen for a myriad of reasons, but Baack said two reasons are the housing market and rent affordability. According to a study last year, a person working a minimum wage job in Milwaukee would have to spend 84% of their annual earnings on a one-bedroom rental. Mindy Calderon-Pitchford, the director of community services at Wellpoint Care Network said when 18-year-olds age out of the foster care system, they're less likely to afford rent because of a lack of support. 'Oftentimes their transition out of care could be abrupt because one day you're in foster care and then the next day you're not,' Calderon-Pitchford said. Calderon-Pitchford said intervention programs — like those the Youth Council money is funding — can help renting and finances. As for the grant money going toward suicide prevention, about 6 in 10 Wisconsin high schoolers reported being anxious, depressed or suicidal each day, according to the most recent Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Almost one in five seriously considered suicide. Those experiencing homelessness are at a greater risk for considering suicide. Mary Madden, executive director of NAMI Southeast Wisconsin, said a hurdle for young people seeking help is the stigma around asking in the first place. She said programs like NAMI's Ending the Silence, which uses young adults sharing their journey to recovery from mental illness, help lower the stigma of getting help by having someone kids can relate to. 'We found that that is the best way to reduce stigma is by having somebody that they can relate to come in and say, yes, I've been at risk of suicide, or I attempted suicide, or I, you know, deal with major depressive disorder. I've done things with my life, recovery is possible,' Madden said. Madden said more intervention services similar to Ending the Silence can help young people lower the stigma and inform not just people at risk, but family and friends as well. "The benefit for suicide prevention programs for anybody, whether it's youth or adults, are ensuring that people understand where to get resources, where to get assistance," Madden said. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Grants target hard-to-attack issues: youth homelessness, suicide
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Yahoo
City blocked from applying vendor laws to beachside yoga classes
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A preliminary injunction was issued Wednesday by a federal appeals court in a lawsuit filed by two yoga instructors over the city of San Diego's crackdown on donation-based yoga classes at public parks and beaches under its vendor laws. The decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reverses a lower court's partial dismissal of the case, blocks the city from enforcing the vendor law as it pertains to these longstanding classes while the case continues litigation. The ruling is a notable victory for the instructors, Steve Hubbard — also known as 'NamaSteve' — and Amy Baack, who first sued the city in federal court last year, asserting the application of the vendor law to their classes infringed on their First Amendment right to free speech. Local LGBTQ+ community deals with vandalism amid Pride Month A district court judge had previously rebuffed this part of their claim, arguing the law does not regulate what they said, rather their conduct. In its opinion, a three-judge panel at the court of appeals disagreed with the lower court's conclusion, arguing that the lecturing about yoga philosophy and spirituality is indivisible from the exercise aspects of the practice. 'A person who teaches yoga is communicating and disseminating information about this philosophy and practice through speech and expressive movements,' Judge Holly Thomas wrote for the panel in its opinion. 'Like vocational training classes, Hubbard's and Baack's classes aim to impart a specific skill and communicate advice derived from specialized knowledge.' The opinion adds the city's ordinance is clearly content-based in the way it was written, expressly allowing the teaching of some subjects like tai chi and Shakespeare's plays at shoreline parks and beaches but not others. Given this interdependence, San Diego would have to have a compelling public interest to place narrow restrictions on activities like yoga in outdoor spaces — something the appeals court judges did not appear convinced the city had demonstrated at this point in the case. These factors, Thomas said, makes Hubbard and Baack's constitutional challenge likely to prevail on the merits. Now, the case has been remanded back to the district court judge for further litigation. In a statement, a spokesperson for the city attorney's office said they were 'evaluating the decision and potential next steps.' FOX 5/KUSI has also reached out to the Parks and Recreation Department for comment on the injunction and is awaiting response. Ambulance rides in San Diego just got more expensive — this is why The lawsuit is one of two the yoga instructors have filed since San Diego park rangers began ramping up enforcement of beachside yoga last year. Hubbard and Baack also filed a lawsuit in state court on similar grounds after their federal claim was partially dismissed. The crackdown at the center of the instructors' lawsuits came after the city council voted to expand existing laws requiring permits for commercial vendors to use public spaces to encompass activities like the classes and luxury picnics. Hubbard and Baack received a number of citations from park rangers for violating this law as the city ratcheted up enforcement. One of these citations, Hubbard alleges, was given to him for teaching a class via YouTube from his backyard to people who were doing the exercises at a beach. As the case continues, Hubbard says he plans to resume teaching beachside yoga classes as early as Thursday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
30-04-2025
