Austin Weekly News 10/06/21

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Austin Weekly News hiring reporter

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Vol. 35 No. 40

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October 6, 2021

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Also serving Garfield Park

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A new taxing district for Garfield Park?

@AustinWeeklyNews

Fall 2021

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Westside Health Authority’s bid to create another SSA opposed by West Garfield Park chamber head

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

The Westside Heath Authority (WHA) and the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) are in the process of establishing a Special Service Area taxing district that would encompass West Garfield Park’s two major commercial corridors.

The proposal is currently making its way through the application process. The Chicago City Council’s Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development will need to hold a public hearing before the new SSA goes to the full City Council for final approval. But before that happens, the City Council needs to approve the hearing request. The council is expected to vote on the request in October, but it will be up to committee’s chair, Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), to set the hearing date.

When a Special Service Area is created, the property owners within it get an extra levy on their property tax bill that can be used to fund services and promote area businesses.

The proposed SSA 77 would include the portion of Madison Street between Hamlin Boulevard and Kenton Avenue, and the portion of Pulaski Road between Lake Street and Congress Parkway. This would be the second West Side SSA and the second West Side SSA operated

by WHA, a venerable West Side social service nonprofit.

The proposed SSA isn’t without its critics.

The plan has met pushback from Siri Hibbler, head of the Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce. She said that her organization applied See SSA on page 10

PASCAL SABINO/Block Club Chicago

Jasyma Johnson speaks at a Jensen Elementary School rally calling for action after her sister, Angel Curry died from coronavirus.

‘We will no longer accept the plan!’

Several people at Jensen Elementary School tested positive for coronavirus, and more than 200 people have been exposed

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

A coronavirus outbreak at a West Side school where at least one parent has died from the disease has sparked outrage from teachers and parents who say Chicago Public Schools has not done enough to keep students and staff safe during in-

person learning this fall.

There have been at least eight confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past two weeks at Jensen Elementary School, 3030 W. Harrison St., according to district data. More than 200 people have been exposed. Jensen has 297 students.

District officials have said people who have been exposed must quarantine if

they are not vaccinated. The majority of students at Jensen, which serves preschool through eighth grade, are not old enough to be vaccinated. Eleven classrooms at the school were quarantined until Monday, when eight of the classes were set to return, parents and teachers said.

See JENSEN on page 14

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

We’re hiring!

Apply to be the Delores McCain and Terry Dean Community Narrative Reporter for Austin Weekly News

By STAFF Austin Weekly News

Austin Weekly News is seeking to hire someone with at least 2 years of relevant journalism experience to serve in the inaugural role of Delores McCain and Terry Dean Community Narrative Reporter.

This position was made possible by a generous grant from the Field Foundation and will pay a salary of $35,000 and benefits. The Field Foundation funds the position for a 1-year period, with the possibility of renewing the grant for subsequent years.

Through this new community narrative reporting position, AWN hopes to document for posterity the “steady state” of Austin, West Garfield and North Lawndale through consistent, equitable, compassionate and empathetic coverage of the people, places, organizations and things that comprise normality on the West Side.

This reporter will help our publication uncover and map the strong networks of people and organizations that create a sense of place on the West Side — from

block clubs, Neighborhood Watch groups, Local School Councils and churches to the wizened people on the porch, the sidewalk sages and the amateur local historians.

Duties and responsibilities: ■ Regularly attend organizational meetings ■ Seek out and cultivate a wide range of sources ■ Plan, pitch and write stories ■ Conduct field interviews ■ Consistently make deadlines

Professional development and support: Former employees of Growing Community Media have gone on to work at a range of local and national publications.

Recently, the organization has been strategizing about ways to offer our employees more robust and deliberate professional development and support.

This position will come with regular professional development opportunities, a flexible work schedule and remote work opportunities, among others.

The position also includes a youth outreach component, requiring the reporter to engage up-and-coming writers, reporters and/or storytellers on the West Side for several hours each month.

If you’re interested in this position, please submit a resume, clips and cover letter to michael@austinweeklynews.com.

You can also call (708) 359-9148.

Requirements: ■ Strong writing and reporting skills ■ Working knowledge

of AP Style

■ An ability to work well in teams ■ Solid

time-management and organizational skills ■ Working knowledge of publishing and networking on social media (particularly Facebook and Twitter) ■ Ability to work with a WordPress CMS ■ Experience writing and reporting on a range of topics and issues ■ Reliable mode of transportation

DO IT FOR THE WESTSIDE VISIT

THE MISSION OF THIS REPORTING POSITION A philosopher once wrote that “unless we have some sense of what passes for normality in a given location, we may find it very hard to calibrate or care about abnormal conditions.

