Latest news with #ExtendedStayAmerica
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Cook County man robbed hotel at gunpoint in 2024, police say
The Brief Marco Vazquez, 28, is charged in connection with a December 2024 armed robbery in Buffalo Grove. Police say Vazquez demanded cash at gunpoint at an Extended Stay America hotel. He was arrested and appeared in court earlier this week. COOK COUNTY - A Palatine man has been arrested and charged in connection with a 2024 armed robbery at a hotel in Buffalo Grove, police announced on Friday. What we know Marco Vazquez, 28, was taken into custody without incident on Wednesday. He is accused of robbing the Extended Stay America hotel at 1525 Busch Parkway on Dec. 21, 2024. According to the Buffalo Grove police, Vazquez jumped over the front desk counter and demanded money while showing a handgun. He is now charged with one count of armed robbery, a Class X felony, and one count of aggravated robbery, a Class 1 felony. What's next Vazquez had his first court appearance Thursday at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan. Further details weren't shared. The Source The information in this article was provided by the Buffalo Grove Police Department.
Hospitality Net
08-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Extended Stay America Premier Suites Expands in Virginia with New Charlottesville Location
Extended Stay America, the leading mid-priced extended stay hotel brand in the United States, announced today the opening of the Extended Stay America Premier Suites - Charlottesville. This is the latest development in Extended Stay America Premier Suites' continued rise as the fastest-growing midscale extended stay brand since it launched in 2021. In 2024, Extended Stay America doubled the number of franchise owners across its family of brands. Developed and managed by KARA Hospitality, the four-story, 92-room property brings Extended Stay America Premier Suites' signature blend of comfort, convenience and affordability to one of Virginia's most dynamic cities. The Extended Stay America Premier Suites - Charlottesville features free wi-fi, complimentary healthy breakfast, premium cable, 24-hour fitness room, onsite guest laundry, and lobby with additional vending options. All spacious suites include fully equipped kitchens with full-size refrigerators, microwaves, stovetops, cookware, utensils, and dishes. All suites also feature widescreen 50″ TVs, signature bedding, recliners, and workspace, making it an ideal choice for long-term business travelers, contractors, and those seeking temporary housing solutions. The Extended Stay America Premier Suites - Charlottesville offers guests access to government facilities, hospitals, and educational institutions, including the University of Virginia Hospital, Martha Jefferson Hospital, National Ground Intelligence Center, UVA Research Park, the University of Virginia, Piedmont Community College, the Army JAG School, and top Charlottesville attractions like Monticello, the Rotunda, the Discovery Museum, and the Monticello Wine Trail. In addition to the Charlottesville property, KARA Hospitality has developed Extended Stay America Premier Suites hotels in Colonial Heights, Fredericksburg and Harrisonburg, Virginia. KARA Hospitality is also planning to develop a Premier Suites hotel in the Roanoke area. For more information about Extended Stay America, including franchise development opportunities, visit Hotel website
San Francisco Chronicle
07-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland is moving aggressively to clear homeless encampments, including one of the city's largest
Oakland officials are clearing some of the city's most challenging homeless encampments, flush with an infusion of state funds and new homeless housing to offer displaced residents. The city has long struggled to address sprawling, chaotic camps, including what was once the state's largest, because of a shortage of homeless shelters and affordable housing. Oakland also faced uncertainty, as other cities did, over how to legally clear encampments before a key court ruling last year. The city last month removed camps around Lake Merritt, as well as a growing encampment at Mosswood Park. Next week, the city will begin dismantling another one of the city's largest encampments, on East 12th Street, located just east of the BART tracks between Fruitvale and the underground tunnel leading to the Lake Merritt station. The closure of the encampments comes less than a year after the city launched a more aggressive approach to addressing homelessness. Less than two months before former Mayor Sheng Thao was recalled, she issued an executive order directing police, fire and city workers to enforce existing city policy to clear homeless encampments. While Thao's critics said her move was a political stunt to fight the recall, her order came just three months after the Grants Pass ruling from the Supreme Court that gave cities the power to sweep encampments without offering services. The city logged 63 encampment closures in February, the most recent month for complete data, marking the highest of any month in the last four years. The proliferation of camps throughout Oakland has long been a concern for residents. A city survey released in March determined that residents' top priorities were homelessness, safety and cleanliness, in no particular order. Oakland's homeless population, which accounts for more than half of the total across Alameda County, grew 9% from 2022 to 2024 to reach an estimated total of about 5,490 unhoused people. Oakland has a significantly higher rate of unhoused people compared with San Francisco. Thao's order, which remains in effect, still requires the city to offer people shelter and services before closing down an encampment, but it doesn't force residents to accept the offer. The city doesn't have enough beds to meet the demand. Oakland has about 1,300 beds for unhoused people across shelters, RV parking sites, tiny cabins and other housing sites but it has 3,337 unsheltered homeless residents and about 1,400 encampments. There are more resources on the way. Oakland officials announced last month that the city had purchased the Extended Stay America hotel in North Oakland, using $7 million in state funding, $25 million in grant money from the state's social services department, and $4.6 million in city money, to rehouse residents from three encampments. The hotel will provide temporary housing with wraparound services for up to 150 people before the site gets converted to permanent supportive housing, according to the city. Still, homeless advocates have criticized what they view as Oakland's aggressive response to encampments — as well as condemning San Francisco and other cities across the Bay Area for sweeps. 