Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg announced Monday that he’s battling prostate cancer.

In a post on his Instagram page, the former Chicago Cubs great shared that he learned last week of his metastatic prostate cancer diagnosis, adding that he already has begun treatment.

“We will continue to be positive, strong and fight to beat this,” Sandberg wrote in his post. “Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time for me and my family.”

A bronze statue of Sandberg, 64, will be unveiled in Gallagher Way outside Wrigley Field on June 23, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of his legendary “Sandberg Game” against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Wrigleyville company Obvious Shirts is planning to create a T-shirt in honor of Sandberg’s cancer fight with 100% of sales donated to a charity of Sandberg’s choice, which is still being finalized.

A winner of nine Gold Glove and seven Silver Slugger awards as well as the 1984 National League MVP award, Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and had his No. 23 retired by the Cubs the same year.

He spent four seasons (2007-10) managing in the Cubs farm system before departing the organization and joining the Philadelphia Phillies, who drafted him in the 20th round in 1978, to manage their Triple-A affiliate in 2011. After a promotion to the big-league coaching staff in 2012, Sandberg took over as the Phillies interim manager in August 2013 and one month later had the interim title removed.

Sandberg returned to the Cubs in an ambassador role in 2016 after he resigned as Phillies manager in June 2015.

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Washington County officials are moving forward with plans to build an emergency housing shelter on the grounds of the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater, and they’re asking the state to chip in.

The $12 million shelter, which is expected to open in the fall of 2025, would provide short-term emergency shelter to individuals over the age of 18. The average stay is expected to be around 90 days, said Jennifer Castillo, the county’s director of community services.

An architect’s rendering of Washington County’s new Emergency Housing Services building, a 30,000-square-foot emergency homeless shelter that will be built on 1.5 acres on the southeast corner of Washington County’s main campus in Stillwater. The $12 million project is expected to open in the fall of 2025. (Courtesy of LHB Corp.)

Plans call for the 30,000-square-foot emergency homeless shelter to be built on 1.5 acres on the southeast corner of Washington County’s main campus in Stillwater; the campus is about 29 acres total.

The project — the first of its kind in the county — would “add critical shelter infrastructure to support individuals experiencing homelessness,” Castillo said. “As housing costs rise, more people are left without stable homes, and we are faced with creating emergency housing options to combat the growing homelessness crisis.”

The two-story building will have 30 private rooms — four on the first floor and 26 on the second floor — with 24/7 staffing to provide people experiencing homelessness a place to stay while county officials help them find an array of “wrap-around” services, including connections to permanent housing, workforce development, public health, legal help, social support and economic support, she said.

The county is using $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to fund the project and is asking the state of Minnesota to contribute $5 million, Castillo said.

‘County remains behind’

“Despite the increase in emergency housing capacity for individuals post-pandemic, Washington County remains behind for individuals when compared to other Minnesota counties,” according to its legislative request. “Due to lack of adequate emergency housing in Washington County, more than 70 of our residents had to seek shelter in neighboring counties.”

Washington County does not have any permanent emergency housing capacity for adults without children; Dakota County, in contrast, has 45 rooms, and Anoka County has 66 rooms, according to the county’s legislative request.

“We have private providers doing a lot of these services, but if they decided tomorrow not to do this, we would not have a facility for people,” Castillo said.

During the “Point in Time” count in January, an annual count of those experiencing homelessness on a single night across the United States, 46 households in Washington County were identified to be residing in emergency housing or outside, emphasizing the ongoing and pressing need for comprehensive support in addressing homelessness, county officials said.

The Washington County Community Development Agency will be the developer of the project, which will be owned by Washington County. Residents would be referred to the shelter by the county’s Washington County Homeless Outreach Services Team and would have to meet eligibility criteria, Castillo said.

Pets allowed

The project will offer 23 singles and seven rooms will be set up as doubles. Residents can stay with partners, regardless of gender, and each room would have its own bathroom. “It’s very similar to a modest hotel room,” Castillo said. “They will have space to keep their belongings safe.”

Another key consideration: pets will be allowed in the shelter, Castillo said.

