Category: News
Oswego OKs incentive for project at Prairie Market East shopping center
The Oswego Village Board recently authorized an economic incentive agreement of up to $1.5 million to assist the owners of the Prairie Market East shopping center with plans to construct a 25,000-square-foot building addition for future retail tenant HomeGoods.
Prairie Market East is at 300-540 Fifth St. in Oswego and is anchored by Aldi and PetSmart. The proposed building addition for HomeGoods would be built between the two anchors, officials said.
Village staff has been working with Edgemark, a subsidiary of Prairie Market 24 LP, since it purchased the shopping center in September 2024. The original plans said that the proposed addition could be for either a single tenant or multiple tenants depending on market demand, Oswego Economic Development Director Kevin Leighty said in his report to trustees.
Village staff was notified earlier this year from HomeGoods owner TJX Companies that previous plans to open in the former Lowe’s Garden Center in the Prairie Market shopping center had not progressed “due to the deal no longer being viable for the landlord,” Leighty said.
TJX Companies then “connected with Edgemark to revive their plans for opening a new store in Oswego at Prairie Market East,” Leighty said.
“TJX Companies received initial approval to move forward with the new site a few months later. Edgemark then approached the village about the potential for financial assistance to cover the gap that exists to make the project viable,” he said.
The village required detailed project financials, Leighty told trustees.
“The financial information provided a detailed project budget … and sales projections,” Leighty told the Village Board.
Leighty said “the additional construction and financing costs were the key factors that went into the calculation of a potential incentive amount.”
The agreement will begin once the retail space is constructed and ready for business with an occupancy permit issued for HomeGoods no later than July 1, 2027, Leighty said.
Starting on the date of HomeGoods opening, the village will rebate 100% of the municipal sales tax shared by the state that is generated by the business up to 15 years or a maximum of $1.5 million, whichever comes first, he said.
The developer will be required to refund the rebate to the village if HomeGoods closes or the site is left vacant without another business within two years, he said.
The project is expected to produce a substantial amount of tax revenue which would more than make up for the proposed incentive, Leighty said.
“Even with this sales tax sharing, the financial impact is considerable,” he said.
During the length of the incentive, the project will continue to generate an average of $144,000 annually in Home Rule sales taxes. Once the terms end, the project will generate a combined total of more than $300,000 in annual sales taxes, he said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Hunter Biden Denies Laptop’s Existence, Decries Open Borders, Claims $15 Million In Debt In Tell-All Interview
Hunter Biden Denies Laptop’s Existence, Decries Open Borders, Claims $15 Million In Debt In Tell-All Interview
Hunter Biden sat down with podcaster and former CIA contractor Shawn Ryan for a five-plus-hour interview that aired Monday evening.
During the conversation, the former president’s son dismissed the so-called “laptop from hell,” first reported by the New York Post in October 2020. He also broke with his father by criticizing open-border immigration policies, while complaining that he is swamped with $15 million in debt.
‘There Is No Laptop’
Let’s begin with Ryan’s conversation with Hunter about the laptop from hell, which he reportedly abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop years ago. Hunter offered a rather elaborate explanation for why he claims the laptop was “fabricated.”
“So what I can tell you about the laptop is that there is no laptop. That’s bullshit. What was provided out there … There is an actual physical laptop that somebody had, but the guy who had that said he had the laptop. The existence of the search for the laptop came before he was even a twinkle in Rudy Giuliani’s eye,” Hunter said.
Hunter continued, “There were people talk to Lev Parnes. Lev Parnes literally went to Ukraine to get a laptop from Dmitri Fertach to get a hard drive Hunter Biden’s hard drive from Dmitri Fertach and Andre Durkatch in Ukraine in Austria 4 months before John Paul Mac Issac ever even existed. And so what they did is they cobbled together stolen, concocted, fabricated mishmash of digital information largely which is you know thousands and thousands and thousands of emails for 20 from 25 years.
“I mean no laptop could have held all of that. And so what they did is they just put it all together, and then they talk about it. I mean, John Paul Mac Issac, who is literally blind, has no there’s no videotape of me ever dropping off a laptop. There’s no whatever,” Hunted said.
