Austin Weekly News 052924

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AUSTIN WEEKLY EARNS MAJOR

With the closure of Forest Park’s American Legion Post 414, others say the future is with younger veterans

Known for the Friday fish fry, corner bar and dedication to veterans, the country’s American Legions and VFWs, longtime national touchstones, are navigating how to thrive as their memberships shift.

Although more than 12,000 American Legion posts and nearly 6,000 worldwide locations of the Veterans of Foreign Wars still exist, membership in these service organizations is dropping as veterans grow older or die. See AMERICAN LEGION on pa ge 8

RUNS

With declining enrollment, can American Legions, VFWs stay relevant today?
May 29, 2024 ■ Also ser ving Gar eld Park ■ austinweeklynews.com @AustinWeeklyChi @AustinWeeklyNews FREE Cicada color ing contest, page 10 d l @austinweeklynews Vol. 38 No. 22 SAM TUCKER/AUSTINTALKS
Run Crew members Maurice Todd, Daniel Todd, Tanya Smith and Pamela Washington run down Chicago Avenue in Austin on March 28.
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Help Growing Community Media reimagine coverage of the West Side

We’re in an exciting moment. GCM has been awarded a major grant from Press Forward, a new national philanthropy.

For 38 years, Growing Community Media has been by your side with Austin Weekly News, covering Austin, West Garfield Park and North Lawndale. We’ve been scrappy, but we’ve reported on your lives and events the best we could.

Today, we have a major opportunity to rethink our coverage of the West Side. Press Forward is focused on saving local news across America. And that includes Chicago’s West Side.

We’ll start by hiring a managing editor for Austin Weekly News, a big role that will be visible to all of you who live on the West Side. The person will be critical to reinvigorating what we cover and how we cover it.

This means a bigger, better Austin Weekly with more stories, more connection, more voices. More you.

We’re midway in our Spring Fund Drive and we could use a little boost. As a nonprofit, we rely on these funds to invest in our newsroom – reporters, editors, designers, a digital manager – who are working hard to cover all of our communities.

Our goal by June 30 was $130,000. We’re just under halfway there. Help us meet our goal.

Every dollar counts.

Jump in. Become a part of this moment.

With our gratitude and excitement.

We’re growing community. One story at a time.

Scan and join us!

2 Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024

BIG WEEK May 29-June 5

A Growing Community Media Partnership

95th Anniversary Celebration

With Larry Taylor, Friday, June 7, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Austin Branch, Chicago Public Library

Join the Austin branch as it celebrates its 95th anniversar y. This will be a fun day of games, refreshments, music and activities for everyone. Larry Taylor, West Side blues ambassador, will bring his Soul Blues Healers band to help Austin Chicago Public Library celebrate its 95th anniversary. Austin is the westernmost neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, the Best Side, which produced a whole generation of postwar musicians skilled in Blues, Funk, Soul, and R&B. Austin Librarian JoAnne Willis said she is proud of the building’s recent remodeling and all the educational programs the library has o ered—including our last year’s blues history program. The 95th Austin Library anniversary will be held outdoors if good weather, or indoors if not. 5615 W. Race Ave.

BUILD Chicago’s 4th Annual Restorative Justice Conference

Friday, May 31, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

BUILD’s 2024 Restorative Justice conference called Renewing Hope, Reigniting Vision and Repairing Harm; Restoring Human Connections introduces you to innovative, successful approaches to addressing equity, harm, con ict and proactive community building in ways that center relationships and avoid exclusion. They are rooted in the guiding values of Restorative Justice. Workshops and activities have been designed to repair your spirit, renew your skills and reignite your passion! Register at the website: https://ow.ly/JboB50RSSz6. 5100 W. Harrison St.

Austin Town Hall Farmers Market

Thursdays, June 6 – Oct. 31, 1 – 6 p.m.

The Austin Town Hall Farmers Market now features an 80-seat trolley that will take people to the market and Austin’s gardens. New, too, this year is live entertainment, including from DJ Lipgloss. 5610 W. Lake St.

