Austin Weekly News 013118

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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■ An Oak Park pastor retires, leaves legacy of crossing Austin Blvd., PAGE 5

Vol. 32 No. 5

January 31, 2018

austinweeklynews.com

Also serving Garfield Park

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AW W. Side Sid ddeall lledd ‘El Chapo’ to Feds, page 3

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Davis rolls out national bail reform bill The congressman introduced a measure requiring states to change their bail laws By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

U.S. Representative Danny Davis (7th) is looking to make Illinois bail reform national. On Jan. 18, he introduced House Bill 4833, which would require state governments to change their laws regarding bail and trial procedures in two significant ways. If a person is arrested for a non-violent misdemeanor crime and hasn’t been arrested in the past, the state can’t require them to post bail in order to get out of jail. In addition, the state must give them an opportunity to have their charges dismissed against them if they complete a mental health treatment program, a drug rehab program or a community service program. The bill also has language requiring the U.S. Attorney General to review studies on bail reform and pretrial release programs to “determine best practices” to reduce the amount of money state spend on federal funds in connection to pre-trial imprisonment. Nothing in the bill would actually require the states to follow those recommendations. During a press conference held on Jan. 25 at Greater St. John Bible Church, 256 North Waller Ave., in Austin, Davis told reporters that he was confident that the bill has a good chance of passing. Most of the bills that pass get bipartisan support, the congressman said, before touting his experience in getting his bills passed even when Republicans control Congress and the Oval Office. The push for bail reform has been ongoSee DAVIS BILL on page 7

ALEXA ROGALS/Staff Photographer

THREE-HANDED: Rashad Glover, founder of Global Glover Technologies, with his 3-D printed prosthetic arm prototype.

A hand up … and out

Rashad Glover wants to teach West Side youths how to build 3-D arms By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

Rashad Glover, an Oak Park and River Forest High School graduate, is an industrial designer by profession. His passion, though, is making arms on a 3-D printer for disabled people who most need them. “We pretty much find people who need arms in the ‘urban’ environment, 3-D scan them, then 3-D print custom prosthetics for recipients at no cost to them,” Glover said in a recent interview.

It costs between $300 and $500 to buy the materials to produce each arm, which can take more than a month to make and features a range of bells and whistles like flashlights and cellphone holders. The cost of labor is incalculable, measured mainly in love. Glover, 35, said his South Side church, New Deliverance, provides him with space and funds to make the prosthetics through a program they’ve been developing for nearly two years. He just delivered the first prosthetic he’s completed through the program to a recipient in Chicago.

Now he wants to bring young people in the western suburbs, and on Chicago’s West and South sides, into the fold. Glover recently partnered with the Oak Park Public Library on a project that will allow him to teach area young people how to make the 3-D prosthetics. “There are a lot of open-source arm projects out there where people just print the arm without making it fit the person,” Glover said. “My kids will learn how to

Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com

See RASHAD GLOVER on page 4


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