FREE
AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■ Commissioner Boykin calls for 30-day moratorium on Facebook Live, PAGE 5
Vol. 31 No. 18
■
April 26, 2017
■
austinweeklynews.com
■
Also serving Garfield Park
@ @AustinWeeklyChi
@AustinWeeklyNews
AUSTIN COMING TOGETHER April 26, 2017
THRIVE 2025: 2017 QUARTER 2
ACT: Thrive ACT Th i 2025
Special pullout section
Post-Obama, can CPD still reform? Ald. Chris Taliaferro, CPD officials still confident that progress can happen By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Some Chicago Police Department officials and a West Side alderman are confident that police reforms recommended by the federal goverment in the waning days of the Obama administration will still be carried out in Chicago — despite the recent election of a President of the United States and a president of the local police union who are both openly hostile to such reforms. In the final week of the Obama administration, the U.S. Justice Department issued a report finding a pattern of unconstitutional practices, as well as insufficient training and issues with supervision and promotions, within the Chicago Police Department The report recommended a number of possible reforms, some of which had already been implemented by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Superintendent Eddie Johnson during the Justice Department’s investigation. Those reforms include the creation of a Civilian Office of Police Accountability to replace the controversial Independent Police Review Authority and the issuance of a transparency policy that requires the police to release videos and “other materials related to certain officer misconduct investigations,” according to a Justice Department statement released in January. Since his election, Trump has appointed Jeff Sessions, who has spoken out against consent decrees, as the U.S. Attorney General. And two weeks ago, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the labor union representing CPD officers, elected several candidates, including one running for union president, from the Blue Voice 7 slate of candidates. The slate had pledged to take a harder stance against police reform efforts. See CPD REFORM on page 4
WENDELL HUTSON/Contributor
GARDEN OF WISDOM: Terry Barnes moved to Austin five years ago to look after his 77-year-old sister, and has since built a community garden filled with unique displays. He built the “Washarthur” garden at 4839 N. Ferdinand Ave. to inspire and encourage residents to care about their community and one another.
An Austin garden worth 10,000 words The Washarthur garden, on the 4800 block of North Ferdinand, speaks volumes about its creator’s values
By WENDELL HUTSON Contributing Reporter
A former elementary school teacher said when he built a community garden five years ago in Austin he did so to inspire and encourage residents to care about their community and one another. Terry Barnes, 69, said he moved in with his 77-year-old sister several years ago to look after her as she gets older.
He lives at 4839 N. Ferdinand Ave., and his nearly 1-acre garden is located in an empty lot next door. The “Washarthur” garden is a portmanteau comprising the last names of his deceased father and his sister’s deceased fatherin-law — Wash and Arthur. “The purpose of this garden is to empower my people and to show them what a garden can be,” explained Barnes. “I remember being in the basement cleaning up four years ago when
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com
my daddy came to me and said I should build something to let kids know where they came from. That’s when bells starting going off in my head.” The garden, which is open to the public, is filled not only with vegetables like greens, tomatoes and corn, but also features wooden signs scrawled with biblical scriptures, poetry, quotes from famous people and quotes from Barnes himself — what he calls his See AUSTIN GARDENS on page 6