Ryan asked, “You never dropped off a laptop.”
Hunter responded, “I have no recollection whatsoever of ever dropping off a laptop at John Paul Mac Issac’s shop.”
Watch:
Hunter Biden Claims There’s NO Laptop. 🤯
Continue watching the full episode at 12:30PM CST. pic.twitter.com/ord4R7mtq4
— Shawn Ryan Show (@ShawnRyanShow) December 22, 2025
The next notable conversation Ryan had with Hunter centered on immigration, in which Hunter sharply diverged from his father – and his party’s – disastrous open-border policies.
Hunter said, “We need a vibrant immigration, But we don’t want immigrants that are coming here illegally, draining us of resources, and being prioitized above people that are actual, literal heroes, that are still recovering from 21, 20 years of endless war — or anybody else in our society.“
Watch:
Hunter Biden: “We don’t want immigrants that are coming here illegally, draining us of resources, and being prioritized above… anybody in our society.”
A stunning indictment of his father’s four years in office. pic.twitter.com/U6ZYF7Hc1D
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 23, 2025
A reminder that Hunter Biden told Feds that it was a pair of illegal Mexicans who tossed his firearm into a trash bin when it was Hallie Biden. https://t.co/AacydxkwkZ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 23, 2025
I’m Broke!
The final topic that piqued our interest was Hunter’s revelation about his personal finances, claiming that he’s $15 million in debt and has “no idea’ how he’ll pay it off.
Litigation sucks. I’ve been tied up in criminal and civil courts, and you know, I mean, like I got you, I don’t know $15 million dollars in debt that I have no idea that I’m going to be able to pay off. I have, you know, millions of dollars in debt, and nobody’s riding to the rescue for Hunter Biden.
My dad, you know, entered the presidency as the poorest man to ever take the office, and he left the presidency, the, you know, not poorest, I mean, which he’s fine, but, you know, like he has no generational wealth. I don’t have any, you know, despite what these guys say, like there are no billions of dollars buried underneath my dad’s house in, you know, Delaware.
Watch:
🚨 NEW: Hunter Biden Reveals He’s Nearly $15 Million in Debt
“I’ve got $15 Million in debt that I have no idea that I’m going to be able to pay off … We have no generational wealth.” pic.twitter.com/MICyagej7A
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 22, 2025
Hunter Biden who was driving a $200,000 Porsche and living in a $20k a month mansion in California when his father was the president is now crying about having no money and millions of dollars in debt.
I wonder what changed 🤔 pic.twitter.com/AZhl069faz
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) December 23, 2025
Why didn’t Ryan ask Hunter: if you’re dirt poor, how does one secure $15 million in debt?
Hunter Biden who was driving a $200,000 Porsche and living in a $20k a month mansion in California when his father was the president is now crying about having no money and millions of dollars in debt.
I wonder what changed 🤔 pic.twitter.com/AZhl069faz
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) December 23, 2025
There have been numerous reports over the years that Hunter flew with then-Vice President Joe Biden on Air Force Two to China in 2013, while later that year, the Chinese central bank in conjunction with Rosemont Seneca, a firm co-founded by Hunter Biden and Pittsburgh condiment fortune heir Christopher Heinz, reportedly set up a $1 billion joint venture called “Bohai Harvest RST.”
Biden just pardoned his family, not just Hunter. It’s a clear indication that they have a secret to cover up. Bohai (aka BHR) is worth billions. Via beneficial interest Biden family may own up to 27%. Was Biden China’s Manchurian candidate the entire time? pic.twitter.com/5S26KEIbnY
— David Asher (@dasher8090) January 20, 2025
While Hunter Biden attempted to push his own narratives and revive a badly tarnished image …
Why hasn’t Hunter been arrested for smoking crack while holding a loaded gun that he illegally obtained by lying? Easy. He’s using blackmail against his own Family. Did you honestly believe there weren’t more videos? We only saw the introduction… pic.twitter.com/K2W65yjFsG
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) March 25, 2023
… it was hard to miss that his 2021 memoir, Beautiful Things, appeared to be strategically placed on a pedestal beside him. All of it had the feel of a PR tour.
