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AUSTINWEEKLY news ■
Vol. 35 No. 2
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Activists demand an end to gang database,
January 8, 2020
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
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PAGE 10
@AustinWeeklyNews
St t 2020 with Start ith yoga, page 5
Weed is officially legal in IL
Here’s what that means for you By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
On Jan. 1, cannabis officially became legal in Illinois, but what does that mean for you? Below, we’ve provided a short fact list regarding the new law to help you avoid any confusion or unnecessary trouble (i.e., no, you can’t smoke it in public).
Where can I get legal marijuana? For one, not from an individual. You can only legally buy weed from a licensed dispensary. According to the Chicago Tribune, 37 dispensaries in Illinois that have been approved by the state to sell marijuana to the public were open on New Year’s Day. So far, the Tribune reports, “all 55 medical dispensaries in Illinois were able to apply to also sell recreational cannabis. So far, the state has approved 46 of them to do so, but not all of those will be open to the public Wednesday.” The dispensary to Austin is Seven Point, 1132 Lake Street in Oak Park. For a full list of dispensaries that have been issued licenses to sell marijuana, visit: abc7chicago.com/business/recreational-marijuana-dispensary-same-site-licenses-issued;-7-inchicago/5690215/. But be warned, the lines are sure to be long and the supply is short.
How can I pay for it? According to state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, most dispensaries will not want you to use a credit card. They prefer cash. Remember, even See WEED on page 7
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
BIG DREAMS: Greg Sorg (above left) and architect Bill Scholtens have big plans for the former Jackson Storage warehouse, including space for collectors of vintage cars to display and service their vehicles and luxury condos, whose owners could perhaps enjoy panoramic views of the city’s skyline from a rooftop deck.
Abandoned warehouse to collector’s car club One Oak Park developer’s vision in Austin
By LACEY SIKORA
D
Contributing Reporter
aniel Burnham is credited with saying, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” Oak Parker Greg Sorg of Pioneer Property Advisors seems to have taken the architect and urban planner’s words to heart in his latest venture in real estate development.
Fresh on the heels of the successful turnaround of a once-abandoned bank building-turned-urban brewery at One Lake Brewing on the corner of Lake Street and Austin Boulevard in Oak Park, Sorg has set his sights eastward to a vacant warehouse on Madison Street just east of Austin Boulevard. Once the home of Big O Movers and, before that, the longtime home of Jackson Storage, the building had seen better days
when Sorg decided to take it on. Parts of the roof were missing, the freight elevator was inoperable and then there was the matter of the trash. The building was full of items from abandoned storage lockers. “This is like storage wars on steroids times 1,000,” Sorg said. “There was just abandoned stuff everywhere.” From motorcycles to pinball machines to
State Farm Mutual Automobile • Insurance Company State Farm Indemnity Company • Bloomington, IL • statefarm.com® Larry and his staff are licensed and together have over 75 years of State Farm experience.
See WAREHOUSE on page 8
Larry Williams,Agent 5932 W. Lake Street Chicago, 60644 (773) 379-9010 larry.williams.b0bk@statefarm.com