“We can be properly concerned about the sad and violent interruptions only if we know enough about the underlying steady state of a place, about the daily life, routines and modest hopes of its population.”

Through robust, dynamic reporting, this position will help AWN illustrate the breadth of humanity and daily living on the West Side.

ABOUT AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS Austin Weekly News was founded in 1986 by Lilliana Drechney, a newspaper reporter. For most of its history, the paper has been owned by the nonprofit Growing Community Media (formerly Wednesday Journal, Inc.). The newspaper is published online and in print each Wednesday and serves the residents of Austin, North Lawndale and West Garfield Park.

ABOUT DELORES MCCAIN AND TERRY DEAN Delores McCain was a longtime West Side community activist before becoming a contributing writer for Austin Weekly News in 2000. Though she didn’t have a journalism background, she became, “the face of the paper,” said Dan Haley, the paper’s publisher. McCain died in 2010.

Terry Dean was the editor and lead reporter for Austin Weekly News from 2005 to 2015. Dean, a lifelong Austin resident, was well-respected for his fair and empathetic coverage of the West Side. He died in 2021.

CONTACT: michael@austinweeklynews.com

Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

AUSTIN WEEKLY

news

Equity Editor/Ombudsman/Editor Michael Romain Senior Editor Bob Uphues Digital Publishing & Technology Manager Briana Higgins Contributing Reporter Igor Studenkov Reporting Partners Block Club, Austin Talks Columnist Arlene Jones Staff Photographer Alex Rogals Design/Production Manager Andrew Mead Editorial Design Manager Javier Govea Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Chicago Avenue in the Austin neighborhood looking toward the downtown skyline on May 24, 2021.

Upgrades coming to Chicago Avenue

Building on community-led plans, the city’s transportation department is giving one of North Austin’s main economic hubs a makeover

By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago

Chicago Avenue on the West Side could get landscaping, branding and infrastructure improvements to make the Soul City Corridor safer, more attractive and more walkable.

The Chicago Department of Transportation is launching public meetings, focus groups and surveys to gather community input on the makeover of one of North Austin’s main economic hubs. It’s part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West program and the Chicago Works initiative, a five-year capital infrastructure plan to buoy communities.

The overhauls to the street are aimed at elevating previous efforts to strengthen the Black cultural identity of Chicago Avenue.

“The goal is to build a safe, walkable and attractive street to foster community and economic growth,” said CDOT Program Director Lubka Benak.

Some proposed improvements include street resurfacing, drainage improvements to prevent flooding, better street lighting, traffic signal upgrades, public seating areas and landscaping.

The redesign could also bring more trash cans, benches, bike racks, planters and better signs to the corridor to make it cleaner and more welcoming to pedestrians, she said. The design of those improvements could also be customized to brand the corridor and create a unified look and feel that aligns with feed-

back from residents, Benak said.

The transportation department will consider every element of the roadway in the redesign, including the sidewalks, the bike lanes, traffic intersections, streetlights and sidewalk furniture, Benak said.

Project planning will continue through summer 2022, and groundbreaking is expected to begin by the end of next year.

“We’re going to be looking at the width of the roadway and the sidewalk and seeing how space could be reallocated for different uses,” she said.

One priority is improving traffic safety.

The department reviewed 918 crashes that happened along the roadway 2014-2018. Five were fatal.

Safety infrastructure that will be evaluated includes protected bike lanes, pedestrian refuges in the street’s median and curb extensions or bump-outs to “create shorter crossing distances and make pedestrians more visible,” Benak said.

The city’s design process is incorporating parts of previous community-led studies and plans, like the Austin Quality of Life Plan and the West Side Vision Zero Plan aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities. Building upon those efforts will help transportation officials “understand the priorities the community has already expressed,” said Leslie Roth, principal at Lamar Johnson Collaborative, an architecture group working on the project.

The corridor improvements will also real-

ize some of the goals outlined in the 2020 Soul City Corridor Development Framework Plan, which aims to rebrand Chicago Avenue as a cultural, creative and economic hub for Black Chicagoans.

“There should be a place in the city that functions as a cultural enclave for African Americans. Soul City is it,” said Malcolm Crawford, executive director of the Austin African American Business Networking Association, which has led the charge on rebranding the corridor.

Previous community plans for Chicago Avenue have suggested the creation of “a strong network of public spaces for gathering … and including some open plaza space,” Roth said.

