News
Summit of Hope offers resources to former convicts
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More than 800 people attended the recent event, where dozens of state-run and non-profit agencies offered services aimed at reintegrating parolees into their communities.
juneteenth
Juneteenth celebration kicks off this weekend
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Veterans and victims of gun violence will be honored Saturday at the Golden Dome Field House, followed by three days of activities the following weekend.
reading
Austin 4th graders star in new book by Mari Barnes
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Bertina Booker’s 4th grade students at a Ella Flagg Young School helped the Hammond, Indiana, author with ideas for the book.
quality of life
Austin Coming Together unveils quality of life plan
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After more than a year of work, the plan was unveiled to about 150 people at Michele Clark High School on June 2. A final draft is expected to be released in September.
Small Business
Democrat nominee Brandon Johnson meets with Austin small business owners
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Johnson spoke to members of the Austin African American Business Networking Association at their monthly meeting. The former teacher and union organizer defeated the incumbent, Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin, in the March 20 Democratic primary
gang database
State lawmakers promise action on gang database
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An Illinois Senate committee held a hearing earlier this month to discuss the gang database. State Sen. Patricia Van Pelt wants the Chicago Police Department to stop adding names to the database until legislation can be passed.
gang database
Inspector general seeks transparency in Chicago Police Department’s gang database
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City official Joe Ferguson is collecting information from the public as he works on a report about the gang database. Some West Side residents shared their concerns at a meeting last week about how inclusion in the database – said to number more than 100,000 people – could be hurting innocent people as well as those who’ve turned their lives around.
addiction
Elected officials, health experts put spotlight on opioid crisis
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On the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti and state Rep. La Shawn Ford discussed the ongoing epidemic, which has hit Austin and other parts of Chicago’s West Side especially hard.