As for Bohai Harvest RST, the obvious question remains: where are those investigations?
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/23/2025 – 09:40
1 dead, 1 wounded in shooting on CTA Pink Line
According to a police report obtained by the Tribune, at least one person was fatally wounded and one injured in a possible robbery on the CTA Pink Line.
Around 1:30 a.m., police responded to a shooting at the Washington/Wells station where a man told police they were on a train when a tall heavyset man wearing all black opened fire. One of the victims suffered a wound to the right wrist and the other man was shot to the upper chest and left side, the report indicated.
A witness on the train described the shootings as a possible attempt robbery by the two victims, but that information has not been confirmed by police as of Tuesday morning.
According to the report, a weapon was not recovered from the scene.
Chicago police later said shortly before 1:30 a.m., a 23-year-old man and a 44-year-old man were on a train in the first block of North Wells when they became involved in an argument with someone armed with a knife. The argument turned into a fight and one of the victims pulled out a gun. Soon after, the suspect gained control of the weapon and opened fire, striking both victims, police said.
The older victim was shot to the abdomen and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The younger man was taken to the same hospital with a gunshot wound to the wrist and was listed in fair condition, police said.
The suspect fled the scene and no one was in custody for the fatal attack.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/23/shooting-cta-pink-line/
President Donald Trump triples migrant self-deportation bonus to $3,000
The Trump administration is offering undocumented migrants $3,000 and paid travel if they agree to leave the US voluntarily before the end of the year, its latest effort to escalate mass deportations and slash enforcement costs.
Undocumented migrants who self-deport using the CBP Home app will have their travel arranged and paid for by the Department of Homeland Security and will qualify for forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties for failing to leave the US, according to the department. The $3,000 stipend is triple the $1,000 payout the department unveiled in May.
The policy announcement is part of a holiday-season campaign aimed at speeding up deportations. One post on the Homeland Security Department’s X account warned people living illegally in the US that they are “GOING HO HO HOME.”
“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
Since January 2025, 1.9 million undocumented migrants have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands of them have used CBP Home, according to Noem. Those figures could not be independently verified. The app was created during the Biden administration for migrants to schedule asylum interviews but President Donald Trump’s team re-branded it and transformed its purpose.
Officials have called the program a more efficient alternative to costly arrests and removals. Even the increased bonus payments would save money for the government, which estimated the average cost to arrest, detain, and remove a migrant at roughly $17,000 per person.
DHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on how that calculus changes with the increased stipend. But “each self-deportation saves taxpayers up to a million dollars (or more) in future benefits,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller said in a post on X without elaborating.
Immigration lawyers and activists have raised doubts about the Trump administration’s claim that migrants who leave voluntarily may be able to return legally. Bloomberg previously reported that in many cases, people who have lived in the US without legal status face automatic bans that can last years, for which waivers are not typically granted.
The stipend increase comes as non-voluntary arrests and deportations haven’t met the administration’s early target of 1 million. Since taking office, the Trump administration has deported more than 335,000 people, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.
During that same period, ICE arrested more than 285,000 foreigners accused of being in the country illegally or of being deportable.
Officials have also taken steps to narrow legal immigration pathways. It announced that it will re-review the cases of all refugees resettled under former President Joe Biden and freeze their green card applications, and will consider among “significant negative factors” a country’s inclusion on the president’s vast travel ban.
The administration has also expanded its travel ban, which initially covered nationals of 19 countries, to those hailing from more than 30 countries.
With assistance from Alicia A. Caldwell.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/23/trump-migrant-self-deportation-bonus/
US Industrial Production Rises At Strongest Annual Rate Since Apr 2022
US Industrial Production Rises At Strongest Annual Rate Since Apr 2022
Following the much-stronger-than-expected GDP print, US Industrial Production also surprised to the upside, rising 0.2% MoM in November and pulling the YoY change up to 2.52% – the strongest annual growth since April 2022…
Source: Bloomberg
US Manufacturing output was unchanged in November, but better than the 0.4% MoM decline in October, as Motor Vehicles & Parts fell 5.1% MoM while Utilities jumped 2.6% MoM.
