Latest news with #Navarrete
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Mayor Brandon Johnson announces $40 million to upgrade Chicago's homeless shelters
Tania Navarrete welcomes a group of city employees to her new apartment on the South Side. She guides them through the living room and bedroom and then into her kitchen. Art lines the walls and the fridge is fully stocked with food. The employees, on a 'special assignment' for the day, are with the city's Homeless Outreach and Prevention team. They helped Navarrete find and move into the new apartment about a month ago. The 33-year-old had lived for about three years inside a tent at the contentious Gompers Park homeless encampment after being evicted from her apartment. 'It's so comfortable here compared to the park,' Navarrete told the Tribune. 'So much problems over there. I better stay here.' The group of four employees made a quick stop at Navarrete's apartment last week to check in and bring her supplies, including food, bedding and a new toy for her black cat, Tinkerbell, a stray that Navarrete picked up at Gompers. The team spends their days building trust with many of the more than 7,000 people across the city experiencing homelessness. The goal is to help them rebuild and improve their lives. Navarrete is a success story, a bright spot in a system plagued with inequities and community pushback. But success stories take time and require resources, Luis Santiago, a community intervention specialist said. And there's two resources he said he's lacking most in his job — affordable units, particularly on the Northwest Side, and quality shelter space. The city combined its migrant and homeless shelters, called the 'One System Initiative,' to mixed success. 'Shelter space is so tight right now because of One System,' Santiago said. 'We just need more shelter, and that takes funding.' In a step toward that goal, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Department of Family & Support Services announced Wednesday a $40 million investment to 'modernize' homeless shelters throughout the city, calling it the 'largest local shelter capital investment in Chicago's history.' Seven shelters received provisional grants, according to DFSS. Citywide the department hopes to improve around 750 permanent shelter beds, increase Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility and create 350 beds in private rooms citywide, a news release said, citing research that shows noncongregate shelters improve health and housing outcomes. 'Overall, this is an investment for healthier, safer and more private and more accessible facilities,' Johnson said at a news conference at Saint Leonard's House, a grant recipient that provides interim housing for formerly incarcerated men on the Near West Side. 'This investment spans across the city to seven shelters on the North, South and West sides of our city so that residents experiencing homelessness can find quality shelters wherever they are,' Johnson added. Half of the money for the program will come from federal funding, specifically the HOME Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program, DFSS said. The other $20 million will come from locally issued bond funds. Meanwhile, the city faces a more than $1 billion anticipated deficit for 2026, a major pending union contract and other budget challenges. 'We are facing a budget dilemma, but we can fix it,' Johnson told a group of shelter officials at a roundtable Wednesday. 'We just have to have the political will … What I don't want is this zero sum where we have to cut services and find these so-called efficiencies that end up leading to closures.' Shelter operators said the money is long overdue and will be put to good use. Ivory Snow, chief administrative officer for Saint Leonard's Ministries, said the nonprofit plans to use the grant to install air-conditioning, convert shared spaces into about 40 private bedrooms and add ADA accessible bathrooms. 'Allowing for peace and privacy and dignity, just being able to go to your own room and if I need to chill and have a moment and kind of process today, our residents will be able to do that,' Snow said. At a Franciscan Outreach shelter, executive director Robret Simpson said they recently had to evacuate when temperatures climbed above 90 degrees. They want to use the grant money to install air-conditioning, she said. They also plan to move the women's dorm so female residents don't have to walk through the men's dorm, as well as build a dining room. 'Our guests stand up to eat in 10 minute increments with partitions, because that's what we have to do,' Simpson said. 'It's creating a space where we are matching not just what we're trying to do in services with the space that they're existing in, but also creating a better hope for a population that we all know has been historically disconnected from that feeling.' 'So for us, it's life-changing,' she added. A Garfield Park transitional home run by Inner Voice plans to install a lift to bring people to the first floor and install an accessible bathroom, said Jackie Edens, the group's president and the city's former director of homeless services. 'ADA accessibility is also beyond just mobility, but it's about vision and hearing too,' she said. 'So that was all taken into account. A lot of these architectural plans, the renderings were being thought of, so (we are) trying to be holistic in our approach to serving people with any kind of disability.' People with disabilities — which make up about 19% of the adult homeless population — have long expressed concerns about the lack of accessible shelter space. A number of lawsuits have been filed against the city accusing the shelter system of failing to provide accommodations mandated by federal law. Iliana Rivera Haven, a housing community organizer with the disability rights group Access Living, which is part of several lawsuits, said in a statement that the city has denied people with disabilities access to its shelters for decades and that 'any investment in ADA compliance to correct that problem is a win for the people of Chicago.' 'That said, even though we have been fighting for accessibility for years, this announcement was surprising news to us and to our allies working to end homelessness — we've received no details on the city's plans or how this investment will address long-standing barriers,' Rivera Haven said. 'Advocates with lived experience would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the city to ensure this funding delivers real change for disabled Chicagoans experiencing homelessness.' Doug Schenkelberg, executive director for the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, said the organization supports Johnson's efforts to 'create safer, more dignified spaces for unhoused Chicagoans, particularly at a time when the federal government is poised to abandon housing investments and embrace racist policy choices.' 'It is crucial for the city, state and federal governments to pair investments in shelter with more permanent solutions — housing with supportive services — so all Chicagoans have a safe place to call home,' Schenkelberg said.
