AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/author/zach-cunning/page/5/)
The 15th Policer District hosted a Zoom meeting last week, seeking community input on the district’s policing strategy for the upcoming year. Residents expressed a need for more transparency, and they want officers to work to build better relationships with the community.
Seven years ago, the space across the street from Patricia and Robert Hart’s house in the 600 block of North Latrobe Avenue was a literal dump. Now, with help from the group Human Scale, they’ve turned it into an accessible community garden. Next year, they will turn half the pergola into a greenhouse, and the other half into a workshop where events and classes about gardening and healthy eating can be hosted.
Participants were encouraged to complete the 2020 census, which a judge recently extended until the end of October. It can be completed online, by calling a toll-free line or by mailing back the paper questionnaire. There is no citizenship question on the census, and all information is kept confidential.
A group of about a dozen youth created their own quality-of-life plan for Austin this summer, modeled after a similar plan being implemented by Austin Coming Together. The youth’s plan focuses on public safety, mental health and youth empowerment, and will be unveiled later this fall by the group Territory.
The city shut down the Columbus Park testing site in July. Residents can be tested at four other Austin locations, including Loretto Hospital and PCC Community Wellness Center.
As city continues to invest in Austin as part of its INVEST South/West program, city developers and non-profit partners are focusing their attention on several blocks of Chicago Avenue, from Cicero Avenue to Austin Boulevard.
A couple dozen people gathered Sunday to remember teenager Elijah Sims, who was killed four years ago, and to call for better witness protection. His case remains unsolved.
About 50 people gathered at La Follette Park Friday before marching to Chicago Board of Education member Dwayne Truss’ residence. They were protesting the contract between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department, and calling on Truss to vote against the contract at CPS’ Aug. 26th meeting.
BUILD Chicago has bee n hosting a summer camp in Austin, providing 60 young people with a much needed outlet this summer. Their activities have included peace circles, basketball, volleyball and a small farm with some very friendly chickens.
High school juniors and seniors at Austin College and Career Academy – as well as the district’s dozens of other high schools – will be learning exclusively at home. The school is still deciding whether to keep its two school resource officers. Two other Austin high schools – Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School and Frederick Douglass Academy High School – have already voted unanimously to keep their officers.