Capacity Utilization limped lower to 75.9% (from an upwardly revised 76.0%), but remains off the Nov 2024 lows…
Source: Bloomberg
So a mixed bag with output up strongly as capacity utilization slides…
Source: Bloomberg
… does that signal the productivity boost everyone has been waiting for?
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/23/2025 – 09:31
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/us-industrial-production-rises-strongest-annual-rate-apr-2022
US strikes another alleged drug-smuggling boat in eastern Pacific
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Monday that it had conducted another strike against a boat it said was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person.
In a social media post, U.S. Southern Command said, “Intelligence confirmed the low-profile vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” Southern Command provided no evidence that the vessel was engaged in drug smuggling.
A video posted by U.S. Southern Command shows splashes of water near one side of the boat. After a second salvo, the rear of the boat catches fire. More splashes engulf the craft and the fire grows. In the final second of the video, the vessel can be seen adrift with a large patch of fire alongside it.
Earlier videos of U.S. boat strikes showed vessels suddenly exploding, suggesting missile strikes. Some strike videos even had visible rocket-like projectiles coming down on the boats.
The Trump administration has said the strikes were meant to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S. and increase pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
At least 105 people have been killed in 29 known strikes since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and say the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard has stepped up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Trump administration’s escalating campaign against Maduro.
Education Department Announces Safety Review Of Brown University After Deadly Campus Shooting
Education Department Announces Safety Review Of Brown University After Deadly Campus Shooting
Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,
The U.S. Department of Education on Monday announced it would conduct a review of Brown University to uncover potential safety violations after a campus shooting left two students dead and nine others wounded, and to determine if the Ivy League institution complied with federal laws requiring ample campus security measures to receive student aid funding.
The review, led by the department’s Office of Federal Student Aid, will assess whether the Ivy League institution met requirements under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, also known as the Clery Act. The law mandates that colleges receiving federal student aid maintain robust security measures, including timely warnings and accurate crime reporting.
Public reports in the hours after the incident suggested Brown’s surveillance and security systems fell short, allowing the suspect to escape while the university struggled to provide useful details about the shooter. Students and staff also reported delays in emergency notifications, sparking worries about the alert system’s effectiveness. If confirmed, these issues could represent major breaches of federal obligations.
“After two students were horrifically murdered at Brown University when a shooter opened fire in a campus building, the Department is initiating a review of Brown to determine if it has upheld its obligation under the law to vigilantly maintain campus security,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.
“Students deserve to feel safe at school, and every university across this nation must protect their students and be equipped with adequate resources to aid law enforcement. The Trump Administration will fight to ensure that recipients of federal funding are vigorously protecting students’ safety and following security procedures as required under federal law.”
As part of the probe, the department has asked Brown to submit documents by Jan. 30, including annual security reports for 2024 and 2025, audit trails of crimes and arrests from 2021 to 2024, dispatch logs, daily crime logs, lists of timely warnings and emergency notifications from 2021 to 2025, and policies on alerts, crime logs, and active shooter protocols. The request also includes any assessments of campus safety practices since 2020.
The shooting, which occurred Dec. 13, drew national attention, with the FBI offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.
Killed in the shooting were Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old from Virginia who aspired to become a neurosurgeon, and 19-year-old Ella Cook, vice president of the College Republicans at Brown and a native of Mountain Brook, Alabama.
The suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown student, was found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, days later. An autopsy determined he died by suicide with a gun two days before his body was found.
The department’s statement did not clarify a timeline, but noted the process would assess compliance in depth, along with safety requirements.
The university did not return a request for comment by publication time.