Westside

Men’s Health Fair

Saturday, June 1, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Loretto Hospital, 6th Floor Auditorium

Topics such as prostate health, tness and nutrition, mental wellness will be covered, and health screenings, lunch and refreshments will be provided. Register at the website: https://ow.ly/TsUC50RSSGO

Austin Garden Collective’s Volunteer Saturdays

Saturdays beginning June 1

Austin Garden Collective represents and supports more than 25 community gardens in Austin through connecting, resourcing and supporting this garden network. These sessions are facilitated to support the beautiful gardens in Austin. Learn more or get involved: https://ow.ly/3QMt50RSSJn

Hub 101: Skills

Chicagoland’s Future

Tuesday, June 4 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.

Hosted by Austin Coming Together’s Austin Community Hub team. Learn about job opportunities and other career support resources! This is a Facebook Live event. Learn more and register: https://ow.ly/ XX1V50RSSMK

Austin Neighborhood Choir Discover y Day

Monday, June 3, 5:30 p.m.

Austin Branch, Chicago Public Library

The Neighborhood Choir programs of Uniting Voices Chicago are welcoming new singers entering third grade and up for the 2023-24 school year. Meet the conductor, learn about the program and sign up to be a part of the magic. Discover how your voice can be a part of the Uniting Voices Chicago family. Friends, family and neighbors are welcome to join! 5615 W. Race Ave.

AU STIN WEEKLY news

Sta Reporters Jessica Mordacq Amaris E. Rodriguez

Special projects reporter Delaney Nelson

Digital Manager Stacy Coleman

Digital Media Coordinator Brooke Duncan

Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks

Columnists Arlene Jones, Aisha Oliver

Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead

Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea

Designers Susan McKelvey, Vanessa Garza

Sales & Marketing Representatives Lourdes Nicholls, Ben Stumpe

Business & Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan

Circulation Manager Jill Wagner

Publisher Dan Haley

Special Projects Manager Susan Walker

Nile Wendorf

Abrahamson, Gary Collins, Steve Edwards, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer

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Tie your laces for 7th annual Race Against Gun Violence

Strides for Peace is working with several West Side organizations to make Chicago safer

Chicago nonprofit Strides for Peace will host its seventh annual Race Against Gun Violence June 6 in Grant Park.

Those who participate in the 8k, 5k, 2-mile walk or Tots for Peace Sprint will do so in an ef fort to reduce gun violence in Chicago — an issue that has long affected the city’s West Side.

From 2010 to 2020, the Chicago Police Department’s 15th District in Austin has seen

“The violence i tself becomes so allencompassing as the story that it ’s easy to miss all of this other wo rk that’s going on around the c ommunity,” sai d Joel Hamer nick, executive director of Strides for Peac e.

For this year’s Race Against Gun Violence, Strides for Peace is working with nearly 80 community partners and nonprofits that help to build a safer Chicago. These include organizations located on Chicago’s West Side, like The BASE Chicago, Boxing Out Ne gativity, BUILD, Christ the King Jesuit Colle ge Preparatory School, Hustle Mommies, MothersOnAMission28, and Project Impact 180.

Participants can re gister for Race Against Gun Violence for $45 or sign up to run and raise funds for a specific organization. The re gistration fees and sponsors cover the cost of putting on the event so

Past participants get ready for the Race Against Gun Violence.

tering in the last two weeks. Hamer nick said 830 people have already re gistered for this year’s race, and the organization is also on track to break the record for the most money the race has raised, which was set last year at $107,500.

“We hope that those numbers are going to go up quite a bit this year,” Hamer nick said of the donations that organizations receive. “We spent a lot of time doing technical assistance and professional development to help these organizations really build their networks.”

Strides for Peace offers capacity building support programming throughout the year to increase the organizations’ effectiveness and sustainability. This programming consists of one-on-one meetings with organization leaders to strengthen internal operations like record keeping and metric re porting.

“My g oal is to g et to the point where we ve at least fifty organizations raisin g least $15,000 each per year,” Hamernick said.

The Race Against Gun Violence will start June 6 at 6 p.m. in Grant Park. Sign up at https://www.stridesforpeace.org/.

4 Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024
KO RY POWELL KO RY POWELL Participants running in the Race Against Gun Violence, which raised over $100,000 last year

make news

It has been a remarkable exciting week for those of us at Growing Community Media. Over the past four years, dating to our remaking as a nonprofit newsroom, we’ve been reinventing the model for authentic, local news.

We don’t want to re peat for you the travails which have put local news across America at risk.

Instead, we’re focusing on the future.

