Austin Weekly News 020724

Page 1

■ The Strokes headline Kina Collins rally PAGE 9

FREE Vol. 38 No. 6

February 7, 2024 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com

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Chi Chicago’s ’ mayor iis no advocate, page 5

First aldermen endorse Melissa Conyears-Ervin’s congressional run Alderman Jeanette Taylor and Chris Taliaferro put their support behind Conyears-Ervin amid her allegations of unethical conduct By JESSICA MORDACQ Staff Reporter

City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin announced endorsements from two Chicago aldermen, the first to support her 7th District congressional run. Along with the Illinois Nurses Association and Chicago Firefighters Local 2, Aldermen Jeanette Taylor of Chicago’s 20th Ward and Chris Taliaferro of the 29th Ward have both pledged their endorsements for Conyears-Ervin, who will be on the Democratic ballot for the March 19 primary election. “It’s time for change in the 7th Congressional District,” they said in a Feb. 2 news release. “Melissa Conyears-Ervin is a working mom who will get a Congress that isn’t working for our community back on track. She has the energy and vision to bring a new focus and commitment to lowering costs, building up our neighborhoods, and investing in our children’s education. We’re proud to endorse her.” Conyears-Ervin, who was elected as the city’s treasurer in 2019, has lived in the 7th District her whole life. “As a working mother who knows how hard it is to See CONYEARS-ERVIN on page 4

Arts center brings healing to the West Side Firebird Community Arts was awarded $2.5 million to build a permanent home for its programs By DEBORAH BAYLISS Contributing Reporter

The first time Lynquell Biggs was shot, the bullet pierced the left side of his chest just below his heart as he walked home from school in his then Washington Park neighborhood at age 14. “The second time I was shot, I was 21 years old and I got shot six times outside my house near the United Center,”

COURTESY OF FIREBIRD COMMUNITY ARTS

Lynquell Biggs working on a glass blowing project at Firebird Community Arts. Biggs told the Austin Weekly News. The trauma was overwhelming. As a victim of the city’s gun violence, Biggs was left feeling depressed and unsafe. “I was going through a lot of stuff after that,” he explained. “I didn’t want to watch TV or movies where guns were shown and people were getting killed. I could not watch that for a long time. I couldn’t laugh anymore…I wasn’t the same. I wasn’t happy and my mom noticed that it had changed me. I would just sit in my room. She wanted to find me help.” See FIREBIRD on page 6

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