“Every step we need to take to get out of the shelter system involves using the internet to access resources, apply for jobs, and submit rental applications. You might think shelters would provide us with a Wi-Fi connection. You’d be wrong.”

Wi-Fi hotspots. (William Alatriste for the New York City Council)

How many times today have you used the internet? Maybe you sent an email, found directions, paid for the subway, or talked to a doctor? In 2025, the internet isn’t a luxury—it’s how we access our everyday lives.

The internet may feel universal, but not everyone enjoys equal access. While the New York City Council and state government have worked to expand internet access, people living in the New York City shelter system, like us, are still left out. Every step we need to take to get out of the shelter system involves using the internet to access resources, apply for jobs, and submit rental applications. You might think shelters would provide us with a Wi-Fi connection. You’d be wrong. 

Last month, the New York City Council passed a requirement for the city to develop an Internet Master Plan to achieve low-cost access to broadband internet in homes throughout the city. But what about the hundreds of thousands of people, like us, who don’t have homes? People sleep every night in shelters that don’t provide internet connectivity. The city’s omission of our needs is a glaring disservice at a moment when New York’s homelessness crisis is only getting worse.

When you’re choosing between groceries and a cellular plan, personal internet access isn’t a given—and that makes rebuilding your life nearly impossible. Finding a job, submitting housing applications, communicating with legal services, or applying for benefits all require going online. So do telehealth appointments, online coursework, and banking/managing bills: all of which are important resources for a stable life. 

Coalition for the Homeless estimates that 40 percent of shelters for adults lack Wi-Fi, based on data collected from its monitoring of the Department of Homeless Services shelter system. Without Wi-Fi, people experiencing homelessness are forced to travel and pay for insecure public networks unsuitable for telehealth or legal matters. 

VOCAL-NY and Takeroot Justice surveyed the shelter system to understand how homeless New Yorkers access the internet, and the findings from their “Wi-Fi for All” report were disheartening. Only 30 percent of surveyed single-adult shelters had computer rooms, and nearly 80 percent of those included restrictions such as time limits, too few machines, restricted hours, and privacy concerns. In shelters that do provide Wi-Fi, 80 percent of those attempting to access it on their personal devices reported issues, including a slow/inconsistent network, limited coverage areas, outages, and monitoring concerns. 

When people who live in shelters are not able to reliably access the internet, the consequences can be devastating. Of those surveyed in Wi-Fi for All, a lack of internet access caused 53 percent to lose housing opportunities, 48 percent to miss job opportunities, 30 percent to experience healthcare disruptions, and 16 percent to miss court dates. Lack of access can be isolating, preventing communication with friends and family, or life-threatening for those who rely on medical devices that require an internet connection, like heart monitors. 

The problem isn’t limited to the city. Gov. Kathy Hochul has invested more than $1 billion to transform the state’s digital infrastructure and expand access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet through the ConnectAll program. Although the program notes that providing Wi-Fi in shelters and homeless service facilities is critical for connecting people who do not have access to a home broadband connection, shelters have been left out of the funding equation. This discrepancy is a major injustice to the thousands of people like us who live in shelters. State lawmakers should respond by passing A1755/S8026, which would guarantee statewide Wi-Fi in temporary housing using the ConnectAll funding stream. 

The consequences of limited internet access for an already vulnerable population are severe—and entirely avoidable. Both the City’s Internet Master Plan and the State’s ConnectAll program fail to address the needs of people living in shelters throughout our state, creating barriers for people like us to exit homelessness. 

New York must act to require building-wide internet in every shelter, with minimum speeds for video and uploads, access in rooms and common areas, and privacy protections. Bringing Wi-Fi into shelters isn’t just about connecting people to the web—it’s about opening pathways out of homelessness for the people who need it the most.

Troy Walker is a member of the Coalition for the Homeless Client Advisory Group. Reynaldo Medina is a member of VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness Union. 

The post Opinion: Wi-Fi Isn’t a Luxury appeared first on City Limits.

The Twin Cities Girls on the Run 5k race is this Sunday at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The race has 1,300 participants from 70 metro area schools, according to organizers.

The event is a non-timed, non-competitive race that starts at 9:30 a.m. Before the race, there will be free drinks from Caribou Coffee.

To register as a runner, those interested must pay a $40 fee (or what they can afford), according to a press release.

According to Kathleen Canon, the executive director of Girls Run on the Run, each girl will be paired up with a buddy, such as a parent or guardian over 18 years old.

Laura Schleede, the coach for Girls on the Run, said that for eight weeks, the girls train for the 5K race and learn about important social skills.

“So we’re doing a lot of training every practice where the girls are going at a happy pace and then they’re also incorporating those skills,” Schleede said. Girls on the Run is a youth program for 3rd- to 8th-graders that helps develop confidence and different social skills needed for adulthood.