We started with the simple truth that people still want to know and understand what goes on in the town they choose for home. They want an inde pendent newsroom with local roots doing the re porting.

We’re building the plane as we’re flying it, and with our trusty craft in midair, we’ve been pitching par ts out the door, adding people and products, listening better to readers about what they want to know, building new streams of revenue to pay for it all and crafting a pretty unique hybrid. Advertising. Reader memberships. Philanthropy. Print. Digital. Social. Email. And with COVID ending, mixing in a few events

This week, two ke y strands of the new revenue model are happily overlapping.

GCM and its Austin Weekly News have just earned a two-year grant from Press Forward, a new national philanthropy, which we’ ll use to hire a managing editor for our West Side paper. We’ve proudly published the Austin Weekly for 38 years. But our re porting has always been constrained by a limited pool of ad dollars. Now as a nonprofit, we are finding new revenue streams to pay for more news

verage, more pages, more ommunity connection. A couple of sidenotes: For the first time we will form a community-inclusive hiring ommittee to be central to choosing the managing ditor. And as soon as we are able to find funding, we will open a West Side Public Newsroom. This will be a storefront in Austin where our staf f can work from, interviews can take place, small groups of neighbors can convene to talk about issues and our coverage We’ll also welcome re por ters from other news outlets re porting on the West Side to share the space.

We are grateful to Press Forward that GCM and 12 other independent Chicago newsrooms were in the first cohor t of grants from this ambitious local news effort. At the same time, we’re midway through our annual Spring Fund Drive. I am certain, with your help, that we will raise the last $75,000 of our goal. This is the money that goes into the newsroom to pay re porters, editors, designers, and a digital manager to tell stories across our four publications

If you are a member of GCM, then please renew. If you are reading our news for free, then snap out of it. Our costs are real. Our re porters provide value. This is our invitation to really join this enterprise, to be part of this powerful community.

Last thing, on Saturday, GCM made the donuts at the Oak Park Far mers Market for the first time. Thanks for coming. Hope you liked them. Thanks to our staf f and the volunteers who made this work. It is another way to support local news.

Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024 5
HALE Y “ Our reporters provide value. This is our invitation to really join this enterprise, to be par t of this powerful community.” PUBLISHER’S NOTE The Village of Oak Park has job opportunities available. Please visit www.oak-park.us Community • Connection Service • Respect Thinking about a career in local government? B.B.Q. RIBS & CHICKEN BURGERS & HOT DOGS Italian Beef Sandwich w/ Fries $10.99 3 Vienna Hot Dogs w/ Fries $10.99 Wednesday Gyros Plate Dinner 1 lb meat, 2 pita breads, fries & 3 cups sauce $14.99 Every day Special! Gyros with fries $9.99 1/4 Lb Double Cheeseburger Big Mickey! $3.99 525 N Harlem Ave, Oak Park (708) 848-3333 11am - 9pm Daily includes fries or baked potato, coleslaw and garlic bread 1/2 Slab Dinner $15.49 Full Slab Dinner $22.99 Mickey’s is the place! Mickey’s Rib Special RibFest Every Day! Handyman Services • Kitchen and bathrooms • Paint, drywall, patching • Tile, vinyl or laminate flooring • Outdoor patios, brick, stone, and so much more... Serving the Tri-Village area Call/Text Ardian at 708-657-0061 for a free estimate
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer. This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Raby’s valedictorian Jayveon Edmonds is ‘ready

for it’
He’s ready for SIU and whatever else life throws at him

School wasn’t always smooth sailing Jayveon Edmonds — the pandemic him of his 8th grade graduation and the sense of community classrooms can bring.

But Edmonds, 18, made it work North Lawndale senior graduated as valedictorian at Al Raby School for Community and Environment on the West Side.

“I’m ready for it,” he said.

For the graduation — and for what What ’s next is colle ge, but Edmond wasn’t always certain that would be in hi future. He didn’t like middle school. was a virtual experience for him. An high school didn’t start out much better

“School felt very restricting,” he said. “I’m an open-minded guy. I like to be free and creative. So, when I am limited to one way, it’s not fun for me.”

His teachers, he said, helped, especiall his broadcast instructor, Roderick Ha Teaching wasn’t “just a job” for him.

“He really cared about his students Sometimes we just needed to talk, so talked. He helped me in certain situations he didn’t have to.”