- USA Today
Watch terrifying moment as man narrowly escapes polar bear as it charges at him in Norway
Watch terrifying moment as man narrowly escapes polar bear as it charges at him in Norway Show Caption Hide Caption Harrowing video captures polar bear chasing man on snowmobile A man was lucky to outrun a charging polar bear on a snowmobile after a gunshot didn't scare the predator in the Arctic town of Pyramiden. It was almost like a scene out of a movie as a man dropped everything and jumped onto a snowmobile to escape a charging polar bear in Norway. Dramatic video footage captured by Rebecca Baack, who was staying at a hotel in the Arctic town of Pyramiden on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard for a ski expedition, shows the man firing a gun at the polar bear. In response, the wild animal charges at him, prompting him to drop his rifle and run. The man then hops onto a snow mobile and zooms away as the polar bear continues to chase him before eventually giving up and sitting down. People can be heard lauding the man's courage in the video, with one exclaiming: "Damn, very brave guy." 'Terrifying' experience Baack told USA TODAY April 29 that she was "terrified" for the man as she watched the incident, which occurred around midnight on April 27, unfold in front of her eyes. "It was a huge relief to see him escape," Baack said. "I wish he had had backup but thank goodness he left his snowmobile running and pointed in the right direction." Baack said she believes the man worked for the hotel and was trying to scare away the carnivore with a flare gun but the gun "unfortunately banged behind the bear, driving him in the wrong direction." The man later got into a pickup truck for more protection, Baack said, while the polar bear went under the hotel, which is on stilts. However, the bear didn't leave until he ate all the snacks he got from one of the snowmobiles, even though hotel employees kept trying to scare him away using truck horns. "Once he finished, he left town and went back out in the direction of the sea ice," Baack said. She added that the "hotel did a great job keeping about 100 drunk tourists safe inside, which was no small task." Polar bears outnumber humans in Svalbard Polar bears, also known as the King of the Arctic, are not uncommon in the Svalbard archipelago and Barents Sea, according to tourism agency Visit Svalbard. The agency estimates their population to be around 3,000, which exceeds the human population. While polar bears are considered a marine mammal and spend most of their life on drifting sea ice, Visit Svalbard advises visitors to be prepared to encounter a polar bear anywhere in Svalbard. "Polar bears attack extremely quickly without warning," the agency said. "Be accompanied by a local guide with a firearm when leaving the settlements." It not immediately known if the man in the encounter was a tourist or local, and what happened to him and the polar bear after. Svalbard is about a three-hour flight from Oslo. Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
NDTV
30-04-2025
- NDTV
In Chilling Video, Man Escapes Polar Bear As It Charges At Him In Norway
Quick Take Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. A man in Svalbard evaded a polar bear attack using a snowmobile. The incident occurred on April 27, provoking the bear with a warning shot. After dropping his rifle, he fled on the snowmobile, escaping the bear's charge. A man in Norway's Svalbard archipelago narrowly escaped a polar bear attack by escaping on a snowmobile. The incident took place on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on April 27, when the man attempted to scare the polar bear away by firing a warning shot, but it charged towards him. He then dropped his rifle and sprinted to a nearby snowmobile, narrowly escaping as the bear gave chase, before speeding to safety. The bear eventually gave up and sat in the snow. "Very brave guy!", a person says off-camera in the video, while another adds, "Damn, that guy is brave!" Here's the video: Polar Bear Crashes Party in Pyramiden Late Sunday night, a polar bear wandered into Pyramiden, Norway, an old mining town-turned-tourist spot run by a Russian company. Guests were mid-party at the hotel when the bear showed up. Warning shots didn't scare it off, and one… — Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) April 29, 2025 Rebecca Baack, who filmed the incident, said she was "terrified" as she watched the man narrowly escape the polar bear. Notably, Ms Baack was a visitor staying at a hotel in Pyramiden for a ski expedition, as per USA Today. She credited the man's quick escape to having his snowmobile ready to go. Ms Baack believed the man, possibly a hotel worker, tried to scare the bear with a flare gun, but it backfired and provoked the bear instead. After escaping on the snowmobile, the man took further shelter in a pickup truck. Meanwhile, the polar bear went underneath the stilted hotel and refused to leave until it had eaten snacks from one of the snowmobiles, despite hotel staff trying to scare it away with truck horns. Ms Baack also commended the hotel staff for their swift response and effective crowd control, noting they successfully kept around 100 tourists safe inside during the polar bear encounter. The Visit Svalbard tourism website describes the polar bear as the "King of the Arctic" and "one of the world's largest carnivores. The agency estimates its population to be around 3,000, which exceeds the human population. "Polar bears attack extremely quickly without warning. Be accompanied by a local guide with a firearm when leaving the settlements. Adult polar bears vary in size from [440 to 1,763 pounds]. Humans are considered alien in the polar bear habitat, and a polar bear may see us as potential prey. The polar bear is incredibly strong and even cubs weighing under [220 pounds] can be extremely aggressive and dangerous", the website warned.
