P.J. Fleck has never been this outwardly optimistic about one of his Gophers football teams. The head coach went Big Ten media days in July and told the rest of the conference that Minnesota’s goal is to make the 12-team College Football Playoff.

While he often points a finger at “outside noise” coming from media and fans when it pertains to results, Fleck instead grabbed a bullhorn and addressed the subject directly.

Minnesota Gophers head coach PJ Fleck answers a question during a news conference at the team’s football media day at the Bierman Field Athletic Building in Minneapolis on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“After nine years at a place, let’s talk about it more,” Fleck said in Las Vegas. “I’m not sitting there, promising we are going to get there. Everyone here wants to get there and if every coach were honest with you, they would tell you they want to get there and they will tell you they’ve talked about that (with their team). But to (get) there, you have to be process driven.”

Down the hallway from media days at the Mandalay Bay Resort Convention Center, Bet MGM did not share Fleck’s optimism on the CFP. The resort’s sports book pegged the Gophers at 6½ wins this season; that’s near last year’s mark, which the U bested with an 8-5 record.

When the first Associated Press Top 25 poll came out in early August, nearly 50 programs received at least one vote. Minnesota did not.

So, going into the season opener against Buffalo at 7 p.m. Thursday at Huntington Bank Stadium, here are five questions that need to be answered in the affirmative for the Gophers to come close to touching Fleck’s speak-it-into-existence goal:

Will they stay healthy enough to flirt with the CFP?

When the Gophers went 11-2 in 2019, they stayed remarkably free of any serious injuries. That will be vital again this season.

Minnesota has a handful of stars, a larger group of starting-quality players and some more apparent depth at other positions. But if one group suffers a rash of injuries — such as the running backs in 2021 or linebackers in 2023 — it can quickly sidetrack or diminish a season’s ceiling.

This year’s defensive line — already a question mark beyond a veteran trio — suffered a few injuries to backups in fall camp.

Who will be the top pass-catching playmakers?

Minnesota sits at 103rd in the nation with only 43% of its offensive production returning, according to ESPN. The biggest void comes with the exits of receivers Daniel Jackson and Elijah Spencer, who accounted for roughly 50 percent of the Gophers’ receptions, yards and touchdowns last season.

Tailback Darius Taylor and tight end Jameson Geers caught 54 and 28 passes, respectively, but who steps up at wideout is to be determined.

Transfers Javon Tracy (Miami of Ohio) and Logan Loya (UCLA) should be high-volume targets given their experience and production elsewhere. Redshirt freshman Jalen Smith is a young up-and-comer from Mankato, and Le’Meke Brockington has done it in the system before.

Minnesota Gophers wide receiver Javon Tracy (11) photographed during the Minnesota Gophers Football team media day held at the Gibson/Nagurski complex in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Can new quarterback Drake Lindsey step up?

Fleck made his CFP comments despite having a starting quarterback without a collegiate start to his name. That’s bold. It’s also an indication of how high Fleck and offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh are on redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey.

Harbaugh said during preseason camp that he has put more on Lindsey’s plate than Max Brosmer’s at this time last year. Lindsey attempted only five passes in three games last season, so the proof will be in the playing time.

It’s worth remembering Brosmer had a slow start in the season opener against North Carolina a year ago before hitting a stride.

Will Fleck immediately go back to Lindsey when struggles?

Fleck’s conservative streak can surface on fourth-down conversion situations and on offensive possessions following giveaways. Instead of solely relying on the running game after, say, a Lindsey interception, the head coach will need to show confidence in his young QB and go back to the passing game early in the next drive.

Who will corner the cornerback competition?

The Gophers are 43rd in the country with 61% of its defensive production coming back this fall, per ESPN. The biggest source of loss is the exits at cornerback/nickel back with Justin Walley, Ethan Robinson and Jack Henderson now in the NFL.

Za’Quan Bryan appears to have one starting CB spot locked down, but the other is an open race, with Fleck saying multiple CBs will play against Buffalo.