That made all of the differenc monds said.

Although he dislikes restrictions, that doesn’t mean Edmonds is not disciplined.

The teen works four days a week through the Urban Roots work-study program at Garfield Park Conservatory. He’s a senior leader for the environmental justice program and the first teen to be named one. It’s a job, he said, that helped him hone his public-speaking skills. Edmonds gives tours of the conservatory, and on Saturdays, clerks in the gift shop. As part of the job, too, he helped develop lesson plans and participated in the committee that hired his own boss, screening candidates and making calls.

Edmonds also works as a beekeeper a few hours a week, and has started his own hive He helped the bees establish their new

Jayveon Edmonds, Raby High School’s valedictorian, heads to Southern Illinois University in the fall.

home and even harvested honey. Sweet.

He also performs as a break dancer with The Microphone Mistfitz, a hip hop group his uncle, emcee D-Nick, also perfor ms in.

At Raby, Edmonds also attended two classes at the University of Illinois Chicago, earning four college-credit hours in the process. Although his uncle D-Nick and his aunt, Seprina Redmond, encouraged him to follow his dreams, he said, it was UIC that made his future clear.

“It was dope,” he said. “I had great pro-

6 Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024
PROVIDED BY JAY VEON EDMONDS

Jayveon Edmonds, 18, o ers advice to graduating seniors: ‘Do what you want to do, not what someone else wants you to do.’

T he bigness of it all has not yet sunk

in, he said. He’s the first one on his s ide the f amily to go to colle ge. His parents are proud. So are his little sister s. Edmonds hesitates, though, when he talks about them.

“I don’t think they’ll realize what this means until I’m gone,” he said.

But his aunt was thrilled.

“She was jumping for joy,” he said. It helped that her daughter, his cousin, goes to Carbondale. That meant he’d have peole there and would be safer

His uncle, who graduated from DePaul rsity, had been the engine behind the decision.

“He told me he met his lifelong friends at ge and said it would open a lot of doors ,” Edmonds said.

He told Edmonds, too, to follow his dreams. at was his advice for his graduating class, and it’s part of the shout out he gives to Shavez Rodgers, Deon Winters, lon Rogers, Kaliyah Newsome, Robert, Allahashawn Redmond, Wisdom Cannon and Yuni — the fam he chose, the fam who chose him.

what you want to do, not what someone else wants you to do,” he said he advises at’s what he did.

“And it’s dope,” he said.

Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024 7
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AMERICAN LEGION Shi ing eras

from page 1

With roots tracing back to the SpanishAmerican war, VFW reported a decline one million members between 1992 and 2019. Joe Bartley, state adjutant-quartermaster for the State of Illinois VFW, said there are 35,045 VFW members across 260 posts in Illinois. And though the largest post has more than 600 member membership has increased only twice in Illinois since 2015.

The American Legion, chartered in 1919, has lost more than 700,000 members in the last decade, according to Fox News.

And in Forest Park, American Legion Post 414 soon may contribute to that number. The post is closing and hosted its last honor guard service on Memorial Da Mike Thompson, who helps manage 414, said low member participation and the cost of maintaining the property ha the Forest Park American Legion’s closure.

“It’s an older building, it needs a lot of repairs constantly and we don’t have the revenue stream to pay for it,” Thompson said.

While it’s the end of an era for Forest Park veterans, other American Legions and VFWs said they are nevertheless focused on growing membership and staying involved in the community. The future, re presentatives said, is with younger members, who they recruit at events for veterans and by continuing ef for ts to get to know those who fought in recent wars.

“Every post does what they’re doing a little differently,” Bartley said. “The posts that are able to get the younger veterans in, where they’re most successful is where they’re building their post programs around family.”

Caring for veterans and the community

Service organizations for veterans, like American Legions and VFWs, are ingrained in their communities.

“A lot of people don’t know what the American Legion does,” said Balvina Ranney, an auxiliary officer and historian at American Legion Post 96 in Cicero, which she said opened about 100 years ago. “We do things to assist veterans, their families and also be part of the community.”

Post 96, for example, supports little league baseball teams and football teams, offers rehabilitation services for veterans and participates in honor guards, funeral

services and parades.

“We look after our vets as primary, and then our community is secondary,” said Gregory Walker, commander of American Legion Post 838 in Maywood, which he said has existed for about 50 years. “But we serve a big purpose in the community.”