The corridor improvement plan may also incorporate previous ideas to beautify the street with more trees, landscaping, public art, design elements like light pole flags, and local monuments like the Chinatown Gateway or the Fulton Market Gateway to give the area a unified visual identity.

Residents “thought the look of the corridor should be modern, it should be artsy and contemporary. Overall, the look and feel of the corridor was really important to Austin community members,” Roth said.

Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom.

Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.

CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org

Designer Susan McKelvey Sales & Marketing Representavies Lourdes Nicholls, Marc Stopeck Development Manager Mary Ellen Nelligan Development & Sales Coordinator Stacy Coleman Circulation Manager Jill Wagner ≈ Publisher Dan Haley Business Manager Joyce Minich ≈ GROWING COMMUNITY MEDIA Board of Directors Chair Judy Greffin Treasurer Nile Wendorf Deb Abrahamson , Gary Collins, Darnell Shields, Sheila Solomon, Eric Weinheimer ≈ HOW TO REACH US 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 PHONE 773-626-6332 FAX 708-467-9066 CIRCULATION Jill@oakpark.com ONLINE www.AustinWeeklyNews.com TWITTER @AustinWeeklyChi Austin Weekly News is published digitally and in print by Growing Community Media NFP. It is distributed free of charge at locations across Austin and Garfield Park. Our hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

Open House Chicago to include sites in Austin, Oak Park Chicago Architecture Center’s event will include Austin Community Family Center, Kehrein Center for the Arts and St. Martin Episcopal Church

By LACEY SIKORA Contributing Reporter

When Open House Chicago returns for the weekend of Oct. 16-17, the Chicago Architecture Center will be devoting a weekend to showcasing the architectural wealth of Chicago for the 11th time.

In 2020, the pandemic forced an entirely virtual format, in which visitors could use the OHC app to explore the exteriors of architecturally, historically and culturally significant sites and participate in selfguided tours or trails on certain themes.

This year, the walk is back with a more in-person focus. While the app will still facilitate tours throughout the city and provide bonus information, many of the sites will be open for in-person access this year on Oct. 16 and 17. For the entire month of October, participants can use the OHC app to access the free, self-guided history and architecture tours throughout Chicago.

Adam Rubin, director of interpretation for the CAC, says that the weekend is still a bit condensed from its peak of 2019 when roughly 250 sites were opened to the public.

This year, the weekend focuses on about 100 sites, and Rubin says the pared down itinerary will help the average Chicagoan narrow down the number of sites to visit more easily.

“The sites will be open with site-dependent safety measures, and the OHC app will return with a few new trails and some new voices,” Rubin said.

While the vast majority of sites are in the city itself, Rubin said Evanston and Oak Park both made the cut of nearby suburbs that deserved a presence.

“Oak Park is always going to be a destination for Open House Chicago,” he said.

Crossing Austin Boulevard Crossing Austin Boulevard: This story is part of an ongoing series of articles that Austin Weekly News publishes about issues, events, people, places and things that take place west of Austin Boulevard, but that nonetheless resonate to the east of it, as well.

Photo by Eric Allix Rogers

St. Martin Episcopal Church, 5710 W. Midway Park.

“First of all, a lot of people from Chicago haven’t had the chance to visit Oak Park yet or they may be new to the city. Even if sites feel very familiar to someone from Oak Park, they are new to someone.

“The draw of a very dense collection of Frank Lloyd Wright houses is always going to be there. Add in an amazing setting in which you can drink craft beer, and the fact that some people really want to visit religious institutions, and Oak Park has a little something of everything.”

The official Oak Park sites on this year’s OHC are the West Suburban Temple Har Zion, 1040 N. Harlem Ave.; Pleasant Home, 217 Home Ave.; One Lake Brewing, 1 Lake St.; the Oak Park River Forest Museum, 129 Lake St.; the Nineteenth Century Club, 178 Forest Ave.; and First United Methodist Church of Oak Park, 324 N. Oak Park Ave. In Austin, sites include Austin Community Family Center, 501 N. Central Ave.; Kehrein Center for the Arts, 5628 W. Washington Blvd.; and St. Martin Episcopal Church, 5710 W. Midway Park.

Two of the OHC app’s trails, as the bonus self-guided tours are named, focus on Oak Park and the Austin community.

Back for a second year is the “Frank

Lloyd Wright: Portrait of a Young Architect” trail, which focuses on seven of Wright’s homes designed in the early part of his career and life in Oak Park.

