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West Side groups and state lawmakers want more help for flood victims
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State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, the Westside Health Authority and the South Austin Coalition Community Council say more should be done to help Austin residents.
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Free health fair this Saturday in Austin
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The event at Third Unitarian Church is one of several that will be held in coming weeks on the West Side. Others will be held July 28, and Aug. 7 and 11.
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Austin church doing work one block at a time
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More than 100 members of Hope Community Church have helped residents within a 23-block radius of the West Side church.
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Construction firm and Austin groups agree to meet regularly on jobs
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Walsh Construction executives and reps from People for Public Action and the Westside Health Authority plan to talk monthly. The goal: employing more West Siders in the construction industry.
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Elderly woman upset that bank officials didn’t begin work on foreclosed building
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Volunteers from the South Austin Coalition and Westside Health Authority plan to clean up the property in the 5300 block of West Congress Parkway. Delia Ewing is hopeful US Bank will step in.
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Bank officials attend lively town hall meeting on foreclosure
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West Side residents pushed US Bank to set up a fund to deal with the growing problem, but officials say they can’t promise $25 million right now.
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Austin residents protest outside a Chicago company
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The group of activists says too few West Side residents get hired for good-paying construction jobs. They point to the Eisenhower Expressway resurfacing project and ask why there aren’t more minorities doing that work.
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Austin and Oak Park residents keep fighting in wake of Park National Bank’s closure
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Members of the Coalition to Save Community Banks are planning to protest today outside the Chicago office of the FDIC inspector general. The group formed last year after federal regulators seized Park National Community Bank.
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Some see silver lining in Park National Bank cloud
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No matter what the outcome in the Park National Bank seizure, the situation has broken down barriers between the Austin community and Oak Park residents. It’s the silver lining in the cloud that has hung over those two communities since October. That’s when the popular neighborhood bank, located in Oak Park, was seized by federal regulators, said Rev. Marshall Hatch, a member of the Coalition to Save Community Banking, a grassroots organization formed in response to the takeover and forced sale. “There’s much less of a barrier between Austin and Oak Park,” said Hatch, representing the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park. “This has brought people together.
News
Austin program for ex-offenders nearly overwhelmed by demand for services
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By Wendy Wohlfeill
Officials at a far West Side organization fear if client demand continues to rise, more and more recently released prisoners will be left fending for themselves. Roger Ehmen, director of Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center, said a recent jump in numbers shows the dire need for the program in Austin. Ehmen said the center saw an increase of 104 percent more clients over the last two years. In 2008, the office helped just over 5,000 clients, while last year the program assisted close to 11,000. The biggest concern now is that the numbers will continue to rise, and many more ex-offenders in need will be left without services.