These community offerings include a coat drive in October, hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for veterans and a toy giveaway around Christmas time. During the backto-school season, Post 838 holds a drive to fill as many as 200 backpacks with school supplies. At least twice a year, they host a free all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.

Post 838 also helps sponsor high school juniors to go to Boys State, which involves teaching participants about their responsibilities, government and the military.

“We are teaching them how to become good whatever you want to be,” Walker said of Boys State. “It’s something to get them focused on the next chapter in their lives.”

Post 96 helps sponsor Girls State, where high school juniors learn about the political process, gover nment structure and the path to becoming a state representative or senator.

Money for these services often comes from veterans and community members. Walker said Post 838 makes 90% of its revenue from “the canteen,” or its bar.

ich had nearly 400 members at the time

“They’ve got a lot of members, but no one wanted to run for office or do the required to keep the post open,” Jack Meshek, the Illinois VFW’s District 4 commander, previously told the Landmark about the Nor th Riverside VFW.

“Membership is dropping to a point where t even fill the offices in their post,” tley said of VFWs that merge with other “That’s why it’s so important to get the young people in there.”

Walker said he’s the second oungest member of Maywood’s Amerigion.

constantly are recruiting to get younger members,” Walker said. He said he often talks and plays cards with younger veterans associated with the Veterans Affairs Chicago office.

ounger veterans aren’t the only newer t for these service organizations

“One of the fastest growing demographVFW membership is the female veteran,” Bartley said.

As more women join the armed forces, service organizations have shifted to address their needs. For example, Bartley said the Illinois VFW is lobbying for the VA to offer more programs for women and female doctors.

And while membership to American Legions and VFWs might be decreasing, affecting the number of members who visit canteens, Bartley said many VFW posts are focusing more on fundraising efforts — especially because dinners and raffles are often held in the same building as the canteen.

Changing demographics

Around the time of World War II, the American Legion in Cicero had over 400 members, Ranney said. Membership is now fewer than 100 people.

As veterans of World War II and the Korean War die, an increasing number of veterans at Cicero’s Post 96 served in Vietnam, or are children of those who did, Ranney said. She estimated that about 75% of Post 96’s members are in their 40s, 50s or 60s.

“Our unit is not a very young unit. We’re very grateful that we have senior members guiding us,” Ranney said.

But as members of veterans service organizations age, many become less involved.

“Some of these people are at the point in their time when they just want to sit back in the recliner and enjoy life,” Bartley said.

In 2008, the North Riverside VFW — with about 600 members from absorbing former posts in Cicero, Lyons, Melrose Park and Westchester — merged into Berwyn’s,

And hope isn’t lost for the younger or female veterans who were a part of Forest Park’s American Legion.

After learning about Post 414’s closure, Walker said he would visit to encourage its members to join another location, since he doesn’t see an organization taking over Post 414’s role in the community.

“The closest thing I could probably say would possibly be the park district,” Walker said. “But it wouldn’t cater to the veterans.”

While several organizations support veterans, many are based in Chicago and lack suburban locations, like Chicago Veterans, The Mission Continues and The Wounded Warrior Project. While the Veterans Assistance Commission of Cook County provides social services and emergency financial assistance to veterans, organizations like this often don’t highlight community events to the same extent that American Legions and VFWs do.

“We’re here to serve the community and to show that what makes a community is being part of it, helping and being there for each other and for good people that are doing good causes,” Ranney said.

“It’s a matter of what the members are interested in, what the community is interested in, and finding something that works together,” Bartley said.

8 Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024
FILE
Forest Park’s American Legion Post 414 hosted its last honor guard ser vice on Memorial Day

Austin Run Crew comes back strong for its 4th year

‘We can have it right here in our community,’ one runner said.

The Austin Run Crew is back for the fourth year on the neighborhood streets of Austin and beyond, bringing a healthy outlet to the West Side.

The Austin Run Crew, an all-level running and walking group, meets every Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at La Follette Park, 1333 N. Laramie Ave., from March through November. The group runs and walks dif ferent 5k routes throughout Austin every week and travels across the Chicago area to compete in races.

The group began its the 2024 season by participating in the Shamrock Shuffle.

