-
Chicago's West Side has become the "epicenter" for heroin deaths and arrests in the state, according to a Roosevelt University report released last week. Cook County accounted for more heroin-related deaths than any other part of the state in 2014, with black residents dying at a rate of 9 persons per 100,000 compared to 5.9 per 100,000 for whites, according to the study commissioned by the university.
-
A shuttered neighborhood school acquired by an Austin youth organization will reopen later this month. Kidz Express, located at 342 S. Laramie, has purchased George Leland School, one of the 50 schools citywide closed by Chicago Public Schools in 2013.
-
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's new civilian police accountability agency that's expected to be voted on by the Chicago City Council in coming weeks should include members of Chicago's NAACP, said the leader of the civil rights group's West Side chapter. Emanuel's new system to investigate police misconduct would replace the much-maligned Independent Police Review Authority, a decision the mayor announced in May.
-
Liquor stores and gas stations in Austin that allow illegal activity around their properties have been put on notice by the 15th Police District they must help stop that activity. Cmdr. Dwayne Betts has met with business owners over the summer to encourage them to crack down on incidents in front of their stores.
-
A few hundred CPS students and family members participated Friday in one of 13 back-to-school celebrations the district is holding before classes start Sept. 6.
-
The embattled Independent Police Review Authority was again the center of criticism last week at a public hearing hosted by West Side aldermen at Westinghouse High School. IPRA's days of reviewing misconduct allegations against Chicago police officers by citizens are numbered as Mayor Rahm Emanuel makes plans to abolish the agency.
-
Jerence Rambo will be starting his final year at Wells Community Academy High School with another title other than senior. The 17-year Austin resident can add "screenwriter" to his resume.
-
Reginald Mitchell was walking down his west Van Buren block this summer and had to do a double-take. Workers inside a shuttered liquor store at Van Buren Street and Central Avenue were inside fixing up the place.
-
Third Unitarian Church hosted a discussion Sunday about entertainer and activist Paul Robeson and how his controversial life remains relevant today. For a certain generation, Robeson is remembered as a charismatic singer, actor and activist who spoke out against racism throughout much of his 77 years.
-
Another Austin school has tested positive for lead in its water, bringing the total number of local schools to three, with others still needing to be tested. Lewis Elementary had one "device" test above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's action level for lead, as did Ella Flagg Young earlier in July.