“A pet is a natural support and an integral part of so many people’s lives,” she said. “We did a lot of work understanding other programs — what’s working, what’s not working. More importantly, we’ve talked to the people who are being served or who have refused to be served in the past. ‘What are your barriers to housing? Why are you choosing to sleep in your car?’ It comes down to a lack of safety, not being able to bring their belongings, not being able to bring their pets, not wanting to be separated from a partner. We’ve really designed this with the understanding of the people who are experiencing homelessness and what’s preventing them from reaching out for support or from being successful.”

Among the other amenities: A commercial kitchen will be located on site to provide meals and snacks; a computer lab; a large gathering space, and a meditation/quiet room.

Although the average stay is expected to be 90 days, some residents may need to stay longer in order to secure permanent housing, she said. “This program is about the long game,” she said. “We are working on removing those barriers (to housing) so people move on to permanent housing and don’t have to return.”

Local support

Stillwater officials have been supportive of the plan, said Tim Gladhill, the city’s community development director.

The site is located in the public administrative offices district, which allows residential uses with a conditional-use permit, he said.

“We definitely know that there is a need for this type of housing for individuals experiencing homelessness,” he said. “It’s not always visible, but we know that it does exist. We think that the Government Center is an ideal location for this facility, and I think Washington County would be a great partner to create this project. This seems to be a longer term, more sustainable, solution to the need.”

County officials have generally contracted with hotels in the county to secure rooms to provide emergency housing. Last spring, the county board approved a contract with Coratel Inn and Suites in Stillwater for a “do-not-exceed amount of $450,000” to secure rooms to provide emergency housing to people experiencing homelessness; the contract ran from May 22 to Dec. 31. The county also has contracted with Woodspring Suites in Woodbury and Stillwater Inn and Suites in Stillwater to provide emergency housing to people experiencing homelessness.

Using hotel rooms was really a response to COVID, Castillo said. “The idea of using private rooms to mitigate the virus … was really one of the silver linings of COVID. It helped us advance new ways of providing emergency housing in a way that we hadn’t been able to gain traction on before.”

But placing people in hotel rooms temporarily “is not a sustainable long term solution,” Castillo said. “We do not have adequate funding … and we aren’t able to bring in the wraparound services, so it’s really us being able to operate the program in the way that we want.”

The county is working on several major projects to provide more than 200 units of affordable housing in the county in the next 18 months or so, said Melissa Taphorn, executive director of Washington County Community Development Agency

New projects include: Red Rock Square, a 51-unit, $17.3 million project at the northeast corner of Maxwell Avenue and Rock Rock Crossing in Newport that has an expected opening date of December 2024; Bluestem Apartments, a 52-units, $16.3 million project at the southeast corner of Hemingway Avenue South and 79th Street South in Cottage Grove that has an expected opening date of September 2025, and Oakdale Commons, a 168-unit, $48.8 million project at 1135 Hadley Ave. in Oakdale with an expected opening date of December 2024, Taphorn said.

The Washington County board will receive an update on the plan at a workshop on Tuesday.

 

The Chicago Bears zeroed in on hiring new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Monday, but they still have more work to do to fill out their coaching staff.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus plans to name a defensive coordinator after he didn’t fill the position midseason following Alan Williams’ exit.

Eberflus said earlier this month he still was determining whether he would continue to call plays, as he did for most of the 2023 season after Williams left. But he also said the Bears were “going to keep everything open right now” as they considered candidates.

Either way, Eberflus believed the position would draw prime candidates, though the Bears potentially could interview in-house candidates for the job too.

“I think both the offense and defensive coordinator positions are very attractive based on the personnel we have and based on the rise of this team,” he said.

The Tribune is tracking defensive coordinator candidates as they interview for the position.

Jan. 21

Tennessee Titans defensive pass game coordinator Chris Harris will interview with the Bears, NFL Network reported.

The rundown: Harris, a former NFL safety whom the Bears drafted in the sixth round in 2005, has 10 years of coaching experience. With the Titans in 2023, he served as the defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. Before that, he coached defensive backs for the Washington Commanders for three seasons, helping the Commanders to top-10 defenses in 2020 and 2022. He was the Los Angeles Chargers assistant defensive backs coach for four seasons after starting his coaching career as a Bears defensive quality control coach in 2013-14.