Lovie Twine, Austin Run Crew’s leader, said the group is not just about taking control of participants’ own personal health; they also aim to bring a positive outlet to Austin. Twine said it’s hard to get past the narrative of Austin being crime ridden, but it doesn’t stop the group from being active and visible in the neighborhood

“We hit all the areas. We run down to Division, and we run down Chicago. We run around Central and North Avenue, that’s hardcore Austin. You can’t get more Austin than that,” Twine said. “They just run it with ease, there’s no intimidation factor. We don’t even think about the narrative of ‘you might get shot, or this might happen’ – that could happen sitting on your porch.”

In December 2023, a close friend of Twine’s was murdered in Austin. During the crew’s first run of the season on March 21, a passerby saw the group running and stopped to ask about the group in that same area North Avenue where the shooting happened. Twine said moments like those are what give her joy amid her frustration with crime in Austin.

Exercising with the Austin Run Crew has given her an outlet to work through her frustration and g rief.

“I’m channeling that sadness onto this. I’m talking to other people, and I’m shar-

ing what happened. We know each other, we know what goes on in each other’s lives. So we’re utilizing each other in a healthy way,” Twine said. “When you’re running, you don’t have time to do a lot of thinking … you get clarity.”

Out on runs, they move together as a group and don’t leave anyone behind. Twine always carries flyers just in case someone asks about what they’re doing. She hopes more people will join the 12 members who consistently come out on runs.

“Everybody puts aside all of their training and their egos. Everybody there knows we are there for a purpose, and that purpose is to bring something positive to the Austin community,” Twine said.

Pamela Washington, an Austin Run Crew member and Austin resident, walked with the crew during a recent sunny, 50-degree day. As the runners moved along one of their usual routes on Chicago Avenue in Austin, passing cars honked in support, and some onlookers asked about the crew

Washington, who’s been with the crew since it began in 2020, said she just enjoys being active in her neighborhood

“I like being in the community because, exactly like the route we took today on our Chicago Avenue, it’s blooming, it’s growing. T here’s a new this coming, there’s a new that coming. You can’ t ask for more,” Washington said. “It’s like it’s finally our turn for some of the dollars to be put back over here so you can enjoy what you see it’s just a joy.”

Yolanda White, another Austin Run Crew member and Austin resident, said she exercises with the crew to stay healthy and to interact with the community. She enjoys having a running and walking group that is local.

“Everybody can be a part of this as well. You don’t have to travel to the North Side of Chicago or down to the east part of Chicago. We can have it right here in our community,” White said.

Only 34% of runners are people of color, according to a 2023 study by the Running Industry Diversity Coalition, an educational non-profit that aims to improve diversity in the running industry,

“Women fought their way to get into it, and then Black women had to fight their way to get into it. So, to see a run commu-

SAM TUCKER/AUSTINTALKS

Austin Run Crew members begin their 5k run around Austin on March 28. e Austin Run Crew is an all-level walking and running group that meets every ursday at La Follette park located at 1333 N. Laramie Ave.

SAM TUCKER/AUSTINTALKS

Austin Run Crew members run a lap around the track at La Follette Park, nishing o the 5k route they ran around Chicago and Div ision Avenue in Austin on March 28.

nity that’s predominately Black women, and we’re going on four years this November, there’s something to say something about it,” said Dominique Sabbs, senior community development manager at the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA), which helped start the Austin Run Crew

Prestine Jones, an Austin Run Crew member who grew up in Austin but now lives in Villa Park, said she never imagined how passionate she would become about running when she first started four years ago. She now uses the opportunity to stay connected to her Austin roots

“They stuck me in a crowd of marathoners, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, are they going to kick me out because I’m slow?’ But

they embraced me at whatever pace I was So, it made me feel welcome,” Jones said.

Members of the Austin Run Crew have competed in a number of races, including the Chicago Marathon, the Turkey Trot 5k and the Selma to Montgomery Relay, a 51mile relay race in Selma, Alabama.

Although they train for personal health reasons and to compete, many of the participants see physical health benefits as a bonus. The main benefit is the outlet it offers to their community

“We have people who are not going to allow the people who wreak havoc on Austin, to make us feel like this isn’t our community as well. We truly are striving to bring positive light to Austin,” Twine said.