'Since the Grants Pass Supreme Court ruling, cities including Oakland have been emboldened to increase sweeps, often with no accessible shelter being offered,' said Talya Husbands-Hankin, a homeless advocate in Oakland. 'Community members living in trailers and RVs are rarely offered any assistance and the few 'safe parking' programs are almost always full.' Mayor-elect Barbara Lee, who is expected to take office later this month, has not said whether she will continue the current encampment sweeps and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. During the campaign, she said that she wants to test a guaranteed income pilot for unhoused residents, work with the Veterans Administration to get homeless veterans off the street and hire unhoused people to clean the streets. Lee also released a 10-point plan for her first 100 days in office that pushes for the city to get its fair share of money from Alameda County to tackle homelessness. Lee is referring to a voter-appointed homelessness funding measure, but it's unclear how much help Oakland might get from that money, which is controlled by the county. Still, that funding could help address encampments like Mosswood Park, which officials closed in April, by adding shelter, housing and social services. Over the last four years, Mosswood Park was Oakland's most visited location for encampment sweeps. Residents complained about open drug use, hazardous waste, rats and other safety concerns. A fence now stands to block off a small area of the park where the tents and makeshift shelters once stood. City officials have added 'no re-encampment' signs around the park to deter unhoused people from returning, and they're instructing neighbors to call 311 if they see any tents pop back up. Of the 41 people that Oakland officials called 'core' residents of Mosswood Park, 32 moved into the Extended Stay Americaafter the site was cleared late last month, according to city spokesperson Sean Maher. Even bigger than Mosswood is the encampment on East 12th Street, which spans at least four city blocks and is home to just under 100 people, according to city estimates. The site has more than a dozen makeshift pallet shelters, RVs and vehicles with other living quarters made of tarps, wood and other discarded items. The site, which has angered some neighbors who say the city needs to do more to clean it up, is also a hot spot for illegal dumping and is littered with massive piles of trash. LeAndre Redd moved to the massive site recently after the city closed the encampment where he was living nearly a mile away. 'They took my stuff and destroyed my home,' Redd said. 'It's tough because all my stuff was gone.' In 2022, the city attempted to close the East 12th Street encampment, but Maher said that 'outside parties created an unsafe work environment' and efforts stalled. As part of this month's closure, city officials said they're exploring the addition of new landscaping and parking restrictions to reduce the chances of re-encampment. Outreach workers have spent the past six months preparing encampment residents for the move. All 79 of the 'core residents' of the East 12th Street encampment will be offered temporary housing at the Extended Stay America site, officials said. But some encampment residents, including Hassan Shaghasi and Redd, said they were either never approached by the workers or told they were not identified as one of those 'core residents' who were prioritized for housing. Shaghasi said he has lived at the encampment for more than five years and is stressed about not knowing where he'll go after it's cleared. Harold Duffey, assistant city administrator, acknowledged at a recent public meeting that not all residents at the encampment were offered a spot at the interim housing site. Duffey said the city created a list of longer-term encampment residents who had priority for housing, and that more offers of housing will be forthcoming. Bartholomew Drawsand, 37, has been living at East 12th Street for nearly a decade after his struggles with drug addiction left him homeless. Drawsand said he'd move to the hotel if given the option, but no one from the city has offered him housing or shelter. Some residents are more hesitant about leaving. Raquel Zavala, 51, expressed concern that the hotel stays are temporary and said she has a community at East 12th Street. 'We have established ourselves just like you have your neighborhood,' Zavala said. 'There has to be more input from the people's lives they're affecting. The person who's never been homeless gets to decide, 'what are we going to do with the homeless people.' '
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Yahoo
Baton Rouge man accused of armed robbery, selling stolen car on Facebook arrested
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A man accused of robbing an acquaintance at gunpoint and later selling the stolen vehicle on Facebook Marketplace has been arrested. On March 1, detectives launched an investigation into an armed robbery that occurred at Extended Stay America on Corporate Boulevard. According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, the victim reported that he was in his hotel room with an acquaintance, later identified as 24-year-old Darius Gaines. Gaines allegedly brandished a firearm, took the victim's car keys and cell phone, and fled the scene in the victim's vehicle. Detectives later discovered that Gaines had sold the stolen vehicle through Facebook Marketplace. An arrest warrant was issued for Gaines on the charge of armed robbery with a firearm. Police: Woman wanted in connection to fatal hit-and-run crash in Baton Rouge Police said Gaines, who has a lengthy criminal history including possession of a stolen firearm, robbery and drug-related offenses, was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Task Force on April 2. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. East Feliciana jury convicts man of double homicide, attempted murder Baton Rouge man accused of armed robbery, selling stolen car on Facebook arrested The cheapest time to visit Walt Disney World might surprise you Musk responds after 'SNL' roasts Trump tariffs, Tesla vandalism Second child died from measles-related causes in West Texas Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
