Construction Maison

Roughly 220 children in lower-income families in Bloomington qualify for but do not have access to affordable pre- kindergarten education . In an effort to change this, Alex Crowley, director of the city’s Economic and Sustainable Development Department , said a state-sponsored initiative, On My Way Pre-K pilot program, which provides funding to programs serving 4-year-olds from families with household incomes at or below 127 percent of the federal poverty level , is coming to Monroe County next year, and it is estimated it can help about 50 children. That begs the question: What can the city and others do to make sure no children who are eligible for pre-kindergarten are left out? As part of that answer, the city is proposing investing $100,000 to support quality child care for lower-income families. “Every dollar initially invested in early education programs for children from low-income families is estimated to generate $4 to $11 in economic benefits over a child’s lifetime,” May...

As teachers, cooks, cashiers, and bus drivers are being priced out of Charlotte, one question looms: How does a growing, thriving city in modern America keep housing affordable for its working-class citizens? By RACHEL JONES Published: 2017.08.23 06:21 AM Jacqueline Ingram (middle) works full-time at the Ross Dress For Less distribution center in Rock Hill. But in this booming region, her salary isn’t enough to comfortably buy a home for her and her kids, 12-year-old Nya and five-year-old Rejonee. PHOTOS BY ANDY MCMILLAN ONE RECENT SUNDAY AFTERNOON , Jacqueline Ingram and her two daughters explore an empty four-bedroom house for sale on a Brianna Way cul-de-sac in southwest Charlotte , filling it with their dreams along the way. “This one is mine,” 12-year-old Nya says of an upstairs bedroom with a view of the Clanton Park neighborhood . “I could put my chest over there, and my table there.” As five-year-old Rejonee sprawls out on the carpet in the room across the hall, In...

Photo: Loren Elliott, AP Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Image 1 of 6 ADVANCE FOR USE SATURDAY. AUG 5 - In this July 20, 2017 photo, a tiger named Seth rests above a pond at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla. Big Cat Rescue is a nonprofit sanctuary committed to humane treatment of rescued animals, often coming from exploitive for-profit operations. (Loren Elliott/ Tampa Bay Times via AP) less ADVANCE FOR USE SATURDAY. AUG 5 - In this July 20, 2017 photo, a tiger named Seth rests above a pond at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla. Big Cat Rescue is a nonprofit sanctuary committed to humane treatment of ... more Photo: Loren Elliott, AP Image 2 of 6 ADVANCE FOR USE SATURDAY. AUG 5 - In this July 20, 2017 photo, founder Carole Baskin walks the property at Big Cat Rescue at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla. Big Cat Rescue is a nonprofit sanctuary committed to humane treatment of rescued animals, often coming from exploitive for-profit operations. (Loren Elliott/ Tampa Bay Times via AP) le...

Megyn Kelly is excited about bonding with her fellow human beings . She’s so excited she’s bouncing in her chair, hands waving, as she talks about empowerment and laughter and tears. It’s a recent summer evening , and we’re in her living room on Manhattan’s Upper West Side —a simple space of modern furniture, earth tones, and bookshelves (mostly hardcover novels, De­Mille to Franzen). The apartment is quiet, uncharacteristically so, as her husband, the tech CEO turned novelist Douglas Brunt , and their children—sons Yates and Thatcher, eight and four, and six-year-old daughter Yardley—are all at the beach. Kelly, barefoot in a loose cream-colored sweater and black leggings, is telling me about her new perch at NBC and the morning show, Megyn Kelly Today , that’s set to debut later this month. Not that she can get into specifics. Occupying what used to be the 9:00 a.m. hour of the Today show, her new venture, she says, will have a live studio audience and guests of various sorts. It w...