Minnesota attempted to bring in transfers. Jaylen Bowden (North Carolina Central) came in for spring practices but didn’t make a huge mark. Then the U brought in John Nestor (Iowa) for the summer; he has put more of a toehold on the spot. Redshirt freshman Mike Gerald also will factor into the mix.

What will the Koi Perich ratio be?

After balling out as a true freshman, Perich has been named to preseason All-America teams and watch lists for national awards this season.

On top of his duties at safety and on kick/punt returns, the Esko, Minn., native will add a role on offense. That will likely be at receiver/running back, but Fleck didn’t rule out wildcat quarterback.

With two standout safeties in Kerry Brown and Aidan Gousby, Perich can take series off on defense to stay fresh for specialized packages on offense.

But figuring out the right share of duties will be a work in progress. Does he play 50 of 70 snaps on defense and 20 on offense in a given game? It will be fascinating to monitor, will likely fluctuate, and probably won’t be fully unveiled until Big Ten play kicks off in late September.

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I’m not sure that the origin of these cheesy puff pastry delights can be credited to the French, but I can verify that they are frequently served in French homes. One French cousin told me that they are a delicious and foolproof way to use up puff pastry leftovers from the preparation of another dish.

Using defrosted store-bought puff pastry, they are quite easy to prepare. In this recipe they are brushed with egg wash and topped with grated cheese, salt and pepper. Home cooking guru Ina Garten notes in her cookbook “Barefoot in Paris” (Clarkson Potter, $35) that instead of cheese, they can be brushed with pesto or sun-dried tomato paste.

Cheese Straws

Yield: 22 to 24 straws

INGREDIENTS

2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm), defrosted overnight in refrigerator

1 extra-large egg

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup finely grated Gruyere cheese

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Cook’s notes: For variety, instead of adding cheese to the puff pastry, brush it with pesto or sun-dried tomato paste.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on lightly floured board until it’s 10 by 12 inches. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush surface of pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup Gruyere, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. With rolling pin, lightly press flavorings into puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza wheel into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each strip and place on prepared baking sheets.

3. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake 2 minutes more. Don’t overbake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve them at room temperature.

Source: “Barefoot in Paris” (Clarkson Potter, $35)

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at CathyThomasCooks.com.

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El diario The Guardian ha revelado acusaciones de mala gestión, guardias corruptos, tráfico de drogas y negligencia médica en el centro penitenciario del condado de Cibola, en Nuevo México. Si bien las investigaciones se centran en unidades que no se usan para detener a inmigrantes, estos también han visto el tráfico de drogas y la violencia.

Fotografías de un formulario de detención migratoria tomadas en un centro de detención. (Flickr/Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de los Estados Unidos)

Una investigación del periódico inglés The Guardian revela que el FBI está investigando al centro penitenciario del condado de Cibola, en Nuevo México, por violencia y tráfico de drogas, que ha provocado muertes por sobredosis.

Incluso algunos empleados que trabajan para CoreCivic, el contratista, están implicados en el tráfico de drogas al interior del centro, ubicado a una hora de Albuquerque y donde alrededor del 30 por ciento de la población son inmigrantes bajo custodia del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE por sus siglas en inglés).

Según The Guardian, el mismo mes que el FBI empezó a investigar al centro en Cibola, coincidencialmente, la empresa CoreCivic presentaba a Cibola ante ICE como un lugar ideal para una expansión, y detener así a más inmigrantes en el centro.

Aunque no está claro si CoreCivic informó sobre el problema de drogas y la investigación del FBI a ICE.

Según el diario The Guardian, desde el 2018 al menos 15 detenidos de Cibola han muerto en el centro, que tiene capacidad para albergar a un total de aproximadamente 1.200 detenidos. Los documentos recopilados por The Guardian indican que las muertes incluyen 10 suicidios, dos sobredosis, dos muertes por problemas de salud previos y una muerte “indeterminada”. Una de las personas muertas era una detenida por ICE.