Under the Trump administration, the Department of Education has investigated institutions like the University of Pennsylvania for inaccurate foreign funding disclosures and others for allegedly excluding U.S.-born students from scholarships. Continuing disagreements revolve around federal funding linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, as well as anti-Semitism concerns.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/23/2025 – 09:20
Q3 GDP Unexpectedly Surges To 2 Year High On Soaring Health Insurance Spending
Q3 GDP Unexpectedly Surges To 2 Year High On Soaring Health Insurance Spending
By now, Q3 GDP – which should have been reported almost two months ago – is ancient history but it still matters in a world where the Fed’s every sneeze is overanalyzed. Which is why the report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis that in Q3 US GDP surged by 4.3%, up from an already hot 3.8% in Q2 and driven by a spike in consumer spending, will surely raise some eyebrows (for those wondering, this report was originally supposed to hit on Oct 30, and the second estimate was scheduled for Nov 26; none of that happened due to the govt shutdown). This was the highest annualized quarterly GDP print since Q3 2023.
The number was higher than all but one economist forecasts, and was a 3-sigma beat to the median consensus of 3.3%
According to the BEA, the increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.
Compared to the second quarter, the acceleration in real GDP in the third quarter reflected a smaller decrease in investment, an acceleration in consumer spending, and upturns in exports and government spending. Imports decreased less in the third quarter.
Taking a closer look at the components, this is how the 4.34% increase in bottom line GDP happened:
Personal Consumption rose by a whopping 2.39%, up from 1.68% in Q2
Fixed Investment moderated, rising by 0.19%, vs 0.77% in Q2. Once again, this is mostly data centers
Change in private inventories declined by 0.22%, a moderation from the -3.44% drop in Q2, and to be expected as the trade aberration from the trade war moderate
Net trade (exports less imports) also normalized and after a surge of 4.83%, the increase was a more modest 1.59%, driven by positive contributions from both exports (0.67%) and imports (0.92%).
Finally, government contributed 0.39% to Q3 GDP after subtracting from US growth in each of the previous two quarters of 2024.
And visually:
While the surge in personal consumption would be a red flag for the Fed, as it indicates the US consumer is much stronger than expected, the reality is that – as shown below – the bulk of the increase was the result of surge in healthcare spending, which increased at a whopping 0.76% adjusted annual rate. Which means that personal spending was not driven by discretionary splurging but by a need to meet much higher health insurance costs!
Linked to this surge in health insurance, the GDP price index for Q3 jumped 3.8%, up from 2.1% in Q2 and a big beat to the 2.7% estimate. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 2.8%, compared with an increase of 2.1%. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 2.9 percent, in line with estimates, and higher than the increase of 2.6 percent in Q2.
Overall, this was a stronger than expected print however for all the wrong reasons. As to whether it will change the Fed’s thinking, we very much doubt it if the US labor market continues deteriorating as it has been for much of 2025.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 12/23/2025 – 09:09
Economía de EEUU creció 4,3% en período julio-septiembre
Por MATT OTT
WASHINGTON (AP) — La economía de Estados Unidos se expandió a un sorprendentemente fuerte ritmo anual del 4,3% en el tercer trimestre en base al aumento del gasto de los consumidores, las exportaciones y el gasto gubernamental.
El producto interno bruto de julio a septiembre —la producción total de bienes y servicios de la economía— aumentó desde su tasa de crecimiento del 3,8% en el trimestre de abril a junio, informó el martes el Departamento de Comercio en un informe retrasado por el cierre del gobierno. Los analistas encuestados por la firma de datos FactSet habían pronosticado un crecimiento del 3% en el período.
Sin embargo, la inflación sigue siendo más alta de lo que la Reserva Federal desearía. El índice de inflación preferido por la Fed —llamado índice de gastos de consumo personal, o PCE— subió a un ritmo anual del 2,8% el último trimestre, frente al 2,1% en el segundo trimestre.
Excluyendo los precios volátiles de alimentos y energía, la llamada inflación subyacente del PCE fue del 2,9%, frente al 2,6% en el trimestre de abril a junio.
El gasto de los consumidores, que representa aproximadamente el 70% de la actividad económica, aumentó a un ritmo anual del 3,5% el último trimestre, frente al 2,5% en el período de abril a junio.
Dentro de los datos del PIB, una categoría que mide la fortaleza subyacente de la economía creció a un ritmo anual del 3% de julio a septiembre, ligeramente superior al 2,9% en el segundo trimestre. Esta categoría incluye el gasto de los consumidores y la inversión privada, pero excluye elementos volátiles como las exportaciones, los inventarios y el gasto gubernamental.
