AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/author/kelsey-duckett/page/4/)
Join the discussion on the book By The Light of My Father’s Smile at Austin Branch Library on Saturday, May 1, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at 5616 W. Race Ave. If you have any questions, call Ms. Stewart at 312-746-5038.
The jersey Garrett Wolfe wore when he played for La Follette Park was retired. During the ceremony, the running back urged dozens of local youth to dream big.
Dozens of West Side youth spent spring break attending a week-long youth empowerment and job readiness program. They’re guaranteed jobs this summer, and community leaders hope that means fewer juvenile arrests.
Gritty storefronts, boarded-up gas station windows, graffiti-covered pavement and a plethora of fast food restaurants are the sights that will meet your eyes on a drive through one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods. Located on the city’s West Side, Austin’s population is nearing 130,000, and as the population rises in what community activists call Chicago’s “forgotten child,” so do the number of fast food restaurants in a neighborhood that already lacks grocery stores and healthy sit-down options. Elce Redmond, assistant director of the South Austin Coalition, said business owners, specifically fast food restaurant owners, decided Austin wasn’t a community that wanted or would support anything but fast food. “For some reason, people have this idea that Austin can only sustain fast food restaurants,” he said. “I mean, no matter where you are in Austin, all you see are fast food joints.
Local officials in Austin say if Chicago Public School leaders don’t create more high school seats in the West Side neighborhood, more youth will end up in the streets of Chicago’s toughest areas. But CPS officials say Austin residents will have to be content with their three Renaissance 2010 high schools. Austin High School, the only public school in the community, shut its doors four years ago. Its successor, Austin Community Academy, which was open for one year, was shut down by Mayor Richard M. Daley and converted into three small high schools with an attendance of 1,038 students, compared to the 6,000 students the academy held. Austin officials worry that rising crime rates will climb even higher if CPS officials don’t take action to bring back Austin High School.