In Austin, “The Grand Residences of Frederick R. Schock” will focus on that architect’s work in the community. CAC docent Karen Clapp narrates the tour with input from a few current owners of Schock houses. Rubin says those voices from the Austin community make the audio “feel more personal this year. Last year, we didn’t have the audio commentary, so this tells you more about what it’s like to live there.”

He points out that the Oak Park and Austin trails dovetail nicely for someone looking to make a day of the West Side.

“Both tours are telling a story about a relative narrow period in the architect’s life,” Rubin said. “There is a parallel element — both look at what kind of community each architect was trying to build. Someone visiting the area in one day would find them very complementary.”

In addition to the local trails, Rubin highlights a few others that cover specific areas of interest in a city with much to discover.

Rubin said that some of the trails expand

the focus of OHC beyond traditional architecture to foster historical knowledge and multicultural awareness.

A tour in Hyde Park will focus on sites where the Obamas lived and worked. A tour inspired by the 150th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire will include sites that survived the fire to tell the story of the fire and its impact. A tour focused on preservation in Chicago will cover a few local sites that are preservation success stories and some that are more precarious.

Another tour will consider the stories of the Potawatomi tribe, through the eyes of visual artist Andrea Carlson, who examines public art works and the erasure of the Potawatomi from the city.

An event with the scope of OHC tends to expand the Chicago Architecture Center’s audience, and Rubin states that at the end of the day, it is a civic event that helps grow people’s appreciation for the city they call home.

“It builds an understanding of the city and its past while also helping a lot of people feel pride in the city of Chicago,” he said.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

Homeowner wants to landmark Austin’s oldest surviving house

Former music school one of the handful of Chicago buildings that predates Chicago Fire

By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

The owner of the Seth Warner House, 631 N. Central Ave., Austin’s oldest surviving house, is applying for a city landmark designation for his property.

The two-story brick Tuscan Villa Italianatestyle mansion was built in 1869, when Austin was little more than a handful of houses in the east section of Cicero Township. Originally a private home, it served as a music school for much of the 20th century before becoming a home again. Owner James Bowers currently lives at the house with his wife.

Although the house is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Bowers wanted to make it a city landmark to protect it from demolition. Ward Miller, the executive director of Preservation Chicago, a historic preservation advocacy nonprofit, said that he’s been working with Bowers to get the building landmarked.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks will vote on whether to give the house a preliminary recommendation during its meeting on Oct. 7. If approved, the city will need to clear another commission vote before going to the Chicago City Council for final approval.

Austin currently has nine city landmarks, as well as three homes and three historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the latter designation allows property owners to qualify for preservation grants and tax incentives, it doesn’t

protect the property from demolition. The city landmark designation also allows property owners to apply for Cook County tax incentives and city grants.

According to the national landmark registry application, the Warner House was named after its original owner, Seth Warner.

In the early 1840s, Warner opened a blacksmith shop that shot to success when Cyrus McCormick, the inventor of the “Virginia Reapers” farm equipment, commissioned him to make the machines.

On June 1, 1866, Warner bought the land in what was then the Austinville development and he began building the house two years later. Although it isn’t the first house in Austin, the Warner home is the first “fine residence” built in the area, which at the time of its completion inspired other well-off Chicagoans to move to the community.

After Warner died, the house changed hands two times until, in 1924, George Hankell purchased the home to turn it into the Austin Conservatory music school. Later renamed the Austin Academy of Fine Arts, it closed in 1979.

Miller said that, in those 55 years, hundreds of students went through the Academy and that, as Austin’s population shifted from majority-white to majority-Black, the student body changed as well.

The landmark application notes that it’s one of the handful of surviving buildings within the current Chicago city limits that predates the Chicago Fire, although the fire didn’t reach Austin and the community wasn’t within the Chicago city limits until 28 years later.

According to the city officials, it’s rare for a homeowner to ask for the landmark designation for their own home. Last year, Dr. David Scheiner applied for the designation for his home, Galewood’s iconic Miracle House, 2001 N. Nordica Ave. The city council approved the

request on April 21.

Bowers did not respond to phone calls seeking comment by deadline.

Miller said that his organization supports Bowers’s application, because of its history as Austin’s oldest building and a music school, because it stands out architecturally even among many other decades-old homes and because it would help bring attention to an Austin community asset.

“It’s been a great resource for a very long time, so we hope that the designation would not only honor the building and make more people aware of it, but that it would help [bring in] the funds to fix up the building,” he said. “A house that’s 150 years old could always use the help.”

