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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Vol. 30 No. 39
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AHH Fest doesn’t disapoint,
October 5, 2016
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austinweeklynews.com
PAGE 5
@AustinWeeklyChi
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Also serving Garfield Park
Kenneth Gordon explores beyond West Side, page 6
County expands HIV medication for West Side Grant funding allows Cook County Health & Hospitals System to offer more pre-exposure prophylaxis By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing reporter
The Cook County Health & Hospitals System is expanding its efforts to make pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a pill that significantly reduces the risk of HIV infection, more widely available to West Side residents. The system already offered PrEP at the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, its HIV treatment facility in Illinois Medical District. After receiving a $506,000 grant from the Chicago Department of Public Health, it was able to expand the CORE Center’s service hours and launched “PrEP Clinics” at the Austin Health Center and Dr. Jorge Prieto Health Clinic. According to CCHHS spokesperson Mofita Thomas, patients that don’t qualify for insurance can apply for financial assistance and the system will help those that do qualify get coverage. PrEP, also known by its brand name, Truvada, is designed to help people who are at high risk of HIV infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP keeps the virus from infecting a patient permanently, reducing the risk of infection by up to 92 percent. The organization also emphasizes that it becomes much less effective of patients don’t take it regularly. HIV prevention is a particularly acute issue in Chicago’s minority communities. The Chicago Department of Public Health’s 2015 HIV/STI Surveillance Report found that, as of 2014, new infection rates were See HIV MEDICATION on page 13
WILLIAM CAMARGO/Staff Photographer
A FUTURE STAR?: Austin resident and rapper Christopher Harris, whose stage name is Chris Crack, is making an impact on Chicago’s underground hip-hop scene.
Up from the underground
West Side rapper Chris Crack and producer Cutta could be on the verge of breaking out By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
The past few years have been kind to Austin resident and full-time rapper Christopher Harris, 30, who goes by the stage name Chris Crack. His 2015 self-released album Public Domain 4 garnered a respectable re-
view by Pitchfork magazine, which noted that the Oak Park native has “played local support for acts like Slick Rick, Mystikal, and Can Ox.” Last May, Crack was the subject of a Twitter shout-out from the actor John Leguizamo after the Carlito’s Way star was mentioned in a song, “Wanna See a Dead Body?” on which Crack collaborated with his two musical mentors, the widely respected underground rapper Vic Spencer and the rapper/producer Tree.
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“I’ve contemplated quitting almost every day,” said Crack during a recent interview in his Austin apartment. “This isn’t very lucrative, but it’s like right when you want to quit, that’s when things start happening.” Crack’s elevated stature in the Chicago hiphop scene didn’t come out of nowhere. The rapper developed his sound alongside his longtime best friend and roommate Paul Gulyas, 30, See CHRIS CRACK on page 4