As a player, Harris made 88 starts over eight NFL seasons, including two stints with the Bears in 2005-06 and 2010-11. He played under coach Lovie Smith and started for the 2006 Bears team that went to the Super Bowl.

He interviewed for Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator position, but the Jaguars reportedly are hiring former Atlanta Falcons DC Ryan Nielsen.

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Retired Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood and his wife, Sarah, have placed their six-bedroom, 11,250-square-foot Georgian Revival-style mansion in Winnetka on the market for $8.49 million.

Wood, 46, first shot to prominence in 1998 when as a rookie he struck out 20 players in a shutout. He pitched for the team from 1998 until 2008, and he returned to the club for his final two seasons. Wood currently is a Cubs Ambassador, after previously serving as a special assistant to the Cubs’ president of baseball operations.

In addition, Wood and his wife founded the Pitch-In after-school mentoring program. And on Friday, the Cubs announced that Wood had been elected to the team’s Hall of Fame.

The Woods bought their three-story mansion in an off-market transaction in 2019 through an Illinois limited liability company. Built in 1902 for Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad executive Charles I. Sturgis and designed by architect William Otis, the mansion is encircled by a curved red brick perimeter wall and wrought iron gates.

Inside, the mansion has 5 ½ bathrooms, five fireplaces, a grand staircase with extra-wide steps, wide-band hand rails and hand-carved balusters, along with millwork, wide-cased openings, restored windows, a walnut-paneled dining room and a living room with a fireplace and arched bookshelves.

The kitchen has white marble countertops, top-of-the-line appliances and a Farrow & Ball blue island. Other features include an eating area with curved bay picture windows, a second staircase, a mudroom, a screened porch and a family room with original bookcases and a restored fireplace.

On the second floor, the mansion has a primary bedroom suite with a fireplace and two new walk-in closets, along with three more bedrooms. The third floor has two additional bedrooms, an office and a game room, while the mansion’s basement, which was refinished by the Woods, has an arts and crafts studio, a gym with a sauna, a wine room and a recreation room with a bar.

Outside on the 0.71-acre property are a swimming pool that was installed by the Woods, along with a new pool house that has a bathroom, a washer/dryer, a changing room, storage and a garden shed. The property also includes a new outdoor kitchen, a new pergola, a fire pit, working organic gardens, a brick driveway and a heated three-car garage with extra storage and a workbench.

“This east Winnetka in-town compound is simply out of this world,” listing agent Jena Radnay of @properties told Elite Street. “If you appreciate beautiful, distinguished architecture and understand the cost, the headache and the vision that is needed to restore to a glorious, high-end level of luxury, then this house is unmatched. We have yet to have a house in this kind of premier location in Winnetka, and I can even say in the North Shore. It’s a mecca of beauty, every square inch.”

Radnay told Elite Street that the Woods are moving because they are “changing up things a bit.”

“They have a son graduating from high school, and Chicago will always be their home. That will never change,” she said.

Earlier, the Woods owned a newly built, six-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot mansion in Winnetka, which they bought in 2015 for $3.8 million and sold in early 2020 for $4.15 million. Prior to that, they paid $4.63 million in 2010 for a historic Tudor Revival-style mansion in Winnetka that they sought to raze but ultimately decided against doing so, instead selling that mansion at a loss in late 2013 for $4.18 million.

The Woods also have owned a four-bedroom, Beaux-Arts-style mansion in Lincoln Park, which they bought for $3.32 million in 2008 and sold in 2017 for $3 million; a vintage house in the Old Town Triangle, which they bought in 2004 for $1.3 million and sold in 2008 for $1.2 million; a River North condo that they bought in 2003 for $712,000 and sold in 2005 for $760,000; and a waterfront mansion in Fontana, Wisconsin, that they bought in 2014 for $3.8 million and sold in 2017 for $4.7 million.

The Winnetka mansion that Kerry and Sarah Wood are selling had a $91,357 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year. The mansion is set to be publicly listed on Wednesday, Radnay said, with showings to begin that day.

Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

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