CONTACT: igorst3@hotmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

West Side officers, youth featured on HBO

Chicago Police Sgt. Jermaine Harris appears with other officers in ‘Level Playing Field’

By AUSTIN TALKS Staff

The lights dimmed and the crowd quieted, then Chicago Police Sgt. Jermaine Harris appeared on the big screen – and dozens of people gathered at The Peace Corner cheered.

A little later, Officers William Martinez and Edward Whitaker appeared, and the crowd again showed their support. The three men – along with youth and other coaches who participate in Chicago Westside Sports – are featured in Episode 1 of “Level Playing Field.”

The 30-minute episode, which aired for the first time in September, is one of four segments produced by HBO Sports and Vox Media Studios that illuminate how public policies have contributed to inequities in sports and society at large.

New 10X6 Austin Weekly Free Mammogram Episode 1 investigates the intersection

of sports, race and social policy by putting the spotlight on Midnight Basketball, a program started in Maryland in 1986 to provide a haven for at-risk youths and help curb rising crime rates.

Midnight basketball was embraced by Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton – and included in the 1994 federal crime bill. But it also became the focus of partisan debate riddled with racial stereotypes that still linger to this day, HBO notes in its description of the episode, which is available on demand.

After seeing the episode for the first time, Harris, who helped co-found Chicago Westside Sports, asked the group: “Man, how does that feel?” The crowd clapped loudly.

“I want to thank all you kids; give yourselves a hand,” said Whitaker, who’s quoted in the episode saying he coaches so he can have the same impact officers had on him as a kid.

Martinez also participated in sports as a youth. After his father was arrested and sent to prison. “Basketball was an escape and got me involved in organizations” that offered him safe space, Martinez says durad-3.pdf 1 9/16/21 5:06 PM ing the episode. “The lessons stick.”

AustinTalks

Several West Side police officers, including Police Sgt. Jermaine Harris (shown left) were featured in HBO’s “Level Playing Field.”

In the discussion afterward, Martinez said watching “you guys develop and stay together… seeing how you’re a family now, that’s what is important.”

He added that completing drills during practice and following instructions – “those are tools for life. We’re just giving you tools to function A) in basketball and B) in life.”

Your parents, your church, “we’ve got your back,” Martinez said to more applause.

Pointing to Martinez and Whitaker, his

two colleagues on the police department, Harris said the two represent dozens of officers in Austin and across the West Side.

“Wasn’t this amazing?” Stephanie Marquardt, executive director of City of Refuge, said after seeing the epidsode: “I’m so proud of all of you. This isn’t my energy, this is all of you. … Thank you for letting me be a part of this.”

CONTACT: austintalks.org@gmail.com

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

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Application for $75M in emergency rental aid now open The application opened on Oct. 4 and closes on Oct. 29, county officials say

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor

In a statement released Oct. 1, Cook County officials announced that an additional $75 million will be spent on emergency rental assistance.

The county will start accepting applications from renters on Monday Oct. 4 through Friday, Oct. 29, officials said. To apply, you can visit: www.cookcountyil.gov/recovery.

“This is a crucial extension of our Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which has provided aid to nearly 8,000 tenants and landlords during this difficult time. It was top priority for the County to continue this program and make critical improvements, such as covering relocation, security deposits, and other housing-related expenses that our residents so desperately need,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

In the statement, county officials said the emergency assistance is being funded through the American Rescue Plan. They added that priority will be given to “suburban Cook County’s most vulnerable residents.”

GOOGLE EARTH

Renters can now apply for additional emergency rental assistance.

“Designed to prevent and relieve housing instability for suburban Cook County renters and landlords who have experienced financial hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ERA 2 can help with up to 18 months of rental assistance,” county officials said.

“The program will cover past and current utility expenses, or other related housing

expenses including relocation costs, security deposits, processing fees, and temporary housing solutions. In addition, under ERA 2, public housing residents and families with Housing Choice Vouchers are eligible to apply for assistance with their portion of rent.”

In order to qualify for assistance, applicants must live in suburban Cook County

and be renters. They’re also required to “have a current or future obligation to pay rent, utilities, and/or other housing-related expenses and have a household annual income at or below established requirements (ranging from $52,200 for single-person households up to $98,450 for eight-person households).”

Applicants also have to have proof of COVID-19-related financial hardship, such as lost income, being furloughed and fewer hours worked.

“Beyond meeting the eligibility requirements, priority will be given to eligible households that have received an eviction notice, households where at least one member has been unemployed for 90 days prior to applying, households where an individual pays more than 50% of income on rent, and households that are considered overcrowded,” county officials said. “Priority applications will be processed before non-priority applications.”