Cicada coloring cont est

For kids and the kids at hear t

Grab your colored pencils and crayons! This cicada has been waiting 17 years to be this colorful! Snap a pic of your nal work of art to Editor Erika Hobbs at erika@ growingcommunitymedia.org to be featured next week in the paper and online. JPEGs and PDFs accepted. We’d also love to see you! You can drop o your cicada art at 141. S. Oak Park Ave.

10 Austin Weekly News, May 29, 2024
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Case Number: 2022 CH 11095

TJSC#: 44-1247

NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you are advised that Plaintiff’s attorney is deemed to be a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Plaintiff, vs. TAMIKA WARREN; ILLINOIS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

AUTHORITY; UNKNOWN

OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS

Defendants, 23 CH 3608

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY

GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above entitled cause Intercounty Judicial Sales Corporation will on Monday, June 24, 2024 at the hour of 11 a.m. in their office at 120 West Madison Street, Suite 718A, Chicago, Illinois, sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, as set forth below, the following described mortgaged real estate: P.I.N. 16-14-328-035-0000.

Commonly known as 3617 W. GRENSHAW ST., CHICAGO, IL 60624.

The mortgaged real estate is improved with a single family residence. If the subject mortgaged real estate is a unit of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by subsection (g-1) of Section 18.5 of the Condominium Property Act. Sale terms: 10% down by certified funds, balance, by certified funds, within 24 hours. No refunds. The property will NOT be open for inspection.

For information call The Sales Department at Plaintiff’s Attorney, Diaz Anselmo & Associates P.A., 1771 West Diehl Road, Naperville, Illinois 60563. (630) 453-6960. 6766-182603

INTERCOUNTY JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION intercountyjudicialsales.com I3244161

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENTCHANCERY DIVISION WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE OF CIM 2021-R5 Plaintiff, -v.-

SEARCY CARTER, AS INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ELNORA CARTER, SEARCY CARTER, UNKNOWN HEIRS AND LEGATEES OF ELNORA CARTER, TORREESE CARTER, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NONRECORD CLAIMANTS

Defendants

2022 CH 11095 5047 ‘’C’’ W. JACKSON CHICAGO, IL 60644

NOTICE OF SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the above cause on September 26, 2023, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on June 18, 2024, at The

Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker, 1st Floor Suite 35R, Chicago, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate:

Commonly known as 5047 ‘’C’’ W. JACKSON, CHICAGO, IL 60644

Property Index No. 16-16-213-1200000

The real estate is improved with a single family residence.

Sale terms: 25% down of the highest bid by certified funds at the close of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third party checks will be accepted. The balance, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. The subject property is subject to general real estate taxes, special assessments, or special taxes levied against said real estate and is offered for sale without any representation as to quality or quantity of title and without recourse to Plaintiff and in “AS IS” condition. The sale is further subject to confirmation by the court. Upon payment in full of the amount bid, the purchaser will receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle the purchaser to a deed to the real estate after confirmation of the sale. The property will NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff makes no representation as to the condition of the property. Prospective bidders are admonished to check the court file to verify all information.

If this property is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and the legal fees required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4).

If this property is a condominium unit which is part of a common interest community, the purchaser of the unit at the foreclosure sale other than a mortgagee shall pay the assessments required by The Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.5(g-1).

IF YOU ARE THE MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER ENTRY OF AN ORDER OF POSSESSION, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE LAW.

You will need a photo identification issued by a government agency (driver’s license, passport, etc.) in order to gain entry into our building and the foreclosure sale room in Cook County and the same identification for sales held at other county venues where The Judicial Sales Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.

For information, examine the court file, CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR RIDGE, IL, 60527 (630) 794-9876

THE JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION

One South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE

You can also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

HELP WANTED

Environmental Research Technician (Original)

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago will be accepting applications for the following classification(s):

Environmental Research Technician (Original)

Additional information regarding salary, job description, requirements, etc. can be found on the District’s website at www.districtjobs.org or call 312-751-5100.

Case # 2022 CH 11095 I3244437

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on age, race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or intention to make any such preferences, limitations or discrimination.

The Illinois Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental or advertising of real estate based on factors in addition to those protected under federal law.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.

Restrictions or prohibitions of pets do not apply to service animals.

To complain of discrimination, call HUD toll free at: 1-800-6699777.

COMMUNITY MEDIA

Illinois Classified Advertising Network DOGS PETS LIVESTOCK

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AustinWeekly News, May 29, 2024 11 HOURS:
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