Austin Weekly News 111021

Page 1

Power local news and double your donation. | ■

|

The Westside Branch NAACP drafts open letter to Malcolm X College

PAGE 14

FREE Vol. 35 No. 45

November 10, 2021

Also serving Garfield Park

austinweeklynews.com

@AustinWeeklyNews

@austinweeklynews

Details on page 19

@AustinWeeklyChi

LLandmark d k status t t for Hampton House? page 6

FBI investigating Loretto

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says city is cooperating with agency amid criminal probe By KELLY BAUER Block Club Chicago

The city is “cooperating” with a federal investigation into Loretto Hospital on the West Side, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Nov. 5. Block Club Chicago and the Better Government Association revealed Nov. 2 that the FBI is investigating the hospital’s vaccination program. Reporters found two federal grand jury subpoenas were issued to the Illinois Department of Public Health in May and September after Block Club Chicago revealed the hospital vaccinated ineligible people at Chicago’s Trump Tower, where Loretto’s chief financial officer, Dr. Anosh Ahmed, lived, as well as a luxury jewelry shop and a high-end Gold Coast steakhouse where Ahmed hung out. At a Friday news conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city is cooperating with the probe, though she does not think any city agencies have been subpoenaed. “Yes, we are cooperating. … They’ve asked individuals questions about things related to Loretto,” Lightfoot said. “I don’t want to go any further because this is an ongoing federal investigation. But of course we’ve cooperated.” Lightfoot would not say what agency has questioned “individuals” at the city. Earlier this week, Gov. JB Pritzker said the Illinois Department of Public Health is also cooperating. See LORETTO on page 5

Planting community

PROVIDED

Crops at Chicago Farmworks are grown for local food pantries. Read story on page 4.

City approves zoning for Jesuit school, affordable homes City Council late last month approved measures critical for both developments By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter

On Oct. 14, the Council approved a package of zoning changes that will allow Austin’s Chicago Jesuit Academy Catholic elementary school, 5058 W. Jackson Blvd., to build a new school for girls. And on Oct. 25,

the Council approved the sale of 100 cityowned lots scattered throughout the section of North Lawndale roughly bounded by Roosevelt Road, Christiana Avenue, Cermak Road and Albany Avenue. The Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC), 3843 W. Ogden Ave., and the Pullman-based Chicago Neigh-

borhood Initiatives will be using those lots to build 100 single-family homes, some of which will be affordable to North Lawndale residents, the developers said. The project is part of a larger effort to build 250 homes in North Lawndale. Ald. See ZONING APPROVAL on page 7


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.