For more information, visit call (833) 2219821. Residents and landlords dealing with issues surrounding evictions and debt are also encouraged to contact Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt (CCLAHD) at www.cookcountylegalaid.org or by calling (855) 956-5763 to get free legal aid and mediation services to help resolve issues.

CONTACT: michael@oakpark.com

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

We care about our neighbors Oak Park Regional Housing Center | 1041 South Blvd, Oak Park | (708) 848-7150 | oprhc.org

Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

Cameras, death penalty can help stop crime

O

ne thing’s for sure: the criminals currently running the streets of Chicago are not some of the brightest individuals in the world. And even though they’re quite willing to create havoc, just like their counterparts, the fourlegged rat, they scurry away after having done their dastardly deeds.

A while back I wrote that the solution to the criminal problem was cameras on every house. These criminals are quite willing to do the crime, but they run and hide because they’re unwilling to do the time.

The cameras, and maintenance of them, should generate a property tax credit of at least $600 annually. Those cameras need the internet, and $600 would pretty much cover the bill for a year.

Individuals getting this tax credit would have to be willing to share the video captured by their system with the police. Don’t want to share with the police?

Then lose the tax credit and have to repay it.

Along with cameras on every house, I strongly feel we need the return of the death penalty. To those who want to lambast me because we had folks on death row who were innocent, I counter: Just like DNA freed the innocent, DNA can convict the guilty! When young people today don’t believe they’ll live to see 25, a life sentence doesn’t scare them as it’s literally only 10 years or less in their minds.

Just like the “monkey see, monkey do” criminals that they are, many are shooting on the expressway just to be

able to say they’ve done it. Their actions put the lives of many on the line, so I’d also like to see more public executions. Before we became the wimpy society we are now, back in the 1920s and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the photos of those dead people were everywhere. It sent a message. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Today we have sanitized everything so that our criminal element does not really see what can happen to them. Hell, they can’t even be named. And that leads to them feeling entitled to commit whatever crime because of the privacy of it all.

And let us not forget the Juvenile Justice system. When juveniles continue to do things over and over again because they don’t even get a slap on the wrist, there’s something very wrong. I’d start with one thing: making them and the adults who are supposed to be their caretakers financially responsible. What if going to juvie also meant being forced to go to school?

What if juvenile detention is run like a military base? Up at 4 a.m., exercise, breakfast, clean the facility, education, etc. No more listening to rap music. No televisions or videos and chilling, but being force-fed an exposure to classical music. No more chips and soda, but instead carrot sticks and water.

The lack of structure in many of these young lives is the reason they continue to be out here doing what they do. Our job is to rehabilitate them and, even more so, prevent them from going in that direction.

Sadly we are failing in that regard.

ARLENE JONES

” Just like DNA freed the innocent, DNA can convict the guilty!”

AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS Mail your letter to the editor to: Austin Weekly News, 141 S. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302 or email michael@austinweeklynews.com

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

SSA

New taxes ahead? from page 1 for an SSA that would cover a similar territory, only to have their application rejected.

DPD Deputy Commissioner Peter Strazzabosco denied Hibbler’s claim, adding the chamber’s application didn’t go forward because they didn’t submit it before the deadline.

The application for an SSA must be filed by an organization that would be responsible for managing it, usually a nonprofit organization or a local chamber of commerce.

There are already several instances of one organization operating multiple SSAs. To establish an SSA, the applicants have to go through a complex, two-year-long process, so the organizations looking to launch an SSA in 2021, like the chamber did, had GOOGLE EARTH to start in 2019. They had to hold at least A portion of Madison Street in West Garfield Park, which would include part of the two community meetings between March and April 2020, collect signatures of sup- proposed SSA. port from at least 10 percent of the property application, because the alderman said owners within the proposed SSA, and show when COVID-19 hit.

In a June 2020 interview, Hibbler said that he was going to veto our application,” “proof of financial commitment” for the that earlier that month DPD gave them an Hibbler said. “They didn’t give me an exfirst year of the SSA’s existence.

Hibbler said that the chamber began their extension because the Illinois stay-at-home planation. They just said, ‘We didn’t want SSA application in 2019. She said that, at the order made in-person meetings impossible, an unhappy alderman.’”

Strazzabosco said that there was no extime, Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) didn’t have any but in August 2020 she got a call from Mark tension and denied that Ervin’s opinion objections. She said they were in the pro- Roschen, who runs the SSA program.

