Esta disminución se produce cuando la demanda por estos programas, que incluyen la alfabetización para adultos y clases de inglés, ha aumentado considerablemente en los últimos años.

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en inglés el 25 de febrero. Traducido por Daniel Parra. Read the English version here.

A diciembre, el número de participantes en las clases de alfabetización para adultos financiadas por la ciudad, entre los que se incluyen inmigrantes neoyorquinos que aprenden inglés, se redujo a la mitad (48.3 por ciento) este año fiscal en comparación con el anterior, según ha revelado City Limits.

El descenso se produce en un momento de gran demanda por estos servicios —después de que más de 231.000 inmigrantes y solicitantes de asilo llegaran a la ciudad en los últimos tres años, con decenas de miles aún en el sistema de refugios— y después de que el Departamento de Juventud y Desarrollo Comunitario (DYCD por sus siglas en inglés) aplicara una nueva fórmula para conceder fondos a los proveedores de estos programas.

Entre julio y diciembre de 2024 (que constituyen los primeros seis meses del actual año fiscal de 2025) hubo aproximadamente 5.071 participantes en estos programas, por debajo de los 9.811 durante el mismo período del año anterior, según datos del DYCD.

El DYCD dijo que gran parte de la disminución estaba relacionada con la transición a su nuevo modelo de contratos. City Limits fue el primero en informar en el verano pasado sobre esos cambios, que obligaron a varios proveedores de educación para adultos de larga data a posponer o cancelar temporalmente las clases.

Al comienzo del año fiscal en julio, el DYCD implementó nuevas requests for proposals (convocatorias de propuestas o RFP por sus siglas en inglés) para que los proveedores hicieran ofertas, y seleccionó a los proveedores dentro de comunidades geográficas específicas llamadas Neighborhood Tabulation Areas (áreas de tabulación de barrios o NTA por sus siglas en inglés), que son áreas con altos índices de pobreza y bajo dominio del inglés.

Sin embargo el DYCD dijo que no recibió propuestas para varias NTA, lo que obligó a buscar otros proveedores. Los detractores de los cambios ya habían advertido anteriormente de este resultado. El año pasado, la New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy (Coalición de la Ciudad de Nueva York para la Alfabetización de Adultos) descubrió que muchas NTA seleccionadas no contaban con proveedores financiados por el DYCD, y más del 70 por ciento de los programas existentes no estaban ubicados en una NTA.

Además, dos licitadores se retiraron del proceso, según el DYCD. La agencia ha seleccionado nuevos proveedores para cubrir estos puestos, que cubren programas para 125 personas en Crown Heights y 149 participantes en Bedford-Stuyvesant, en Brooklyn. Al 19 de febrero, los contratos estaban a la espera de la aprobación de la Oficina del Alcalde de Servicios de Contratos.

“El DYCD sigue centrado en proporcionar programas de alfabetización críticos a las comunidades más necesitadas”, dijo Mark Zustovich, portavoz del DYCD. “Además, la financiación discrecional de la ciudad de Nueva York, asignada por el Concejo, apoya a las organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro que abordan las prioridades locales. Estos fondos mejoran los servicios de los organismos municipales y se utilizan para satisfacer directamente las necesidades cambiantes de las comunidades de toda la ciudad”.

Durante el verano, la asignación de contratos tardó más de dos meses en completarse, y varios proveedores de alfabetización de adultos se vieron obligados a cancelar temporalmente las clases, como informó City Limits en agosto.

Ese retraso en las asignaciones, a su vez, retrasó la distribución de $10 millones de dólares en fondos discrecionales del Concejo de la ciudad para programas de educación para adultos, que ofrecen una gama de clases a los neoyorquinos mayores de 16 años, incluyendo alfabetización, inglés para hablantes de otros idiomas (ESOL por sus siglas en inglés) y matemáticas.

En los últimos años, el Concejo de la ciudad ha aumentado la financiación global de los programas de alfabetización para adultos. El año pasado, los legisladores proporcionaron fondos discrecionales para reponer a los proveedores que perdieron la financiación por el nuevo proceso de RFP del DYCD, para que los servicios pudieran llegar a una población similar a la de años anteriores.

Según el DYCD, el objetivo para este año fiscal es atender a 14.312 participantes en sus programas de educación de adultos. Eso es menor que el número de personas que tomaron parte en las clases financiadas por la ciudad durante los dos años anteriores: los proveedores sirvieron a 18.191 personas en el año fiscal 2024 y 16.520 personas en el año fiscal 2023, muestran datos de la ciudad. 

