AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/category/news/)
The November election ballot includes a proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution that if approved by voters would allow the state to replace its flat income tax with a graduated one. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is backing the amendment, while businessman Ken Griffin opposes it.
The Austin branch of the Chicago Public Library will host an anti-racist book club via Zoom on Wednesday, Oct. 28 to discuss Mikki Kendall’s book “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot.” Meetings in November and December to discuss other anti-racist books have been scheduled.
An online, interactive exhibit called The Sisterhood explores ideas of grief, justice and healing through photographs and vignettes written by mothers who have lost a son to gun violence. The stories of 11 Chicago area women are shared in the free exhibit created by Unsilence.
About 50 people came together last week to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Million Man March and to call for new economic drivers for the Austin community. The Million Man March, which the Washington Post called “the largest civil rights demonstration in U.S. history,” was held in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 16, 1995.
Westside Health Authority, Safer Foundation and Habilitative Systems Inc. are among 31 groups receiving funding through the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, which received a $56 million grant from the Chicago Department of Public Health to oversee contact tracing efforts.
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.
Open House Chicago’s tour will feature five sites in Austin from Oct. 16 to 25, down from nine in fall 2019. The sites are: Kehrein Center for the Arts, Austin Town Hall Cultural Center, Third Unitarian Church, the Austin State Bank building and St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. Because of COVID-19, some changes have been made. Instead of the usual two-day weekend, Open House is extending to 10 days.
Three women have started an online petition to rename 135-acre park in Austin. They hope to soon have a name to recommend to the Chicago Park District, which has the power to make the change. Columbus Park was named a National Historic Landmark in 2003. If the park board approves a name change for Columbus Park, it would be the second – after the renaming of Douglass Park after abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
People with disabilities can be especially difficult to count, as are Black and brown residents, the homeless and the elderly, advocates say – and that undercount can lead to cuts in essential services. It’s not too late to be counted in the once-a-decade census, which helps determine billions of dollars in government funding.
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.