New 10X6 Austin Weekly OP COVID Testing ad“He Sep14-B.pdf basically 1said9/14/21 that we 3:56 had PM to stop our had anything to do with what happened. cess of holding the required public hearings

“The Garfield Park Chamber’s SSA proposal was for a January 2021 start date, which required a formal application to be finalized in June 2020,” he said. “The application was not completed, so it didn’t move forward.”

WHA is applying for 2022 SSA cycle, so it started the process in the fall of 2020.

According to the public hearing request, if approved, the tax would be equal to 2 percent of the property’s Equalized Assessed Value, with the total levy for 2021 estimated to be $256,317. The levy would be in place until at least 2030.

The documents didn’t specify what WHA intended to do with the SSA. Austin Weekly News reached out to Morris Reed, the nonprofit’s CEO, but he didn’t respond to an interview request before the deadline.

Strazzabosco said that, while it will be up to Villegas to schedule the hearing, he expects the ordinance establishing the SSA to get a City Council introduction in November and pass through the committee and the full council in December. If approved, the SSA will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

Hibbler argued that Westside Health Authority shouldn’t be operating an SSA in West Garfield Park, because it “hasn’t done anything in our community, has not worked with the business owners the way the chamber does. They don’t have an office here, they know nothing about Garfield Park.”

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

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Call Jeanine 708-899-8279 The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Health Education Manager in the Health Department. This position will take the lead on developing the community health needs assessment; develops health education programs and health awareness campaigns; implements and coordinates these programs/campaigns etc. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park. us/jobs. Position opened until filled.

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Customer Service Representative II in the Development Customer Service Department – Parking Division. This position provides customer service to the public by providing a variety of responsible customer service and receptionist work including high volume telephone traffic; and to perform the more complex customer service duties including but not limited to service requests, permits, parking passes, block party permits, accounts payable processing and vehicle stickers. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website at http://www. oak-park.us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application.

First review of applications is October 8, 2021.

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Budget and Revenue Analyst in the Development Customer Service Department.

This position will Serve the public with professional administrative and analytical duties in the areas of budget preparation, purchasing, payroll, data analysis and process improvement. Provides, prepares and maintains records, and financial and statistical reports and analysis which assist in the Village’s ability to improve business processes and gain efficiencies through better use of technology. Budget duties include assisting in the development, analysis and application of performance measures with regard to Village services and resources; preparing, modifying, tracking and monitoring Village expenses and transfers; and conducting budget-related research and analysis. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park. us/jobs. Interested and qualified applicants must complete a Village of Oak Park application. First review of applications September 24, 2021.

The Village of Oak Park is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Environmental Health Supervisor in the Health Department. This position will direct, manage, supervise, and coordinate assigned activities with other Village departments, divisions, and outside agencies; and to provide highly responsible and complex administrative support to the Public Health Director. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Village of Oak Park’s website http://www.oak-park. us/jobs. Position opened until filled.

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REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT CHANCERY DIVISION WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR BANTAM FUNDING TRUST 2018-1 Plaintiff, -v.ANNIE COATS A/K/A ANNIE HOWARD, SANDRA DILLON, PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, STATE OF ILLINOIS, UNKNOWN OWNERS AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, UNKNOWN OCCUPANTS Defendants 18 CH 10251 5006 WEST ADAMS STREET 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 February 26, 2021, an agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on October 19, 2021, at The Judicial Sales Corporation, One South Wacker Drive, CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at a public sale to the highest bidder, as set forth below, the following described real estate: Commonly known as 5006 WEST ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60644 Property Index No. 16-16-204-0370000 The real estate is improved with a multi-family residence.

The judgment amount was $157,982.04.

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, including the Judicial Sale fee for the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, which is calculated on residential real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be paid by the mortgagee acquiring

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

the residential real estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or other lienor acquiring the residential real estate whose rights in and to the residential real estate arose prior to the sale. 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, The sales clerk, LOGS Legal Group LLP Plaintiff’s Attorneys, 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301, Bannockburn, IL, 60015 (847) 291-1717 For information call between the hours of 1pm 3pm.. Please refer to file number 17-085098.

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.

LOGS Legal Group LLP 2121 WAUKEGAN RD., SUITE 301 Bannockburn IL, 60015 847-291-1717 E-Mail: ILNotices@logs.com Attorney File No. 17-085098 Attorney Code. 42168 Case Number: 18 CH 10251 TJSC#: 41-1453 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.

Case # 18 CH 10251 I3176347

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

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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.

Austin Weekly News

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021

PASCAL SABINO/Block Club Chicago

Teachers, students and parents at Jensen Elementary School demanded better safety precautions to protect from coronavirus.

