The West Side is all over the news

Longtime organizer Bob Vondrasek will be honored this weekend for his three decades of work in Austin. And Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wonders why people won’t rally behind U.S. Rep. Danny Davis for mayor.

Free theater tickets available!

As a member of the Westside Ministers Coalition, AustinTalks has been offered two free tickets to the Nov. 18 performance of Romeo and Juliet at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Future of Austin YMCA in question

Y officials tell The Chicago Tribune there are plans to tear down the building, sell it or close the facility at 501 N. Central Ave., but they stopped short of making any blanket assurances. This news comes after the non-profit’s executive director, Cyril Nichols, left his position and a housing program for the mentally ill was shut down.

Safe at home?

Many anonymous calls made from Austin to the state’s abuse hotline were not deemed valid. In its new issue, The Chicago Reporter also finds that black families are more likely to be investigated by the state for sexual child abuse – yet the allegations are less likely to be found valid.