AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/author/zach-cunning/)
Father Michael Pfleger called on elected officials to stop the finger pointing and reconnect with local residents to successfully fight Chicago’s gun violence.
Faith leaders gathered Thursday to call on everyone, including elected officials, to do more in fighting gun violence after a violent holiday weekend. More than 100 people were shot, at least 20 fatally. A community meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. July 10 at New Mount Pilgrim MB Church, 4301 W. Washington Blvd.
Austin’s ALDI, one of only two grocery chains in the neighborhood, reopened Thursday after an extensive remodel. The recently remodeled store, located at 5926 W. Fillmore St., closed for renovations June 2 as part of an ongoing nationwide update and expansion to existing ALDI grocery stores. It’s just one of two major chains providing groceries to a community of nearly 100,000 people. The other is Walmart, at 4650 W. North Ave. It also was recently remodeled.
Austin’s youth-led market, Austin Harvest, is back to bring fresh, affordable produce to the neighborhood. It’s open at 423 N. Laramie Ave. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m.
Some West Side residents want Juneteenth to be more than just another day off from work; they want it to be a day of action.
Austin has a new community space, at the corner of Chicago and Lockwood avenues. City officials say it’s just a taste of what’s to come in terms of investment on the West Side.
At last week’s 29th Ward meeting, Ald. Chris Taliaferro said it was time to move past The Loretto Hospital’s vaccine scandal and not let it overshadow the other work the hospital is doing. He also commented on proposals to reform the Chicago Police Department.
West Side residents received updates Friday on the status of the Laramie State Bank building development and new businesses opening along the Soul City Corridor, which stretches from Austin Boulevard to Cicero Avenue on Chicago Avenue.
Demonstrators gathered outside the 29th Ward office earlier this week to call for the passage of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance, which would overhaul police oversight. They want Ald. Chris Taliaferro, who heads the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee, to put the proposal to a vote.
Congressman Danny Davis, along with community partners and the Illinois Department of Corrections, hosted the event last weekend. It’s part of Davis’ larger work on making reentry after incarceration easier for the thousands of Chicagoans who return to the city after getting out of prison.