El DYCD dijo que continuará coordinando con los proveedores contratados, que dicen que están progresando hacia sus objetivos de inscripción.

Para ponerse en contacto con el reportero de esta noticia, escriba a Daniel@citylimits.org. Para ponerse en contacto con la editora, escriba a Jeanmarie@citylimits.org.

Hard and fast is one way to describe North St. Paul native Carolyn Wiger’s surprise departure from “The Traitors.”

The daughter of former state Sen. Chuck Wiger flew through the first eight episodes of the Peacock hit. The show’s host Alan Cumming secretly selects several Traitors, who attempt to survive the nightly votes from the Faithfuls to banish a contestant from the proceedings, which take place in a grand Scottish castle. And up until last week’s episode, it looked like Wiger had a good shot at winning, as almost no one suspected she was a Traitor.

Still, the 37-year-old Wiger was upbeat and chatty during an interview with the Pioneer Press Monday. The “Survivor” star who made it to third place in the 44th season in 2023 talked about her time on “The Traitors,” her possible future in television and how another local “Survivor” vet with an elected official for a father — St. Paul native Reed Kelly, whose dad is former St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly — helped her prepare for the show. The interview was edited for length and clarity, while still attempting to reflect Wiger’s boisterous personality that has made her a fan favorite.

Q: How did you end up on the show?

A: I got an email, and I really didn’t think it was real. I reached out to (my contact at “Survivor”) and I was like, go and check your emails and just tell me if this one matches the casting person who contacted you. Literally, that’s how I found out. Like, OK, this is real. I get a lot of emails and I don’t even see them all, to be honest. So I didn’t think it was real because I get so much crap.

But also, the previous people who’ve played this game are, like, two time winners, “Survivor” legends. There’s been no one from the new era (the post-pandemic seasons of “Survivor”), so I didn’t expect to get asked to do this show. I just didn’t.

Q: Were you familiar with it?

A: Yes. As I say in one of the episodes, I own a cloak. I sleep in a cloak. Yeah, I’m a fan and I watch with my Parvati (Shallow) headbands on. I love Alan. I remember my dad coming over, and he’s like, what is this show? I’m like, Dad, you gotta watch this. It’s amazing. I’m not kidding you. Like, a week later, while season two was was airing, they reached out to me. So it was awesome. It was like a dream.

Q: How did you feel when Alan chose you to be a Traitor?

A: Oh my, so emotional. Because, again, I wanted to be a Traitor. I was so excited. I thought if anyone’s going to be picked to be a Traitor it would be (one of the “Survivor” winners), people like Tony (Vlachos), Jeremy (Collins), obviously Boston Rob (Mariano) was picked later. I haven’t won before. I didn’t feel like they would book me in that position. I really didn’t.

Q: Especially during those first few episodes, it was so clear no one was even considering you as a possible Traitor.

A: I know. It’s like (they) thought I’m not capable. I can’t lie and say that stuff doesn’t hurt my feelings. It’s such a balance of, like, I go out there, I play as myself. But then playing as myself hurts my feelings sometimes. So it’s kind of sucks, but it works to my benefit.

Q: You are a lot of fun to watch. I get the sense that you on television is just like you in real life.

A: Of course. Do I have a serious side, too? Sure I do. Survivor did such a good job of showing that, the many layers of me. Not just showing my facial expressions, or the way that I act, or that I’m louder, that I’m a little goofy or whatever the heck people call me. But there’s so much more to me, and so I’m always grateful for how I’m edited on “Survivor” and even with this, because I’m not just some cartoon character, you know?

Q: A big part of the show is breakfast. I’m curious, how was the catering?

A: To be honest, I was always so nervous about everything that I … I don’t eat pickles for breakfast. So it was not like let me go in there and actually eat, because I’m so focused on watching everybody and trying to read the room and listening to the conversations. I was not about to be chomping on some pickle.

Q: Tell me about your outfits. Were they your own, or did the show provide you clothing?

A: I had Reed Kelly — who is also from Minnesota — help me with all of my clothes. I actually wore one of Reed’s mother’s blue jumpsuits from the ’90s. It was awesome because I don’t know how to dress. I really don’t. I’m never in a castle, first and foremost. I’m a huge dork. I don’t go out to all these fancy places. I certainly wouldn’t know how to dress in a castle. So having Reed come — he was truly at my house for two weeks helping me — we had so much fun. I love incorporating pieces that are vintage. But also, I made a bunch of my necklaces. I used old clip on earrings from my great aunt who had passed away.