Las exportaciones crecieron a un ritmo del 8,8%, mientras que las importaciones, que restan al PIB, cayeron otro 4,7%.
El informe del martes es la primera de tres estimaciones que el gobierno hará del crecimiento del PIB para el tercer trimestre del año.
Fuera del primer trimestre, cuando la economía se contrajo por primera vez en tres años mientras las empresas se apresuraban a importar bienes antes del lanzamiento de aranceles del presidente Donald Trump, la economía ha continuado expandiéndose a un ritmo saludable. Eso a pesar de las tasas de endeudamiento mucho más altas que la Fed impuso en 2022 y 2023 en su esfuerzo por frenar la inflación que aumentó cuando Estados Unidos se recuperó con una fuerza inesperada de la breve pero devastadora recesión por COVID-19 de 2020.
Aunque la inflación sigue por encima del objetivo del 2% de la Fed, el banco central redujo su tasa de interés de referencia tres veces seguidas para cerrar 2025, principalmente por preocupación por un mercado laboral que ha perdido impulso constantemente desde la primavera.
La semana pasada, el gobierno informó que la economía ganó unos 64.000 empleos en noviembre, pero perdió 105.000 en octubre. Notablemente, la tasa de desempleo subió al 4,6% el mes pasado, la más alta desde 2021.
El mercado laboral del país ha estado atrapado en un estado de “ni contratamos ni despedimos” en que las empresas son renuentes a actuar dada la incertidumbre sobre los aranceles de Trump y los efectos persistentes de las tasas de interés elevadas. Desde marzo, la creación de empleo ha caído a un promedio de 35.000 al mes, en comparación con 71.000 en el año que terminó en marzo. El presidente de la Fed, Jerome Powell, ha dicho que sospecha que esos números serán revisados aún más a la baja.
___________________________________
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/23/economa-de-eeuu-creci-43-en-perodo-julio-septiembre/
Holiday Help Fair gives resources to parents, projects, books to kids
Gary students and parents got a jump start on their two-week winter break Dec. 19 at a Holiday Help Fair sponsored by the Gary Community School Corp.
Kids engaged in hands-on STEM projects, such as building a pyramid slingshot, sponsored by Scouting America, while their parents sought out job and mentoring resources or learned different aspects of home ownership, including how to make a down payment.
Tashema Dancy folds uniforms Friday during a Holiday Help Fair. Parents could exchange worn or outgrown Gary school uniforms for another size. (Carole Carlson/For the Post-Tribune)
Several organizations, from the Gary Literacy Coalition to the Gary Public Transit Corp., took part in the afternoon event at the Gary Public Library’s main branch.
“They have really good community events, and we got three books,” said Latrice Farmer, whose home-schooled children enjoyed making a pyramid.
Kandice Holman, a 2025 Eagle Scout from Gary, and Kellauna Mack, of Scouting America, assisted the kids with the project. Other projects included understanding air pressure by inflating a balloon and coding with color.
Jessica Hughes said her children, who attend Beveridge Elementary, enjoy crafts and science projects.
Lori Kuykendall, of the Gary Literacy Coalition, passes out free books to children at Friday’s Holiday Help Fair sponsored by the Gary Community School Corp. (Carole Carlson/For the Post-Tribune)
Lori Kuykendall, director of the Gary Literacy Coalition, passed out books to children and answered their questions as they crowded around her table.
“She likes to read,” Deja Dixon said of her daughter Deja James, 8, a student at Banneker at Marquette Elementary.
“I’m glad they’re out of school and we can get into the holiday spirit,” she said.
In addition, the district held a uniform exchange in which parents earned points for turning in used uniforms their kids have outgrown. At the fair, they used the points for used uniforms in a larger size and better condition.
Volunteers Jessica Fullilove, the Family and Community Engagement liaison at the West Side Leadership Academy, and Tashema Dancy, a City Connects site coordinator at Banneker at Marquette, helped parents find the right sizes.
“It’s been wonderful today,” said Fullilove of the clothing that switched hands.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