Chicago Tribune
16-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Puttshack, opening at Skokie's Old Orchard mall, features high-tech mini-golf
A new 30,000-square-foot indoor mini-golf venue with food and drink is scheduled to open at Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie on June 20. The venue is also the final business put into place to occupy the square footage of the former Lord and Taylor store at the outdoor mall. The others are Zara, Arhaus and Pottery Barn. The nine-hole mini-golf venue uses motion sensor technology to measure how many strokes a player takes to finish a course, among other tech infusions to the game of putt putt. The Skokie location has four courses, like most of Puttshack's locations, and offers 'challenge holes,' an additional mini-golf experience that uses virtual reality and is only in Skokie and Puttshack's suburban Dallas location. Carlos Navarrete, Puttshack's director of operations, said the Skokie location is slightly larger than their Oakbrook location, which allowed it to have the challenge holes and also a layout that connects a rentable private room and bar to the courses. 'We have had technology that nobody (else) has,' Navarrete said of the technology that activates features on every hole in the course. 'And on top of that, the type of service, the type of cuisine, the type of drinks that we serve here, that's different.' The Skokie location will have a wide variety of bar foods including skewers, quesabirria, bao buns and flatbreads. Each location of Puttshack also has regional differences to cater to each audience, according to Navarrete, and the Chicago edition of spring rolls, called 'tailpipes,' will be filled with Italian beef, giardiniera and cheese. Puttshack's addition to the former Lord and Taylor site is part of the mall's redevelopment, planned for two phases. The first phase is anticipated to bring 600 apartments to the former site of Bloomingdale's and the current site of Forever 21 and Barnes and Noble, according to Westfield Old Orchard's General Manager Maegan Akers. 'We're very excited to finally have the last piece of the Lord and Taylor development, and I think it feeds nicely into our next phase of development with the residential coming up,' Akers said. The Barnes and Noble and Forever 21 will relocate to the former Zara location, she said. 'We've started all the not fun behind-the-scenes utilities, designs, planning and all of that. All the fun stuff where we actually start taking down the building is happening early 2026,' Akers said. Currently, Puttshack has a few locations at suburban malls that also have residential buildings, near Nashville and St. Louis, according to Navarrete. 'For us, it's creating a whole city, where you can get everything you need and in one space,' Akers said. In the next phase, a community green space is also envisioned to connect the residential area to the mall.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Local talent, a big hit for Odessa College Softball
ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – The 2025 roster for the Odessa College softball team features eight players from outside the United States and 12 from the United States. Sophomore infielder Renske Tellekamp from Zoetermeer, Netherlands, leads the team in home runs with 16, and her family was in town and got to see one of them, which Head Coach Doug Eastman called a special moment. The Lady Wranglers finished the regular season at 46-6 overall and 24-0 in the conference as they prepare for their fifth straight World Series. The team is led by four players who used to play high school softball in the Permian Basin, and all four were named first team all-conference this season. 'It's just a neat thing when they can now all come together on the same team. They have the same goals that anybody else does, and they're just helping us win a national championship,' Eastman said. Those players are as follows: Diveli Cherry, Shelby Navarrete – Odessa High Mackenzei Bernal – Permian Jaycie Pacheco – Midland Legacy 'They're just not four locals, they're four starters, they're four impact players to this program, and you can't get that all the time out of a local community.' This season, Navarrete led the team in batting average at .525 and runs batted in with 83, and she was second on the team with 15 home runs. Navarrete was also named the Western Junior College Athletic Conference's most valuable player. Bernal is third on the team in batting average with a .423 and second in runs batted in with 68. Cherry is fifth on the team with a batting average of .330. OC looks to continue the success they've had with the local talent and bring back the first national championship back to Odessa since 1994. 'Being here in Odessa and being a local I think it means more to us because we're bringing it back to Odessa specifically so I think it's very huge for us to come out and win it all,' Navarrete said. You can watch the full story in the video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spokane Councilwoman Lili Navarrete to step down ahead of election