Si bien las investigaciones sobre mala gestión, guardias corruptos, tráfico de drogas y negligencia médica en el centro penitenciario se centran en unidades que no se usan para detener a inmigrantes, estos también han visto el tráfico de drogas y la violencia. 

CoreCivic, una empresa privada con sede en el estado de Tennessee, es la segunda empresa privada de prisiones más grande de. EE.UU. y gestiona centros en casi 20 estados. Recientemente CoreCivic anunció $538.2 millones de dólares en el segundo trimestre de este año, lo que supone un aumento del 9.8 por ciento con respecto al mismo periodo del año pasado.

Desde que comenzó el segundo mandato de Trump, el número de inmigrantes detenidos en Cibola ha aumentado de 160 en enero a 224 a finales de junio.

Así que para hablar sobre las tres investigaciones invitamos a su autor, José Olivarez.

Ciudad Sin Límites, el proyecto en español de City Limits, y El Diario de Nueva York se han unido para crear el pódcast “El Diario Sin Límites” para hablar sobre latinos y política. Para no perderse ningún episodio de nuestro pódcast “El Diario Sin Límites” síguenos en Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Pódcast y Stitcher. Todos los episodios están allí. ¡Suscríbete!

The post PODCAST: ¿Por qué el FBI está investigando un centro penitenciario en Nuevo México? appeared first on City Limits.

By Felice J. Freyer, KFF Health News

BRISTOL, R.I. — At age 82, Roberta Rabinovitz realized she had no place to go. A widow, she had lost both her daughters to cancer, after living with one and then the other, nursing them until their deaths. Then she moved in with her brother in Florida, until he also died.

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And so last fall, while recovering from lung cancer, Rabinovitz ended up at her grandson’s home in Burrillville, Rhode Island, where she slept on the couch and struggled to navigate the steep staircase to the shower. That wasn’t sustainable, and with apartment rents out of reach, Rabinovitz joined the growing population of older Americans unsure of where to lay their heads at night.

But Rabinovitz was fortunate. She found a place to live, through what might seem an unlikely source — a health care nonprofit, the PACE Organization of Rhode Island. Around the country, arranging for housing is a relatively new and growing challenge for such PACE groups, which are funded through Medicaid and Medicare. PACE stands for a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and the organizations aim to keep frail, older people in their homes. But a patient can’t stay at home if they don’t have one.

As housing costs rise, organizations responsible for people’s medical care are realizing that to ensure their clients have a place to live, they must venture outside their lanes. Even hospitals — in Denver, New Orleans, New York City, and elsewhere — have started investing in housing, recognizing that health isn’t possible without it.

And among older adults, the need is especially growing. In the U.S., 1 in 5 people who were homeless in 2024 were 55 or older, with the total older homeless population up 6% from the previous year. Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who specializes in homelessness and housing policy, calculated that the number of men older than 60 living in shelters roughly tripled from 2000 to 2020.

Roberta Rabinovitz, who had been sleeping on her grandson’ s couch, says she loves her apartment at the Franklin Court assisted living facility in Bristol, Rhode Island. (Felice J. Freyer/KFF Health News/TNS)

“It’s a national scandal, really, that the richest country in the world would have destitute elderly and disabled people,” Culhane said.

Over decades of research, Culhane has documented the plight of people born between 1955 and 1965 who came of age during recessions and never got an economic foothold. Many in this group endured intermittent homelessness throughout their lives, and now their troubles are compounded by aging.

But other homeless older adults are new to the experience. Many teeter on the edge of poverty, said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging, a national association representing what are known as area agencies on aging. A single incident can tip them into homelessness — the death of a spouse, job loss, a rent increase, an injury or illness. If cognitive decline starts, an older person may forget to pay their mortgage. Even those with paid-off houses often can’t afford rising property taxes and upkeep.

“No one imagines anybody living on the street at 75 or 80,” Markwood said. “But they are.”

President Donald Trump’s recent budget law, which makes substantial federal cuts to Medicaid, the public insurance program for those with low incomes or disabilities, will make matters worse for older people with limited incomes, said Yolanda Stevens, program and policy analyst with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. If people lose their health coverage or their local hospital closes, it will be harder for them to maintain their health and pay the rent.