Canon said girls face unique pressures about their bodies and how they are supposed to look.

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“We know that girls, as they grow older, experience a really unique mix of pressures from society about how they look, how they feel, the way they move their body, what is and is not acceptable,” Canon said.

Schleede, whose daughter finished the race before, said the event always gives her and the girls a sense of pride after they cross the finish line.

Schleede said she;s happy to see girls “put their mind to something and achieve it … And we see them grow over the season, having it culminate with the 5K.”

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK (AP) — The world’s richest man was just handed a chance to become history’s first trillionaire.

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Elon Musk won a shareholder vote on Thursday that would give the Tesla CEO stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade. The vote followed weeks of debate over his management record at the electric car maker and whether anyone deserved such unprecedented pay, drawing heated commentary from small investors to giant pension funds and even the pope.

The vote is a resounding victory for Musk showing investors still have faith in him as Tesla struggles with plunging sales, market share and profits in no small part due to Musk himself. Car buyers fled the company this year as he has ventured into politics both in the U.S. and Europe and trafficked in conspiracy theories.

The vote came just three days after a report from Europe showing Tesla car sales plunged again last month, including a 50% collapse in Germany.

Still, many Tesla investors consider Musk as a sort of miracle man capable of stunning business feats, such as when he pulled Tesla from the brink of bankruptcy a half dozen years ago to turn it into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

The vote clears a path for Musk to become a trillionaire by granting him new shares, but it won’t be easy. The board of directors that designed the pay package require him to hit several ambitious financial and operational targets, including increasing the value of the company on the stock market nearly six times its current level.

A 19-year-old from Burnsville is charged with criminal sexual conduct against two younger teens and police said this week they believe there may be additional victims.

Teodros Raymond Pluntz allegedly met the teens through social media apps.

“Detectives are requesting members of the public who were in contact with Pluntz to come forward and share their information,” Burnsville police said in a statement.

The Dakota County Attorney’s Office charged Pluntz in September and he remains jailed with his court cases ongoing. His attorney said he didn’t have a comment on Thursday afternoon.

Rape reported at his parents’ house

A 16-year-old reported she met Pluntz on an app and he picked her up at her home on Sept. 13. They went to Cub Foods and then to Pluntz’s parents’ house on Sibley Court, off Sibley and River Hills drives, in Burnsville.

Teodros Raymond Pluntz (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

She said they started watching a show, she drank some Pink Whitney vodka and “her ears felt muffled, something she has never felt when drinking,” the criminal complaint said.

The complaint also gave the following information from prosecutors:

The teen reported that Pluntz was getting “handsy” and she told him “no.” She said she didn’t remember getting into his bed and continued to black out.

She said Pluntz put pressure on her windpipe, she tried to push him off her and kicked her legs, and he was on top of her pushing down on her chest and holding down her hands with his knees.

When she woke up, Pluntz put a blanket into her mouth and raped her, the complaint said. She woke up again and was naked, in pain and could barely stand.

Pluntz drove her home. That day, he blocked her on all social media apps.

After the teen reported what happened to a school resource officer, she went to the hospital and a nurse documented multiple bruises on her chest and both of her arms, and a red mark on her neck.

In a search of Pluntz’s phone, police found a video of him having sexual contact with the teen. She “appears to be whimpering or crying and when she does speak, she is slurring her words and appears to be extremely intoxicated,” the complaint said.

She told law enforcement she had no recollection of videos being taken. Officers were continuing to go through Pluntz’s phone when he was charged in September.

He is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, along with use of a minor in a sexual performance and possession of child sexual abuse material related to the alleged video.

Also charged in case involving 9th grader

In June, a 15-year-old reported a sexual assault in Burnsville, according to a separate complaint filed Sept. 24. She said she’d met “Teo,” later identified as Pluntz, in fall 2024 on the Wizz app.

She reported she’d put her actual age of 14 in the app, that she wasn’t able to see profiles for people who were older than 17, and she didn’t learn Pluntz’s age until later.

She also said that Pluntz filmed their sexual contact and it was brought to her attention that the videos were publicly posted on X, formerly Twitter, and she was referred to as a “college girl,” the complaint said. She saw four videos posted.

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At the time, she was afraid of her parents finding out what happened and didn’t respond to further contact from law enforcement. As police were investigating the Sept. 13 sexual assault, they followed up with the teen and she reported she’d had sexual contact multiple times with Pluntz when she was in ninth grade.

She said she sometimes agreed to it “and other times she would try and say no but ultimately gave in,” the complaint said. She described an incident when she told Pluntz “no” and tried to get away, but he sexually assaulted her, according to the complaint.

He is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

To contact police

Burnsville police are asking people with information about Teodros Pluntz to call Detective Casey Buck at 952-895-4588, text at 952-215-8430 or email casey.buck@burnsvillemn.gov.