I knew I was going to be at the round table, so I had my son write “I love you” (on my hand and then I got it tattooed). So when I was at the round table, I was leaving my little message to my son.

Thinking about it all, it was fun. They do such a good job with the production of this show. And, I tell you, it’s like a movie set, it is gorgeous. The amount of work and detail that goes into it … I felt, like, where am I? I’d never been to Scotland. I cried as soon as we landed. I was bawling my eyes out because it was so beautiful and I’d never seen anything like that before. It was just incredible. I felt so grateful to just be there. Truly.

Q: Who did you bond with the most?

A: Gabby (Windey, from “The Bachelor”) for sure. I loved her and Dylan (Efron, brother of Zac) and Tom (Sandoval, from “Vanderpump Rules”) and Britney (Haynes, from “Big Brother”). Gabby for me, was so fun and I didn’t want to go out there and be super serious. I wanted to have fun.

Dylan was someone from day one who had watched my season of “Survivor.” He’s a huge “Survivor” fan. So early on I’m thinking I have this ally in Dylan. It sucked at the end when he was like “I’ve been underestimating you and falling into the trap that everyone else was.” But I loved him, he was great.

And then Tom. So many people would just discount him because he has this past or whatever, but I had no idea who he was. Me just getting to know him as him, it’s like OK, I genuinely enjoy this person. Not only that, I could see myself in him because he wasn’t listened to. People didn’t really respect him. People would laugh at him, blah, blah, blah. I just can’t be like that to people.

And then, obviously, with Britney, she’s a mom from the Midwest. There’s so many people (on the show) who live completely different lives. I’m not, like, going to Paris on the weekends. I live a completely different life than a lot of these people. So with Britney, it was like she understood that we both come from normal backgrounds.

Q: Do you have a future on other reality shows? Perhaps you’re up for “Survivor 50”?

A: Well, I will see. It’s too overwhelming to even think about. Sorry I don’t even have an answer for you. Of course, I would love as many opportunities that could come my way. I mean, honestly, I want to be (the co-host) on “The Jason Show.” I love that show, they do such a good job. Jason is incredible and I’m like, you seriously get paid to do this? This is fun!

By COREY WILLIAMS and KATHLEEN FOODY, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Pilots on a Southwest Airlines flight attempting to land at Chicago’s Midway Airport were forced to climb back into the sky to avoid another aircraft crossing the runway on Tuesday morning.

Airport webcam video posted to X shows the Southwest plane approaching a runway just before 9 a.m. Tuesday before its nose abruptly pulls up. A smaller jet is seen crossing the runway that the passenger plane was set to use.

Southwest Flight 2504 safely landed “after the crew performed a precautionary go-around to avoid a possible conflict with another aircraft that entered the runway,” an airline spokesperson said in an email. “The crew followed safety procedures and the flight landed without incident.”

Audio recording of communication between the crew and the tower includes the ground tower employee breaking off mid-message to the plane.

The pilot then said “Southwest 2504 going around” and followed directions to climb back to 3,000 feet.

Seconds later, the audio captures the pilot asking the tower: “Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?”

The second plane, described as a business jet, entered the runway without authorization, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flexjet, the plane’s owner, said the company is aware “of the occurrence in Chicago.”

“Flexjet adheres to the highest safety standards and we are conducting a thorough investigation,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Any action to rectify and ensure the highest safety standards will be taken.”

Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board say they are investigating the incident.

The Southwest Flight was en route to Midway Airport from Omaha, Nebraska, according to FlightAware.

John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member, said the near-crash shows “the system worked exactly as it was designed to.”

That is because the Southwest pilot was aware that the other plane wasn’t going to stop in time, he said.

In probing the incident, investigators will likely look at factors including how well-staffed the tower was and whether instructions coming out of the tower were clear, he said.

“Those things do happen,” he said, citing possible miscommunication, including a pilot mishearing instructions.

The past few weeks have seen four major aviation disasters in North America. They include the Feb. 6 crash of a commuter plane in Alaska that killed all 10 people on board and the Jan. 26 midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport that killed all 67 aboard the two aircraft.

A medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed Jan. 31 into a Philadelphia neighborhood. That crash killed seven people, including all those aboard, and injured 19 others.

Twenty-one people were injured Feb. 17 when a Delta flight flipped and landed on its roof at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

Williams reported from Detroit. Associated Press writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.