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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Vol. 32 No. 24
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June 13, 2018
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A girl’s 1993 murder inspires music,
austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
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Clergy call for officer’s firing
West Side leaders want officer who killed Jones, LeGrier in 2015, gone By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Religious leaders from across Chicago gathered outside of the Chicago Police Department’s South Side headquarters on June 10 to call for the termination of Officer Robert Rialmo — the Chicago cop who fatally shot Bettie Jones, 55, and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, inside a West Side apartment building in December 2015. Although the Civilian Office of Police Accountability — the city agency that deals with disciplining police officers — recommended that Rialmo be fired after the body reviewed the case, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has said that Rialmo’s actions were within the department’s policies and has refused to terminate him. “Not firing [Rialmo] would be sending a dual message to all police officers that black lives don’t matter,” stated Rev. Ira Acree — the pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin and co-chairman of The Leaders Network, the faithbased social justice organization that hosted Monday’s press conference — in a prepared statement. Acree said that civil rights leader Al Sharpton was scheduled to visit Chicago on June 12 to weigh in on Rialmo’s firing. See RIALMO on page 10
ERIC SMITH/Team8 Tour
Moving forward
A young man inside of Austin College and Career Academy in Austin. On June 6 and June 7, volunteers with the Team8 Tour, a national campaign designed to inspire young people around the country to make positive choices, built a new dance and fitness studio, among other improvements, at the school.
Taliaferro’s senior safety ordinance passes Tougher penalties in place for those caught with illegal weapons outside senior housing By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
Anyone caught carrying an illegal gun within 500 feet of any senior housing in Chicago will face fines and, if they do it more than once, possible jail time ranging from 30 days to six months. The ordinance was a brainchild of Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), who introduced
it in May 2017 in response to what he saw while visiting a senior home in his ward. The Chicago City Council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance on May 25. During an April 24 meeting of the council’s Committee on Public Safety, the West Side aldermen in attendance expressed support for the idea, saying that seniors deserved special protection. At the same time, they acknowledged that laws alone
won’t solve the underlying issues that are responsible for crime and said that they planned to continue pushing for more jobs and educational opportunities on the West Side. Taliaferro has said in the past that his ordinance was inspired by seniors who told him that they did no go outside be-
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com
See TALIAFERRO on page 15