JENSEN

analysis of symptoms, test dates and known out-of-school exposures, “there is no evidence of in-school-transmission of COVID-19 to students at Jensen Elementary.” from page 1 Curry’s sister, Jasyma Johnson, said the mother of two was fearful of the pandemic Jensen parent Shenitha “Angel” Curry, from the beginning and was cautious about 43, died of complications of coronavirus her health. last week, her family told the Sun-Times.

“She didn’t want to get sick. She didn’t Curry was not vaccinated and her family leave the house. The kids did want to go to said her daughter was among the Jensen school, but she didn’t want to leave,” Johnstudents who had to quaranson said. “They mandated kids tine. to return to school without any Chicago Teachers Union options. … She didn’t have that leaders said another Jensen choice. That’s why CPS can’t say parent also has died from corothey’re not responsible.” navirus, but Block Club could Johnson lives in Naperville. not verify that.

She noted that local school disThe district’s handling of trict had a cohesive safety plan the outbreak reveals a lack of a including weekly testing and cohesive safety plan across the remote learning options for stucity, critics said. Despite servdents and families who are highing an especially vulnerable risk. community where vaccination “[I am] grieving over my sister rates are behind city averages, who would still be here if she CPS did not implement suffilived 25 miles west, it would be JASYMA JOHNSON cient protocols for testing, vacdifferent,” Johnson said. “This Sister of Shenitha Curry cinations, contact tracing or is an issue of the haves and the virtual learning until after the have nots. It’s not right.” outbreak turned deadly, parCPS partnered with Lurie Chilent Jermaine Thomas said. dren’s Hospital to offer testing at CTU organizers and parents Jensen on Tuesday, district offiwant in-school classes shut cials said in a statement. This is down until better precautions are in place. the first time in the school year when Jen“If we allow our children to keep coming sen had onsite testing available, according back in, what are the protocols for them to teachers and union members. coming back into a safe environment?

The district initially planned to offer onThere ain’t one. … We need to have test- site testing at all schools by the start of the ing. We need to have deep cleaning,” said academic year, but that goal has been reThomas, who also sits on Jensen’s local peatedly pushed back, Chalkbeat Chicago school council. “We are demanding a shut- reported. District leaders now are saying it down.” will be in place this week. CPS leaders also A CPS spokesperson said based on their said last week it will ramp up its contact

Parents, students mobilize

“[Iam] grieving over my sister who would still be here if she lived 25 miles west.”

Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021 tracing in schools.

“We opened last year with less students and had more in place for safety procedures. We opened this year with more students, and have less [safety protocols,]” said LaShawn Wallace, an organizer with the Chicago Teacher’s Union.

Parents complained the quarantines at Jensen were also mismanaged. The district follows Chicago Department of Public Health requirements that anyone exposed to someone sick with coronavirus isolate for 14 days.

Vaccinated people do not have to quarantine.

But dozens of Jensen students were set to return to school Monday after just 10 days, parents said.

“My baby came back in 10 days. Why? But if I make her stay home, then what happens? We get in trouble. There’s no way she should’ve been back without the full 14 days,” said Shauntee Colston, a parent and local school council member.

While students were home from school, they lacked the necessary support to stay engaged in their classes because the district didn’t have a plan in place for remote learning during a quarantine, teachers said. The school was not supplied with enough digital devices to make sure students had laptops and tablets to work on while at home, said Carrene Beverly-Bass, a teacher and union delegate for Jensen.

“There are not enough Chromebooks. The district network has been made aware of this problem and there has been no movement to getting additional Chromebooks for our

students,” Beverly-Bass said. “Chromebooks should be made available to each and every one of our Jensen students, even without a pandemic. Where’s the equity they talked about in all this?”

Contact tracing efforts were also too slow and lacked the transparency to stem the spread of the outbreak at Jensen, critics said.

“Contact tracing did not happen in an effective way. We know this firsthand. We heard from sick parents who were never contacted by the Chicago Department of Public Health or contact tracers from CPS,” said Jesse Sharkey, president of the Chicago Teachers Union.

When the quarantined students were sent back to school, the district brought them back “without even requiring the kids to have negative COVID test results,” said 2nd grade teacher Arielle Chestleigh.

Protocols for safe, in-person learning must include a vaccination plan to increase vaccine rates in the most vulnerable communities, weekly testing, contact tracing within 48 hours of exposure and daily deep cleanings, advocates said.

“We will no longer accept no plan. Our families, our students and our community, deserve a plan,” Chestleigh said.

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Austin Weekly News, October 6, 2021