May 15—Spokane City Councilwoman Lili Navarrete, believed to be the first Hispanic or immigrant member of the Spokane City Council, will step down in the coming months, she said Thursday. Navarrete announced in March that she would not run for a new term, citing health concerns. Alejandro Barrientos, chief operating officer at SCAFCO Steel Stud Company, and Kate Telis, a former deputy prosecutor from New Mexico, have both filed to run for the seat. On Thursday Navarrete confirmed recent rumors that she planned to step down ahead of the election. In a brief interview outside City Hall, she cited two recent health scares worsened by the stress of the job and potential employment opportunities that she couldn't juggle with council commitments. She hasn't decided exactly when to step down and hadn't planned on publicly announcing the decision yet, but will fully lay out her resignation plans soon, she said Thursday. Navarrete's resignation opens the door to a short-term appointment to fill her seat, similar to the musical chairs that played out ahead of the council election in 2023. At the time, then-Council President Breean Beggs resigned to accept an appointment as a Superior Court judge, then-Councilwoman Lori Kinnear was appointed to serve as council president, and Priority Spokane Executive Director Ryan Oelrich was appointed six weeks later in August to fill Kinnear's council seat. Oelrich's appointed term was just over two months long; Paul Dillon and Katey Treloar were running at the time for Kinnear's seat, and while election winners are usually sworn in the following January, appointees are replaced immediately after the election is certified, so Dillon took office in mid-November. In a brief interview Thursday, Dillon said neither Barrientos nor Telis should be appointed to fill the seat ahead of their election, arguing it would give the appointee an unfair and undemocratic advantage. Navarrete also was appointed to her seat in January, 2024, to a nearly two-year stint representing south Spokane on the city council, filling a seat vacated when Wilkerson was elected as city council president. At the time of her appointment, she anticipated serving the full appointed term and planned to run for re-election in 2025, she said Thursday. Navarrete immigrated from Mexico City to Spokane in 1988 and wrote in her application for the open seat that while growing up she had not felt represented by city government, noting she had "always wondered why a person of color was not up on the dais" until recently. Prior to her appointment on the city council, Navarrete served as community development officer for the state Commission on Hispanic Affairs and previously as director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood for Greater Washington and North Idaho, where she worked alongside Dillon, the other representative for south Spokane. During her time on council, Navarrete has shepherded an ordinance to encourage the recruiting of more multilingual city employees, worked on a slate of reforms to increase employment and housing rights for the homeless which was ultimately whittled down to the hiring protection dubbed "Ban the Address." Most recently, she introduced legislation meant to prevent federal immigration officers from warrantless raids in city parks.
Scottish Sun
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Boxing world champion set to have controversial win OVERTURNED after rare use of video replay
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WORLD champion Emanuel Navarrete is set to have his win over Charly Suarez changed to a no-contest after a rare use of video replay. Mexican Navarrete was defending his WBO super-featherweight title in San Diego when he was cut above his left eyebrow in round six. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Emanuel Navarrete is set to have his win over Charly Suarez changed to a no-contest Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank By the eighth, ringside physician Dr. Robert Ruelaz ruled the fight needed to be stopped with Navarrete's vision impaired. Per the rules of boxing, if a cut is caused by a punch and the bout is stopped it results in a TKO. But, if deemed to have been caused by a headbutt then the fight goes to the judges scorecards at the time of the stoppage. In this case, Navarrete led on the cards and was awarded a technical decision - retaining his 130lb title. Video replay was used on the night and official Jack Reiss said there was no conclusive evidence to deem that a punch caused the cut. Footage revealed a swiping left hook landing on Navarrete before the two came together shortly afterwards - making it unclear where the cut was caused. But, in a subsequent review days after the bout, the California State Athletic Commission now look set to overturn the result, BoxingScene report. It marks a rare occasion when a fight is overturned using replays in the days following the bout. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Had the punch been deemed to have caused the cut on the night of the fight it would have crowned Suarez as the new champ. But, if Navarrete's win is indeed overturned to a no-contest then he will still retain the title with a rematch expected to be called. He said after the fight: 'I felt it was a headbutt. I saw the review. It seems like a punch, but it exploded two layers of skin. 'I didn't want it to end. I was fine to keep going. I felt like the best rounds were still to come. But the doctor stopped the fight. 'He would be a great opponent. He is a great opponent. So a rematch would be good.' Suarez added: 'I thought I had a chance to win the fight. I had five more rounds to try to win."