“It’s a perfect storm,” Stevens said. “It’s an unfortunate, devastating storm for our older Americans.”

Adding to the challenges, the Labor Department recently halted a job training program intended to keep low-income older people in the workforce.

Those circumstances have sent PACE health plans throughout the country into uncharted waters, prompting them to set up shop within senior housing projects, partner with housing providers, or even join forces with nonprofit developers to build their own.

A 1997 federal law recognized PACE organizations as a provider type for Medicare and Medicaid. Today, some 185 operate in the U.S., each serving a defined geographic area, with a total of more than 83,000 participants.

They enroll people 55 and older who are sick enough for nursing home care, and then provide everything their patients need to stay home despite their frailty. They also run centers that function as medical clinics and adult day centers and provide transportation.

These organizations primarily serve impoverished people with complex medical conditions who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. They pool money from both programs and operate within a set budget for each participant.

Kriss Auger, social work and behavioral health manager at the PACE Organization of Rhode Island, outside the van used to transport participants to the PACE center in East Providence. (Felice J. Freyer/KFF Health News/TNS)

PACE officials worry that, as federal funding for Medicaid programs shrinks, states will curtail support. But the PACE concept has always had bipartisan support, said Robert Greenwood, a senior vice president at the National PACE Association, because its services are significantly less expensive than nursing home care.

The financing structure gives PACE the flexibility to do what it takes to keep participants living on their own, even if it means buying an air conditioner or taking a patient’s dog to the vet. Taking on the housing crisis is another step toward the same goal.

In the Detroit area, PACE Southeast Michigan, which serves 2,200 participants, partners with the owners of senior housing. The landlords agree to keep the rent affordable, and PACE provides services to their tenants who are members. Housing providers “like to be full, they like their seniors cared for, and we do all of that,” said Mary Naber, president and CEO of PACE Southeast Michigan.

For participants who become too infirm to live on their own, the Michigan organization has leased a wing in an independent living center, where it provides round-the-clock supportive care. The organization also is partnering with a nonprofit developer to create a cluster of 21 shipping containers converted into little houses in Eastpointe, just outside Detroit. Still in the planning stages, Naber said, the refurbished containers will probably rent for about $1,000 to $1,100 a month.

In San Diego, the PACE program at St. Paul’s Senior Services cares for chronically homeless people as they move into housing, offering not just health services but the backup needed to keep tenants in their homes, such as guidance on paying bills on time and keeping their apartments clean. St. Paul’s also helps those already in housing but clinging to precarious living arrangements, said Carol Castillon, vice president of its PACE operations, by connecting them with community resources, helping fill out forms for housing assistance, and providing meals and household items to lower expenses.

At PACE Rhode Island, which serves nearly 500 people, about 10 to 15 participants each month become homeless or at risk of homelessness, a rare situation five or six years ago, CEO Joan Kwiatkowski said.

The organization contracts with assisted living facilities, but its participants are sometimes rejected because of prior criminal records, substance use, or health care needs that the facilities feel they can’t handle. And public housing providers often have no openings.

So PACE Rhode Island is planning to buy its own housing, Kwiatkowski said. PACE also has reserved four apartments at an assisted living facility in Bristol for its participants, paying rent when they’re unoccupied. Rabinovitz moved into one recently.

Rabinovitz had worked as a senior credit analyst for a health care company, but now her only income is her Social Security check. She keeps $120 from that check for personal supplies, and the rest goes to rent, which includes meals.

Once a week or so, Rabinovitz rides a PACE van to the organization’s center, where she gets medical care, including dental work, physical therapy, and medication — always, she said, from “incredibly loving people.” When she’s not feeling well enough to make the trek, PACE sends someone to her. Recently, a technician with a portable X-ray machine scanned her sore hip as she lay in her own bed in her new studio apartment.

“It’s tiny, but I love it,” she said of the apartment, which she’s decorated in purple, her favorite color.

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.